Nostalgia Racers Take Over Famoso Dragstrip for the 2024 March Meet
Check out our exclusive racing gallery from the 2024 March Meet. Famoso Dragstrip in Bakersfield, California, has hosted the legendary March Meet since 1959. The event, originally known as the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships, grew in popularity and became the biggest and baddest Top Fuel race in the country in the mid-'60s. The March Meet, which officially became the March Meet in 1969, has been legendary with several drivers who have won here. Young racers such as Adam Sorokin, Tyler Hilton, James Day, Drew Austin, Ryan Horan, and Bret Williamson were among the competitors this year. Three-time NHRA funny car world champion Ron Capps was among the favorites to win the Fuel Altered class at the 2020 March Meet. Despite changes in the sport's era, the event still carries a nostalgic feel as much as it did during its heyday.
Published : 3 months ago by Marc Gewertz in Auto
Famoso Dragstrip in Bakersfield, California, has been home of the fabled March Meet since 1959. Originally known as the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships, the event continued to grow in popularity, and by the mid-'60s it was drawing as many as 100 Top Fuel entries, making it the biggest and baddest Top Fuel race in the country. The event officially became known as the March Meet in 1969 and has been legendary ever since. History runs deep at the March Meet, and several drivers who have won here have gone on to drag racing immortality—Don Garlits, Don Prudhomme, Tom McEwen, Mike Sorokin, and Connie Kalitta, to name a few.
Drag racing has a long lineage of second-generation drivers. Several of them have found a home in the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series, and there's no place they would rather be. These younger racers have made names for themselves on the same piece of asphalt that their fathers raced on. Adam Sorokin, Tyler Hilton, James Day, Drew Austin, Ryan Horan, and Bret Williamson are just a few who were at the March Meet this year competing in the nitro categories. Make no mistake, they are not rookies; most of them already have more than a decade of experience behind the wheel and are carrying on the family legacy a quarter-mile at a time.
Three-time NHRA funny car world champion Ron Capps knows all about the history of the sport and is well-versed in March Meet history. "The March Meet is still probably my all-time favorite drag race," said Capps, who used to come to Bakersfield and watch his dad race when he was a kid. Capps won the Fuel Altered class at the 2020 March Meet. He admits the win holds a special place in his heart and considers it one of the biggest of his career. This year, Capps was back in the seat of the Burkholder Brothers fuel altered, qualifying seventh before losing in the semifinals to eventual winner Lyle Greenberg.
When it came to Funny Car, all eyes were on Bobby Cottrell, a five-time March Meet Funny Car winner who went undefeated during the 2023 season. Cottrell qualified number three behind Shane Westerfield and Geoff Monise. After taking out Mike Peck in the first round, Cottrell lost round two to Jeff Arend when his parachute came out just past the Christmas Tree. For the first time in over a year, Cottrell would not be racing for the trophy.
This opened the door for a couple of funny car veterans to duke it out for March Meet glory. Cory Lee and Arend, who have been racing floppers since the '90s, left the line together. Lee got to the stripe first, with a 5.65 to Arend's 5.82. It was Lee's first win ever as a driver.
Upsets abounded in the opening round of Top Fuel, as Hilton, Pete Kaiser, and Sorokin, the top three qualifiers, all lost. Tyler Hester and Shawn Bowen advanced to the final round, setting up a race between a pair of first-time March Meet finalists. Hester defeated Bowen 5.77 to 7.64 to win the coveted Top Fuel crown and cement his name in the March Meet history book.
Even in 2024, the March Meet still reminds us of the golden era of drag racing when front engine dragsters, wild fuel altereds, and funny cars with colorful names ruled the dragstrip. A lot has changed in the 65 years since Art Chrisman won the inaugural U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships in the Hustler 1 dragster, but one thing remains the same: Winning the March Meet today still means as much as it did during the heyday of the sport.