Bakersfield,
CA - March 01-04, 2012:
The 54th edition
of the fabled March Meet truly offered a mixed bag of weather
and racing. The temps on Thursday (50's) morphed into the mid
80's by Sunday. This made for some tough tuning decisions and
a couple of nasty crashes. Saturday offered perfect weather with
a full day of racing to a record crowd. Gas prices be damned,
the crowds everyday were the best ever. Just what the Bowser's
needed.
The most glaring
negative aspect of the race (and there were very few) had to
be the time consuming oil downs in both N/TF and N/FC classes
in the first round. There are few things that can blunt the tone
of a race and downtime is on the top of the list. Something must
be done to greatly reduce the problem and there are already some
good ideas on the table... including some harsh ones. Plus I'm
sure that the outstanding Famoso Safety Safari and track staff
will tell you that cleaning the track a dozen times is very hard
on the body/mind/budget.
Then there was
the races that did go on without engine trauma and they were
exceptional right down to the TF final which was the closest
race of the weekend. Jim Young nipped Rick White with a 5.68
at 248.98 to a 5.69 at 258.67. * White was ultimately disqualified
for a fuel pump infraction.
“It doesn't
get better than this,” said the 31-year-old Young, who was
a big underdog to White. “You’ve got to beat the best
to be the best, and Rick White is the best. I wanted to race
him all week. I heard him coming but wasn’t listening.”
“What a
great ending to an amazing four days of racing,” said Blake
Bowser, vice president and general manager of the Kern County
Racing Association, operators of Auto Club Famoso and producers
of the March Meet. “Everything was perfect for the fans
– the weather, the competition, everything. This is what
nostalgia drag racing is all about.”
Bowser said approximately
500 cars competed in 13 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series classes,
including Nostalgia Top Fuel, Nostalgia Funny Car, A/Fuel, Jr.
Fuel, 7.0 Pro, Nostalgia Eliminator-I, Nostalgia Eliminator-II,
Nostalgia Eliminator -III, A/Gas, B/Gas, C/Gas, D/Gas and Hot
Rod
Father and son
March Meet Grand Marshals, Larry Dixon Sr. and Larry Dixon Jr.
presided over the event. “I had one of the best times of
my life,” said Dixon Sr., who won a championship in the
Comp Eliminator class in the ’68 March Meet. “It brought
back a million memories.”
03.16.2012:
NHRA Penalizes Nostalgia Top Fuel Driver and Nostalgia Funny
Car Driver for Rules Violation
06/162012: From
NHRA Vice President Technical Operations Glen Gray dated March
16, 2012: “NHRA has disqualified both Nostalgia Top Fuel
driver Rick White and Nostalgia Funny Car driver Tim Boychuk
from the 2012 Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series March Meet for a
rules violation. Following a post-race inspection, both drivers
fuel pumps exceeded the maximum allowance for fuel delivery.
These disqualifications will result in a the loss of all points
earned toward the Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series and the loss
of the purse money from the event.”
A call was made
a call to K.J. Crawford, whose company is tasked by the NHRA
to verify that fuel pumps flow 21 gallons of fuel or less. After
testing, the pumps are sealed with safety wire and a crimped
lead seal. NHRA Heritage Series rules require all AA/FDs and
AA/FCs that compete to use a fuel pump that has been certified
by K.J. Crawford.
All four pumps
that were checked after the March Meet were certified. Two of
the pumps had the wire seal and two were sealed with a putty-like
substance used prior to the current safety-wire and lead seal
combination.
That leads to
the question is Crawford flowing and sealing pumps, if they are
over the 21 gallon limit? How can a racer be blamed if he has
a sealed pump and can't double check it because that would break
the seal? OR, is this Gray guy's test screwed up? And why is
a NHRA Big Show tech guy doing a HRHS race? This is not a done
deal by a long shot. Stay tuned.
Note: More photos
will be added as received.
