2017 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series Top Fuel Champion and 4-time March Meet winner Jim Murphy is hoping to drive his WW2 hemi-powered dragster to victory and become the second 5-time winner of the storied drag race. A 5-feat will tie the only other 5-time March Meet winner Don "Big Daddy" Garlits, who set national Top Fuel dragster competition in motion with his Swamp Rat dragster at the first March Meet in 1959.
Reigning March Meet winner Mendy Fry reports strong numbers from pre-race testing at Famoso with the hemi-powered High Speed Motorsports front-engine Top Fuel dragster. "The 2017 March Meet winner is itching to get back in the car and heading into the race with a ton of confidence. We are ready", said Fry. Adam Sorokin and the Champion Speed Shop will meet again at Famoso after posting stout testing numbers with their small block Chevrolet powered AA/Fuel special.
Steve Harwood’s Nitro-Hemi is heading over the Rocky Mountains from Colorado to meet up with California-based driver Dusty Green at Famoso, and Bret Williamson will suit up and strap into the Mike Fuller Forever Young hemi-powered entry. Pete Wittenberg is back at the March Meet in the KMA Circuit Breaker dragster a year after getting his license at the 59th March Meet. Tedford & McGee are bringing the fearsome Overtime Special into the fight with driver Rick McGee helping his nephew land a Top Fuel license at the event.
Phil Ruskowski and the Island Nitro Gang are once again carrying the front-engine Top Fuel dragster torch south from Canada to put northern fire into their small block Chevrolet-powered Xhibitionist at Bakersfield. Chicago’s own Turbo Tim Cullinan dressed his late-model hemi powered AA/Fuel dragster with a new paint scheme for the March Meet, and Brendan Murry is hauling his 426 hemi-powered Running Wild dragster out of his home garage in San Jose, California.
Rounding out the Nitro Dirty Dozen in Top Fuel row at Famoso are Rick White and the Neal & White AA/Fuel dragster, hoping to repeat their 2011 March Meet victory and Dan Horan Jr., who will suit up and drive his departed father’s front-engine AA/Fuel dragster with Fritz Kaiser putting the tune-up into the supercharged nitro-burning hemi. Longtime drag racer and front-engine Top Fuel great "Digger" Dan Horan Sr. passed away in 2016.
The 2018 Good Vibrations Motorsports March Meet at Auto Club Famoso Raceway the opening salvo in the 5-race battle for the 2018 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series Top Fuel Championship. As more nitro is better nitro the AAFD original Top Fuel dragsters will join forces at Famoso with unruly fuel altereds, vintage rear-engine Top Fuel dragsters, Funny Cars, injected and blown A/Fuel dragsters and an as yet unknown quantity of nitro-huffing entries for drag racing action that can only happen at the March Meet in Bakersfield.
2018 MARCH MEET TOP FUEL SCHEDULE: SUBJECT TO CHANGE
March Meet AAFD Top Fuel action starts with testing Thursday, March 1st at 3:00. First round qualifying (Q1) is scheduled for Friday the 2nd. Q2 is slated for Saturday the 3rd at 12 PM with Q3 at 3:00 PM. Eliminations commence on Sunday at 11:45 AM. As nitromethane is unpredictable at best, the March Meet schedule is subject to change. More information on the March Meet and an all classes full event schedule can be found by clicking through to the Auto Club Famoso Raceway.
WEDNESDAY, February 28th
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM: Open Test & Tune
THURSDAY, March 1st
3:00 PM: Top Fuel Testing Session
FRIDAY, March 2nd
12:00 PM – Top Fuel Qualifying Session 1 (Q1)
SATURDAY, March 3rd
12:00 PM: Top Fuel Q2
3:00 PM: Top Fuel Q3
SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY, March 4th
11:00 AM: Opening Ceremony
11:45 AM: Top Fuel Eliminations
2:00 PM: Top Fuel Semi-Final
4:15 PM: Top Fuel Final
