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The latest update as of March 1, 2020
Good Vibrations March Meet
In case you haven't been paying attention, there are now only FOUR days until the 62nd annual Good Vibrations March Meet starts with nitro testing and sportsman qualifying on this coming Thursday. At this point in the nascent drag racing season, almost all roads lead to Bakersfield. If you're planning to attend, it's time to toss a suitcase in the car/truck/bus and start driving.
NHRA South Central Regional opener
On the other side of the country, eliminations have begun at the first NHRA Lucas Oil regional evemt of the 2020 season, in Belle Rose, LA. Leading off was last year's Top Alcohol Dragster world champion, Megan Meyer, and she finished an absolutely forgettable weekend with another tough pass, 16.98 - 72.69 to fall to Dean Dubbin's better - but not world beating - 6.71 - 140.30, as he put Megan back in the trailer. Thedre's been a delay in further results coming through so there may have been an oildown in that first pairing. More news as it comes.
Just found a link to a live video feed of the event, courtesy of our friends at Competition Plus and it shows the end of a cleanup and re-prep of the track. Winding the video back shows the news that Dubbin's car broke the rearend after a very good (.913 60') launch and excellent (2.376 at 330') before the rear went poof and shut the car off. Here's the link to the video coverage: Div. 4 Season Opener
When they finally got back to racing, low qualifier Jackie Fricke continued to struggle with another tire shaker after her opening run of 5.28 in qualifying. Her 10.887 clocking got her into the semifinals but almost certainly without lane choice. Then it was time for Rachel Meyer to put a holeshot on Robin Samsel and her 5.379 - 268.99, outlasted Samsel's 5.362 - 264.95 to keep the Randy Meyer team moving forward into the semifinals. And judging by the track announcer's take on Dubbin's disastrous run, Meyer could end up with a competition bye directly into the final round.
The first round of eliminations concluded with a match between two A/Fuel cars, and #5 qualifier Duane Shields took on #4 Spencer Massey in what turned into another holeshot decision. Massey left first (.054 to .074) by two hundredths, then paced Shields to the finish line, taking the winlight with a 5.455 - 270.61 to Shields' fast-closing 5.472 - 274.32. Despite the big top-end speed, Shields fell three thousandths short at the stripe. And that was the end of a very interesting and competitive first round of eliminations.
Funny Car was up next and Anne Marie Whiteley came out first, on her bye run, clocking a very strong 5.522 - 268.22 to continue her string of good runs throughout the event. The first pairing of eliminations featured Shane Westerfield who had qualified at the bottom of the field, to face the #2 qualifier, Bob McCosh and it proved to be another incredibly close race, with a win margin of .003 for McCosh, whose 5.541 - 264.22 barely held off Westerfield's 5.571 - 268.24.
Things slowed down a little in the next race as Bryan Brown took an easy win over Bill Bernard, by a margin of 5.564 - 263.75 to 13.061 - 84.07. Bernard was all over the track early, almost taking out the 330' cone as the car swung wildly from side to side before he wisely shut off. The final pair of the round featured a pair of national contenders, but the magic evaporated for Winternats winner Aryan Rochon as he got very close to the wall before pulling the chutes and coasting to a 6.442 - 164.01 clocking. In the other lane, Kris Hool pedalled through some tire shake but still put a winning 5.984 - 257.42 up on the finish line boards to advance to the semifinals against Whiteley.
2:00 PM UPDATE
The first pair of the semi-final turned into a (as expected) competition bye for Rachel Meyer as scheduled opppnent Dean Dubbin did not have the parts or time or manpower to repair all the damage from his first round victory lap. Rachel didn't have any of the problems her sister Megan experienced during the weekend, as Rachel cruised to a 5.350 - 269.61 to advance to the final round. The other semi was decided quickly as Spencer Massey left quickly with an .031 light but the car jumped up on the tires into instant tire smoke and a 19-second run, while Jackie Fricke motored through with a lane choice winning 5.328 - 268.96 to set up an all-female final.
In Funny Car, the two high country cars met in the first semi and Anne Whiteley worked hard for a 5.887 to 7.214 victory as she experienced serious tire shake, while in the other lane, Kris Hool had worse luck with a shaking, twisting race car that caused him to give up the run early. The final pair of the round saw both cars get down the track with good numbers and a minimum of difficulty, with Bob McCosh taking the win (5.604 - 263.57) over a close 5.643 - 263.67 effort by Bryan Brown. To make the gap a little larger at the finish, McCosh left first too, .026 to .050. A great race and it set up the final between McCosh (with lane choice) and Whiteley.
3:00 PM UPDATE
The race is still in progress and the final round won't be run for at least another hour. And it's looking like that prediction of finals time was a little too optimistic as a Comp eliminator racer (Ashton Hudson who had just taken the winlight against Brad Plourd) hit the wall shortly after he crossed the finish line and the track crew is cleaning up the parts and pieces that came off the damaged car. Based on the length of time it took to clear up Dean Dubbin's broken rear end in the first round of Top Alcohol, it's going to be a late finish for the event so we'll probably be posting the final results tomorrow.
3:30 PM UPDATE
Surprise, surprise! They got the track cleaned up quickly at No Problem Raceway and the Top Alcohol final rounds were just completed. On the dragster side, it was Rachel Meyer taking the "Wally" in a fairly close one over Jackie Fricke. They were less than two hundredths apart on elapsed time, but Rachel's quicker (.028 to .086) leave gave her a true win margin of more than seven hundredths at the finish line. The numbers: 5.347 - 268.62 (Meyer) and 5.365 - 269.64 for Fricke in the John Finke Construction machine.
Closing out the Pro Sportsman show were the Funny Cars and the favourite Annie Whiteley ran away from final round opponent Bob McCosh to take the win. Although he left first (.031 to .091), McCosh rattled the tires in second gear and struggled to regain momentum as he slowed to a 6.024 - 203.22, while Whiteley powered on through with a victorious 5.557 - 268.72 to open her season on a winning note. And that's a wrap on the first NHRA Lucas Oil regional event of 2020.
Yes, it's almost that time again as the 2020 FUNNY CAR CHAOS season is starting in less than two weeks at Lufkin, TX's Pine Valley Raceway. It will be the first of eight events on this year's FCC schedule and it promises to be the kickoff to an even bigger and better season of "Outlaw" Funny Car racing. Best of all, our photographer, Bob Snyder, has committed to attending all the events this season, upping his participation by the two events he missed at the end of last season due to illness.