Strong field of nostalgia cars expected for Famoso event
| Wednesday, Sep 07 2011 06:58 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Sep 07 2011 06:59 PM
Nitromethane fumes will waft over Auto Club Famoso Raceway on Saturday night in a throwback to the old days of drag racing, where local tracks often held one-day events.
The famed track north of Bakersfield, which holds two major nostalgia drag racing event yearly -- the
March Meet and the California Hot Rod Reunion in October -- is hosting Saturday Night Nitro this Saturday with upwards of 20 nitromethane-powered cars expected.
Track manager Blake Bowser had planned on running three such events this year, but canceled the June and July shows to concentrate on this one.
Racers have responded and Bowser expects anywhere from 12 to 16 nostalgia Funny Cars, four front-motored Top Fuel cars, four Fuel Altereds and two modern Funny Cars, where drivers will be making license runs.
Combined with a West Coast Hot Rod Racing Association show, featuring a variety of door-slammers, there will be a full day of racing for fans.
WCHRA action begins at noon with nostalgia Funny Cars slated to run at 8 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight. All NFC cars run at 8, the quick eight come back for runs at 10 and the quick two from them square off in the finale. The rest of the fuel cars will run throughout the night.
"This thing is shaping up pretty good," Bowser said. "We'll have 20-25 fuel cars. For 20 bucks that's not a bad deal."
Fans can even make it a two-night deal for another $5. The track is holding a regular test-n-tune session Friday night and Bowser said many of the nitro cars indicated they will take the opportunity to test as well. Two-day tickets are $25.
"We want to do three of these next year," Bowser said. "We've got March and October, but we want to give the drivers a place to come out and play during the summer."
Saturday night's event does just that, as well as giving teams the chance to dial in their rides before the CHRR Oct. 21-23.
Although the date is not yet firmed up for the 2012 March Meet, Bowser said the races would become a four-day affair.
"We've had four day races before because of rain, but this is the first planned four-day race," he said. "We don't like turning away cars and this will give us a lot more time to get cars down the track."
USAC Midgets at Speedway
Four divisions of open-wheel cars, led by USAC Midgets Stocks will be in action on Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway. Also competing will be Street Stocks.
This will be the only appearance of the season for the USAC Midgets. Ford Focus Midgets, Junior Focus and NMRA Quarter-Midgets also will compete. Racing starts at 6.
