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Today’s weather for the March Meet could not have been any more different than Friday and Saturday, with not a cloud in the sky and afternoon temperatures in the high-60s to low-70s. The crowd was smaller, as it always is on Sundays, and unfortunately not very many show cars returned to their spot in the grove, but that certainly didn’t effect the crowd’s mood nor the racing action. The program went off without a hitch and amazingly the Fuel cars only suffered one oildown to halt the progress for an hour or so. When the shoutin’ was over with, Tim Boychuk and Jim Young went home with the coveted March Meet crowns in Funny Car and Top Fuel, respectively. But we know you just want to see the photos, so have at it! We’ll see ya later in the year with more Hot Rod Heritage racing action! Special thanks to our same day coverage presenting sponsor, Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels!
This year's Grand Marshall was Billy Meyer (left), former NHRA Funny Car driver and owner/builder of the Texas Motorplex, eralded as the first NHRA “Super Track” with stadium-style seating and the first all-concrete racing surface. His winning percentage as a driver is second in NHRA history to only John Force. Drag racing owes a lot to Meyer's vision, which he conceptualized in the '70s and built in '88.
The honorary starter was Art Chrisman, one of most legendary drag racing heroes there is. Art won the first March Meet on March 1, 1959 when the Smokers car club invited Don Garlits out to California to prove himself against the West Coast racers. Chrisman beat Garlits in the first round and went on to win the race against local driver, the late Tony Waters. Art and his son, Mike, founded Chrisman Auto Rod Specialties where they currently build and restore hot rods.
Chad Head, son of former NHRA Funny Car racer Jim, went all the way to the semifinals of Sunday's eliminations running stout 5.70s but lit the red bulb by -.077 seconds against Tim Boychuk's Firebird.
Here's a shot we never got a chance to show you yesterday. It's Wayne Mellinger's '78 Corvette Funny just seconds before getting squirrely at 1000 feet and turning hard right into the wall. Wayne wasn't hurt but the car was toast and missed getting in the show. It was the only crash of the Fuel classes.
Del Worsham took out James Day in the first round and ran a 5.851 in the second, but Roger Garten's 5.804 sent him packin'.
That's former Fuel driver Mendy Fry lining up Denver Schutz's Top Fuel car. Mendy was the "mixologist" on the crew, blending the nitro and alky. The team was like a buzzsaw during eliminations, taking down everyone they went up against to make it to the final. But during that last race, they just couldn't keep up with Jim Young's thundering top-end charge.
It was cool to see Tony Foti at the March Meet. Foti has long been a fixture at Southern California dragstrips, representing the LAPD's DARE program. His B/Gas Camaro is still flying the po-po colors.
War Horse is Roger Garten's '73 Mustang Mach 1 Funny Car. After sending Del Worsham back to the trailer he went down swinging to Mark Sanders, the eventual runner-up.
Boychuk and Sanders waiting for the final round.
Your 2013 March Meet Top Fuel champion is Jim Young from Salem, WI. Jim's a crop-duster by trade, no joke, which must be fruitful enough to fund a top notch vintage Fuel team. His final round speed of 269.08 mph, we believe, is a new record for the class. His e.t. was .05 seconds quicker than Denver Schutz's, but the mph shows that the car was marching on the top end.
