MARCH MEET 2012, Famoso Raceway 
With the sun setting on the closing moments of the 2012 March Meet, top fuel finalists Jimmy Young and Rick White pulled to the line. At the light the fuelers blasted all out down the track. At the finish line both cars were blowing smoke and fire as Young edged White by a mere .005 seconds. This was quite a contrast to a year ago when no final rounds were run because high winds and rain forced the 2011 March Meet to be called on Sunday morning.
Young on the right edges White at the finish line by .005 seconds
As the 54th March Meet opened well over 300 racers filled the pits. Add in the swap meet vendors, the midway vendors, concession stands, the car show in the Grove and about 20,000 spectators and there was never a minute when ‘nothing’ was happening.
March Meet is the first race of the year in the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series. The Series runs cars in four groups, Top Fuel, Funny Car, Group 1, comprised of A Fuel, Jr. Fuel and 7.0 Pro and Group 2 which includes Nostalgia Eliminator I, II, and III, A, B, C, and D Gas and Hot Rod. March Meet in the only Heritage Series race to run all four groups. This year March Meet spanned four days to provide time for the large field of racers go through qualifying and eliminations.
Thursday and Friday were qualifying days with both qualifying and eliminations being held on Sat. Eliminations and finals were held on Sunday.
The final rounds:
Top Fuel: Young v. White: Rick White qualified in the No. 3 spot and Jimmy Young qualified at No. 4. However, this race was won at the start line when Young turned in a .068 reaction time to Rick White’s .117. This .005 differential was evident in the final times with White turning in an ET of 5.699 to Young’s ET of 5.684. Young crossed the finish line at 248.98 mph while White’s final round mph was 258.67. In top fuel the low ET of the week-end was 5.622 at with a top speed 261.88 mph.
Funny Car: Boychuck v. Head: Tim Boychuck came out on top of this 16-car field knocking off Dan Horan, Jr. and Brad Thompson to get to the finals. In the finals Boychuck powered past Chad Head to win. Boychuck turned in an ET of 5.802 on a reaction time of .121 at 243.06 mph. Head beat Boychuck off the line with an ET of .104 but couldn’t match Boychuck’s power, finishing with an ET of 6.007 at 248.29 mph.
A-Fuel: Davenport v. Bates: The 2011 Heritage Series winner Kin Bates took second place to Les Davenport. Davenport left the line with a .012 reaction time and finished with an ET of 6.22 at 216.27 mph. Bates was slower off the line at .053 with an ET of 6.298 and 224.06 mph.
Jr. Fuel: Zink v. Enriquez: This was only a three car field with J.D. Zink finishing the final round with an ET of 7.154 and 182.90 to Enriquez’ ET of 7.174 at 186.72.
7.0 Pro: Adams v. Brewster: Adams came out on top with an ET of 7.275 to Brewste’s 9.860.
A Gas: Quiroga v. Patten: The ’57 Chev of Quiroga took the win over Rob Patten’s ’63 ‘Vette in A Gas with an ET of 7.689 on a 7.60 index.
B Gas: Castagmetto v. Wotton: Rafael Catagmetto in his 1968 Chevelle beat out Jesse Wooton with an ET of 8.574.
C Gas: Shears v. Walker: The 1967 Nova of Justin Shears took the win in C Gas with an ET of 9.620 on a 9.6 index.
D Gas: Fournier v. Silva: Don Fournier in his blue 1948 Anglia turned in an ET of 10.606 to beat out Mike Silva’s ’64 Nova.
Nostalgia Eliminator l: Schoenfeld v. Stafford: Steve Schoenfeld took this race with an ET of 7.668 on an index of 7.6.
Nostalgia Eliminator ll: Johnson v. Horn: Johnson came out on top with an ET of 8.635 to Horn’s 8.634.
Nostalgia Eliminator lll: Lister v. Harrison: After a double breakout, Lindsay Lister, with an ET of 9.588, ended the March Meet as the winner in Nostalgia Eliminator III.
Hot Rod: Pedersen v. Heriford: Chris Pederson in a ’63 Ford with an ET of 10.136 came home with the win over Gregg Heriford and his ’72 Vega.
The 2012 March Meet provided fans with a spectacular week-end of racing. With no serious accidents, and not many delays, the racing went non-stop over four days. In addition, to the Heritage Series racing, Mike Boyd driving the AA/FA Winged Express and a pair of jet cars made fiery runs under the lights. Together, with the back-up girl contest this was quite an event.
March Meet is about the winners, but it’s also about family, sportsmanship and friendship.
The Heritage Series continues on March 17-18 with Groups 1 & 2 at Speedworld in Arizona; May 4-6 FC at Firebird Raceway in Boise, Idaho; May 26-27 FC and Groups 1 & 2 in Las Vegas; June 15-16 FC at Sacramento; June 22-24 TF in Spokane, Washington; July 13-14 Groups 1&2 at Sacramento; August 9-12 TF and FC at Firebird; September 14-15 TF at Sacramento; October 6-7 Groups 1&2 at Fomosa; October 19-21 Hot Rod Reunion, at Fomosa.
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