FAMOSO March Meet - Time to Race
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BAKERSFIELD, Mar. 16, 2011: During the past 53 years, the March Meet has drawn the greatest racers in drag racing history: “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, Shirley “Cha-Cha” Muldowney, John Force, Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen, to name a few.
A new group of racers will be looking to add their names to that illustrious list as the March Meet, part of the NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Series, revs up again this week, Mar, 18-20 at legendary Auto Club Famoso.
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, nostalgia drag racing’s elite will compete in 10 classes. “Fans will get to see over 400 cars race this weekend,” Bowser said. “Drag racers from around the world will be here. And this year, for the first time, we’re having two nitro qualifying rounds on Friday. It’s going to be a great show – don’t miss it.”
Bowser said Bakersfield is where the racers want to be. “The March Meet is the biggest and the one race you want to win,” he said “All the racers will be geared up; they want to win here in Bakersfield. This is their Super Bowl.”
Drag racing royalty Shirley Muldowney, who is serving as this year’s Grand Marshal, agreed. “The March Meet was always the biggest race and still is,” she said. “They always had the most cars and anyone who was anyone was there.”
Muldowney knows: She made three straight March Meet Top Fuel finals (1980-82), winning it all 1981. “It (The March Meet) was the top win in and around the NHRA national events,” she said. “If you won Bakersfield, you were competitive to go and run the other big races. It was just like winning a national event, but it was even better because there were always a mega number of Top Fuel cars there – more than any other race. It made you believe you could go there and put down some numbers that are well within the pack. You knew that you had found your way, were competitive and good enough to win.”
Competitive is the key word tossed around this year’s race. Reading through the list of entries, Bowser said the competition will be especially fierce in classes such as Nostalgia Funny Car and Nostalgia Top Fuel.
For example, in Nostalgia Top Fuel, defending champ Adam Sorokin, the feel-good story of 2010, will have his hands full. Everyone remembers the touching scene last year when Sorokin won the March Meet and honored his father, Mike, who won the event in 1966 but tragically died racing a year later, before Adam was born. Sorokin used the March Meet win to propel him to win the Hot Rod Heritage championship.
To win back-to-back March Meet titles, Sorokin will have to go through another stellar field, including 4-time winner Jim Murphy, local favorite Brad Thompson, as well as Brett Harris, Rick McGee, Rick White, Denver Schutz, Brendan Murray and Howard Haight.
“And there’s nothing funny about the stiff competition in this year’s Funny Car class,” said Bowser. The field includes veterans Kris Krabil, Nathan Bugg, Dennis LaCharite, Mike Halstead, Dan Horan and NHRA star Ron Capps.
“Funny Cars are a real blast from the past and nostalgia drag racing fans love ‘em,” said Bowser. This year we will run a 16-car field. On Sunday we are also going to do a Chicago-style shootout, where we will take the non-qualified Funny Cars and give them a timed run. We will then bring back the quickest cars throughout Sunday’s eliminations. It’ll be a chance for them to run their car rather than packing up and going home.”
While Nostalgia Top Fuel and Nostalgia Funny Car are the big draws, the lure of competing in any class at the March Meet brings racers from everywhere. An added bonus this year: all winners will earn the coveted “Wally” trophy, the first year the NHRA is handing them out in the Hot Rod Heritage Series.
“What a field of cars and competitors,” said Bowser. “All I can say is let’s race.”
2011 March Meet Race Schedule (subject to change)
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
12:00 - 5:00 Parking for Racer, Vendor, and Motor Home
Thursday, March 17, 2011
8:00-5:00 Parking for Racer, Vendor, and Motor Home
10:00-5:00 Race Tech
Friday, March 18, 2011
8:00 AM
Hot Rod TT D/Gas Q1 C/Gas Q1 B/Gas Q1 Nostalgia Eliminator 3 Q1 AM Nostalgia Eliminator 2 Q1 A/Gas Q1 12:00 PM AA/Funny Car Q1 AA/Fuel Dragster Q1 Nostalgia Eliminator 1 Q1 AA/Funny Car Q2 AA/Fuel Dragster Q2 C/Gas Q2 D/Gas Q2
5:30 PM
Secure
Saturday, March 19, 2011
8:00 AM
Hot Rod TT2 D/Gas E1 C/Gas E1 B/Gas Q2 Nostalgia Eliminator 3 Q2 Nostalgia Eliminator 2 Q2 A/Gas Q2 Prep Track/Break
12:00 PM
AA/Fuel Dragster Q2 AA/Funny Car Q2 Rear Engine Top Fuel Q1 Nostalgia Eliminator 1 Q2 3:00 PM AA/Fuel Dragster E1 AA/Funny Car E1 Rear Engine Top Fuel Q2 Nostalgia Eliminator 1 E1
5:00 PM
Secure
Sunday, March 20, 2011
8:30 AM
Hot Rod E1 Nostalgia Eliminator 3 E1 B/Gas E1 A/Gas E1 Hot Rod E2 Nostalgia Eliminator 2 E1 Prep Track/Break
11:30 AM
AA/Fuel Dragster E2 AA/Funny Car E2 AA/FC (B) TR Rear Engine Top Fuel E1 Nostalgia Eliminator 1 E2 C/Gas E2 D/Gas E2 Prep Track/Break 2:00 PM AA/Fuel Dragster E3 AA/Funny Car E3 AA/FC (B) E2 Rear Engine Top Fuel E2 Hot Rod E3 Nostalgia Eliminator 3 E2 Nostalgia Eliminator 1 E3 Nostalgia Eliminator 2 E2 Hot Rod E4 B/Gas E2 C/Gas E3 D/Gas E3 A/Gas E3 Hot Rod E5 Nostalgia Eliminator 2 E4 Nostalgia Eliminator 1 E3 D/Gas E4 C/Gas E4 B/Gas E3 A/Gas E3 Hot Rod E6 Prep Track/Break Nostalgia Eliminator 3 F Nostalgia Eliminator 2 F Nostalgia Eliminator 1 F Hot Rod F D/Gas F C/Gas F B/Gas F A/Gas F
5:00 PM
Rear Engine Top Fuel F AA/FC (B) F AA/Funny Car F AA/Fuel Dragster F
5:30 PM
Secure
*Schedule Subject To Change
Now celebrating 53 years of racing, the March Meet is a three-day speedfest and spectators from around the world and also includes a hot rod car show, swap meet and a vendors’ midway. The 2011 March Meet will be held March 18-20 at historic Auto Club Famoso Raceway.
Drag racing legend Shirley Muldowney is this year’s Grand Marshal.
The 2011 March Meet is also the second race of the Hot Rod Heritage Series, the NHRA’s 11-race nostalgia racing series.
The Kern County Racing Association operates Auto Club Famoso Raceway (just north of Bakersfield, Calif.) and promotes a full schedule of races year round, including the world famous March Meet, which is recognized as the Mecca of nostalgia drag racing. For more details, visit www.autoclubfamosoraceway.com.