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2006 was the
13th year the March Meet has been run under the Goodguys VRA
banner and it proved to be unlucky indeed. There are some things
in life you just have to write off as a really bad deal that
was nobody's fault. The 47th March Meet proved to be one of those
things. Drag racers can do a lot but running in the rain is not
one of them. Over two miserable weekends the Goodguys, racers
and fans could only hope that the rain would stop and the race
begin.
Although the
Top Fuel cars did get one qualifying run and squeezed in first
round of eliminations, the sun that finally came out on Sunday
only served to draw water up from under the racing surface making
it to dangerous to race on. It was the first time in history
that the event had to be not only postponed for a week but canceled
altogether. It was a no win situation for all involved.
This was all
very disappointing to Jim Murphy and the WW2 Racing team as they
were poised to do exactly what they came here to do - win Murphy's
5th March Meet which would have tied him with the legendary Don
Garlits with the most wins in the 47th year of drag racings oldest
established event.
Photos and full
story below.
This sets the tone for the weekend.
Friday morning - nothing but rain. Tinker with car.
Talk to friends...
or just take a nap.
An upside of the wait was Jim had time to spend with
his grandson.
Friday afternoon with little hope of getting a run
in the WW2 Racing crew fired up the engine to make sure there
were no leaks that would bite them the following day.
Among all the cool things the Goodguys had planned
for the weekend was the unveiling of the March Meet Champions
board. Fortunately they were able to pull this one off and had
9 of the drivers pose for photos on Friday.
L to R: Art Chrisman (1959), Don Garlits (1965, 1971,
1979, 1986 & 1987), Gary Beck (1984 & 1985), Butch Blair
(1988), Pete Kaiser (1995), Bill Dunlap (1994 & 1997), Jim
Murphy (1998, 1999, 2003 & 2004), Jack Harris (2001 &
2002), Howard Haight (2005).
Goodguys PR Director, John Drummond with four time
winner Jim Murphy.
At about 2 p.m. on Saturday the teams were told that
they were, barring anymore rain, going to try to get a one-shot
qualifying session in around 3 p.m. It was time to warm the engine.
Saturday - One-Shot
Qualifying Session
At 3:51 on a cold afternoon
the first pair of Top Fuel cars finally got a shot at the track.
Murphy chose go in the 8th pair gambling that the track would
get better with more rubber on it. As they prepared to start
the engine it was nearly 4 p.m. The track did have more rubber
but it was still cold and had a very narrow racing groove.
Doing his burnout in the left lane, Jim Murphy knew
low ET was only a 6.13. Under normal (or even average) conditions
that would be "weak". But these where not normal or
even average conditions and with only two pairs to go, a .13
was looking way good. In the other lane was Terry Cox in the
Cheetah III car.
Long time WW2 crewman,
Dave Thornhill backs Murphy up from his burnout.
The
green car was on the edge from the hit and logged the best 60'
time of the weekend.
Cox smoked the tires
early and could only watch Murphy pull away from him.
The Tim Beebe - Jim
Murphy tuned car never missed a lick and although Murphy got
way close to the wall on the top end his 5.947 at 238.72 would
move him to the head of the class - by a full tenth.
Check out the tire distortion!
Murphy was running the new M&H "C" compound slicks
that are a full 2" taller than previous designs.
Jim made his contribution to The Patch Insect Abatement
Program (burned pistons) but it was worth it for the time slip
they netted.
There is no better praise
than that of a peer.....
"Every time I look at the
photo of Jim Murphy throwing the laundry out it impresses me
more and more that Jim was able to run as good as he did on that
run. Not only is he out in the marbles throwing dirt, but he
is so far out of the groove that you can't even see it in the
picture. These cars are notorious for spinning the tires under
the best of conditions, so for Jim to run a '90' with all of
that working against him is quite amazing. This run is typical
of the challenge that everyone faced. Just keeping the tires
glued to the ground, and the car pointed in the right direction,
was a major challenge that nearly everyone failed to accomplish.
Henry Walther
Cheetah III Nostalgia Top Fuel
Final
Top Fuel Qualifying
1. Jim Murphy
- 5.947 @ 238.72
2. Brad Thompson - 6.033 @ 250.13
3. Howard Haight - 6.137 @ 248.00
4. Mendy Fry - 6.185 @ 181.67
5. Sean Bellemeur - 6.223 @ 245.96
6. Brett Harris - 6.233 @ 218.23
7. Shannon Stuart - 6.369 @ 227.33
8. Pete Kaiser - 6.403 @ 232.01 |
9. Rick
McGee - 6.569 @ 214.95
10. Bill Dunlap - 6.750 @ 202.83
11. Adam Sorokin - 6.980 @ 228.19
12. Jason Richey - 7.251 @ 175.26
13. Terry Cox - 7.316 @ 210.32
14. Rick Rogers - 7.639 @ 180.00
15. Mark Malde - 8.447 @ 99.45
16. Rick Williamson - 8.662 @ 94.92 |
Sunday morning Jim Murphy, Tim Beebe and Ron Rapadas
go over data prior to the first round of eliminations,
The crew got the car
ready for battle.
Eliminations
- Round One
Sunday was just that
- the first day in two weeks that predicted NO rain. The Goodguys
crew had cars on the track by 8:00 am trying desperately to salvage
the race and give everyone at least one shot at the show. Everyone
was planning for a very long day and nighttime finals. In spite
of the sun shine and comfortable temps, the massive amounts of
rain would prove to be the winner yet another day.
The only person to win the March Meet more times
than Jim Murphy was Grand Marshall, the legendary Don Garlits
here with Goodguys PR Director John Drummond and CEO Gary Meadors
during the pre race ceremonies.
10:02 a.m. Much nicer
conditions this morning. About 58 degrees and lots of sunshine.
Track temperature in the high 70s. A perfect day for a drag race.
Or not.
#1 qualifier, Murphy
was in the fifth pair out for round one and would face #16 qualifier,
Rick Williamson.
Brian Shamrock activates
the data computer just prior to Jim staging.
Playing it safe, Murphy had an unusually slow reaction
time (0.238) so for a second or two he was playing catch up to
Williamson.
By the 330' mark Murphy was past and pulling away.
Before the 1000' mark there were signs of piston
sacrifices but lifting, for Murphy, was not a option.
Amid oil and smoke, Murphy took the win and Low ET
of the Event (5.917 at 241.41) even lower. He'd taken the first
step in tying Big Daddy Don's record.
After the first round win the car was hustled back
to the pits and repaired.
Still thinking there would be a second round of eliminations,
the crew warmed up the engine in anticipation of round two.
Shortly after the WW2
Racing dragster was ready to go the staging lanes the word was
handed down that the event had been canceled. This was the last
thing Jim Murphy and his crew wanted to hear. They were more
than poised to win the event and accomplish what they had set
out to do - win Murphy his 5th March Meet tying him with Garlits.
But Mother Nature had other plans and now they have to wait until
next year to take another shot at tying the record. A huge disappointment
for everyone - especially Jim.
Official Goodguys
Press Release
Bakersfield, CA – Wet track
conditions caused by “weepers” (pockets of water seeping
through tiny cracks in the asphalt) forced Goodguys/VRA officials
to cancel all racing at the 47th March Meet. Water from weeks
of rain continued to seep through the racing surface today even
though the weather conditions were perfect for racing.
The day started off with some
sportsman eliminations and continued with round one of top fuel.
Conditions were fine with Visalia’s Brad Thompson running
Low ET of the meet at 5.862. After a couple more hours of racing
water started seeping up through the racing surface in several
areas causing the cancellation of the event.
Goodguys officials deemed the
race canceled at 1:30pm. There will be no rerun.
The 47th March Meet got off to
an inauspicious start when it was postponed a week due to rain.
The rerun this weekend was not much better with most of the first
two days washed out due to passing rain showers.
“It’s as frustrating
as it gets,” said Goodguys President Gary Meadors. “The
racers and the officials both agreed that the conditions were
not suitable for further competition.”
The next Goodguys West Coast
Championship Series event, the 9th Pomona Nitro Nationals, is
scheduled for May 5-7 at Pomona Raceway.
And so ended a very disappointing
weekend for the WW2 Racing team. Their sights are now set on
the VRA May race in Pomona.
See the WW2
Racing Schedule for upcoming events
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