March Meet Observations

[Mark King]

March Meet Observations

After looking through the stats from the recently completed 51st Annual March Meet at Auto Club Famoso Raceway earlier this month, I came up with a short list of performances of teams that stood out in my mind and impressed me.

First there was the 8 car A Field that featured the quickest and first all 5 second field in the short history of the class. Although the first two rounds of qualifying was disappointing in my view, everybody stepped up and made it count in the final round of qualifying. How often do you see Bucky Austin not in the field going into the final round of qualifying? The bump spot for the A Field ended up being 5.962 which is astonishing, considering that 2 years ago 5 second passes were the exception, not the norm.

The 8 car B Field was no slouch either with a lot of teams setting career best elapsed times as well during the course of the event. The bump for the B Field was a 6.181 which would have qualified for the #4 position in the 8 car field at the 49th Annual March Meet in 07. Last year's bump spot at the 50th Annual March Meet was a 6.151 for the A Field and a 6.340 for the B Field. Both bumps this year were close to 2 tenths quicker than last year.

This rapid increase in performance has come at a price. Though the class seldom oils the track, they do hurt parts on a regular basis. Not all of the teams, but quite a few of them. Replacement of pistons, rings, and liners is becoming common place on some teams after every run. The cost to run these machines is continually rising at an alarming rate, and with the economy and purses such as they are we are going to start seeing some of the lesser funded teams going away. The days of running consistent 6.0's and going rounds are quickly becoming a thing of the past. It now requires running 5.90's and a good reaction time to go rounds, and even then you will probably not make it out of the second round in an 8 car field or the A Field. Below are some of the performances that stood out to me at the March Meet earlier this month:




What can you say about Bucky Austin in the Steve Plueger tuned "Northwest Hitter" Arrow? These guys set the performance standard for the class and usually only lose when they beat themselves. Austin Qualified #1 in the A Field with a 5.778 @ 245.96. On the way to winning the event, Austin reset the record for the class to 5.723 @ 246.77 when he defeated Garrett Bateman in the final round. Austin ran in the 5.70's throughout eliminations proving their performance and consistency is unmatched in the class today.






Garrett Bateman stepped into the seat vacated by Mike Grekul this year in the other Steve Plueger tuned and owned "Plueger & Gyger" Mustang. The rookie driver has already set new performance records in the Mustang in his first race in the car this year. Bateman was the runner up in the A Field to team mate Bucky Austin. Bateman qualified #2 in the A Field with a 5.804 @ 242.45 and consistently ran in the 5.80s throughout eliminations. In the first round he defeated Kris Krabill in the "Pedaler" Arrow with a 5.820 237.02. Bateman then defeated Mark Sanders in the "Mr. Explosive" Nova in the second round with a 5.862 @ 240.96 before losing to Austin in the final round with a 5.853 @ 245.36.






Lee Paul Jennings driving the Lee Jennings owned "American Revolution" Camaro found the consistency that had been lacking last season when he qualified #4 in the A Field with a 5.875 @ 224.21. Jennings ran in the 5 second range throughout eliminations when he defeated Ed Dougan in the "Fighting Irish" Camaro on a hole shot with a 5.992 @ 221.34. Jennings then fell to Bucky Austin in the "Northwest Hitter" in the second round with a 5.876 @ 244.56. The race was much closer than the ET's would suggest. Jennings only lost by about 3 feet when he laid a massive hole shot on Austin. The team reset their career best ET and MPH over the weekend.






Ed Dougan in Charlie O'Neil's "Fighting Irish" Camaro made the biggest gain in performance in the class this year at the March Meet when they qualified #5 in the A Field with a 5.897 @ 240.77. Dougan than ran a 5.933 @ 238.60 in his first round hole shot loss to Lee Paul Jennings in the "American Revolution". These guys have struggled in the past season and a half trying to find the right tune up to be competitive on the track. It looks like they found it at the March Meet where they broke into the 5's for the first time ever and reset their best ET and MPH. Larry Pettit has to be looking down with a giant grin on his face.






Mark Sanders in his "Mr. Explosive" Nova qualified in the #6 position in the A Field with a 5.917 243.50. Tuned by his 19 year old son Jake Sanders, this car has made steady improvements which culminated with the quickest and fastest pass they have ever made in their first round win over Terry Capp in the "Bubble Up" Firebird with a 5.887 @ 243.70. Mark and Jake Sanders cut their teeth in sand drag racing and are only in their second year of competition in the class and are proving themselves a force to be reckoned with.






Division 7 Top Alcohol Funny Car standout Dennis Taylor made his debut behind the butterflies of Gary Messenger's "Future Flash" Charger at the March Meet and set career bests in ET for the team and the new driver in their first event. Taylor qualified in the last position in the A Field and in the process ran the first 5 second pass ever in the "Future Flash" with a 5.962 @ 224.83. Although he lost in the first round to Bucky Austin, Taylor and Messenger have to be pleased with the results from their first outing together.






Mike Halstead in Mark and Linda Stuckey's "Nitro Charger" Daytona qualified #1 in the B Field with a 6.014 @ 240.06, narrowly missing their first 5 second pass. On their way to claiming the B Field Crown the team reset their career best ET and MPH in eliminations when they finally broke into the 5's in the first round when they defeated Craig Michael in the "Vegas Heat" Mini Satellite with a 5.990 @ 240.25. The Jeff Gaynor tuned "Nitro Charger then went on to win the B Field Crown running in the mid to low 6.0's throughout eliminations.







Former Drag Boat Racer Jack Wright is in his third year of campaigning his "Joker" Challenger. Qualifying #2 in the B Field with a 6.034 @ 229.94, Wright made it all the way to the final round where he eventually lost to Mike Halstead in the "Nitro Charger". Wright reset his career best ET and MPH with his first round victory over Bob Godfrey in his "Burn N Money" Camaro with a 6.021 @ 232.25. This is without doubt the best showing for Jack Wright and his "Joker" Challenger funny car.






Mendy Fry had her best outing behind the butterflies of Mike McCain's "Bomb Squad" Duster when she qualified #4 in the B Field with a 6.106 @ 229.00. Fry reset career and team best ET and MPH in their first round loss to Dennis La Charite in the "Back In Black" GTO with a 6.036 @ 240.96. The team struggled through their first season last year with different drivers and tuners with no appreciable improvement, but with the addition of Roland Leong as tuning consultant this year they have had their best outing ever.






Long time nitro racer "Nasty" Dave Benjamin brought his brand new "Red Dragon" Mini Satellite to the March Meet for it's first shakedown passes. With Tom Padilla handling the driving chores, the "Red Dragon" made a shut off pass on Friday. Padilla then shoed the "Red Dragon" to a 6.216 @ 235.72 before an engine malfunction blew the brand new body off in the lights. Considering this was the first time the car had been on the track that weekend and only one full pass was made, it shows me that "Nasty" still knows how to get a nitro car down the track and is a welcome addition to the AA/FC wars.




Photos Courtesy Of "Big" Bob Snyder and Louise Kunkel