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March Meet
The March Meet is an independent drag race held at Famoso Raceway, a dragstrip located approximately ten miles north of Bakersfield, California. It began in 1959 under the sanction of the "Smokers Car Club" and was initially known as the "US Fuel & Gas Championships.The event became officially known by its nickname, the "March Meet," when the Smokers sold the rights to the name "US Fuel & Gas Championships." In 1959 the first Smokers' March Meet was advertised as an "East-versus-West" showdown, with California drag racers taking on infamous Floridian Don Garlitswho had been credited with record speeds that the California crowd found dubious That year, Garlits lost early. Art Chrisman triumphed and took Top Eliminator laurels. From that first race forward, the roots of the event's continued success can be traced back its practice of permitting competition between nitromethane-burning dragsterwhen the fuel was banned by the National Hot Rod Association, who reluctantly relented its "F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Famoso Raceway
The Famoso Bakersfield Raceway dragstrip is located in McFarland, California just north of Bakersfield, California, and is known historically as the home to the annual March Meet, also known as the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships. The strip, located on Famoso Road between Highway 99 and Highway 65 east of the Highway 99 and Highway 46 interchange, was originally built in World War II as an Poso Auxiliary Field training base for the nearby Army Air Corps training base at Shafter's Minter Field. After World War II, the Army abandoned the field. It was in the 1950s that an aspiring group of drag racing pioneers from the Bakersfield area, the Bakersfield Smokers, purchased the west of strip and made the necessary adjustments to allow for drag racing. The Famoso Bakersfield Raceway hosted the first ever March Meet in 1959 and it helped establish the National Hot Rod Association's (NHRA) legitimacy. The east part of Poso Auxiliary Field became the Poso Airport.. Federal Aviation Admi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Garlits
Donald Glenn Garlits (born January 14, 1932, Tampa, Florida) is an American race car driver and automotive engineer. Considered the father of drag racing, he is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. A pioneer in the field of drag racing, he perfected the rear-engine Top Fuel dragster, an innovation motivated by the loss of part of his foot in a dragster accident. This design was notably safer since it put most of the fuel processing and rotating parts of the dragster behind the driver. The driver was placed in front of nearly all the mechanical components, thus protecting him and allowing him to activate a variety of safety equipment in the event of catastrophic mechanical failure or a fire. Garlits was an early promoter of the full-body, fire-resistant Nomex driving suit, complete with socks, gloves, and balaclava. Garlits was the first drag racer to officially surpass the 170, 180, 200, 240, 250, and 270 mile-per-hour marks in the quarter mile; he was al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nitromethane
Nitromethane, sometimes shortened to simply "nitro", is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest organic nitro compound. It is a polar liquid commonly used as a solvent in a variety of industrial applications such as in extractions, as a reaction medium, and as a cleaning solvent. As an intermediate in organic synthesis, it is used widely in the manufacture of pesticides, explosives, fibers, and coatings. Nitromethane is used as a fuel additive in various motorsports and hobbies, e.g. Top Fuel drag racing and miniature internal combustion engines in radio control, control line and free flight model aircraft. Preparation Nitromethane is produced industrially by combining propane and nitric acid in the gas phase at 350–450 °C (662–842 °F). This exothermic reaction produces the four industrially significant nitroalkanes: nitromethane, nitroethane, 1-nitropropane, and 2-nitropropane. The reaction involves free radicals, including th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Prudhomme
Don Prudhomme (born April 6, 1941 in San Fernando, California), nicknamed "The Snake", is an American drag racer. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1991. Racing career Prudhomme crewed for "TV Tommy" Ivo on Ivo's twin-engined slingshot in 1960. In 1962, Prudhomme was a partner in the Greer-Black-Prudhomme fuel digger, which earned the best win record in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) history,''Hot Rod'', 12/86, p. 29 sidebar. before switching to Funny Car. He would win the NHRA FC championship four times in his 35-year career. He earned the nickname "The Snake" in high school. He was the first Funny Car driver to exceed . After trouble getting the "vaunted" Gilmore Engineering-chassied '' Donovan Engineering Special'' dragster sorted out, Tom McEwen quit, and was replaced by Prudhomme, then owner-driver in the B&M Tork Master-sponsored car. In 1965, Prudhomme faced Hot Wheels teammate McEwen at the Hot Rod Magazine Championship Dra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Top Fuel
Top Fuel is a type of drag racing whose dragsters are the quickest accelerating racing cars in the world and the fastest sanctioned category of drag racing, with the fastest competitors reaching speeds of and finishing the runs in 3.62 seconds. A top fuel dragster accelerates from a standstill to in as little as 0.8 seconds (less than one third the time required by a production Porsche 911 Turbo to reach ) and can exceed in just . This subjects the driver to an average acceleration of about over the duration of the race and with a peak of over . Because of the speeds, this class exclusively races to only a distance, and not the traditional one-fourth of a statute mile, or . The rule was changed in 2008 by the National Hot Rod Association following the fatal crash of Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta during a qualifying session at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. The shortening of the distance was used by the FIA at some tracks, and as of 2012 is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Funny Car
Funny Car is a type of drag racing vehicle and a specific racing class in organized drag racing. Funny cars are characterized by having tilt-up fiberglass or carbon fiber automotive bodies over a custom-fabricated chassis, giving them an appearance vaguely approximating manufacturers' showroom models. They also have the engine placed in front of the driver, as opposed to dragsters, which place it behind the driver. Funny car bodies typically reflect the models of newly available cars in the time period that the funny car was built. For example, in the 1970s, then current models such as the Chevrolet Vega or Plymouth Barracuda were often represented as funny cars, and the bodies represented the Big Three of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Currently, four manufacturers are represented in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Funny Car — Chevrolet with the Camaro, Dodge with the Charger, Ford with the Mustang, and Toyota with the Supra. Worldwide, however, many dif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Force
John Harold Force (born May 4, 1949 in Bell Gardens, California) is an American NHRA drag racer. He is a 16-time NHRA and 1 time AHRA Funny Car champion driver and a 22-time champion car owner. Force owns and drives for John Force Racing (JFR). He is one of the most dominant drag racers in the sport with 155 career victories. He graduated from Bell Gardens High School and briefly attended Cerritos Junior College to play football. He is the father of drag racers Ashley Force Hood, Brittany Force, and Courtney Force. His oldest daughter Adria Hight is the CFO of JFR. Current drivers racing for his team are son-in-law Robert Hight, and daughter Brittany. Mike Neff was crew chief for John two separate times. Effective July 2013 Jimmy Prock replaced Mike Neff as crew chief, and Mike Neff became crew chief for Robert Hight. Neff, who was once the crew chief for rival driver Gary Scelzi, raced in a 4th Funny Car for JFR from October 26, 2007, following the death of Eric Medle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shirley Muldowney
Shirley Muldowney (born June 19, 1940), also known professionally as "Cha Cha" and the "First Lady of Drag Racing", is an American auto racer. She was the first woman to receive a license from the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to drive a Top Fuel dragster. She won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 1977, 1980, and 1982, becoming the first person to win two and three Top Fuel titles. She won a total of 18 NHRA national events. Racing career Born Shirley Ann Roque in Burlington, Vermont, on June 19, 1940, Muldowney began street racing in the 1950s in Schenectady, New York. "School had no appeal to me. All I wanted was to race up and down the streets in a hot rod," declared Muldowney. When she was 16, she married 19-year-old Jack Muldowney, who built her first dragster. It was Jack Muldowney who first taught me how to drive a car. Jack was the mechanic. He was the guy who tuned the cars that let the girl beat all the boys. I was a kid from upstate New York with no guidance, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goodguys Rod & Custom Association
The Goodguys Rod & Custom Association is the largest association in the U.S. catering to street rods, custom cars and show cars. The Goodguys Association has over 70,000 active members worldwide. Goodguys stages 20 annual rod & custom car show events throughout the United States as well as vintage drag races. Founded by Gary and Marilyn Meadors, Goodguys corporate headquarters are in Pleasanton, California. Their son, Marc Meadors serves as company president. The largest event Goodguys produces annually is thPPG Nationalsin Columbus, Ohio, at the Ohio Expo Center. It attracts over 6,500 rods, customs, classics and street machines through 1972 vintage. The Goodguys Street Machine of the Year and the Goodguys Street Rod of the Year awards are presented at this event. Rod and custom events Since 1987, Goodguys has held what are known as their National Summer Series events. Held at fairgrounds and super speedways around the country in cities such as Pleasanton, California, Del Mar, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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