MARCH MEET 2015
The Top Fuel final was the elephant against the mouse. Adam Sorokin and the Champion Speed Shop car put a valiant effort into the top fuel final, but the unbeatable Tony Bartone prevailed at the finish line. Sorokin pulled a hole shot on Bartone at the start and the Chevy mouse motor in the Champion Speed shop car was leading until it grenaded in a fiery death at the 1000 foot mark letting the elephant motor in Bartone’s car pull ahead for the victory.
Top Fuel: Adam Sorokin, the No. 8 qualifier, ran past such notables as Rick White, Bill Dunlap and Denver Schutz to sit at the line in the finals next to the No. 1 qualifier, Tony Bartone. Sorokin left the line first with a .097 reaction time. Bartone followed with a reaction of .143. Bartone ran his fastest and quickest race of the week-end in the finals with an ET of 5.531 at 270.81 mph. This win gave Bartone his 24th consecutive win light in nostalgia racing. Tony Bartone is shown above and Adam Sorokin is shown below.
Funny Car: Steve Densham in Teacher’s Pet met James Day and the Pedaler in the finals. Although Day left the line first with a reaction time of .019, Densham ran quicker and faster and got the finish line first. Densham turned in an ET of 5.694 at 249.16 mph to Day’s ET of 5.874 at 242.41. No. 1 qualifier Dan Horan, Jr. went out in Round 2 of eliminations when John Weaver’s reaction time of .032 left Horan sitting at the start line. Horan finally left the line with a reaction time of .155.
Fuel Altered: The finals in this class was deja vu all over again. March Meet 2014 found Dan Hix and Jeremy Sullivan in the finals with Hix taking the win. March Meet 2015 found Dan Hix and Jeremy Sullivan in the finals with Hix taking the win. This year had one difference – Sullivan broke and didn’t make the call, leaving Hix to make a solo pass in the finals. Hix ran 6.466 at 279.97 mph. Hix is shown below.
Below is Jeremy Sullivan in an early elimination round.
A Fuel: Kin Bates the No. 1 qualifier had the quickest and fastest times of the week-end with an ET of 6.162 at 229.94. When he met No. 2 qualifier Darrell Waters in the finals, Bates couldn’t keep up the pace. Waters ran an ET of 6.5 at 209.10 mph while Bates struggled to get off the line with a reaction time of .146. Waters, shown below, took the win.
Kin Bates is shown below in an early round of A fuel.
Jr. Fuel: Due to the differences in Jr. Fuel cars, this class runs on a dial-in of 6.90, 7.02 or 7.15. No. 1 qualifier Scott Parks running a dial-in of 7.02 was pitted against Don Enriquez running on a dial-in of 7.15. Parks took the win with a reaction time of .081, an ET of 7.081 and mph of 179.78. Enriquez left the line slower with a reaction time of .129 and had an ET of 7.178 at 185.72 mph.
AA Supercharged: Howard Anderson in his ’38 Chevy coupe went to the finals against Gary Reinero in a ’48 Austin. Near half-track Anderson headed toward the center line but pulled it out and crossed the finish line first with an ET of 6.539 at 213.43 mph. Reinero finished with an ET of 6.797 at 206.35.
Below are the three AA Supercharged cars running this week-end. Gary Reinero’ ’48 Austin was in the finals with Howard Anderson.
7.0 Pro: Jesse Adams, shown below, advanced to the finals when Jess Sturgeon broke in the semi’s sending him to the finals. In the finals Adams met Kenny Buzdas who went red giving Adams an easy run to the finish to take the win. Both No. 1 and 2 qualifiers went out in the first round of elimination in this 32 car field.
NE I: This is a 7.60 index class. The No. 1 qualifier, Jason Barta, ran the ladder in this 35 car field to take the line next to Jimmy Morosan in the finals. Barta and Morosan had nearly the same reaction times, Barta .038; Morosan .034, but Barta ran the quarter mile in 7.697 while Morosan crossed the finish line with an ET of 9.967.
NE II: This is an 8.60 index class. ”Dragster Jeff” Jeff Crider met Bill Workman driving a ’32 Ford Vic in the finals. Workman with a reaction time of .000 in the semi’s turned the light red in the finals. Dragster Jeff took the win with an ET of 8.606 at 149.53 mph.
The photo below shows Crider and Workman at the line in the final round of NE II.
Jeff Crider is shown below.
NE III: This is a 9.60 index class. Ed DeStaute in a ’62 Corvette, below, met Roger Turley in a ’23 Ford in the finals. DeStaute had a reaction time of .004 and ran an ET of 9.618 at 139.85. Turley tripped the red light at the start.
A Gas: This 7.60 index class had a 33 car field. Keith Morovich met Tom Fowler in the semi’s and advanced to the finals when Flower broke-out. Brian Rogers got the finals after a bye run in the semi’s. In the finals the yellow ’67 Nova of Morovich sat next to the blue ’66 Nova driven by Rogers. This was a close race with Morovich inching out the win after leaving the line with a reaction time of .010 to Roger’s .027. Morovich had an ET of 7.630 to Roger’s ET of 7.643. Morovich ran 173.36 and Rogers ran 173.38. Morovich’s quicker reaction time earned him the win.
B Gas: This was a 32 car field running on an 8.60 index. The finals found Tom Tourek in a ’67 Camaro next to Cliff Boyles in a ’76 Arrow. The end result was a double break-out. Tourek broke-out less with an ET of 8.592 to Boyles 8.577 and Tourek took the win. Tourek and Boyles at the line in the B Gas final.
C Gas: A 51 car field ran eliminations rounds in this 9.60 index class. After 5 elimination rounds Wayne Hoover and Justin Shears met in the finals – like A Gas this was a pair-up of Novas. Also like A Gas this was a close race. While Shears had a reaction time of .016 he didn’t leave the line first – Hoover had a perfect .000 reaction time. Hoover, below, took the win with an ET of 9.612 at 139.79 to Shears ET of 9.616 at 138.48. Good thing the electronics told us who won this race or it would have been a photo finish.
D Gas: This class had a 46 car field and ran on a 10.60 index. The ’68 Camaro of Jake Wood met the ’64 Fairlane of Dan Ficher. Wood left the line first with a reaction time of .043. Ficher was not far behind with a reaction time of .055. Woods won the race with an ET of 10.623 at 125.76 mph to Ficher’s ET of 10.619 at 124.25 mph.
Hot Rod: A dial-in class with a 104 car field, 6 rounds of elimination and the finals. In the finals No. 2 qualifier Joshua Wagner met Randy Agular, the No. 12 qualifier. Wagner in a Maverick on a 11.60 dial-in and Agular in a Malibu on a 9.78 dial-in. Wagner had a reaction time of .053 while Agular’s reaction time was .130. Wagner ran an ET of 11.636 on his 11.60 dial-in and Agular ran a 9.788 on his dial-in of 7.78. Wagner went across the finish line first to take the win. Joshua Wagner and his Hot Rod Maverick is shown below.
There were two rear-engine Top Fuel cars running this week-end one of which is campaigned by the same crew that runs Fighting Irish the Funny Car.
The Ridge Route Terrors Warren, Coburn and Miller Rain for Rent tribute car is shown below.
Below are a few of the ‘chute shots from the March Meet.
A lot of wheels up.
Purple Reign not only does great wheel stands 
but has some dandy mascots.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday the Grove was full of hot rods.
Here’s more photos from the Grove.
March Meet truly has something for everyone. Where else can you watch 4 days of racing, with 15 classes and 443 cars running elimination rounds, with winning speeds ranging from 112 mph to 270 mph, capped off by fire spewing 2 jet cars.
LATE NIGHT SUNDAY NITRO RESULTS – MORE RESULTS AND PHOTOS TOMORROW NIGHT
March Meet 2015 is over. Top Fuel ended with Tony Bartone winning in a fiery finish with Adam Sorokin (a photo of Bartone is below). The Funny Car final pitted the 2014 March Meet winner James Day in Pedaler against Steve Densham with Densham taking the win for March Meet 2015.
Dan Hix took home the trophy in Fuel Altered after Jeremy Sullivan didn’t make the final call.
More photos and an article on March Meet 2015 tomorrow night.
Saturday Recap
Top Fuel and Funny Cars ran elimination rounds today. After Round 2 the ladders for tomorrow will be:
Top Fuel: Bartone will have a bye; Wiliamson will meet Green; Dunlap will run off against Sorokin and Schutz will meet Murphy.
Funny Cars: Horan and Weaver will run off; Thompson will meet Day; Densham and Rupert are paired and Townsend will meet Krabill.
Both these classes will run semi-finals and finals tomorrow.
The ladder for the Fuel Altereds is set. Sullivan will meet Hix, Harter will sit next to Holtz; Padilla and Generalao will meet and Belt will meet Flournoy. Semi-finals and finals will be run tomorrow.
All classes will run eliminations tomorrow. Information and race results for the remaining classes was not available. Below are some of the photos from today’s racing.
The Grove was full of great cars today. A couple photos are below. We’ll have more on Monday evening.
Tomorrow promises some great racing in all classes.
Friday Recap
Today Group 1 (7.0 Pro, Jr. Fuel and A Fuel) and Group 2 (Hot Rod, D, C, B and A Gas and Nostalgia Eliminator I, II and III) completed qualifying and will start eliminations tomorrow. Funny Cars and Top Fuel will each have one more round of qualifying tomorrow and the first round of eliminations in Funny Cars will be held. Fuel Altereds and Rear Motor Top Fuel will both have one qualifying round tomorrow. Tomorrow night we’ll recap the day’s racing.
Qualifying Results on Friday:
D Gas: No. 1 qualifier is Don Fournier from Sunnyvalle, CA in a ’48 Anglia. Fournier ran an ET of 10.602 on an index of 10.60 and ran 124.76 mph. Top speed in the class was 134.23 set by Mike Rabener. This class had 46 cars.
C Gas: No. 1 qualifier is Dan Barrie from Lake Forest, CA in a ’62 Nova. C Gas runs on a 9.60 index. Barrie ran an ET of 9.603 traveling 138.13 mph. Top speed in this class was 148.64 mph set by Darrin Brown. This class fielded 49 cars.
B Gas: Tony Foti in a ’69 Camaro is the No. 1 qualifier in this 8.60 index class. Foti ran an ET of 8.604 at 153.60 mph. B Gas class had a 32 car field.
Steve Pullin in his B Gas ’69 Camaro
NE I: Bakersfield resident Jason Barta is the No. 1 qualifier with an ET of 7.60 on an index of 7.60. Barta ran 171.99 mph. Top speed of 183.21 mph was set by Ed Cook. This class had a field of 34 cars.
NE II: No. 1 qualifier is Jim Van Gordon from Alta Loma, CA in a ’27 Chevy running an ET of 8.605 on an index of 8.60. Van Gordon ran 148.35 mph. James Howe set top speed of 158.59 mph. This class had 36 cars.
Mike Beebe lifts the wheels of his NE II car
NE III: This is 9.60 index class and Lindsey Lister from San Pedro, CA is the No. 1 qualifier. Lister ran an ET of 9.613 going 135.29 mph. Top speed was set by Bill Wood at 151.77 mph. This class had an 18 car field.
A Fuel: No. 1 qualifier is Kin Bates with an ET of 6.162 at 229.94 mph. Bates set both top ET and Top Speed. This class had 11 cars.
Jr. Fuel: No. 1 qualifier is Scott Parks with an ET of 6.814 at 194.18 mph. Parks had both top ET and Top Speed. This was an 8 car field.
Funny Car: This field started with 31 cars. Dan Horan, Jr. sat in the No. 1 spot at the end of Friday. Horan ran an ET of 5.715 at 257.24 mph. These are the fastest and quickest times thus far. Horan’s Mustang is sporting a new paint job this season.
At the time this was posted, results from the last qualifying round of Top Fuel had not been made available. Going into the final round Tony Bartone was in the number 1 spot. Also the results from A Gas and 7.0 Pro had not been released. After the first round of qualifying Ray Padgett was in the No. 1 spot in A Gas.
Again today the Grove had a lot of hot rods. Tomorrow will be the big day with nearly 200 expected.
Thursday Recap
Today was testing for all cars and first round of qualifying for Hot Rod, A, B, C and D Gas and NE I, II, and III. 7.0, A fuel and Jr. Fuel also did some testing and had the first round of qualifying. No qualifying rounds for nitro cars, today was for testing.
Tony Bartone set the bar with a half-track run of 5.560 at 217 mph.
John Hale rolled his One Bad Texan funny car off the trailer and onto the track and ran an amazing 5.66.
About a dozen fuel altereds ran today. Jeremy Sullivan driving the Mike Sullivan Fiat made everyone take notice when he ran a 6.12 for 211 mph.
There will be a large field of funny cars running tomorrow. Dennis LaCharite’s Back in Black will be in the field.
Time trials start at 8:15 a.m. tomorrow and we’ll have race up-dates tomorrow evening after all classes have had qualifying rounds.
There were a lot of hot rods in the Grove today and tomorrow there will no doubt be a lot more.
James Day, 2014 March Meet Funny Car winner, beats Dan Horan Jr. to the finish line
The 57th March Meet is getting ready to open on March 5-8, 2015 at Famoso Raceway, Bakersfield, CA. As always, this March Meet will bring out the top nostalgia racers from around the world. Also as in past year’s the Midway will be filled with vendors and the Grove will be filled with hot rods. We’ll be updating the website every evening throughout the week-end, starting Thursday night and we’ll have a full article and photos posted on Monday night.
Here’s the event schedule:
Subject to change
Thursday, March 5
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 6
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
Rear Motor Top Fuel Session 1
5:30 PM….. Secure
Saturday, March 7
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
Rear Motor Top Fuel Session 2
……………………. Followed by Nost. Elim 1 Round 2 and 7.0 Pro Round 2
5:00 PM….. Secure
Sunday, March 8
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, Rear Motor Top Fuel
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: Rear Motor Top Fuel, Fuel Altereds, Top Fuel, Funny Car
5:00………… Secure Event
March Meet tickets can be ordered online at www.autoclubfamosoraceway.com.
Walk up tickets for the event will go on sale March 5, 2015 at the track. Single day ticket prices are $30 for Thurs., Mar. 5; $30 for Fri., Mar. 6; $35 for Sat., Mar. 7; and $35 for Sun., Mar. 8. Tickets for children ages 6-12 are $10 each day and kids 5 and under get in free when accompanied by an adult with paid admission.
Other prices include, camping: $125 for the event; VIP parking: $50 (good for the entire event); and VIP four-day Quarter Mile Courtyard seating: adults $165, children $105 (space is limited).
