March Meet – Timing Tower https://www.timingtower.com Hot Rod and Racing News Tue, 17 Sep 2024 03:04:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.26 32289303 The 56th ANNUAL MARCH MEET 2014 https://www.timingtower.com/march-meet-2014/ https://www.timingtower.com/march-meet-2014/#respond Fri, 07 Mar 2014 01:51:40 +0000 http://www.timingtower.com/?p=3736 The inaugural 1959 March Meet was uniquely able to attract a racer from outside California pulling in a young Don Garlits from Florida.  March Meet has grown to become a worldwide attraction as the 56th version hosted teams from New Zealand, Norway, and Canada as well as from several mid-western and eastern states in the U.S. March Meet is an all inclusive race with teams racing in 15 classes from Hot Rod to Top Fuel.  No matter your preference in drag racing, March Meet is the place to be whether you are a fan or a racer.  This year two new classes were added – Fuel Altered and 6.9 Door Slammer.  Fuel Altered ran on a 6.0 index with top speeds in the 220 range.  The 6.9 Door Slammers ran on a 6.90 index hitting speeds of 200 mph. The addition of these two classes allowed more racers to compete.  In past years the Fuel Altered cars mostly ran exhibition.  It was exciting to see both the ‘new’ AA/FA cars and the ‘old’ AA/FA cars on the track.   The first round of eliminations found two ‘old’ Altereds Mike Boyd in Mousie Marcellus’ Winged Express and Ron August, Jr. in Rich Guasco’s Pure Hell sitting side-by-side.  The second round of AA/FA found an ‘old’, Pure Hell, next to a ‘new’, Mike Sullivan ’48 Fiat which debuted in 2013.  Below are some of the Fuel Altereds that ran this week-end.                     The four-day format for March Meet provided ample time to get the hundreds of racers through qualifying which was held on Thursday and Friday and eliminations which started on Saturday with all final elimination rounds held on Sunday.  This was a very well organized event, and with no major delays the racing pretty much ran on schedule throughout the week-end. The final elimination rounds of the fuel cars were scheduled to start at 4:15 pm on Sunday – and they did. With no accidents and no oil downs the track was secured around 5:00 pm and the awards ceremony followed. The Final Rounds: Top Fuel – No. 1 qualifier,Tony Bartone, and No. 2 qualilfier, Rick White, met in the finals.  Bartone turned in both low ET, 5.623, and Top Speed, 262.13 this week-end.  The final race was won at the start line.  Bartone had a reaction time of .090 to White’s .185 – a difference of .095. At the finish line Bartone’s ET of 5.623 was .092 quicker than White’s 5.715.  Bartone finished traveling 262.13 mph and White crossed the line going 252.52 mph. Funny Car – On Friday, 27 funny cars ran qualifying narrowing the field to 16.  No. 1 qualifier, Dan Horan, Jr. in his Patriot Mustang ran the ladder and went to the finals against  No. 10 qualifier, James Day in The Pedaler.  Day made his way to the finals after meeting No. 2 qualifier Steve Densham who broke at the line in the Round 2 of eliminations.  In Round 3 of eliminations Day met Peter Gallen.  Gallen went red sending Day to the finals.  In the final round Day tripped the light with a reaction time of .043 while Horan went through the starting lights with a reaction time of .200.  Horan chased Day to the finish but couldn’t catch up.  Horan’s delay at the start line was calamitous as he ran faster and quicker than Day, but Day went across the line at the top end first.  Day had an ET of 5.883 at 228.31 mph to Horan’s ET of 5.726 at 255.19. Fuel Altered – The finals in this class was between Dan Hix and Jeremy Sullivan with Hix taking the win.  Hix beat Keith Wilson in the Witch Doctor in Round 2 while Sullivan bested Ron August, Jr. in Pure Hell.  Sullivan left the line first with a reaction time of .214 to Hix’ .240 reaction time.  Although Sullivan ran 220.55 mph to Hix’ 206.16 mph, Hix had a quicker run with an ET of 6.115 to Sullivan’s 6.210. A Fuel – The final contest was between Ryan Davenport and Kin Bates with Davenport coming out the winner.  Bates had a bye round going into the finals while Davenport beat out Shawn Cobari.  In the finals Davenport, the No. 1 qualifier had a reaction time of .010 to No. 2 qualifier, Bates’ time of .042. With an ET of 6.196 at 218.55 mph, Davenport was quicker and faster than Bates’ who had an ET of 7.282 at 207.21 mph.   Jr. Fuel – Because of the varying specifications of the cars, this class is now running on a dial-in.  Don Enriquez, Wayne Ramay and Mike Chrisman went to the line for the second round of eliminations with Enriquez getting the bye.  In the semi-finals, Ramay prevailed getting the hole shot on Chrisman.  The final round found Ramay sitting next to Enriquez.  Ramay ran on a dial-in of 6.98 and Enriquez had a dial-in of 7.20.  Ramay took the win when Enriquez went red. 7.0 Pro – Richard High met Brad Denney in the final round.  High qualified at No. 5 and Denney at No. 10.  After four elimination rounds High took the win when Denney jumped the light at the start.  High had a .054 reaction time, ran an ET of 7.147 and had a top speed of 159.59 mph. 6.90 Door Slammer – The final round of this new class was a dual between two ’69 Camaros.  The contest was between Tony Jurado and Jerry Jahnsen.  Jurado with a reaction time of .030 beat Jahnsen off the line.  But Jahnsen soon narrowed the lead and took the win with an ET of 7.061 at 173.34 mph.  This was a close race as Jurado finished with an ET of 7.175 at 194.02.   Nostalgia Eliminator I – Bill Webber won his match-up with Alan Hull in one of the closest races of the day. This is a 7.60 index class and Webber ran an ET of 7.553 at 169.42 mph while Hull had an ET of 7.545 at 169.85.  Webber was first off the line with a reaction time of .028 to Hull’s .041.  […]

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