Bakersfield, California – Adam Sorokin is the 2019 Bakersfield March Meet Nostalgia Top Fuel Champion. Sorokin drove the Champion Speed Shop small block Chevrolet-powered AA/Fuel dragster to victory with a 5.84 ET at 212 MPH as runner up Mendy Fry watched from the starting line with a broken throttle linkage in the High Speed Motorsports fueler. Sorokin’s second March Meet win with the Champion Speed Shop closed out a weekend of fierce competition at the historic drag racing event.
The 61st Good Vibrations Motorsports March Meet saw record runs and unexpected turns on the quarter-mile as the Nostalgia Top Fuel field squared off at Auto Club Famoso Raceway.
Rick White emerged as #1 Qualifier with a 5.72 ET at 254 MPH after three frenetic sessions. 2018 March Meet winner Pete Wittenberg failed to qualify after three aborted runs and reigning Champion Mendy Fry drove through a blower explosion and damaging tire shake that had the High-Speed Motorsports team in the pits until 3 AM.
Rick White opened Eliminations with a 6.09 ET at 175 MPH win on a single after Phil Ruskowski kept rolling in the “Xibitionist” after zinging the rpm’s and banging the blower on the burnout. Bret Williamson turned a 5.80 ET at 240 MPH in the Mike Fuller “Forever Young” that shut down Brendan Murry in the “Running Wild”. Mendy Fry blasted to a quickest and fastest ever 5.51 ET at 265 MPH win over Jim Murphy in the WW2. Adam Sorokin advanced with a 5.98 ET at 201 MPH as Rick McGee clipped some cones in the Tedford & McGee “Overtime Special”.
Sorokin drove the Champion Speed Shop small block Chevrolet into the Final with a 5.83 ET 212 MPH win as Rick White struck the tires in the Neal & White AA/Fueler. Mendy Fry then broke her own Nostalgia Top Fuel record with a 5.49 ET 259 MPH Semi-Final blast over Bret Williamson’s 5.85 ET at 234 MPH. Side by side burnouts set up the Final round battle at Famoso and Sorokin etched his second March Meet win into the Top Fuel timeline behind the canopy of the Champion Speed Shop dragster.
Over 50 years after his father Mike Sorokin won the March Meet and nearly 10 years after his first March Meet win, Sorokin was elated as he was interviewed by Jason Galvin on the top end at Famoso. “I was just hoping that they don’t run ’em on paper! We knew that we had something if things didn’t go their way. That 5.49 she ran was so stout. That team was so good. Amazing. For us to get by them, that’s the car to beat right now. I’m really happy.”
Head over to Auto Club Famoso Raceway for a complete rundown of official results and archived video coverage of the 61st Good Vibrations Motorsports March Meet.
All photos Dave Kommel ©Dave Kommel Photography
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