Auto Club FAMOSO Bakersfield - March Meet Finals

BAKERSFIELD, Mar. 27, 2011: It took an extra six days, but it was well worth the wait for nostalgia drag racing fans as the March Meet completed its 53rd-year run Saturday at legendary Auto Club Famoso. Kris Krabill won the March Meet Nostalgia Funny Car championship for the first time as did Rick White, who captured the Nostalgia Top Fuel title.

Krabill, from Orange, Calif., piloted Gary Turner’s “The Pedaler,” a 1978 Plymouth Arrow, to victory over No. 1 qualifier Jason Rupert (Yorba Linda, Calif.), who was driving the Mert Littlefield ’69 Mustang tribute car. Krabill was a classic “holeshot” winner over Rupert, getting off the line faster and to the finish line first, despite a slower time. Krabill ran the quarter mile in 5.90 at 242.41 mph. to Rupert’s 5.82 at 250.78 mph.

In Nostalgia Top Fuel, White, the No. 1 qualifier from San Diego, Calif., finally shed his March Meet bridesmaid status and got a bit of revenge by beating the tough Brett Harris. White lost to Harris in the 2009 March Meet final, but this time, White ran a 5.70 at 249.21 mph to Harris’ 5.78 at 251.34 and claimed his first March Meet win. Harris, a two-time March Meet titlist from Kaysville, Utah, is the son of the legendary Jack “The Sheriff” Harris, a three-time March Meet champion.

The March Meet finals were rescheduled after high winds and rain shut down the final day of racing last Sunday. “Weather happens, but we still had great racing today,” 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 had to wait an extra few days to get the finals in, but I’m sure Kris Krabill and Rick White aren’t complaining.”