NHRA – Timing Tower

MARCH MEET 60! FAMOSO RACEWAY, MARCH 1-5, 2018

admin — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 23:16:56 +0000

MARCH MEET 60 All of the photos shown below are on our SmugMug site. Click on the SmugMug icon: All the photos on SmugMug are available for purchase. TUESDAY EVENING UPDATE We have received all Monday race results. All final results are reported after the two funny car galleries below. Photos of the Sunday night nitro car winners can be seen under SUNDAY RESULTS, also below. TUESDAY MORNING UPDATE As yet the tower has released no race results from racing on Monday. However, we were able to learn that Kin Bates won A Fuel running an ET of 5.85 at 233 mph. Below are two galleries representing most of the large field of Funny Cars that showed up for March Meet 2018. All March Meet 2018 final round of elimination race results: Sunday nitro car finals Funny Car – Bobby Cottrell met Ryan Hodgson. Cottrell ran an ET of 5.723 at 241.41 mph to take the win. Hodgson turned in an ET of 5.957 at 240.31. Top Fuel – Pete Wittenberg sat next to Mendy Fry in the finals. While Fry took the early lead, after Wittenberg stumbled off the line. Fry was disqualified after she crossed the center line giving Wittenberg the win. AA/Fuel Altered – Dan Hix was the winner. He met Eric Gates in the finals. Hix ran an ET of 6.301 at 168.13 mph. Gates had trouble from the start running an ET of 9.914 at 93.32 mph. 5.90 Funny Car – Dean Oberg in Holy Toledo motored down the track after Jeff Utterback broke at the line. Oberg ran 14.196 at 59.74 mph. Rear Engine Top Fuel – Mike Halstead took the win with an ET of 8.290 at 223.95 mph to beat Billy McDevitt who ran at ET of 18.171 at 42.60 mph. An examination of the winning speeds in the finals versus top speeds of the weekend reflects that the fuel cars noted above, which ran after 7:00 p.m. on Sunday night, ran significantly slower on the cold track. (Funny Car – weekend top speed 259.61 – finals winning speed 241.41; AA Fuel Altered – weekend top speed 209.94 – finals winning speed 168.14; Rear Engine Top Fuel – weekend top speed 257.14 – finals winning speed 223.95.) The races reported below took place on Monday. A/Fuel – Kin Bates (photo shown at the top of the article) beat Rick Ewens in the finals. Bates ran an ET of 5.894 at 233.88 and Ewens had a ET of 6.072 at 220.84 mph. Jr. Fuel – John Marottek took the win with an ET of 6.871 at 190.86 beating Matt Baldonado who turned in an ET of 7.061 at 185.36 mph. 7.0 Pro – The winner of this class was Ronnie Lemon with an ET of 7.128 at 168.39. Runner-up Tony Trimp ran an ET of 7.294 at 193.29 mph. Nostalgia Eliminator I – This 7.6 index class was won by Dan Schrokosch with an ET of 7.619 at 178.19 mph. Ed Silberman was runner-up with an ET of 7.621 at 164.51 mph. Nostalgia Eliminator II – Sam Tucker took the win in this 8.6 index class against Todd Fernandez. Tucker ran an ET of 8.621 to 146.88 an Fernandez ran an ET of 8.603 at 153.44. Fernandez lost this race at the line with a reaction time of .043 to Tucker’s .019. Nostalgia Eliminator III – Ed DeStaute won this race after Jim Miller broke. DeStatute ran an ET of 9.575 at 139.69 mph. A Gas – Frank Merenda won this race after a double break out. Merenda ran an ET of 7.550, on a 7.6 index, at 174.93 mph. Eric Busch ran an ET of 7.535 at 179.40 mph. B Gas – This class runs on a 8.6 index. Neal Westbrook took the win on a red-light by Tim Mulvhill. Westbrook ran an ET of 8.568 at 161.57. C Gas – PJ Glacalone won this 9.6 index class. Glacalone ran an ET of 9.666 at 132.37 while Larry Hesseman Jr ran 9.600 at 136.72 mph. Glacalone got off the line first with a reaction time of .024 to Hesseman’s .095. D Gas – This is a 10.6 class. Dan Fournier turned in an ET of 10.647 at 123.77 mph to take the win. Dan Ficher, runner-up, broke out with an ET of 10.566. Hot Rod – Dale Hicks running on a 9.71 dial-in ran an ET of 10.639 at 96.66 mph beating Anita Hendry who broke. Below are photos of some of the cars racing at March Meet. This nice looking ’40 Ford pick-up did an impressive burn-out, but then the drivetrain grenaded on launch scattering small pieces of metal at the start line. Below are two galleries of cars in the grove over the week-end. Not many folks braved the rain, mud and puddles to come out. We will update the final race results as information is received. All of the photos shown above are on our SmugMug site. Click on the SmugMug icon: All the photos on SmugMug are available for purchase. _____________________________________________________________________________ SUNDAY RESULTS After a long cold day at the track, racing ended on Sunday night under the lights after 7:00 p.m. Most classes didn’t complete elimination rounds and will finish on Monday. However, Funny Car, Top Fuel, Fuel Altered, Rear Engine Top Fuel and 5.90 Funny Car did finish. The cold track hampered the performance of the nitro cars. At the end of racing on Sunday – the winners were: TOP FUEL – Mendy Fry in High Speed met Pete Wittenburg in Circuit Breaker in the finals. Fry took the lead off the line and opened the gap until she reached half track when she got loose and drifted over the center line taking out some of the timing cones. This disqualified her and Wittenburg and Circuit Breaker are the 2018 Top Fuel March Meet champions. Wittenburg had a reaction time of .161 but smoked the tires after leaving the line. He ran […]

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NOSTALGIA FALL CHAMPIONSHIPS, SEPT. 15-17, 2017

admin — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 23:37:38 +0000

Famoso Raceway, near Bakersfield, CA, hosted the NHRA Nostalgia Fall Championships September 15-17, 2017. See our SmugMug page for all the photos shown below, and more. All are available for purchase as either print or download. Click on the SmugMug icon: After several very hot days in Southern California, thankfully this week-end there was no “bake” in Bakersfield. The temperatures were in the upper 80’s giving us great weather for the race. Nostalgia Fall Championships was the final points race for the Heritage Series Group 2 racers. Group 2 includes A, B, C, and D, Gas, Hot Rod, NE 1, 2, and 3. The track was also open for testing throughout the week-end – a handful of AA/FC cars were working out the bugs before the upcoming California Hot Rod Reunion; a couple of drivers made licensing passes. The racing was continuous throughout the week-end. Saturday the event closed at 5:00 p.m. with qualifying for the Group 2 cars complete. Eliminations for Group 2 racers were held on Sunday along with continued testing. The final pair of A Gas cars took the lanes for the last elimination round at about 1:30 p.m. NE 1 This 7.6 index class had a 6-car field in the elimination rounds. Dustin Lee, No. 1 qualifier, went out in round 2 letting Mark Engle meet Jason Barta in the final round where Barta took the win. Engle red lighted giving Barta the win on a break-out with an ET of 7.581. In the photo below Jason Barta sits next to Kenny Upton at the line. Barta put Upton on the trailer in round 2 of eliminations. NE 2 – NE2 is an 8.6 index class. Terry Linblad met Tim Beeman in the finals. A double break-out gave Linblad the win. Linblad ran an ET of 8.585 to Beeman’s quicker ET of 8.556. Terry Linblad starts his burn-out while on the way to winning NE 2. NE 3 – Ed DeStaute took home Wally’s as both the race and series winner. DeStaute and Lindsey Lister were tied in the points before this race. DeStaute prevailed over Lister in the 1st elimination round. Lister gave up the race with a reaction time of .057 to DeStatute’s .005. DeStaute met Jim Miller in the final found and ran an ET of 9.612 while Miller turned in an ET of 9.630. A GAS – This class runs on a 7.6 index. Brendon Frye, the No.1 qualifier, ran the ladder, and took home the Wally. Brendon Frye advanced through the elimination rounds even after turning in break-outs in rounds 1, 2 and 3. Frye met Brian Rogers in the finals and ran an ET of 7.663 at 176.58 mph. Rogers had an ET of 7.726 at 178.21. Frye was quicker. Below is a photo of Brandon Frye’s happy crew after he makes the winning pass to take home the A Gas trophy. B GAS – This 8.6 index class ran four rounds of elimination and Jeff Carter took home the trophy. Carter qualified at number 10 but beat the No. 1 qualifier, Neal Westbrook, in the semi-finals. In the final round Carter met Rich Harrison, the No. 2 qualifier, at the line. Once again, the finals saw a double-break out with Carter turning in an ET of 8.599 while Harrison had an ET of 8.588. Carter broke-out less than Harrison which gave him the win. Below is Jeff Carter, the B Gas winner. C GAS – Brian Smith went into this race sitting in the No. 1 spot in the points race. Smith advanced to the finals after a double-break out in the semi’s to meet Dan Barrie. Barrie lost the race at the line with a reaction time of .055. Smith’s reaction time was .024 and this .031 of a second made the difference. Barrie was quicker with an ET of 9.6 to Smith’s 9.61 and faster at 139.98 mph to Smith’s 139.46, but Smith got to the finish line first and took home the Wally for both the series and the race. Below is a photo of Brian Smith holding both Wallys. D GAS – Mike Rabener won after a double-break out. Rabener met Don Fournier in the finals. Rabener turned in an ET of 10.585 to Fournier’s 10.556. Rabener was series points leader and took home the Wally for both the race and series. Below is Mike Rabener holding both of his Wallys. HOT ROD – Mark Kirby took the win in the final round of this 19 car field. Kirby ran on a dial-in of 11.12 and ran 11.089. He met Josh Wagner who turned on the red light at the start. Below Mark Kirby does an impressive wheel stand. There were a lot of cars racing this week-end. Below are a few: And a few more: There were a bunch of cars doing testing this week-end: Below is a gallery of the Nostalgia Fall Championship winners: The photos below are of Heritage Series winners that did not win the race this week-end – Dale Hicks and his Hot Rod ’68 Camaro and Dustin Lee and his NE1 dragster. The finals for the fuel cars will be on October 20-22 at the California Hot Rod Reunion. While the fuel cars are well — fast — they don’t provide the wheels up launches or the assortment of different cars we saw this week-end with the Group 2 racers. It was a perfect week-end. See our SmugMug page for all the photos shown above. All photos, and more, are available for purchase as either print or download. Click on the SmugMug icon: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ SUNDAY RACE RECAP We’ll have complete coverage of the 2017 Nostalgia Fall Champion race, including photos, Monday evening. Until then – below is a list of the winners of the various classes: A-Gas Brendon Frye B-Gas Jeff Carter C-Gas Brian Smith D-Gas Mike Rabener Hot Rod Mark Kirby NE 1 Jason Barta NE 2 Terry Linblad NE 3 Ed […]

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CALIFORNIA HOT ROD REUNION, OCT. 23-25, 2015

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 06:08:46 +0000

The California Hot Rod Reunion is truly a national and international event. Not only did racers come from all of the western states, but New York, Tennessee, Michigan, Wisconsin and Kansas as well. Several racers were from Canada, three or four from England and one from Scotland. Quite a lot went on at the Reunion – besides the racing, of course. Saturday afternoon NE II driver Tom Mardis and Sonya Rosas got married in the winners’ circle – Chaplin Matt performed the ceremony. The ceremony was delayed somewhat to allow groomsman, Bobby Cottrell, to finish his 7.0 Pro run. Sonya said that the 2015 March Meet brought the couple together. Seems fitting the Reunion should host the wedding. Saturday night at the end of Funny Car racing the family and crew of War Horse driver Roger Garten held a missing man fire-up. Garten passed away in June from injuries sustained in an on-track accident at Famoso. A fuel altered driven by Garten in the ‘70’s was pushed to the start line where the War Horse crew fired it up. The crew stood back from the car and let it run for about 60 seconds before shutting it down. It was a fitting tribute to Roger Garten and War Horse. Sunday morning Braylen posed for photos in front of Funny Car Crop Duster. While Braylen was suited up and ready to race, he spent some time collecting autographs from his fans. Although only three years old now, plans are for Braylen to be behind the butterflies of the Crop Duster in about 15 years. Tradition held, and after the Sunday morning ceremonies Red Greth’s Speed Sport roadster opened the first round of Funny Car racing. The Speed Sport roadster was given a push start, ran up the Budweiser lane, turned and made a pass down the Auto Club lane. The Speed Sport roadster, a ‘27 T, is known as “Old Noisy” because of the noise coming out of its eight tailpipes. Drag racing is, of course, a family affair as demonstrated in the Fuel Altered class. Pure Hell, was driven by Brian Hope while Rat Trap was piloted by his Dad, Ron Hope. On Sunday, the two met in the Chicago Style shoot-out. Brian demonstrated he had a good teacher by beating his Dad to the finish line. Hot rods, customs, rat rods, classics and old dragsters filled The Grove on Saturday. Sunday saw fewer cars in The Grove, but there was still plenty to see. As always, Cacklefest was held on Saturday night. This year more than 70 restored and/or re-pop nitro burning dragsters participated. Cacklefest is appropriately named. On Saturday the push cars were lined up and ready to go. Exhibition cars ran all week-end so there was never a lull in the action. Collin Millar brought his Anglia, The Flyin Fyfer, from Scotland to run exhibition – and according to the tower announcer – it took 7 weeks on a ship. Jerry Lee covered the quarter mile with the front wheels of his Model T Flatbed lifted. Fighting Irish the Funny Car ran side-by-side against Fighting Irish the Top Fuel car (the Funny Car won). Two altereds, Iron Maiden and High Heaven, ran. And, of course, racing ended Saturday and Sunday when jet car Black Pearl made the final pass of the day. And now for the final race results: The first pair to run a final round were Howard Anderson and Gary Renerio in AA/Supercharged. Anderson was in a ’38 Chevy Coupe and Reinero drove in a ’48 Austin. Anderson got off the line first with a reaction time of .078. Reinero was right behind Anderson with a reaction time of .084. Although the two had near identical speeds, Anderson at 208.88 to Reinero’s 208.33, Anderson got to the end first with an ET of 6.552 to Reinero’ss 6.723. Jr. Fuel cars were next up with Scott Parks and Don Enriquez sitting at the line. Enriquez ran on a 7.15 dial-in and Parks on a 7.02 dial-in. Although Enriquez had a better reaction time, .034 to Park’s .083, Parks crossed the finish line first. Parks ran an a ET of 6.837 at 191.24 mph and Enriquez ran an ET of 7.192 at 185.54 miles per hour. After Jr. Fuel it was the Pro Mods turn at the line. Andrew Berry the No. 1 qualifier in a ’68 Camaro met No. 3 qualifier Rob Moore in a ’60 Chevy Impala. This was quite a contest ending with Berry running .033 of a second quicker. Berry had an ET of 6.013 and Moore ran an ET of 6.046. Berry took the win traveling 242.76 mph to Moore’s 239.36. The A/FX finals put two Fords side-by-side. Steve Whitemore in a 427 ci ’69 Mustang and David Franklin in Old Yeller a 429 ci Gallaxie. Franklin broke out running a 9.225 ET on a 9.25 dial-in letting Whitemore have the win. Whitemore ran a 10.307 on a 10.25 dial-in at 129.47 mph. Next up were the Fuel Altereds. This was the final run of the final race for Pure Hell. Pure Hell made a valiant effort but couldn’t out run the Mike Sullivan Fiat. Jeremy Sullivan ran an ET of 6.20. Brian Hope ran an ET of 6.37. Pure Hell in the final run of its final race. The A Gas finals found Steve ‘Flattop’ Faller in the Auto Club lane and Brendon Frye in the Budweiser lane. Flattop was too quick leaving the line and turned the light red while Frey broke out running an ET of 7.569 on a 7.6 index. Frye took the win. DeWayne Sanders and Billy McDevitt were the two finalists in 7.0 Pro. Sanders took the win on McDevitt’s red-light. Sanders ran an ET of 7.36 on a 7.00 index at 136.91 mph. In A Fuel the win light went to Drew Austin. Bobby Cottrell was quicker off the line with a .008 reaction time to Austin’s .045. But Austin made up the […]

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CALIFORNIA HOT ROD REUNION

admin — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 23:30:21 +0000

THE 23rd CALIFORNIA HOT ROD REUNION IS OVER. TOP FUEL WINNER – TONY BARTONE FUNNY CAR WINNER – DAN HORAN, JR. This year the California Hot Rod Reunion was the 23rd time “we’re only going to do this once”. The now infamous quote from Steve Gibbs, the godfather of the Reunion, lives on. After three solid days of racing, the California Hot Rod Reunion (CHRR) came to a close after the final rounds of elimination held on Sunday. This year while the CHRR brought together race teams from around the country and around the world, not all the action was on the ground — with funny car bodies flying through the air and military style twin rotor helicopters and stunt planes buzzing the track, looking up was also entertaining. On Friday Funny Car driver Mike Lewis, in Nitro Nick, launched his fiberglass body after a blower malfunction caused the burst plate to blow. However, Nitro Nick reappeared on Saturday to loud applause and hoots from the crowd, body stitched back together by rivets and fiberglass resin, to qualify No. 11 in the 16 car field. Lewis made it through the first round of elimination, but fell to Dan Horan,Jr., the class winner, in the second round. During Saturday qualifying the body of Donnie Watkins’ Funny Car Thunderstruck shot into the air. Watkins failed to make the cut into the 16 car field. Exhibition cars, including AA Fuel Altereds ran throughout the week-end. Saturday Winged Express took the line next to Pure Heaven, Bradford sat beside Mr. Boston and just like in times past, Pure Hell and Rat Trap, were side by side at the start, and Iron Mistress ran a bye. Throughout the day Saturday, cars were pushed down the return lane and fired up in preparation for Cacklefest. Cacklefest, another brainchild of Steve Gibbs, was first held in 2000 with seven cars taking part. Now – 14 years later, to quote Gibbs again “more than 10 times that number” participated on Saturday night. Many of the cackle cars were on display during the day Saturday in one section of the pit area near the staging lanes. The newly recreated Barnstormer, the first supercharged fuel dragster raced by Tommy Ivo, was one of the many as was the Yeakel Plymouth AA/FD originally driven by Tom “the Mongoose” McEwen. When there was a lull in the racing, the Grove offered a look at whole lot of rat rods and hot rods. The Bay Area Roadsters were on hand with about 20 roadsters. Also in the Grove were the food vendors, where lunch could be fashioned with a Bud Light, Sid’s Redneck BarBQue and an A&W root beer float. The Manufacturers’ Midway and the Swap Meet provided ample opportunity to find needed parts, t-shirts, and memorabilia items. Or you could take a look in the staging lanes which were full most of the time. The elimination rounds started at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and the final pair, A Fuel, finished at 5:15 p.m. TOP FUEL: This was a contest between the No. 1 Tony Bartone and No. 2 qualifier White. White in the Neal and White dragster broke at the line giving Bartone a win. Bartone with a reaction time of .352 ran 212.39 mph with an ET of 5.864. Bartone was on top the whole week-end – No. 1 qualifier, Top Speed 256.34 and Low ET 5.635. Bartone also took home the Heritage Series trophy. FUNNY CAR: The Funny Car finals was a repeat of last year pitting Dan Horan, Jr. in his Patriot Mustang, against John Hale in the Mike Burkhart Tribute Car. Last year Hale came out on top This year Horan took home the money. Horan ran an ET of 5.724 at 254.mph. Jason Rupert, the No. 1 qualifier had the low ET and top speed in this class but was sent home by James Day in the Pedaler in Round 2 of eliminations. This win gave Horan the Heritage Series trophy. PRO MOD: Mike Maggio got a free ride in the finals when Rob Cacioppo broke at the line. Maggio ran an ET of 5.699, at 259.01 mph. With these results Maggio set low ET and top speed of the day. A FUEL: Bobby Cottrell was in the winner’s seat in both A Fuel and 7.0 Pro. In A Fuel he met Bill Wayne in the finals. Wayne broke at the line giving Cottrell the win with an ET of 6.355 and speed of 216.06. After a slow reaction time of .156, Kin Bates, who had top speed of the day, didn’t advance to Round 2. Ryan Davenport, No. 1 qualifier and holder of low ET 6.257 broke in the semi-finals sending Wayne to the finals. Davenport held on to his Heritage Series points lead to win the series. 7.0 PRO: This class was split in two – 7.0 Pro and 7.0 Pro B. Cottrell met Eily Stafford, in the Killer Crower dragster in the finals. This is a 7.0 index class and Cottrell ran a near perfect index with an ET of 7.033 to take the win. Stafford broke out with an ET of 6.994. Stafford was the No. 3 qualifier. Both the No.1 qualifier, Chuck Roark, and the No. 2 qualifier, Richard High, went out in Round 1 of eliminations. Cottrell was the No. 9 qualifier. High was the Heritage Series points leader going into the race, but Cottrell ended up with both the race trophy and the series trophy. This proves the old adage – It’s not where you start that counts, but where you finish. Clearly, Cottrell finished in the right place. 7.0 PRO B: Running on a 7.0 index, in the final rounds Jesse Adams met Joey Steckler. Adams left the start with a reaction time of .096 to Steckler’s .103. Adams cross the finish with an ET of 7.046 and Steckler with an ET of 7.094. […]

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