Great weather contributed to bringing back a very good crowd to the 68th annual Good Vibrations Motor Sports March Meet at Famoso Dragstrip just north of Bakersfield earlier this month. It was in 1959 that a local Car Club called the “Smokers” hosted the inaugural United States Fuel and Gas Championships. In later years, it would eventually become known as the March Meet, becoming home to the Nostalgia Drag Racing scene in 1994. This is now the season opener for the NHRA Heritage Drag Racing Series. The event features 14 different classes, ranging from the three main nitro categories, Top Fuel (known as AA/FD) Nostalgia Funny Car (known as AA/FC or NFC) and Fuel Altered (AA/FA) down to Hot Rod (HR, dial-in/handicap racing).
In AA/FD, Tyler Hilton, once again, had the car to beat. Since 2024, he has won three consecutive championships in the AA/FD class. But it would not be Tyler Hilton that captured the top qualifying spot. It was Tyler Hester that accomplished that, with a 5.67 at 261.93 mph. The Hilton family also competed with a second dragster, driven by Tyler’s uncle, Mike Hilton.
Mike Hilton qualified fourth, placing him on the opposite side of the eight-car ladder from his number two qualifying nephew. With those elimination ladder positions, they could not face off against each other until the final round. In the opening round, top qualifier Hester was taken out by number eight qualifier Adam Sorokin.
Sorokin cut the best reaction time in the class (0.017 seconds) and drove away from Hester (who left late and lost traction) to a 5.918 at 243.24 win.
The Hiltons powered through eliminations, as the younger Hilton took out Brett Williamson and Pete Kaiser with 5.793 at 214.03 mph and 5.689 at 263.31 mph efforts to advance to the final round. The elder (uncle) Hilton got by Frank McBee and Adam Sorokin with a 5.758 at 236.96 mph to advance to a family finale, with Tyler Hilton taking the win over his uncle with a 5.714 at 265.09 mph.
In the NHRA Heritage series, it is possible for one driver to drive a car in both AA/FD and NFC at the same event. Bobby Cottrell, six-time champion in the NFC category, competed in AA/FD and AA/FC (NFC) at this event. He was eliminated in the opening round in AA/FD and the semifinal round of NFC.
In the AA/FC (NFC) category, Todd Plate captured the top spot, in his 1968 Camaro bodied car, with an NFC record setting 5.485 at 253.33 mph effort. Unfortunately for Plate, his car faltered and he was taken out by Geoff Monise and his 1970 Firebird, 6.697 at 202.29 mph to 8.010 at 218.55 mph.
Mike Peck and Nathan Sitko had the cars to beat in eliminations. Sitko in his 1968 Pontiac Firebird utilized 5.682 at 262.39 mph, 5.552 at 264.00 mph 5.590 at 259.44 mph performances to take out Cory Lee, Jon Capps and Shane Westerfield on the way to the final round. Mike Peck was on the other side of the ladder, getting by Derrick Moreira, Drew Austin and Bobby Cottrell. His performances were all in the upper 5.50’s at 260 plus mph. The final round was a good one, as both drivers left together (Peck-0.077, Sitko-0.076). Peck had the better car, taking the win over Sitko with a 5.581 at 262.70 mph to 5.620 at 260.19 mph.
The Fuel Altered (AA/FA) category featured an eight-car ladder. Matthew Leonard captured the top qualifying spot with a 6.004 at 238.40 mph effort. Leonard was taken out in the semifinals by a young driver from Arizona, Dylan Winefsky, as Leonard’s car broke on the starting line. Winefsky ran a 6.289 at 193.88 mph, heading into the final round. Brandon Seraphine advanced on other side of the ladder. Low elapse time of eliminations belonged to Winefsky, who defeated Kyle Hough in the opening round with a 6.015 at 208.81 mph. He squared off against Seraphine in the final round and it was Seraphine with the victory as he sped to a 6.144 at 208.89 mph win.
