Pre Race

51st March Meet Pre-Race

Mar 04, 09 | 3:07 pm

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51st March Meet Pre-Race

Mar 03, 09 | 8:59 am

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Darr Hawthorne Photo

March Meet Means Racing

World famous event attracts 500 racers to historic Auto Club Famoso Raceway, Mar. 6-8.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (Mar. 3, 2009) – It’s March Meet time and that means one thing: “Let’s race.” The world famous 51-year-old drag race, now the season opener of the NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Series, continues its historic run, Mar. 6-8 at Auto Club Famoso Raceway. Five hundred cars from around the globe, the country, the state and Kern County, are set to compete in 14 classes during the 3-day festival of speed.

“For fans and racers, the March Meet is the race,” said Blake Bowser, vice president and general manager of the Kern County Racing Association, operators of Auto Club Famoso Raceway and producers of the March Meet. “We have a full field and all the top racers in nostalgia drag racing will be here. It’s going to be a great show.”

The March Meet is such a draw, 2008 NHRA Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon is the Grand Marshal.

Competition is going to tough in all categories. The cream of the crop of vintage Top Fuel drag racers will be back, including Brad Thompson of Visalia, runner up in the ’08 March Meet. Thompson is returning to action for the first time since suffering season-ending in a crash the 2008 Boise Nationals. Thompson was leading the Hot Rod Heritage Series at the time of his crash. His competition at the March Meet includes ’08 Hot Rod Heritage champ Troy Green (Purcell, Okla.), four-time winner March Meet winner, Jim Murphy (Santa Rosa, Calif.); Rick White (San Diego), Adam Sorokin (Glendale, Calif.) and Brett Harris (Kaysville, Utah). Harris’ dad, “Sheriff” Jack Harris, won the ’08 March Meet but isn’t scheduled to race. All told, Top Fuel has a field of more than 20 entrees and also features local racers such as Fresno’s Denver Schutz and Exeter’s Rick McGee. 

51st March Meet Pre-Race

Mar 03, 09 | 8:56 am

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James Drew Photo

In Nostalgia Funny Car, defending March Meet and Hot Rod Heritage Series champ Bucky Austin (Fife, Wash.) is back. Austin will be going up against close to 30 drivers such as Canadian Terry Capp, driving Ron Hodgson’s “Bubble-up” Firebird Funny Car; Mark Sanders, driving his “Mr. Explosive” 1970 Chevy Nova, tuned by his 19-year old son Jake “the Snake” Sanders; and longtime nitro racer “Nasty” Dave Benjamin, who will debut his Plymouth Satellite bodied nitro Funny Car. Also, Dennis Taylor (Anaheim, Calif.) will take time off from racing his Alcohol Funny Car on the NHRA tour to drive Gary Messenger’s Future Flash Nostalgia Funny Car. Exciting Mendy Fry is driving “McCain’s Bomb Squad,” a 1973 Plymouth Duster that hails from Atascadero, Calif.  During off-season testing Mendy piloted the vintage nitro funny car to a 6.036 elapsed time at 229.00 miles per hour with legendary Crew Chief Roland Leong, known as the Hawaiian.

While Top Fuel and Funny Car are the big draws, the lure of competing in any class at the March Meet brings racers from everywhere. A good example is Ray Martin, who is coming down from Alaska to race in the A/Gas class. “Racing in the March Meet in the Hot Rod Heritage Series is an experience of a lifetime,” said Martin. “I can’t wait to get to the starting line.”

“What a field of cars and competitors,” said Bowser. “All I can say is let’s race.”

Now celebrating 51 years of racing, the March Meet is a three-day affordable speedfest that enthusiasts call ‘the jewel of Nostalgia Racing.’ It attracts drag racers and spectators from around the world and also includes a hot rod car show, swap meet and a vendors’ midway.  The 2009 March Meet is also the first race of the Hot Rod Heritage Series, the NHRA’s 8-race nostalgia racing series. The Grand Marshal this year is NHRA World Champion Funny Car driver Cruz Pedregon.

Tickets: a Super 3-Day Pass for $75 can be purchased online now and can be picked up at the track the week of the event. There are no service charges for tickets purchased online at www.autoclubfamosoraceway.com Individual day tickets for the event will go on sale Mar.2, but will be available only at the track. Ticket prices are $25 for Fri., Mar. 6; $30 for Sat., Mar. 7; and $30 for Sun., Mar. 8.

Auto Club members also receive a $ 2 discount off daily admission tickets by showing their cards when they purchase tickets at the track. Daily tickets for children ages 7 to 12 are $10 and kids 6 and under are free when accompanied by an adult with paid admission.

The Kern County Racing Association (KCRA) operates historic Auto Club Famoso Raceway (just north of Bakersfield, Calif.) and promotes a full schedule of races year round, including the world famous March Meet, Mar. 6-8, 2009, is the recognized Mecca of nostalgia drag racing.

For more details, visit www.autoclubfamosoraceway.com.[/b]

51st March Meet Pre-Race

Mar 02, 09 | 6:38 pm

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PCGCampbell Photo

“Party in the pits!” That’ll be one of the rally cries from fans of hot rodding and drag racing as they pack Auto Club Famoso Raceway for the at The March Meet, Mar. 6-8. The fans will share good times on and off the track with parties, music and late-night revelry during the three day of celebration of drag racing and street rods.

According to Blake Bowser, vice president and general manager of the Kern County Racing Association, operators of Auto Club Famoso Raceway and producers of the March Meet, many regular attendees are days in advance to get the best camping spots at the raceway, and staying through the weekend. There are a total of 800 camping spots available, 400 in one area dubbed “party central.”

“We have a core group of fans who come each year, and re-connect with others they’ve met in years past,” said Bowser. “Every year I see familiar faces of people, folks who just come out to have a good, affordable time and be a part of the March Meet.”

The fun gets under way on Thursday evening, Mar. 5, with an open-to-the-public kick-off party at Chuy’s Mesquite Broiler (8660 Rosedale Hwy, Bakersfield), from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Nostalgic dragsters are expected to be “fired-up” in Chuy’s parking lot. “The party at Chuy’s is the start of March Meet Week,” Bowser said. “The March Meet is a time for the community to celebrate. We’re hoping to see a lot nostalgia drag racing fans at Chuy’s on Thursday and again at the track for the races.”

The real fun starts as the racing gets under way Fri., Mar. 6. But it really gets crazy once the racing ends. That’s when the nighttime parties begin at the legendary track, with fans and campers joining in on the celebration. Music, noise and food can be found around the pit areas as barbequing is in full force, rock ‘n roll is blaring and cars are firing up their engines. “The party’s in the pits,” said Bowser. “Where else can you do this other than the March Meet?”

“The March Meet is Bakersfield-born and bred and the community is a huge part of it, and always the first to support it,” said Bowser. “We like to show them a good time. It’s a lot of fun at night,” said Bowser. “It’s just a plain old good time in Bakersfield.”

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 6:23 pm

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Darr Hawthorne Photo

March Meet Warm-up

With less than a week until the 51st March Meet at Auto Club Famoso Raceway a dozen nitro teams and a hundred or so doorslammers, gassers and nostalgia eliminator racecars dusted off the old winter cobwebs at the Patch.  With over five hundred Pre-entries, this year’s March Meet will be packed with racecars of all kinds.

Before we kick-off Drag Racing Online’s Same Day March Meet coverage later this week we made one more trip over the Grapevine to see the new cars, new paint jobs and new tune-ups in action prior to Friday morning’s first qualifying sessions. 

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 6:16 pm

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Darr Hawthorne Photo

A feature of this last Test-n-tune was the Famoso debut of the new Champion Speed Shop/RB Entertainment streamliner dragster.  Bob McClennan set the new car up with a soft tune-up while driver Adam Sorokin shakes down the sleek new ride.  McClennan and crew are attaching the plexiglass canopy.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 6:11 pm

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Darr Hawthorne Photo

The Champion Speed Shop Top Fueler is sitting on a Sterling chassis and powered by a Chevrolet SB2 small block, driver Adam Sorokin was shaking down the new ride with some mid-six second 900-foot to 1,000-foot passes while working out the kinks.  As Sorokin put it, “We were running the car real soft, just making sure nothing was gonna fall off of it.  We are still planning on qualifying it for the March Meet.”

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 6:02 pm

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James Drew Photo

Todd Losenko brought out his new Pirate Racing Camaro from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with veteran funny car racer Twig Ziegler setting the tune-up.  The stout Alan Johnson Performance Hemi engine sits in a new Victory Race Cars chassis with Losenko making checkout passes before competing in his first March Meet in the “Jolly Rogers” Camaro.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 6:00 pm

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James Drew Photo

Brendan Murry debuted his Arias Hemi Chevy under the watchful eye of famed engine builder Steve Montrelli and Nick Arias himself, who introduced his improved Chevy Big Block Hemi in 1972. 

Brendan said of the weekend, “The engine is showing a lot of promise, making a lot of torque right off the bat,” after he made two half-passes netting 1.0 sixty-foot times.  Murry added, “This is a proven motor combination, it’s great to have Nick here as well, he’s the one who has been spearheading this whole deal and we’ll compete at the March Meet with two extra motors in the trailer.”

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 5:54 pm

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Darr Hawthorne Photo

In the off season Dennis Taylor has taken over the controls of Gary Messenger’s “Future Flash” Dodge Charger with nitro veteran Bob Brooks as Crew Chief. Taylor was getting comfortable in a nitro car rather than the usual Top Alcohol Funny Car entry he races in Division 7 NHRA Sportsman competition.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 5:47 pm

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James Drew Photo

Casey Treur has the wheels up on his supercharged ‘33 Willys from Santa Maria, California.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 5:43 pm

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James Drew Photo

Brad Thompson made his first check-out passes in the new Thompson & Bless Nostalgia Top Fueler after his top end crash last fall at the Boise Night Fire Nationals.  Thompson was getting comfortable in the racecar making the second pass of the day, but the car shook the tires at about 200-feet, broke the rear end, banged the supercharger with the engine dieseling on its own oil.  Brad rolled to the finish line with the engine roaring until a member of the Famoso safety crew shot a fire extinguisher into the injector to kill the engine.  Thompson was OK.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 5:41 pm

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James Drew Photo

Steve Romanazzi is back with a new paint job on his potent Pontiac Firebird-bodied nitro funny car.  Romo was able to card a .095 60-foot time on his first pass.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 5:39 pm

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Darr Hawthorne Photo

Mendy Fry is piloting “McCain’s Bomb Squad” ’73 Plymouth Duster with Veteran Crew Chief Roland Leong who’ll also be tuning Ron Hodgson’s “Bubble-up” Pontiac Firebird at the March Meet.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 5:37 pm

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James Drew Photo

Former Top Fuel Champion Gary Beck puts the finishing touches on the Paso Posse dragster for Mike Chrisman to complete his licensing upgrade to drive at the March Meet.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 5:30 pm

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Darr Hawthorne Photo

Bob Godfrey had his “Burn’n Money” Camaro-bodied flopper tuned up for next weekend’s competition.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 5:27 pm

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Darr Hawthorne Photo

Sean Bellemeur took over the seat for testing of the High Speed Motorsports top fueler for Hot Rod Heritage Series Champion Troy Green.  Green will return for the March Meet, but Bellemeur carded a stout 5.78/222.93 pass to get ready.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 5:22 pm

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Lou Hart Photo

Delaware’s Steve Nichols in his “Mill Road Boys” flopper decided to make the trek to Famoso Raceway rather than test in Florida with his Chevy-powered ’70 Camaro tuned by Ray Zeller.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 5:14 pm

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James Drew Photo

Mike McClennan driving the Mike Fuller Motorsports entry has their potent top fueler ready for the first round of March Meet qualifying that’ll begin next Friday.  They made short runs with strong 1.025 60-foot times.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 5:04 pm

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Darr Hawthorne Photo

Mark Sanders wheeled his “Mr. Explosive” Nova with his nineteen year-old tuner Jake “the Snake” Sanders working on a couple of different engine combinations just for the March Meet.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 4:58 pm

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James Drew Photo

NHRA Big Show funny car pilot Fast Jack Beckman made a shakedown pass in the beautifully painted “American Revolution” Camaro flopper of Lee Jennings Sr. who is now calling the tuning shots on the potent Hemi, Ray Zeller builds the team’s race motors.  Lee Paul Jennings will be driving the car at the 51st March Meet.

Lee Paul and Lisa Jennings are putting on Funny Car Fever at Sacramento Raceway on April 24 & 25 this year.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 4:43 pm

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Darr Hawthorne Photo

Heritage Series hitter Kris Krabill made one pass on Saturday in Gary Turner’s “Pedaler” Plymouth Arrow.  Krabill nailed a solid 5.93/245.29 pass to verify Crew Chief Cory Lee’s tune-up for the March Meet.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 4:26 pm

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Photo by Lou Hart

In Saturday afternoon testing, this Top Fuel Harley made an on and off the throttle pass.

51st March Meet Testing

Mar 02, 09 | 4:21 pm

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James Drew Photo

To close out Saturday evening’s testing, this Top Fuel Harley made an on and off the throttle pass.