Jeff Burk Photo

Sixteen AA/FD cars answered the call to lanes for the first round of qualifying at the 51rst annual March Meet held at the fabled Famosa drag strip near Bakersfield CA. The skies were cloudy and we had a couple of sprinkles to go with a cold wind good conditions for making horsepower not so good for traction.  When the first AA/FD’s rolled to the line the air temp was about 64 degrees and the track wasn’t much warmer. As a result grip was hard to come by and most of the nitro cars were spinning the starting just past the 60ft mark and if they got through that it got slick again about 700 ft up the track.

The first pair of drivers who attempted to qualify was Dan Horan Sr. Who reportedly in his 70’s and Mike Chrisman son of NHRA legend Art Chrisman who just got his Top Fuel license last weekend.
Both cars left the line and then starting spinning the tires. At about half-track Chrisman’s right rear tire apparently failed after Horan ran into his car and punctured it with his front wing. Both cars then separated and impacted the guard wall.  Horan hit the left-lane guardwall very hard probably knocking him unconscious as the engine rpms never came down. Both cars were severely damaged especially Horan’s coming to rest in the top end sand trap.

(See DRO photographer Tim Marshall’s sequence of the incident below)

Tim Marshall Photo

Tim Marshall Photo

Tim Marshall Photo

Tim Marshall Photo

Note: At 1320 feet, Horan’s throttle appears to be wide open...

Tim Marshall Photo

Mike Chrisman rides the right guardwall as Horan’s front wheel comes back to Earth.

Tim Marshall Photo

Top Fuel Rookie Mike Chrisman skids to a stop in the left lane past the Famoso finish line.

Jeff Burk Photo

There were no more crashes during the rest of qualifying but the combination of a slick and cold track allowed just two Top fuelers to run in the Fives. Rick White (shown) driving a car tuned by his partner Chuck Neal secured the pole with a 5.852/251.52 which was also good for Top Speed of the meet. Rick McGee pushed his 400 inch Donovan powered fueler to a 5.945/236.03 which made his the quickest and fastest Donavan powered fueler.

Tim Marshall Photo

Other notable passes were made by Brad Thompson who has just recovered from a serious crash related injury ran a 6.44 at just 172 and a 6.90/139.01 pass from Terry Cox.

Jeff Burk Photo

March Meet AA/FC qualifying Rd 1

There were 28 AA/FC that made a lap in the first round of qualifying and they had the same problem that the Top Fuel cars did, they couldn’t get hold of the track. More than one driver used-up a lot more than a quarter-mile of track as the cars were slipping and slidding on the tricky surface.

As has been the case in this class for the last year or so a Plueger and Gyger AA/FC was the qualifying leader. Rookie Funny Car shoe Garrett Bateman drove the P&G Mustang to a 6.13/235.04 and defending HRH tour Champion Bucky Austin was on the A main bump with a 6.636/155.79.

Jeff Burk Photo

Jeff Utterback (near lane) sits twelfth among the twenty-eight funny cars to make passes on Friday.

Jeff Burk Photo

Leah Pruett-LeDuc is driving the Holy Toledo Jeep flopper, getting out of shape with a strong move to the left at the hit of the throttle.  Her first time in the car.

Jeff Burk Photo

Mike Halstead grabbed the number three position in nitro funny car with his 6.223/238.115 miles per hour pass in round one.

Jeff Burk Photo

There will be two eight-car fields in Funny Car Eliminator an “A” main and a “B” main.
The number one qualifier for the “B” main was no other than ’81 U.S. Nationals Top Fuel winner Terry Capp driving the Roland Leong tuned Bubble Up entry from Canada.

Pardon the interruption in our Same Day Coverage, but our hotel internet connection is dead.

Tim Marshall Photo

The bump spot is currently held by Steve Nichols from Newark, Delaware driving a ’70 Camaro bodied flopper and powered by a 427 cubic inch Chevy rat motor on a big load of nitro, tuned by Ray Zeller.

Tim Marshall Photo

Notable non-qualifiers after the first session included former IHRA World Champ Dale Pulde, rookie Fuel Coupe shoe Kirk Kuhns and the two distaff drivers Mindy Fry and Leah Pruett-LeDuc. The only fire of the session came from the aptly named Vegas Heat Plymouth Satellite (shown) when he threw the rods out at the finish line. He is currently qualified in the number 7 slot. Qualifying for both Top Fuel and Funny Car starts tomorrow at 12:30 followed by the last session later. 

Darr Hawthorne Photo

NHRA President Tom Compton (yeah, that Tom Compton) took Friday off of his busy schedule to see how the other half lives in the Hot Rod Heritage Series at the March Meet.  He and the Burkster were checking out the innovative cockpit of the new Champion Speed Shop top fueler driven by Adam Sorokin.

Jeffrey DeGrandis Illustration

James Drew Photo

DRO photographer James Drew got up early on Friday morning as did some of the Cackle Car owners, the High Speed Motorsports Top Fuel dragster team and Mendy Fry (shown) with the McCain’s Bomb Squad nitro funny car to hang out with the local ABC-TV and FOX affiliates doing live cut-ins for the AM news programs. 

James Drew Photo

Yeah, it was early, but our intrepid photog James Drew got the early 4:00 AM call.

Darr Hawthorne Photo

We couldn’t pass up this Hemi-powered Austin, it must be a handful on 50% nitro!

James Drew Photo

Over five hundred entries for this year’s March Meet, here many of them wait for tech inspection.

Darr Hawthorne Photo

Our pick for the coolest pit vehicle at the March Meet has to be this motorcycle-powered ex-carnival bumper car, with working headlights!

Darr Hawthorne Photo

In the popular March Meet Swap area you’ll find just about everything needed to begin your vintage racing career, this pile has something for just about everyone.  Remember that these guys don’t want to take the pile back home… make an offer!

Darr Hawthorne Photo

The guys from Mickey Thompson Tires are here at Famoso Raceway delivering the latest traction devices for nostalgia racers and these nitro funny car tires.  M/T’s departure from the NHRA Big Show is now a benefit for all drag racers.

James Drew Photo

The line-up of racecars for a local media presentation during Thursday’s activities at Auto Club Famoso Raceway.