The March Meet

Our favorite pre-Springtime event has got to be the Goodguys March Meet, held at the famous Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, California, since 1994. Of course the original March Meet, started by the Smokers car club, goes back to the Fifties, which is why the 2005 event was officially titled the 46th March Meet.

This year, the event drew more than 500 nostalgia race cars--everything from Hot Rod class street/strip rods, to Gassers, Altereds, Funnies, and front engined Fuel dragsters. Behind the stands, the show 'n' shine area was filled with so many pre-'73 rods, customs, and street machines that Goodguys had to make room for the overflow out in the vendor area.

Freelance automotive writer Scotty Gosson, from Medford, Oregon, usually crews on a '27 coupe, but the T didn't make the race this year, so Scotty came down just to spectate and take pictures, or so he thought.

"When Chris Malott, also from Medford, heard I was there without a car, he asked if I would help out on his Nostalgia Eliminator 1 dragster," Scotty said. I was honored, and glad to help, as I make a crappy spectator. After three days with this car, spectating sounds pretty nice. We qualified okay, then sheared off the mag drive in the block while warming up for Round One. With 15 minutes to go, we borrowed an old Vertex mag, which meant re-wiring the car. We made it, and won. Next round, we broke out, with a 7.45 on a 7.60 index. After returning the borrowed mag, we loaded up the trailer and said our goodbyes, only to learn that we were back in, on the 'break rule' (our neighbors blew a head gasket). We had 12 minutes to get to the lanes, but we made it again--and broke out again. Whew! What a weekend!"

When not wrenching on the dragster, Gosson was taking photos in the pits, in the lanes, and at the starting line. R&C staffer Tim Bernsau was also at Famoso taking photos. Here are some of their photos from Famoso.