NOSTALGIA FALL CHAMPIONSHIP – October 5-7, 2012, FAMOSO RACEWAY, Bakersfield, CA
Nostalgia Fall Championship is the Heritage Series finals for Group 1 and Group 2 and this week-end there was no “bake” in Bakersfield. The weather was picture perfect and the racing couldn’t have been better. The race ran smoothly with few delays, no crashes and everyone had fun.
Brian Rogers B Gas winner
Gates opened on Friday for test and tune and many of the racers took advantage of the track time. Saturday morning the qualifying rounds started at 9:00 a.m. and continued until about 4:30 p.m. Between classes there was time for a few cars that were testing all week-end, a few drivers making licensing passes and AA/FC Nitro Angel ran all week-end. Dan Horan, Jr., the winner of the last Nitro Night held at Famoso in September, did some testing on Saturday in his AA/FC.
Nitro Angel doing some testing
Don Abernathy making a licensing run
Below are some of the cars running last week-end. To see dozens of other photos go to our SmugMug site. www.timingtower.smugmug.com
Sunday morning eliminations started at 9:00 a.m.
Group 1:
A Fuel: Pole sitter Kin Bates dominated the class with both low ET, 6.347 and top speed, 222.29. Bates won the final round after the #2 qualifier, Darrell Waters, broke. Dean Adams tunes the nitro-injected Air Force car which took home the Wally for both the event and the series. This was the 5th consecutive Heritage Series win for Bates and his crew.
Jr. Fuel: J.D. Zink, the #3 qualifier squared off against Tim Beeman the #4 qualifier with Zink taking the win. Beeman’s .024 reaction time gave him a head start over Zink’s .070 reaction time. Beeman was faster at 180.81 mph to Zink’s 173.52 but Zink was quicker with an ET of 7.145 to Beeman’s 7.267. Bud Hammer the #1 qualifier broke in Round 1 of eliminations. While Zink won the event, Don Enriquez maintained his points lead and won the Heritage Series in Jr. Fuel.
7.0 Pro: This class runs on a 7.0 index. The #1 qualifier Bobby Cottrell from Whittier, CA was the event winner with an ET of 7.013 travelling 177.79 mph. Cottrell met Richard High in the final round. High left Cottrell at the line with a reaction time of .076 but Cottrell had the horsepower and got to the finish line first. Although he lost the event, Richard High was the 7.0 Pro Heritage Series winner.
Group 2:
A Gas: Keith Morovich and his Chevy powered ’67 Chevy II and challenger Dean Hall in a Donovan powered ’63 Corvette put on a show for the fans ending in a break-out by Hall. Morovich had an ET of 7.606 @ 178.87 mph. The #1 qualifier Ray Padgett was eliminated in Round 2. Going in to this race, Dean Hall was tied for first in the points and ended the day winning the points chase and taking home the Heritage Series Wally.
B Gas: Brian Rogers was the #1 qualifier in his ’67 Nova with a 565 ci Chevy engine and won the event and his 2nd consecutive Heritage Series. Rogers beat out Brandon Stalnaker to move to the final round where he faced off with #2 qualifier Leonard Perry. While Rogers left the line behind Perry, he made the run to the finish line in 8.647 sec. while Perry required 8.682 sec. to cross the line.
C Gas: #4 qualifier Wes Anderson and #10 qualifier Wayne Hoover were evenly matched when they met in the final round. Anderson and Hoover left the line together with reaction times of 0.24. Anderson crossed the finish line with an ET of 9.611 while Hoover hit the stripe with an ET of 9.641 Anderson hit 140.07 mph and Hoover 139.27 mph. Anderson was driving a ’65 Corvette with a 454 ci Chevy motor while Hoover drove a ’67 Nova SS with a 565 ci Chevy motor. Anderson took out Mike Williams, the Heritage Series C gas point winner, in Round 1, Larry Burnitzki in Round 2 and Tom Fowler in Round 3. Mike Williams lost this week-end but he won the points chase taking home the Wally for the Series.
D Gas: Steve Barta stayed on top all week-end and bested Ed Carey in the final round. In a double break-out, Barta in a ’62 Nova ran an ET of 10.589 to Carey’s ET of 10.575 to win the event Wally. Barta beat Josh Conrad, the 2011 Series winner, in Round 3 to go to the finals. Larry Cordone the #1 qualifier went out in Round 2. Despite losing this race, Carey won the D Gas Heritage Series.
Nostalgia Eliminator I: Alan Hull survived four rounds of eliminations to take home the Wally in NEI. Hull sat next to #1 qualifier Hans Jakob at the line in the final round and took the hole shot with a light of .031 to Jakob’s .165. Even leaving late Jakob beat Hull to the finish but broke out with an ET of 7.597. Hull took out Tony Wimer, the Series points leader, in Round 1 on a double break-out; prevailed in Round 2 over Jimmy Morosan when Morosan broke out, and advanced from Round 3 to the finals when Jason Barta broke-out. Wimer ended the day as points leader for the Series.
Nostalgia Eliminator II: Cecil Molina, Jr., the 2011 Heritage Series winner, was the winner of both the event and the Series. In the final round Molina and his ’23 T Altered had a near perfect reaction time of .007 beating Jim Van Gordon’s ’27 Roadster. Molina fought his way to the win by besting Ryan Tietz in Round 1, Jeff Crider in Round 2, Rick Nordness in Round 3 and Van Gorden in the Finals. Molina repeated his 2011 Heritage Series win and took home the Wally again.
Nostalgia Eliminator III: #5 qualifier Ernie McAllister ran past #6 Lindsey Lister in Round 3 to get to the final round of Nostalgia Eliminator III. In the finals John Cassie broke out giving McAllister the win. McAllister drove his ’27 Ford to an ET of 9.605 @ 137.32 mph. No 1 qualifier Max Cassie went out in Round 2 when McAllister prevailed after a double break-out.
Hot Rod: Kurt Kaemerle ran the ladder and came out on top in a huge field of Hot Rods. Kaemerle with a reaction time of .017, an ET of 10.168 @ 129.18 mph beat Paul Comeau’s ’39 Chevy. Comeau had a reaction time of .027, an ET of 9.372 @ 142.61 mph. Kaemerle took the event Wally while Comeau went home with the Heritage Series Wally.
In addition to racing in the classes, licensing runs, funny car runs, and test runs the track hosted a Nostalgia Gambler Race. Alan Ross in a ’65 Mustang ran through all contenders to win and took home $170. Each semi-final winner took home $45. This gave a lot of racers who had been eliminated from final round participation a chance to keep racing.
Many of the cars that raced this week-end will be back to Famoso for Hot Rod Reunion starting Oct. 19. Although all of the Heritage Series finals have been completed, A Fuel, Jr. Fuel, 7.0 Pro NE I and A Gas will compete at Hot Rod Reunion but not for points. Hot Rod Reunion is the Heritage Series Finals for Top Fuel and Funny Car. Adam Sorokin is the current Top Fuel points leader and Jason Ruppert, the 2011 Heritage Series Funny Car winner, again sits atop the points list.
Next up – Hot Rod Reunion
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