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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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MARCH MEET, FAMOSO RACEWAY, BAKERSFIELD, CA

admin — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 07:19:27 +0000

MARCH MEET 2017, FAMOSO RACEWAY After being rained out on Sunday, the 2017 March Meet continued on Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. As usual the Hot Rod class led the way. We do not have results from A Fuel and Jr. Fuel final eliminations. When the information is available it will be posed. Top Fuel – Mendy Fry in High Speed went to the winner’s circle. Fry ran an ET of 5.59 at 252.66 mph. Murphy shut down after his burn-out giving Fry the win. Funny Car – Kris Krabill in the Bucky Austin car met Ryan Hogdson in Pacemaker in the finals. Pacemaker ran an ET of 5.60 at 259.91 mph to win the race. Krabill’s car caught fire at the finish line. Although Krabill is unhurt, the same cannot be said for the car. Both cars in this race were pro-mod style ’69 Camaros. Fuel Altered – The Tramp driven by Bryan Hall met James Generalao in Impatient. Hall crossed the finish line first, running both quicker and faster than Generalao. Hall ran an ET of 6.60 at 214.45 mph while Generalao ran an ET of 6.43 at 189.42 mph. A Fuel – Kin Bates was to meet John Harless in the final round; however, neither could stay until Monday and the final round didn’t take place. Jr. Fuel – no info available. Rear Engine Top Fuel – Mike’s Transmission dragster driven by Mike Halstead met Jim Maroney in the final round. Maroney drove a Candies & Hughes dragster. Halstead ran an ET of 6.04 at 229.43 to take the win. Maroney ran an ET of 7.29 at 135.61. 7.0 Pro – Todd Elington in a ’23 Ford took the win over Mark Hall in the Hall Bros. ’23 Ford. Elington hit the index with a ET of 7.0 at 189.23 mph. Mark Hall ran an ET of 7.26 at 144.61 mph. A Gas – Steve Galileo in a ’63 Corvette met Mike Mossi’s Camaro in the finals. Mossi took the win with an ET of 7.60 at 169.04 mph. Galileo ran too fast and broke out with an ET of 7.57 in this 7.60 index class. B Gas – no info available. C Gas – Chris Rea in a ’64 Chevy II ran against the ’58 Austin driven by Gary Lynch. Lynch broke out with an ET of 9.56 and Rea took the win with an ET of 9.53 at 139.07 mph. D Gas – Ed Carey in his ’71 Camaro ran against the ’67 Camaro of Mike Rabener. After a double break out Carey took home the trophy. Carey ran an ET of 10.56 and Rabener ran an ET of 10.54. Hot Rod – The ’46 Plymouth of Justin Crosby ran against the Ford Maverick of Josh Wagner. Crosby ran an ET of 10.74 on a 10.62 dial-in at 124.35 mph and Wagner broke out running 11.53 on an 11.60 dial-in. Crosby took the win. NE I – In the final elimination round Dan Martin in a ’23 Ford ran against Dan Schrokosch in an ’89 Tuttle dragster. Unfortunately Martin’s car wasn’t running right and he ran an ET of 9.48 while Schrokosch won the trophy when he ran an ET of 7.78 at 153.63 mph. NE II – Todd Fernandez in a ’32 Bantam met Danny See ina ’23 Ford roadster in the final round. See went red at the start and Fernandez took the win running an ET of 8.58 at 153.97 mph. NE III – A ’63 Corvette driven by Ed DeStaute ran against Rob Kold in a ’23 Ford. After a double break-out DeStaute took the win running an ET of 9.52 at 139.99 mph. All of the photos shown in this article are available on our SmugMug site and all photos are available for purchase. There were 10 top fuel cars running at the March Meet. Below are some of them. There were 27 Funny Cars at the show. Below are Funny Cars at the top end. Funny Cars at the start line. Fuel Altereds were there too. The Gassers and the Hot Rods were out in force. Did you ever wonder about the best place to watch a drag race? These two found it!! There were a lot of nice cars in the Grove on Saturday and Ian found a nice one to pose with. One particularly interesting vehicle was a 1948 REO pick-up. The well-deserved trophy won by the REO was “Best of the ’40’s”. Here are several more cars in the Grove – And still more – Racing on Monday went until about 1:30 p.m. and then the March Meet for 2017 was over. Although the March Meet was plagued by bad weather – it was great and we look forward to next March. All of the photos shown in this article are available on our SmugMug site and all photos are available for purchase. SUNDAY RECAP Racing didn’t go as planned today. It was raining at Famoso Raceway at 9:00 a.m. when the first rounds of racing were due to start. Hot rod class, which was scheduled to run first, didn’t get to the lanes until 1:00 p.m. Once the cars started going down the track, the race went fairly smoothly until early evening when the stormy weather returned. Rain, hail, and falling temperatures, brought racing to halt for the day postponing the 2017 March Meet until Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. The final rounds in some classes have been set: Top Fuel – Jim Murphy in WW2 will meet Mendy Fry in High Speed. Murphy ran an ET of 5.63 at 244.92 mph to earn a spot in the finals. Fry ran an ET of 5.78 at 220.76 mph to advance to the finals. Funny Car – Kris Krabill, running an ET of 5.74 at 244.47 mph, took out Jason Rupert to advance to the finals. and Pacemaker driven by Ryan Hogdson put Mike McIntire’s McAttack on the trailer. Hogdson ran an 5.71 ET at 251.06 […]

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SATURDAY NIGHT NITRO, HERITAGE SERIES, FUN FORD AND MEGA MOPAR SEPT. 16-18, 2016

admin — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 17:37:00 +0000

Despite the upper 90’s temperatures in Bakersfield during the day, when the sun set the fans poured into Famoso to watch Saturday Night Nitro. As always flame-shooting cars under the lights attract attention. Below Jeremy Sullivan in the Mike Sullivan Fiat shoots smoke and flames during his burnout. This year Saturday Night Nitro had a new format. Rather than funny cars staging next to funny cars, all 28 fuel cars (top fuel, funny cars and altereds) raced in one big class. Many times throughout the evening a funny car sat at the line next to a fuel altered. Another change was the imposition of a 6.0 index. Typically the fuel cars run heads-up. As in the past the eight quickest cars from round one return for round two and the quickest car in round two is the overall winner. FUEL CARS FINAL ROUND – SATURDAY NIGHT NITRO First up Fighting Irish met Trouble Maker. Rick Rogers seemed to have some handling problems with the Fighting Irish, and after running an ET of 6.04 in the first round, ran a 6.26 in the finals. Jim Holtz in Trouble Maker had his own problems and ran an ET of 7.08. Hot For Teacher driven by Alex Miladinovich was at the line next to Quarter Pounder with Geoff Monise behind the butterflies. Miladnovich’s ET of 5.88 was too fast for the 6.0 index giving Quarter Pounder the win with an ET of 6.05. Jeremy Sullivan in the Mike Sullivan Fiat altered met Gary Turner’s Pedaler. Sullivan turned in a 6.07 ET while Pedaler turned in a disappointing 10.48. The final pair was the Keith Wilson’s altered Witch Doctor and Smokey’s Darkside driven by Mendy Frye. Wilson ran an ET of 6.48 to Frye’s 6.29. At the end of the finals, Van Gundy and Clark’s Quarter Pounder with an ET of 6.05 was the winner of Saturday Night Nitro. After the finals of Saturday Night Nitro two nitro bikes ran down the track at 170+ mph and Jim Reed ran the Choo Choo Mama down the lanes. Many of the cars that ran Saturday night, were running throughout the day on Friday and Saturday. Between the two rounds of Saturday Night Nitro, Heritage Series cars continued with elimination rounds of the first of the two complete races taking place this week-end. NHRA Heritage Series, Fun Ford and Mega Mopar series events all took place this week-end. Heritage Series ran two complete races this week-end. Saturday’s race was a make-up for a rain-out, and Sunday’s was the season final for Group 2 cars. Group 2 consists of NE1, 2 and 3, A, B, C, D Gas and Hot Rods. HERITAGE SERIES – SATURDAY – FINALS NE 1 – The final pitted Dale Taros against Sabrina Capps. In this 7.60 index race Taros took the win running an ET of 7.693 at 162.43 mph while Capps broke out with a 7.565. NE 2 – The index for this class is 8.60. In the final round Charlie See ran an ET of 8.608 at 153.94 mph. Terry Linblad turned the light red and See took home the trophy. NE 3 – Lindsey Lister met Ron Anzalone in the finals. NE 3 runs on a 9.6 index. Lister broke out with a ET of 9.550 but Anzalone went red at the start giving Lister the win. A Gas – After this 18 car field was reduced to two, Brian Rogers and Brendon Frye met at the line. Rogers was first off the line with a reaction time of .008 while Frye’s reaction was .033. Although Frye ran quicker and faster than Rogers, Rogers crossed the finish line first with an ET of 7.632 at 171.90. B Gas – Neal Westbrook in a ’68 Camaro won the final race of this 8.60 index class with a reaction time of .120 and an ET of 9.97 when Jim Stewart in a ’66 Chev Nova broke out running 8.596. C Gas – Mark Capps and Brian Smith met at the line in the finals. Smith left first with a reaction time of .004 but Capps caught up before the finish line and turned in an ET of 9.610 to take the win. D Gas – This class runs on a 10.6 index. Mike Williams in a ’67 Nova ran quicker and faster than Steve Barta in his ’62 Nova. Williams ran an ET of 10.633 at 127.67 mph. Ed Carey the No. 1 qualifier and points leader fell to Mike Williams in the semi-finals. Hot Rod – This is a dial-in class. Dustin Lee in his ’53 Ford Ranch Wagon ran 11.753 on an 11.70 dial-in to beat the No. 1 qualifier Jay Waxler in a ’70 Plymouth Duster. Waxler ran 9.492 on a dial-in of 9.53. HERITAGE SERIES – SUNDAY – SEASON FINALS NE 1 – Dale Taros repeated his Saturday performance and advanced to the final rounds to take home the trophy. Taros met Steve Schoenfeld in the Sunday finals and took the win with an ET of 7.863 at 134.03. Schoenfeld had a ET of 8.068 at 124.53. NE 2 – Like NE 1, the winner of NE 2, Charlie See was a repeat winner. In the finals See met Dave Lawson at the line. See ran an ET of 8.626 while Lawson broke out with an ET of 8.586. NE 3 – Wes Anderson and Wes Morris met in the finals. Anderson’s reaction time of .005 won him the race. Morris had a reaction time of .046. Anderson ran an ET of 9.638 at 135.50 and Morris had an ET of 9.604 at 134.35. A Gas – The Homewrecker IV with Frank Merenda at the wheel took the win over Chris Beanes’ Henry J. Again the reaction time was key. Merenda’s reaction time was .006 while Beanes’ was .061. Merenda had an ET of 7.663 at 169.27 and Beanes had an ET of 7.658 at 178.64. This win put Merenda No. 1 in points for […]

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