NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The teams had to wait an extra couple of months for the running of the annual March Meet NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series event, but it turned out just as great in May as in March. And, with the milder evening weather, nitromethane under the lights not once, but twice!

This year’s edition offered four nitro classes, two Top Alcohol Funny Car eliminators, Pro Mod, and Group 1 and 2 Heritage Series competitors for a whopping total of 18 classes. They did not disappoint the lucky spectators who showed up to watch some great nostalgia drag racing.

In the four nitro classes (Top Fuel, Funny Car, Fuel Altered, and Pro Comp), the road to the winner’s circle seemed to be by qualifying in the No. 2 spot as three out of the four winner’s started Sunday’s eliminations from that position. Only Eric Gates in Fuel Altered hoisted his Wally starting from his No. 3 qualifying slot. 

Bobby Cottrell, the 2019 and 2020 Heritage Series Funny Car champion, was back at it again and in a big way. The No. 2 qualifier dominated Sunday with a string of 5.6 runs that included a 5.605 run against Kamaka Pocock in round two of eliminations. Cottrell also had top speed with a 262.64 mph on that same run. The final round paired No. 8 Michael Peck Jr. against Cottrell. Both had identical .084 reaction times, but Cottrell’s Bucky Austin horsepower was just too much to overcome, and Cottrell pulled away with a 5.728 at 248.71 mph to Peck’s 5.997 at 245.90. 

Cottrell was not the only competitor with an impressive weekend. Dan Horan Jr. showed up at Famoso Raceway with a Top Fuel dragster and a nitro Funny Car. He qualified the Funny Car No. 1 and the Top Fueler No. 2 and won Top Fuel. 

Horan Jr.’s victims included last year’s Top Fuel winner, Pete Wittenberg, in the semifinals, and Tyler Hilton (the 2020 runner-up) in the final round. Against Hilton, Horan was .004 behind at the start, but his 6.039 at 233.96 was enough to overcome Hilton’s tire smoking 6.825 at 186.48 mph. 

The Fuel Altereds were, well, entertaining as always. Their spectacular runs ended up with some collateral damage to the Witch Doctor and Nanook, serious enough to knock them both out of competition. Johnny West was by far the top class of the field, qualifying No. 1 with a 6.002 followed by 6.083 and 6.014 in eliminations. Yet, that all was for naught as he fouled out in the final round with a -.012 reaction, gifting No. 3 qualifier Eric Gates the win.  

The final round of Nitro Pro Comp was a nail bitter. Michael Halstead, the number two qualifier, beat No. 1 Billy McDevitt by the slightest of margins (.039), 5.955 to McDevitt’s 5.990.

Group 1 Heritage Series winners went to Kin Bates in A/Fuel Dragster, Don Enriquez in Jr. Fuel (no surprise there), and George Vanderpool in 7.0 Pro. Bates has now won back-to-back Heritage Series races in 2021, and Vanderpool finally got his March Meet Wally after a runner-up in 2020. 

The Alcohol Funny Cars had a burnout contest during Saturday’s qualifying session, and that entertaining sideshow went to Elko, Nev.’s Pete Ortiz. Steve Cluck’s red Camaro won the 6.75 index class, and James Maher prevailed in the 7.10 class. Favored No. 1 qualifier, Tony Trimp, broke out in the semifinals by .002 in his race against Maher. Jeremy Hanger and Sean Renteria shared Pro Mod honors with Hanger getting the win and Top Speed (253.95) and Renteria No. 1 qualifier and Low e.t. (5.820).

Group 2 winners in Nostalgia Eliminator 1, Nostalgia Eliminator 2, and Nostalgia Eliminator 3, went Steve Schoenfeld, Terri Scaduto, and Ed DeStaute, respectively. Schoenfeld defeated No. 1 qualifier Dustin Lee in the final round after Schoenfeld got the jump on Lee at the start, and Lee had to leg it out but went too quick with a 7.586. The gasser lineup of winners was as follows: Roy Castagnetto (A/Gas); John Saliani (B/Gas); Bryson Kleeman (C/Gas); Don Fournier (D/Gas); and Marvin Rules (Hot Rod).