BAKERSFIELD MARCH MEET - EVENT NOTEBOOK
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SUNDAY NOTEBOOK -LONG WEEKEND COMES TO A CLOSE FOR NITRO CARS
The Bakersfield March Meet came to a partial conclusion late Sunday afternoon as both professional divisions crowned champions. All day rain on Friday and partially on Saturday morning pushed the final runs in both Group 2 and Group 3 divisions into Monday.
The rain did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the winners of the 55th annual event hosted by Auto Club Famoso located outside of Bakersfield, Ca. Tim Boychuk [AA/FC] and Jim Young took home the titles in their respective divisions.
For Boychuk, winning Bakersfield earned the longtime Canadian drag racer a measure of new respect. Last year, Boychuk was stripped of the victory after a post-race tech inspection revealed the team had an improper fuel pump, giving the win to Chad Head.
This year, Boychuk defeated an upset-minded Mark Sanders in the final round. Boychuk won with a 5.814 elapsed time at 249.21 miles per hour pass in the final round. Sanders made it a close race until he lost an engine.
“It’s a good feeling after last year’s fiasco and to get it done again was just perfect,” said Boychuk. “Feeling a bit of redemption here.”
Boychuk, who qualified No. 8, drove his way past Ryan Overholser, No. 1 qualifier Jason Rupert and beating a red-lighting Chad Head, who broke a clutch pedal on the starting line .
“I have about 80 texts on my phone already,” said Boychuk of his fellow Canadians offering their congratulations. “And they are justified to be this excited; winning the March Meet is just like winning Indy. It’s big and great and we knew we could do it.
In Top Fuel, Young was the standard bearer for the class with his quickest run of the weekend, a 5.651, 268.78 to beat Denver Schutz.
“Nothing beats this,” Young said. “Two in a row. The car ran flawless and the crew did a great job. The chassis worked good and the track was great. I can’t say enough about the crew and Frank tuning and the Neil and Parks chassis. It’s awesome. Ousley Racing really has it going on.
“We struggled a bit down low but we had good top end power,” Young explained. “We tried some new oil recovery systems this weekend. The car was basically dry as a bone all weekend.”
Young entered eliminations as the No. 1 qualifier and defeated Adam Sorokin and Jim Murphy to reach the final round.
CLUTCH PLAYER - In a rematch of last year’s final round, Chad Head fouled against Tim Boychuk. The culprit, according to Head, was a broken clutch pedal.
STATEMENT MAKER - Jason Rupert continued to lay down the big runs. He was the quickest driver in each of Saturday’s qualifying sessions and opened Sunday’s eliminations with low elapsed time of the weekend during the first round on Sunday with a 5.694, 255.68. However, his bracket racing type consistency hit a roadblock in the semis, when tire shake and 9.904 elapsed time against Tim Boychuk sent him to trailer.
HE DOES HAVE A POINT - Nostalgia Top Fueler Rick Williamson executed the mother of all oildowns in the first round when he defeated Ron August Jr. A race fan was overheard in the Famoso Grove area offering, “You know it’s a bad oildown when it’s March and the water box has dried up due to lack of action.”
FINISHING ON MONDAY - The combination of rain, extreme carnage and schedule delays pushed the Heritage Series’ equivalent to sportsman racing into Monday.
MAYBE NEXT TIME - Ron Capps will have to wait another year to try and win his first March Meet title. Tires shake did him in against Mr. Explosive Mark Sanders in the second round.
OUTTA HERE - On Thursday afternoon, Nostalgia Top Fuel racer Tony Bartone recorded the quickest front-engine run in the history of drag racing with 5.561 elapsed time. The unofficial run was of little help as Bartone was outrun in the first round by Denver Schutz.
ALL THE RIGHT MOVES - The last time Roger Garten was at Bakersfield nothing seemed to work right as he exploded an engine and launched the body. This time he got a break when the quicker qualified Steven Densham broke prior to the first round. In the second round, he outran No. 6 qualifier Del Worsham.
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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK -
A TRIBUTE KIND OF DAY - Jason Rupert understands when doing a tribute one must be prepared to make the experience memorable. His qualifying effort at the Bakersfield March Meet not only made a statement but provided a unforgettable performance.
Rupert, the two-time NHRA Heritage Series Funny Car champion is driving a car honoring his dad Frank Rupert and partner George Bays. The car is adorned in the same livery as the Black Plague car which ran in the 1960s.
Rupert also honored the late Terry Manton by running a set of pushrods, built with his ashes, in the team’s engine. Manton passed away in February 2012.
Rupert ran strong all day by opening with a 5.702, 254.47 and ended the day with a strong 5.731, 254.18 which sent a strong statement.
“We actually tried to run quicker in the final session,” said Rupert. “I think it was starting to get a little damp on the track later in the night and my team tried to spin the tires a bit harder. We tried to give it a little more power and even though we didn’t go quicker, we still ran strong. It’s running like a bracket car.”
In winning the last two seasons series championship, Rupert did so with the late Mert Littlefield’s name on the side of the car. This time he’s gunning for a three-peat with Rupert & Bays.
“We’re going to try and get one for them,” Rupert said. “I need to get a couple for my dad and Richard.”
Rupert enters Sunday’s final eliminations running against Riann Konno.
TOP DRAGSTER - Jim Young ran a 5.687 elapsed time during the first session and his performance held up through a quick Saturday evening session. He meets defending series champion Adam Sorokin in the first round.
RAIN CAN’T DAMPLEN THE LOVE OF CACKLE - Despite losing Friday qualifying to bad weather and Saturday dawning with more precipitation, a strong crowd filled the Famoso grandstands.
TOUGH BREAK - Kris Krabill, driving Bucky Austin’s Funny Car had a rough day. After his first session 5.891 elapsed time was thrown out due to an oildown penalty, he hit a timing cone, drawing a disqualification in the final session.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER - Del Worsham lost his first run due to an oildown penalty. He rebounded in the final session with a 5.851, 248.71.
“Been a trying weekend,” admitted Worsham, who enters eliminations as the No. 6 seed. “We had a good test session before the event but broke a transmission in the first qualifying session. With the weather, and losing a session, we took it down to the wire a bit.”
Worsham averted disaster on his successful qualifying despite an exploding supercharger.
“Don’t know why it did, but we’ll get it fixed,” said Worsham.
An ex-BMX racer, Worsham races Gary Turner’s Pedal Funny Car driven by James Day in the first round. Turner founded the GT BMX bicycle company.
THE HOLY GRAIL OF BAKERSFIELD - If you think racing at Bakersfield is just about having fun for Ron Capps, you’re kidding yourself. Bakersfield holds a special place in the heart of the current NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car point leader.
Ever since Capps was a kid, Auto Club Famoso in Bakersfield was “holy ground” for him.
“Look at this,” Capps said, as he directed this reporter to look to the front of the staging lanes where the AA/FC-style Funny Cars were four abreast and consuming the staging area from start to finish.
“There’s nothing but Funny Car bodies. You immediately go back in your mind to the days when Steve Evans used to call this place the fiberglass forest. This is what it is all about for a Funny car driver. This is exciting stuff. I’m so excited.”
Due to rain Friday’s Bakersfield qualifying was canceled leaving Capps and his fellow Funny Car drivers to tackle a cold track on Saturday. The track temp reached its high of 71 degrees for the first qualifying session and dropped to 51 for the evening. He ran a best 5.735 at 249.50 during his first qualifying attempt. Capps aborted his second run when the car lost traction.
“Winning here would go so much deeper than a trophy or the win,” Capps said. “This is one of the races I never missed as a kid. Whether my dad raced or not, I was always with him as a kid.”
Just ask Capps and he will tell you this iconic drag strip has changed with the times but hasn’t changed a whole lot.
“The Bowsers have done an incredible job of making something as modern and safe as they have, yet retained the historic feel to it,” said Capps. “I look around and this doesn’t look much different than the same place I played in the dirt at when I was five years old. The same staging lanes … probably the same rocks that were there when I was a kid.”
Capps believes the Bakersfield quarter-mile is still good enough to handle competitive times from his NAPA Auto Parts Funny Car.
“It just excites me, just talking about it,” admitted Capps.
Adding to the excitement was a phone call earlier in the year from legendary chassis builder and team owner Steve Plueger who asked Capps to drive his LA Hooker Plymouth Arrow at the March Meet, the final event for his classic tribute car before it ships to Australia. Plueger sold the Arrow to iconic Aussie driver Graeme Cowin.
“My run on Saturday was the first time I had driven the car,” said Capps, who’s racing this weekend wearing the Intrepid Fallen Heroes fire suit he last wore in 2012 at Chicago. “I had this person and that person tell me we could run low elapsed time and have to remind them there are 40 other cars which are just as capable. Qualifying is a great accomplishment in this deal.”
And for Capps, winning would be the ultimate.
WILD RIDE FOR MELLINGER - Wayne Mellinger had a tough Bakersfield March Meet. After mortally wounding an engine on Thursday, he ended the weekend with this wall-banging experience as captured by Chris Graves.
NREW RULE WORKING - Steve Gibbs understands drag racing is as much show as it is competition. The former NHRA Race Director who now handles a similar role with the sanctioning body’s Heritage Series realized after marathon qualifying sessions and elimination rounds during last fall’s California Hot Rod Reunion [CHRR] something needed to be done to squelch the oildown delays.
Gibbs enlisted the help of his racers who unanimously agreed if they oil the track, they lose a run. Do it more than once and there are steeper ramifications.
This year, the first Funny Car qualifying session at the Bakersfield March Meet took only 76 minutes to complete. Eighteen of those minutes were used to clean up a side-by-side oildown, the only one out of 34 cars.
“It was never so much for parts breakage, because parts break, it was about containment,” Gibbs said. “I think much can still be done for containment. But along the lines, you have to have an incentive for these guys to want to do this.”
The incentive is the loss of a run. The bottom line is if a driver runs low elapsed time and oils the track, they lose credit for the run. If they oil the track three times in qualifying, they lose all credit and fail to qualify. If their second oildown comes in qualifying they retain their win but lose lane choice. A third oildown and they are eliminated from competition even if they win.
Oildowns, Gibbs believes, didn’t help the CHRR’s entertainment value for attendees.
“The Hot Rod Reunion was well … painful,” Gibbs said with a grimace on his face. “We finished the race at 9 PM and we had a lot of oil to clean up. We should have been done at 5 PM. This many oildowns should never happen.”
Gibbs also said for the most part the professional drivers on the Heritage Series are weekend warriors and therefore monetary fines were never considered.
“We have a pretty liberal rule in place where a guy gets three chances before he faces serious ramifications,” said Gibbs. “The plan has some teeth in it and the racers support this. I sat in the meetings and nobody squawked about it. They know we had to do something.
“The priority is to put on a good show and keep the track clean. When you’re the next guy in line to run and the guy in front of you is a chronic oildown guy there’s very little sympathy. If you walk through the pits you will see the lengths some of these guys have gone to improve their containment systems. The racers are taking this serious.”
TOUGH DAY - Jeff Arend just couldn't get the War Eagle dialed into the Bakersfield quarter-mile. Two engine explosions relegated the usually front-running team to DNQ status.
KEEPING THE SCHEDULE - Saturday's scedule went out the window when rains delayed the start of qualifying by three hours.
Will Martin knew his chances of getting to race at the legendary Bakersfield March Meet disappeared with a stream of oil dripping from his engine.
Martin, driver of the Jam-Air Motorsports nostalgia Funny Car, severely wounded the engine in his Mustang AA/FC during pre-event testing two weeks ago at Auto Club Famosa in Bakersfield, Ca.
What transpired thereafter left Martin speechless.
CP-Carillo, an associate sponsor for the team, stepped up with the necessary funding to repair the damaged engine enabling the Jam-Air team to not only compete at the event but also contend for the title.
“I’m speechless and still in shock,” said Martin. “I got the phone call from Cindy [Verkooij] at CP and I was speechless. Snake, Barry, Richard, and Cindy have been nothing short of amazing to us and we are very grateful for their continued support.”
Martin understands the broken engine, while a major setback, could have been worse.
“It was a freak deal, the car went out about 400 feet and then all of a sudden I could feel the drive shaft hitting the bottom of the seat and a loud noise,” explained Martin. “Something in the tail section of the transmission let go and I couldn’t catch the motor fast enough. The car ended up sliding around in its own oil at the top end and we went drifting a bit.”
Cindy Verkooij, Marketing & Promotions Manager of CP-Carrillo, understood the importance of the team competing in Bakersfield and provided the impetus for her company to increase their involvement.
“We are excited about our partnership with Jam Air Motorsports for the upcoming 2013 race season,” Verkooij said. “Will and his team are a professional entity and we look forward to combining our resources to further our development of products.”
Sitting out Bakersfield would have been a tough pill for Martin to swallow. Team owner John Martin won the last “modern day” March Meet and set the track ET record in Funny Car 25 years ago. Lately the elder Martin has been facing severe health issues.
“I don’t think a race means more to me than the March Meet,” said Martin. “We almost pulled the plug on testing and the first few races due to dad’s health. However dad, being the true racer he is, said go test and get ready to kick butt, so that’s what we are trying to do. The team is hopeful they can help him on the road to recovery with a race win.”
And for Martin, winning could prove to be the best medicine thanks to CP-Carillo.
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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - RAIN IS THE SAME IN NOSTALGIA AND MODERN ERA
Friday's qualifying at the Bakersfield March Meet in Bakersfield, Ca., has been postponed due to persistent rain showers.
Saturday's modified schedule will include two rounds of nitro racing with final eliminations on Sunday.
PRE-EVENT TESTING AND NEWS
THURSDAY SMACK DOWN - Longtime nitro racer Tony Bartone sent a message through his actions on Thursday afternoon during pre-Bakersfield March Meet testing.
Bartone, who races Nostalgia Top Fuel in the NHRA's Heritage Series, recorded the quickest elapsed time in the history of the class. He covered the famous Famoso quarter-mile in a stunning 5.561 seconds.
Making Bartone’s feat even more remarkable was the relatively diminutive top-end mile-per-hour clocking, a paltry 220 mph, numbers which indicated he had “clicked” off the Bartone Bros. dragster well before the finish line. More proof that his machine was on a proverbial rocket ride was found in the details of his time-slip, which showed that Bartone was traveling at 217-mph at the eighth-mile mark, startling numbers which were unheard of until now. Indeed, previously Bartone has clocked top-end speeds of nearly 270-mph, which indicates his Steve Boggs-tuned nitro-burning dragster still has plenty left “in the tank,” in regards to the potential for even quicker passes.
Because it happened during a test, the 5.56 is considered unofficial. Bartone already holds the ET and Top Speed records for the AA/Fuelers, when he ran 5.566 seconds at 269-mph at Famoso in October, 2011.
NOT GONNA BUFF OUT - Nostalgia Eliminator racer Bill Larson hoped to get a leg up on the competition during pre-Bakersfield March Meet testing on Wednesday. Instead, the Nostalgia Eliminator 1 racer made a mess of his neat roadster.
Larson wasn't seriously injured but race officials did confirm "he got his bell rung pretty good."
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS -
The irony of the situation makes Chad Head chuckle.
Head, son of Funny Car veteran Jim Head, is more experienced at driving a Nostalgia Funny Car than the modern day version of the Funny Car which his father became famous for driving.
“I have about 38 runs in the nostalgia car, so I am no veteran … but I am fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of talented people,” said Head. “I still have a long way to go but when compared to the modern car, there I am a true rookie in every sense of the word.”
This season is one of transition for Head. He resigned his position as racing operations manager with Al-Anabi Racing to become a partner in the family’s construction business and take over the driving chores in his dad’s 10,000-horsepower nitro burning Toyota.
He plans to debut the “Big Show” Funny Car next weekend in Gainesville, Fla., but for this weekend, he and dad are making an appearance at the historic Bakersfield March Meet. Head will drive and Jim will tune the same Pontiac Firebird Funny Car they won last year’s event with.
Initially, Tim Boychuk was declared the winner but failed post-race tech inspection. Head was then declared the event winner by race officials.
Weather permitting Head plans to make a few test runs in pre-event testing on Thursday in Bakersfield. Jim will join the team on Friday.
“I am confident in the team and my dad’s guidance,” Head said. “My team gives me the confidence. I know I still have a long way to go even though it looks as if we are way ahead with the nostalgia car.”
Head made his debut with the Nostalgia Funny Car in October of 2011. Last Fall he made his licensing runs with the NHRA Funny Car. The cars are worlds apart in terms of driving style and configuration, but the nerves? There’s no difference.
“They’re the same,” admitted Head. “I have tremendous respect and always will for anything that burns nitro and goes over 250 miles per hour. I’m both nervous and excited when I get in either car.”
In his first AA/FC event, Head qualified tenth and returned the following March where he qualified No. 2 and reached the finals. Last fall he qualified No. 1 at the California Hot Rod Reunion.
Head is off to the same positive start with the fuel Funny Car during a test session in January at Palm Beach International Raceway in West Palm Beach, Fla.
“With the help of Johnny Davis and the team, we made nine of twelve runs to the finish line,” Head said. “The car is still a little ahead of the driver. I am just a bit behind it. I think with Dad outside of the car all the way, it will bring forth a new perspective and way to tune.”
Whether the challenge is driving the nostalgia car or the modern nitro burner, Head, not for the sake of talent, believes he might have been the right choice to drive for his dad.
“I guess I look at it this way, I saved someone a black eye,” Head admitted, laughing. “I’m not so certain there’s anyone out there who could be his driver. I guess sometimes in life you must save someone from getting beat up.”
Now, if the younger Head can beat up the competition he'll save himself from getting beat up by his father.
WORK OF ART - Blood did it.
This is the line being used to describe the forthcoming graphics scheme adorning Jason Ruperts classic Camaro body honoring the old Bays & Rupert/Black Plague Funny Car. This beauty is competing at this weekend's March Meet in Bakersfield, Ca.
Starting from a clean slate, Youngblood, applied a masterpiece of classic Chevrolet grill, taillights and trim. The finished product, we are told, left many jaws on the shop floor.
Rupert is the reigning two-time Heritage Series AA/FC champion. He became the first and, so far, only driver to exceed 260 mph during qualifying at the event last season. He has a bit of a score to settle at this race because his strong qualifying efforts haven’t yet translated to a win at either Bakersfield event. The closest he came was a final-round appearance at the 2011 March meet that resulted in a holeshot loss. A win at Bakersfield where the turnout is regularly above 30 cars would go a long way to validate the efforts of the championship team.
Most recently Rupert was runner-up in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals driving Geoff Goodwin’s SynOil Monte Carlo. In four rounds of racing, he had a .025 reaction time average.
Rupert would like to thank Frank Rupert, Richard Bays and his entire crew for their support of his racing program and also recognize Lucas Oil, Littlefield Blowers, B&J Transmissions, Manton Push Rods, GRP Rods, Molinari Clutches, Phenix Industries and Mahle Clevite for their involvement in his racing program. The team will finish their preparations this weekend to come out swinging at Famoso Raceway in hopes of defending their NHRA Heritage Series Nitro Funny Car Championship with a win to start the season."
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