The 56th ANNUAL MARCH MEET 2014

The inaugural 1959 March Meet was uniquely able to attract a racer from outside California pulling in a young Don Garlits from Florida.  March Meet has grown to become a worldwide attraction as the 56^th version hosted teams from New Zealand, Norway, and Canada as well as from several mid-western and eastern states in the U.S.

March Meet is an all inclusive race with teams racing in 15 classes from Hot Rod to Top Fuel.  No matter your preference in drag racing, March Meet is the place to be whether you are a fan or a racer.  This year two new classes were added – Fuel Altered and 6.9 Door Slammer.  Fuel Altered ran on a 6.0 index with top speeds in the 220 range.  The 6.9 Door Slammers ran on a 6.90 index hitting speeds of 200 mph. The addition of these two classes allowed more racers to compete.  In past years the Fuel Altered cars mostly ran exhibition.  It was exciting to see both the ‘new’ AA/FA cars and the ‘old’ AA/FA cars on the track.   The first round of eliminations found two ‘old’ Altereds Mike Boyd in Mousie Marcellus’ Winged Express and Ron August, Jr. in Rich Guasco’s Pure Hell sitting side-by-side.  The second round of AA/FA found an ‘old’, Pure Hell, next to a ‘new’, Mike Sullivan ’48 Fiat which debuted in 2013.  Below are some of the Fuel Altereds that ran this week-end.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The four-day format for March Meet provided ample time to get the hundreds of racers through qualifying which was held on Thursday and Friday and eliminations which started on Saturday with all final elimination rounds held on Sunday.  This was a very well organized event, and with no major delays the racing pretty much ran on schedule throughout the week-end. The final elimination rounds of the fuel cars were scheduled to start at 4:15 pm on Sunday – and they did. With no accidents and no oil downs the track was secured around 5:00 pm and the awards ceremony followed.

The Final Rounds:

Top Fuel – No. 1 qualifier,Tony Bartone, and No. 2 qualilfier, Rick White, met in the finals.  Bartone turned in both low ET, 5.623, and Top Speed, 262.13 this week-end.  The final race was won at the start line.  Bartone had a reaction time of .090 to White’s .185 – a difference of .095. At the finish line Bartone’s ET of 5.623 was .092 quicker than White’s 5.715.  Bartone finished traveling 262.13 mph and White crossed the line going 252.52 mph.

Funny Car – On Friday, 27 funny cars ran qualifying narrowing the field to 16.  No. 1 qualifier, Dan Horan, Jr. in his Patriot Mustang ran the ladder and went to the finals against  No. 10 qualifier, James Day in The Pedaler.  Day made his way to the finals after meeting No. 2 qualifier Steve Densham who broke at the line in the Round 2 of eliminations.  In Round 3 of eliminations Day met Peter Gallen.  Gallen went red sending Day to the finals.  In the final round Day tripped the light with a reaction time of .043 while Horan went through the starting lights with a reaction time of .200.  Horan chased Day to the finish but couldn’t catch up.  Horan’s delay at the start line was calamitous as he ran faster and quicker than Day, but Day went across the line at the top end first.  Day had an ET of 5.883 at 228.31 mph to Horan’s ET of 5.726 at 255.19.

Fuel Altered – The finals in this class was between Dan Hix and Jeremy Sullivan with Hix taking the win.  Hix beat Keith Wilson in the Witch Doctor in Round 2 while Sullivan bested Ron August, Jr. in Pure Hell.  Sullivan left the line first with a reaction time of .214 to Hix’ .240 reaction time.  Although Sullivan ran 220.55 mph to Hix’ 206.16 mph, Hix had a quicker run with an ET of 6.115 to Sullivan’s 6.210.

A Fuel – The final contest was between Ryan Davenport and Kin Bates with Davenport coming out the winner.  Bates had a bye round going into the finals while Davenport beat out Shawn Cobari.  In the finals Davenport, the No. 1 qualifier had a reaction time of .010 to No. 2 qualifier, Bates’ time of .042. With an ET of 6.196 at 218.55 mph, Davenport was quicker and faster than Bates’ who had an ET of 7.282 at 207.21 mph.

 

Jr. Fuel – Because of the varying specifications of the cars, this class is now running on a dial-in.  Don Enriquez, Wayne Ramay and Mike Chrisman went to the line for the second round of eliminations with Enriquez getting the bye.  In the semi-finals, Ramay prevailed getting the hole shot on Chrisman.  The final round found Ramay sitting next to Enriquez.  Ramay ran on a dial-in of 6.98 and Enriquez had a dial-in of 7.20.  Ramay took the win when Enriquez went red.

7.0 Pro – Richard High met Brad Denney in the final round.  High qualified at No. 5 and Denney at No. 10.  After four elimination rounds High took the win when Denney jumped the light at the start.  High had a .054 reaction time, ran an ET of 7.147 and had a top speed of 159.59 mph.

6.90 Door Slammer – The final round of this new class was a dual between two ’69 Camaros.  The contest was between Tony Jurado and Jerry Jahnsen.  Jurado with a reaction time of .030 beat Jahnsen off the line.  But Jahnsen soon narrowed the lead and took the win with an ET of 7.061 at 173.34 mph.  This was a close race as Jurado finished with an ET of 7.175 at 194.02.

 

Nostalgia Eliminator I – Bill Webber won his match-up with Alan Hull in one of the closest races of the day. This is a 7.60 index class and Webber ran an ET of 7.553 at 169.42 mph while Hull had an ET of 7.545 at 169.85.  Webber was first off the line with a reaction time of .028 to Hull’s .041.  Both cars broke out, but Webber took the win because he “broke out less”.

 

Nostalgia Eliminator 2 – This class runs on an 8.60 index.  No. 17 qualifier, Tom Mardis, went through 5 rounds of eliminations to win after a break out by No. 1 qualifier, Miguel Lomas.  Mardis left the line with a .102 reaction time to Lomas’ .040 reaction time.  Mardis ran an ET of 8.627 while Lomas broke out with an ET of 8.551.  Mardis traveled 157.45 mph.

 

Nostalgia Eliminator 3 – NE3 is a 9.60 index class.  Rick Harrison took home the Wally after besting Troy Moyle in the final round. Harrison ran an ET of 9.508 and Moyle an ET of 9.499.  Harrison prevailed because he “broke out less”.

 

A Gas – Brian Rogers in a ’66 Nova qualified No. 17 and ended up with the Wally.  Rogers met the ’51 Henry J of Chris Beanes, the No. 28th qualifier, in the finals and again both broke out.  This is a 7.60 index class and Rogers ran an ET of 7.597 to Beanes’ 7.590.  The No. 1 qualifier Rick Logsdon in a ’55 Chevy lost in the 2^nd round to No. 9 qualifier, Steve Faller, in a ’63 Corvette.

 

B Gas – Cliff Boyles, in a ’76 Plymouth Arrow, took home the win in this 8.60 index class.  Boyles ran against the ’69 Chevelle of Michael Boss in the finals but had to survive 5 elimination rounds to get there.  In the finals Boyles broke out running an ET of 8.591 but he took win because Boss redlighted.

C Gas –  This is a 9.60 index class and Tom Lindgren in a ’70 Chevelle took the win with a near perfect ET of 9.601 at 141.46 mph.  At the start, next to Lindgren was Neal Westbrook in his ’68 Camaro.  Westerbook broke out with an ET of 9.597 at 139.10 mph.  This was a large class and both racers came out on top in the first 5 rounds of elimination.

D Gas – D Gas runs on a 10.60 index and the two contestants in the finals, Sam Tucker in a ’69 Dart, and Bryson Kleeman in a ’69 Camaro broke out.  Tucker ran a 10.580 and broke out less than Kleeman with an ET of 10.570.  Kleeman left the start light first with a reaction time of .039 to Tucker’s time of .058.  This is a case of the race being won at the light, but this time the slower reaction time proved to be the winning strategy.  Again this was a big class and 5 elimination rounds were run before the finals.

 

 Hot Rod – The Hot Rod cars run on a dial-in and by far make up the largest class. After 6 rounds of elimination James Kirkman in a ’73 Nova and Eric Christianson in a ’65 Ranchero sat at the line in the finals.  Kirkman ran an ET of 10.221 on a dial-in of 10.23 and Christianson ran an ET of 10.718 on a dial-in of 10.75.  Both cars broke out, but Kirkman was closer to his dial-in and won the race.  Kirkman ran 131.00 mph and Christianson hit 123.95 mph.

 

 

March Meet is about more than racing.  Every day the Grove was filled with hot rods, customs, rat rods, and classics.  Some of the cars were there for all days, some just came in for Saturday or Sunday.  But whenever you walked through the Grove there was plenty to see.  Click on any photo below and scroll through.

The Midway was filled with vendors so those elusive parts could be found on the Midway or in the swap meet.  Tom “Mongoose” McEwen had a booth set up and was selling copies of the new Snake and Mongoose movie.  The Mongoose was on hand to autograph the movie, posters, or whatever.  Robert Hight, the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car champion was in the Auto Club booth autographing posters and was joined later in the day by John Force, the 16 time NHRA Funny Car champion.  A number of current NHRA drivers could be spotted in the crowd.  Fast Jack Beckman, the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car champion and Ron Capp, who has racked up 40 NHRA Funny Car wins, were both spotted.  Other greats such as Art Chrisman, winner of the 1^st March Meet and Kenny Youngblood, drag racing’s most well known artist, were also at the March Meet.

 

And of course there are the pits – what seems like miles of pits.  The drivers and their crew are always willing to talk about the race and their cars (unless, of course, they’ve just been called to the line).  Walking through the pits always proves to be an interesting experience.

 

Just prior to the final round of elimination for the fuel cars, Tom McEwen was presented with the Jack Williams Memorial Award.  Jack Williams was NHRA’s first top fuel winner in 1964 and was the Famoso track operator from 1995 to 2006.  The well-deserved award was given to McEwen for his tireless work in promoting nostalgia drag racing.

THE AWARDS

The award ceremony was held at the end of racing on Sunday.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The jet cars ran at the end of racing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Watching one of these cars run is an impressive sight.

March Meet will come around again in 2015 and although the dates haven’t yet been released, it will most likely be held March 5-8.

Check our Images for sale on

www.timingtower.smugmug.com   You can order photos directly from SmugMug or contact us at timingtower@gmail.com.

SUNDAY RACE UPDATE

The racing at the 2014 March Meet is over.  Winners of Top Fuel, Funny Car and Fuel Altered are listed below.  The article and photos of the entire event and all winners will be posted Monday evening.

Top Fuel:  Winner:  Tony Bartone:  Tony Bartone met Rick White in the final round of eliminations.  Bartone left the line first with a reaction time of .090.  Bartone beat White to the finish line with an ET of 5.623 at 262.13 mph.  White came in second with an ET of 5.715 at 252.52.

 

Funny Car:  Winner: James Day:  Dan Horan, Jr. led the funny car field throughout the week-end and met James Day in the Pedaler in the final round.  Day left the line way ahead of Horan.  Day had a reaction time of .043 to Horan’s .200.  Horan struggled to catch up, but Day crossed the finish line first, to take home the win.  Day had an ET of 5.883 at 228.31 to Horan’s 5.726 at 255.19.

Fuel Altered: Winner: Dan Hix.  Dan Hix and Jeremy Sullivan met in the final round of elimination.  Sullivan left the line first with a reaction time of .214 but Hix out ran him crossing the finish line with an ET of 6.115 at 206.16.  Sullivan’s ET was 6.210 at 220.55.

SATURDAY RACE UPDATE

Dan Horan, Jr. is sitting on top of the Funny Car heap.  In the 1st round of eliminations he ran an ET of 5.683, which didn’t best his Friday ET of 5.668. After getting past Dale VanGundy in Quarter Pounder today, tomorrow Horan will meet No, 9 qualifier, Brad Thompson in the second round of eliminations.  No. 2 qualifier Steve Denshem will meet No. 10 qualifier, James Day.   Kris Krabill will meet Tim Nemeth, and Jason Rupert will meet Peter Gallen.

No. 1 qualifier in top fuel, Tony Bartone ran an ET of 6.337 to get past Jim Boyd today and will meet Ron August in round 2 tomorrow.  Bartone still has low ET of 5.630.  No. 2 qualifier Rick White’s ET of 5.756 beat Roger Lechtenberg’s ET of 7.155 today and White will meet Dusty Green in round 2 tomorrow. Rick McGee will meet Rick Williamson and Adam Sorokin will come to the line next to Denver Schutz.  Sorokin prevailed today after Jim Murphy went red at the start. Schutz ran against Jim Young today and won with an ET of 5.787 to Young’s 5.870.  Young had better reaction time than Schutz but his car went away letting Schutz drive past him.

In the Fuel Altered class, No. 1 qualifier Keith Wilson in Witch Doctor ran an ET of 6.261 to beat Dean Oberg’s ET of 7.081.  No. 3 qualifier Ron August ran past No. 7 qualifier Bryan Bruhn.  No. 2 qualifier Dan Hix ran an ET of 6.385 to beat Jeremy Sullivan’s ET of 7.085.  John Weaver with an ET of 6.797 drove past Mike Boyd who had an ET of 7.917.  Tomorrow Wilson will meet August in round 2 of eliminations, and Hix will meet Weaver.

These are the only race results released today.  Monday evening we’ll post the final results from all classes.

Today the top 8 points winners from the 2013 Boise-Bakersfield Blitz competed in an 8 car shootout.  Dan Horan, Jr. went into the Blitz competition as the leader and held  on to take home the $3,000 bonus.

Racing tomorrow will start at 9:00 a.m. with Hot Rod, A, B, C, D Gas, and NE 1, 2, and 3.  At 11:45 the nitro eliminations will start with Funny Car, then Top Fuel followed by Fuel Altereds.  Final elimination rounds for nitro cars are scheduled to start at 4:15 but  racing always proceeds at it’s own pace.

We’ll post the winners of Top Fuel, Funny Car and Fuel Altered tomorrow and have complete race results posted on Monday evening.

FRIDAY RACE UPDATE

A, B, C, and D Gas, Nostalgia Eliminator 1, 2, and 3, Hot Rod, 7.0 Pro, 6.90 Door Slammers, Jr. Fuel and A Fuel ran their second round of qualifying, Funny Car & Top Fuel ran 2 rounds of qualifying,  Fuel Altereds ran their 1st round of qualifying.  Tomorrow Funny Cars, Top Fuel and Fuel Altered cars will run another round of qualifying.  All other classes will start eliminations.  Funny Cars will run their 1st round of eliminations.

Friday results:

Funny Cars –  1) Dan Horan, Jr. in his Patriot Mustang ran an ET of 5.668 at 257.83; 2) Steve Densham in his ’69 Camaro ran an ET of 5.692 at 249.30. Horan had top ET of the day and Jason Rupert had top speed at 258.27 mph.

Top Fuel – 1) Tony Bartone posted an ET of 5.630 at 241.89 and Rick White had an ET of 5.691 at 241.45. Top Speed was set by Rick Williamson at 153.75 and Bartone had the top ET.

Fuel Altered – this class ran on a 6.0 index.  1) Keith Wilson in Witch Doctor ran an ET of6.261 going 164.69 and Jeremy Sullivan in the Mike Sullivan ’48 Fiat ran 6.340 at 220.30.  Top speed was set by Jeremy Sullivan.

7.0 Pro – this class has an index of 7.0 – 1) Jon Kostelechy with an ET of 7.016 at 190.06; 2) Bobby Cottrell had an ET of 7.018 at 193.27.  Top speed was posted by Chris Mazany of 207.08.

6.90 Door Slammer – a 6.90 index class – 1) Jerry Johnson in a ’69 Camaro had an ET of 6.913 at 199.82; 2) Tony Jurado in a ’69 Camaro had an ET of 7.150 at 194.60.  Jerry Johnson set top speed at 200.08 mph.

A Fuel – 1) Ryan Davenport had an ET of 6.238 at 217.49; 2) Kin Bates had an ET of 6.241 at 226.58.  Top speed was set by Kin Bates.

Jr. Fuel – Mike Chrisman was the No. 1 qualifier with an ET of 6.994 at 198.39.  Chrisman had both top speed and low ET.

A Gas – a 7.60 index class – 1) Rick Logsdon in a ’55 Chev had an ET of 7.603 at 180.14; 2) Steve Galileo in a ’63 Corvette had an ET of 7.604 at 183.42.  Steve Rieder had top speed at 185.46 mph.

B Gas – an 8.60 index class – 1) Kevin Riley in a ’67 Cuda ran a perfect index of 8.60 at 150.68; 2) Randy Armstrong in a ’57 Chev ran an ET of 8.606 at 157.61; George Madden ran top speed at 162.67.

C Gas – a 9.60 index class – 1) Eddie Plazier in a ’48 Anglia ran an ET of 9.603 at 138.80; 2) Joe Chester in a ’70 Camaro ran an ET of 9.611 at 141.61.  Top speed was set by Raymond Kinney at 150.60 mph.

D Gas – a 10.60 index class – 1) Trey Sommers in a ’57 Chev ran an ET of 10.601 at 127.20; 2) Anthony Branoa in a ’65 Chevelle ran an ET of 10.602 at 123.96. Top speed was set by Ron Pauck at 136.46 mph.

NE 1 – a 7.60 index class – 1) Gregory Means had a ET of 7.605 at 176.88; 2) Bill Webber had an ET of 7.606 at 158.99; Top speed was set by Mark Simonlan at 189.02 mph.

NE 2 – an 8.60 index class (Thursday race results) – 1) Miguel Lomas had an ET of 8.601 at 153.11; 2) Phil Sigmon had a ET of 8.610 and 154.60 mph.

NE 3 – a 9.60 index class – Lindsay Lister had an ET of 9.605 at 137.58; Ed Destatute had an ET of 9.609 at 137.13. DeStatute had the top speed of 141.52 mph.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

In addition there were a lot of hots rods, classics, rat rods, etc. on display in the Grove and the Midway was full of vendors.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Gates will open tomorrow morning at 8:15 and racing will start with elimination rounds for Hot Rods, A, B, C, D Gas and NE 1, 2, and 3.  All classes except top fuel will run elimination rounds tomorrow.  Tomorrow will be another great day of racing.

Race results will be posted again tomorrow night.

 

 

Check here Friday and Saturday night for updates of the day’s racing and we’ll post the top fuel and funny car winners on Sunday night. A full article about the event with photos will be posted on Monday evening.    Below is a schedule of the event:

EVENT SCHEDULE – 2014 March Meet

Thursday, March 6
9:00 AM….. Group 2 Time trials and qualifying
……………………. Run Order: Hot Rod, D/Gas, C/Gas, Nost. Elim 3, Nost. Elim 2, B/Gas, Nost. Elim 1, A/Gas, Hot Rod
2:00 PM….. Group 1 Qualifying Session 1
……………………. Run Order: 7.0 Pro, Junior Fuel, A/Fuel
3:00 PM….. Nitro Testing Session
……………………. Run Order: As arrive in lanes, all attempts made to run pairs, no split pairs (TF-FC, etc)
4:30 PM….. Secure

Friday, March 7
8:15 AM….. Group 2 Time trials and qualifying
……………………. Run Order: Hot Rod, D/Gas, C/Gas, Nost. Elim 3, Nost. Elim 2, B/Gas, Nost. Elim 1, A/Gas
12:30 PM… Funny Car & Top Fuel Qualifying Session 1
2:15 PM….. Group 1 Qualifying Session 2
……………………. Run Order: 7.0 Pro, Junior Fuel, A/Fuel
3:15 PM….. Funny Car & Top Fuel Qualifying Session 2
5:00 PM….. Fuel Altered Qualifying Session 1
5:30 PM….. Secure

Saturday, March 8
8:15 AM….. Group 2 Round 1 Eliminations
……………………. Run Order: Hot Rod, D/Gas, C/Gas, Nost. Elim 3, Nost. Elim 2, B/Gas, Nost. Elim 1, A/Gas
12:30 PM… Funny Car & Top Fuel Qualifying Session 3
2:15 PM….. Group 1 Round 1 Eliminations
……………………. Run Order: 7.0 Pro, Junior Fuel, A/Fuel
3:15 PM….. Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations
4:00 PM….. Fuel Altered Qualifying Session 2
……………………. Followed by Nost. Elim 1 Round 2 and 7.0 Pro Round 2
5:00 PM….. Secure

Sunday, March 9
9:00 AM….. Group 2 Eliminations
……………………. Run Order: Hot Rod, D/Gas, C/Gas, Nost. Elim 3, Nost. Elim 2, B/Gas, Nost. Elim 1, A/Gas, Hot Rod
11:00 AM… Opening Ceremony
11:45 AM… Nitro Final Eliminations
……………………. Run Order: Funny Car, Top Fuel, Fuel Altereds
12:45 PM… Continue Group 1 and Group 2 Eliminations
2:00 PM….. Nitro Semi Finals
2:30 PM….. Continue Group 1 and Group 2 Eliminations to Finals
3:45 PM….. Group 2 and Group 1 Finals as they Return
4:15 PM….. Nitro Finals
……………………. Run Order: Fuel Altereds, Top Fuel, Funny Car
5:00………… Secure Event