Saturday Night Nitro – Timing Tower

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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SATURDAY NIGHT NITRO – SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

admin — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 22:42:37 +0000

CALIFORNIA HUSTLER WINS SATURDAY NIGHT NITRO – September 19, 2015 at Famoso Raceway. Famoso Raceway, north of Bakersfield, California was a busy place this week-end. Saturday during the day the fuel cars were testing and getting ready for Saturday Night Nitro. In addition, NHRA Heritage Series racers ran qualifying in classes NE I, NE II, NE III, A, B, C, D, Gas and Hot Rod, and Fun Ford Week-end ran qualifying in classes, Quick Ford, Fast Ford and Street Ford. At 6:30 Saturday night the funny cars lined up to parade down the return lane prior to the start of racing. 16 Funny Cars, 6 Fuel Altereds and 5 Top Fuel cars ran two sessions each. The first session all 16 funny cars ran with the quickest 8 returning for the finals. Likewise all 6 fuel altereds ran, and the quickest 4 returned for the final. The top fuel final was a match up of the 2 quickest cars. AND THE AA/FA WINNER IS – CORY LEE IN CALIFORNIA HUSTLER ROUND 1 – FUNNY CARS First to the line were Mendy Frye in Darkside and Alex Miladinovich in Hot for Teacher. Frye ran an ET of 5.909 at a speed of 213.81 mph while Miladinovich turned in an ET of 6.044 at 229.47 mph. Both returned for the final round qualifying in the No. 3 and 5 positions respectively. Next Dean Olberg in Holy Toledo met Dennis Swearingen. Holy Toledo, a ’67 Jeep, crossed the finish line first with an ET of 6.273 at 220.33 mph. Swearingen ran an ET of 6.642 at 217.53. Holy Toledo qualified at No. 7 to earn a spot in the final 8. Jack Wright met Burnin’ Money driven by Bob Godfrey. Wright turned in an ET of 6.704 at 214.11 mph. Godfrey had trouble and finished with an ET of 10.784. Richard Townsend’s Nitroholic ran against Marcus Lawson. Lawson backed away from the start line but Nitroholic qualified No. 1 with an ET of 5.807 at 248.71 and returned for the final round. California Hustler now piloted by Cory Lee met Quarter Pounder driven by Pete Peterson. Lee took the win light with an ET of 6.031 at 248.84 with Peterson turning in a 6.050 ET at 231.71 mph. Both returned to the final round. The Pedaler and Jailbreak were the next pair. James Day in Pedaler ran 246.03 mph with an ET of 6.654 and Brad Thompson in Jailbreak had a disappointing ET of 13.37 at 77.91 mph. Dan Horan, once again showing the red, white and blue on his Mustang, met John Weaver in Dream Weaver. Horan turned in an ET of 5.824 at 246.89 mph while Weaver ran an ET of 6.30 at 187.68 mph. Marcus Lawson ran a single pass, backfired and the top end and turned in a 7.475 ET at 143.8 mph. THE FUNNY CAR FINALS The final 8 were: Richard Townsend in Nitroholic, Mendy Frye in Darkside, Cory Lee in California Hustler, Alex Miladinovich in Hot for Teacher, Pete Peterson in Quarter Pounder, Dean Oberg in Holy Toledo, Don Hudson and Jack Wright. The first pair in the finals were Cory Lee in California Hustler and Alex Miladinovich in Hot for Teacher. Lee got off the line with a reaction time of .068 and reached the top end with an ET of 5.893 at 249.30 mp Miladinovich was slow off the line with a reaction time of .150 and ran an ET of 5.988 at 206.70 mph. Next Pete Peterson in Quarter Pounder sat next to Mendy Frye in Darkside. Peterson crossed the finish line first with an ET of 6.108 at 226.01 mph with Frye following with an ET of 6.936 at 145.13 mph. The third pairing was Don Hudson and Dean Oberg. Oberg and Holy Toledo didn’t make the call and Hudson ran a single. He ran 229.55 mph with an ET of 6.298. Finally Richard Townsend in Nitroholic met Jack Wright. Wright broke and Townsend ran an ET of 6.026 at 213.77. Cory Lee was both fastest and quickest in the finals and took home the money. FUEL ALTEREDS Six Altereds ran Saturday night. Lil’ Nate Bugg was out with a ’23 Ford, Dan Hix with a ’34 Chevy, Jeff Utterback in a ’48 Anglia, Jim Holtz in a ’34 Ford, James Valencia in a ‘23 Ford and James Generalao Jr. in a ’23 Ford. The final runs were made by James Generalao, Jr in Impatient and Jeff Utterback in Black Sunshine Impatient got to the end of the track first with an ET of 6.101 at 227.61. Utterback ran an ET of 6.336 at 191.35. The second run was made by Dan Hix, in Heatseeker. He ran a single with an ET of 6.169 at 156.30. James Generalao, Jr. was the winner of the finals. TOP FUEL Five top fuel cars ran – Bill Dunlap in High Speed, Jim Murphy in WWII, Rick White in the Neal & White car, Adam Sorokin in the Champion Speed Shop car and Rick McGee. The final round pitted Bill Dunlap against Rick White and Dunlap came out on top with an ET of 5.754 at 240.34 to White’s ET of 5.734 at 247.88. Check our Images for sale on Nostalgia Fall Championship ran this week-end also. Saturday was qualifying with elimination rounds held on Sunday. This week-end was the final race of the Heritage Series for NE I, NE II, NE III, A/Gas, B/Gas, C/Gas, D/Gas and Hot Rod. Below are some of the cars racing this week-end. NE I is a 7.60 index class. Joey Trotsky was the No. 1 qualifier In this 13 car field and finished the race in the No. 1 spot. In the final round, Trotsky in a ’32 Bantam met Denise Gilbert in a ’37 Topolino. Gilbert went red at the light and Trotsky finished with a 7.606 ET at 177.88 mph to take home the trophy for the race. Jason Barta captured the Heritage Series trophy. Eighteen racers came to race […]

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ROGER GARTEN SUCCUMBS TO CRASH INJURIES, JUNE 27, 2015

admin — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 02:53:32 +0000

It is with heavy hearts that we report that Roger Garten, driver of AA/FC Warhorse, passed away from injuries received at the Saturday Night Nitro, June 27, at Famoso Raceway. Garten was involved in a horrific accident about three-quarters of the way down the track during the finals of Saturday Night Nitro. Our thoughts are with Roger’s family and crew. Roger will be missed.

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SATURDAY NIGHT NITRO/NOSTALGIA FALL/FUN FORD, Sept. 5-7, 2014

admin — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 18:41:37 +0000

SATURDAY NIGHT NITRO/NOSTALGIA FALL CHAMPIONSHIPS/FUN FORD WEEK-END Mix together 4 parts nitromethane, 2 parts alcohol and 6 parts race gas. Stir rapidly for 5 to 13 seconds. Sizzle on a hot race track for three days. This was the recipe for a very successful Saturday Night Nitro/ Nostalgia Fall Championships/Fun Ford Weekend at Famoso Raceway September 5-7. The week-end started on Friday with test sessions that provided a glimpse of what was to come. Hot rods and fuel cars made passes throughout the day. Funny cars were getting ready for Saturday Night Nitro and top fuel cars were sorting things out in anticipation of the upcoming Hot Rod Reunion. Everything from Hot Rods to A Gassers were getting ready for the racing that was to start on Saturday. The fuel cars continued testing throughout the day on Saturday. Among the top fuel cars that were testing were Neal and White, Adam Sorokin, High Speed, Circuit Breaker, and Forever Young. Saturday morning the first round of qualifying started at 9:30 for the Heritage Series and Ford racers and the racing action was continuous until midnight when Dan Horan, Jr. and Jack Wright crossed the finish line during Saturday Night Nitro finals. Then came the jet cars which lit up the night with a smoky fiery run to close Saturday Night Nitro. Sunday morning started with elimination rounds for the Nostaglia Fall Championship and Fun Ford racers. Racing ended about 3:00 Sunday afternoon when Chris Beanes and Ray Padgett met at the line to determine the A Gas winner. This was the final points race for the Group 2 Heritage Series racers and both series winners and race winners were crowned at the awards ceremony. Three classes of Fords raced and received trophies, Fast Ford SP, Quick Ford Pro and Street Ford DOT. Fords decorated the grove all day Sunday for an all Ford car show. As an extra bonus anyone driving a Ford got free admission to Famoso on Sunday. SATURDAY NIGHT NITRO This was the second Saturday Night Nitro at Famoso and the 4th and final race of the Boise-Bakersfield Blitz run in conjunction with Saturday Night Nitro. James Day in Pedaler was on hand attempting to duplicate his win from the first Saturday Night Nitro – but it was not to be. Fourteen funny cars turned out Saturday night for qualifying and the eight quickest returned for the finals. It was a warm night and the stands were full as Fighting Irish paired with Thunderstuck for the first match-up. Fighting Irish took the win but didn’t make the 8-car cut. Next up Alex Miladinovich in Hot for Teacher met Rian Konno in the Kazanjian Lemon & Konno car. Konno assured his place in the final 8 with an ET of 5.97 and Miladinovich earned his spot in the finals with an ET of 6.65. Then Holy Toledo driven by Dean Oberg and Danny Gerber in the Gerber Family Racing car were at the line. Holy Toledo ran a blistering 5.91 ET and returned for the final 8. With an ET of 8.82 Gerber didn’t make the cut. James Day in Pedaler sat at the line next to Jack Wright in Joker. Day with an ET of 5.75 and Wright with an ET of 6.33 both returned for the finals. The Crusher piloted by Todd Paton and Brad Thompson in Jailbreak were next up. Thompson shut down giving Crusher a single run. Paton ran a 5.96 ET for a spot in the final 8. The next pair was Roger Garten in War Horse and Dale VanGundy in Quarter Pounder; both were disqualified – War Horse when Garten crossed the center line and Quarter Pounder when VanGundy tagged the wall at the top end. Then Don Hudson in Beachcomer and Bob Godfrey in Burnin’ Money sat side-by-side. Only Burnin’ Money earned a spot in the final 8 with an ET of 6.28. The last pair was Dan Horan, Jr. in his Patriot Mustang and Robert Overholser in California Hustler. Horan streaked down the track with an ET of 5.81 and rounded out the final 8. Overholser was disqualified. The final eight – James Day, Dan Horan, Jr., Dean Oberg, Todd Paton, Rian Konno, Bob Godfrey, Jack Wright and Alex Miladinovich. The final round started at 10:30 p.m. with Paton and Konno first up. Paton shut down at the line and Konno ran a single with an ET of 6.93 at 179.83 mph. Holy Toledo driven by Dean Oberg took the line next to Bob Godfrey’s Burnin’ Money. Holy Toledo was the only car in the final eight to run in the five’s with an ET of 5.96. James Day in Pedaler and Alex Miladinovch in Hot for Teacher pulled to the line. Day had a tough run with an ET of only 10.83 but Miladinovich had the night’s 2nd quickest ET of 6.11. Last at the line were Dan Horan, Jr. and Jack Wright in the Joker. Wright was the first to the finish line with an ET of 6.13 with Horan trailing with an ET of 6.19. DEAN OBERG IN HOLY TOLEDO was the quickest, ET 5.96 and was the winner of Saturday Night Nitro. and Horan, Jr. ended the night as the Boise-Bakersfield Blitz winner. A couple of fuel altereds were also running. Witch Doctor, always a crowd favorite with his enormous flames. Saturday night Keith Wilson drove Witch Doctor to an ET of 5.82 at an astounding 250.82 mph. Pure Heaven took the line and did a burnout but he seemed to be having front suspension trouble and shut down. Boudakian Racing ran a fuel altered down the track. An alcohol burning altered Lil’ Nasty was also running. NOSTALGIA FALL CHAMPIONSHIPS NHRA Heritage Series Group 2 racers ran their final points series race this week-end. Group 2 includes Hot Rod, NE 1, NE2, NE 3, A Gas, B Gas, C Gas, and D Gas. Gates opened at 9:30 both Sat. and Sunday. HOT ROD: At the end of qualifying on Saturday, Jim Ringo in a ‘32 Ford was in the No. 1 spot but went out in the 2nd round of 4 elimination rounds. At the end of the day, the No. 7 qualifier Larry Cordone in […]

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