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Bakersfield,
CA - March 09-11, 2007: The 49th edition of the March Meet was
everything you could expect from the premier drag race of the
nostalgia season. John and Blake Bowser - with a lot of help
from the Famoso Raceway staff - put on a drag race for the ages.
From the full pits on Thursday to the Winners Circle shots on
Sunday this was an event blessed with Chamber of Commerce weather,
an accommodating facility, incredible racing surface, friendly
staff, full bore fans and upbeat attitudes throughout.
The 35,000+ fans
that packed the facility over the three-day event were treated
to over 500 race cars including 20 of the countries best Top
Fuel dragsters including Jim Murphy and the WW2 Racing team.
As he's done for several years, Murphy went into the event with
his sights set on a stand-alone record. Not an ET or speed record
but a record probably only he can break - a 5th March Meet Top
Fuel win which he currently shares with Don Garlits.
Murphy's dream held fast into
the final round of racing on Sunday when the record was dead
in his sights. For reasons they have figured out, everything
literally went up in smoke when the tires broke loose at the
start and Jim had to watch Brett Harris streak to victory. His
dragster that had served him so well throughout eliminations
simply had too much power in the end.
Photos
and full story below.
Friday - Qualifying
Session One
Under sunny skies the first session got
under way at 2:30 PM. Murphy found himself the last car to make
a shot and it would be a single.
Crew Chief Tim Beebe awaits the signal
to fire-up.
The green car sounded very good on the
burnout - maybe too good.
Dave
Thornhill backs Jim up from the burnout.
It's
all good, Thornhill moves Murphy up to stage.
At
the hit Murphy hiked the front wheels and was on a pass.
Before
the first light Jim felt something amiss and shut it off and
still ran a stellar 5.869 at just 229.70. In spite of the engine
damage the time established a very encouraging baseline for a
weekend tune-up.
After
the run the crew repaired the engine and got the car ready for
session two on Saturday.
Saturday - Qualifying
Session Two
1:41 p.m. Weather conditions:
air temperature 68 degrees, relative humidity 33 percent, barometer
30.14 inches, track temperature 84 degrees. Very nice racing
conditions.
Once again Murphy was
the last car to run in the session and had a single in the right
lane.
Amid a cloud of clutch
dust Murphy left hard and the trained eye knew it could be a
good pass.
But once again Jim shut it off early to card a 5.920
at 241.09. This was slightly slower than session one but with
a better speed.
The crew preps the car for the third and final qualifying
session.
Saturday - Qualifying
Session Three
Running 2 hours behind
schedule, the final session got underway at 5:46 PM.
As the sun set in the West, Murphy was paired with
Jack Harris for his third shot at the excellent Famoso track.
Murphy made a nice, clean 5.880 at 244.16 pass which
landed him the # 5 spot in the 16 car field. The run was particularly
satisfying as it told the crew they finally had a consistent
race car again... three runs in the fives.
Page
Two: Sunday
Eliminations
Top
Fuel Qualifying after 3rd Session
1. Brad Thompson
- 5.746 @ 247.11
2. Rick White - 5.822 @ 250.69
3. Shannon Stuart - 5.841 @ 225.22
4. Pete Kaiser - 5.842 @ 257.51
5. Jim Murphy - 5.869 @ 229.70
6. Denver Schutz - 5.897 @ 249.16
7. Brett Harris - 5.911 @ 256.04
8. Troy Green - 5.927 @ 244.10 |
9. Jason
Richey - 5.964 @ 228.25
10. Jack Harris - 5.986 @ 250.48
11. Rick McGee - 5.992 @ 250.00
12. Howard Haight - 6.003 @ 230.71
13. Adam Sorokin - 6.013 @ 225.79
14. Bill Dunlap - 6.029 @ 251.46
15. Rick Rogers - 6.122 @ 211.46
16. Brendan Murry - 6.136 @ 239.55 |
DNQ
17. Mark Malde -
6.136 @ 239.55
18. John Shoemaker - 6.283
@ 207.80
19. Ron Maroney - 8.367
@ 130.05 |
Page
Two: Sunday
Eliminations
See the WW2
Racing Schedule for upcoming events
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