That confidence is reflected in the March Meet’s recent public-relations push, which has featured prominent voices from NHRA’s modern era reinforcing the event’s importance.
Don Prudhomme has said the March Meet offers a direct connection to drag racing’s foundation.
“It’s great for people that have an interest in drag racing to go there and see what really happened in the early days,” Prudhomme said. “Cars are so much different now. Front-engine dragsters and stuff that’s really the backbone of drag racing and you can see that at the March Meet.”
NHRA Funny Car world champion and drag racing historian Jack Beckman has pointed to the event’s place in cultural memory.
“For as long as I have known, the March Meet was a big deal,” Beckman said. “It was a big deal in 1959, when one of my idols (and friend), Art Chrisman, outran another legend and friend, Tony Waters, to win the inaugural race.”
Ron Capps, a Funny Car world champion and March Meet winner, tied the event to his own origin story.
“I was in my mom’s belly at the March Meet,” Capps said. “It means everything.”
The uncomfortable reality is that all three will be unable to attend this year because of the scheduling conflict. Without the overlap, they would be there. That matters.
This concern may sound self-serving, and in some ways it is. I’ve made the March Meet a fixture on my calendar for decades. But I’m far from alone. There are photographers, historians, crew members, media professionals, former drivers, and current NHRA employees who earn their living on the Big Show schedule and cannot simply choose Bakersfield — even when their hearts are there.
Drivers, crews, legends, and fans are being forced to make a choice they shouldn’t have to make.
There have been quiet rumblings that the conflict will end next year. So far, the public response has been limited to, “We’re working on it.” At this point, that isn’t enough. Heritage doesn’t survive on intentions. It survives on decisions.
Just as the U.S. Nationals live on Labor Day weekend, the March Meet has always lived on the first weekend of March. NHRA moved. Famoso Dragstrip didn’t.
NHRA does more right than wrong. That deserves acknowledgment. But if the organization truly values the heritage it celebrates, this is a wrong that needs to be righted — not quietly, not eventually, but decisively.
History deserves that much.
BOBBY BENNETT: FAMILY SHOULD NEVER COMPETE WITH FAMILY
In many drag racing circles, the Bakersfield March Meet is a BFD. I won’t take the time to spell out what BFD means, other than to say the event is a big deal to gearheads. It’s a throwback to a much simpler time in drag racing, when innovation was raw, personalities were larger than life, and the sport was still defining itself one run at a time.
Which is why it’s hard to understand why NHRA, the same organization that oversees the Heritage Series the March Meet competes under, continues to schedule its season-opening national event directly on top of one of drag racing’s most historic weekends. To borrow a familiar analogy, it feels like a father scheduling a company party on top of his kid’s birthday. After all, this is supposed to be family.
The irony is difficult to ignore. NHRA’s 75th anniversary season — a year designed to celebrate the sport’s roots — opens on the same weekend as the 68th running of the Bakersfield March Meet, an event once known as the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships. If history matters, and NHRA has said repeatedly that it does, then this overlap feels like a contradiction rather than a coincidence.
Two seasons ago, Dallas was scheduled on top of the California Hot Rod Reunion, an adjustment to avoid a scheduling clash with an In-N-Out event at the Fairplex. Last year, issues with one of the two West Coast events previously at the start of the season forced them to move Gainesville up on top of Bakersfield. Sometimes the calendar wins. When this year’s schedule arrived with the same overlap still in place, it landed differently — particularly after the criticism NHRA absorbed the first time around. You see, scheduling on top of Bakersfield became a viable option that it should never have become.
Drag racing fans should not have to choose between two great drag races on the same weekend, especially when both events operate under the same sanctioning umbrella. This isn’t an independent promoter stepping on a national event. This is NHRA scheduling NHRA against NHRA.
That’s where the concern deepens. NHRA has consistently stated that the Heritage Series is important to its identity and long-term vision. Yet actions carry more weight than press statements, and scheduling the season opener against the March Meet sends a message that history is secondary to logistics.
Fair or not, NHRA’s past experience in this arena leaves little room for ambiguity. The California Hot Rod Reunion serves as a recent reminder of how fragile heritage events can be when their identity is disrupted. Heavy-handed decisions in the past stripped that event of its soul, sending it into a gradual decline that alienated racers and fans alike.
The recovery didn’t come from doubling down. It came when NHRA acknowledged the damage and brought in Blake Bowser, the former Famoso Dragstrip operator and the driving force behind the Bakersfield March Meet, to help repair the relationship. Bowser understood that nostalgia racing does not thrive under mandates. It thrives under trust, collaboration, and respect for tradition.
Under that approach, bridges were rebuilt. The California Hot Rod Reunion regained credibility. Fans returned. Competitors felt heard again. In time, NHRA didn’t just restore the relationship — it elevated Bowser into a more prominent role within the Heritage Series, signaling a clear understanding that stewardship, not control, was the path forward.
Which is why the current scheduling conflict is so perplexing. After empowering Bowser, after learning firsthand how easily heritage events can be destabilized, NHRA effectively turned around and said, “Oh, by the way,” by overscheduling against the March Meet — not once, but now for a second consecutive year.
Some might argue that NHRA national events have overlapped Heritage Series races before, and that’s true. But the March Meet is different. If you’ve ever seen Step Brothers, you know the Catalina Wine Mixer isn’t just another party — it’s the party. In the nostalgia drag racing world, the March Meet occupies that same space.
To be clear, Gainesville overlapping Bakersfield is not a death knell for the March Meet. Famoso Dragstrip will be fine. The stands will fill, the pits will buzz, and the event will once again deliver what it always has — a living, breathing museum of drag racing’s formative years.
That confidence is reflected in the March Meet’s recent public-relations push, which has featured prominent voices from NHRA’s modern era reinforcing the event’s importance.
Don Prudhomme has said the March Meet offers a direct connection to drag racing’s foundation.
NHRA Funny Car world champion and drag racing historian Jack Beckman has pointed to the event’s place in cultural memory.
Ron Capps, a Funny Car world champion and March Meet winner, tied the event to his own origin story.
The uncomfortable reality is that all three will be unable to attend this year because of the scheduling conflict. Without the overlap, they would be there. That matters.
This concern may sound self-serving, and in some ways it is. I’ve made the March Meet a fixture on my calendar for decades. But I’m far from alone. There are photographers, historians, crew members, media professionals, former drivers, and current NHRA employees who earn their living on the Big Show schedule and cannot simply choose Bakersfield — even when their hearts are there.
Drivers, crews, legends, and fans are being forced to make a choice they shouldn’t have to make.
There have been quiet rumblings that the conflict will end next year. So far, the public response has been limited to, “We’re working on it.” At this point, that isn’t enough. Heritage doesn’t survive on intentions. It survives on decisions.
Just as the U.S. Nationals live on Labor Day weekend, the March Meet has always lived on the first weekend of March. NHRA moved. Famoso Dragstrip didn’t.
NHRA does more right than wrong. That deserves acknowledgment. But if the organization truly values the heritage it celebrates, this is a wrong that needs to be righted — not quietly, not eventually, but decisively.
History deserves that much.
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BOBBY BENNETT: FAMILY SHOULD NEVER COMPETE WITH FAMILY
In many drag racing circles, the Bakersfield March Meet is a BFD. I won’t take the time to spell out what BFD means, other than to say the event is a big deal to gearheads. It’s a throwback to a much simpler time in drag racing, when innovation was raw, personalities were larger than life, and the sport was still defining itself one run at a time.
Which is why it’s hard to understand why NHRA, the same organization that oversees the Heritage Series the March Meet competes under, continues to schedule its season-opening national event directly on top of one of drag racing’s most historic weekends. To borrow a familiar analogy, it feels like a father scheduling a company party on top of his kid’s birthday. After all, this is supposed to be family.
The irony is difficult to ignore. NHRA’s 75th anniversary season — a year designed to celebrate the sport’s roots — opens on the same weekend as the 68th running of the Bakersfield March Meet, an event once known as the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships. If history matters, and NHRA has said repeatedly that it does, then this overlap feels like a contradiction rather than a coincidence.
Two seasons ago, Dallas was scheduled on top of the California Hot Rod Reunion, an adjustment to avoid a scheduling clash with an In-N-Out event at the Fairplex. Last year, issues with one of the two West Coast events previously at the start of the season forced them to move Gainesville up on top of Bakersfield. Sometimes the calendar wins. When this year’s schedule arrived with the same overlap still in place, it landed differently — particularly after the criticism NHRA absorbed the first time around. You see, scheduling on top of Bakersfield became a viable option that it should never have become.
Drag racing fans should not have to choose between two great drag races on the same weekend, especially when both events operate under the same sanctioning umbrella. This isn’t an independent promoter stepping on a national event. This is NHRA scheduling NHRA against NHRA.
That’s where the concern deepens. NHRA has consistently stated that the Heritage Series is important to its identity and long-term vision. Yet actions carry more weight than press statements, and scheduling the season opener against the March Meet sends a message that history is secondary to logistics.
Fair or not, NHRA’s past experience in this arena leaves little room for ambiguity. The California Hot Rod Reunion serves as a recent reminder of how fragile heritage events can be when their identity is disrupted. Heavy-handed decisions in the past stripped that event of its soul, sending it into a gradual decline that alienated racers and fans alike.
The recovery didn’t come from doubling down. It came when NHRA acknowledged the damage and brought in Blake Bowser, the former Famoso Dragstrip operator and the driving force behind the Bakersfield March Meet, to help repair the relationship. Bowser understood that nostalgia racing does not thrive under mandates. It thrives under trust, collaboration, and respect for tradition.
Under that approach, bridges were rebuilt. The California Hot Rod Reunion regained credibility. Fans returned. Competitors felt heard again. In time, NHRA didn’t just restore the relationship — it elevated Bowser into a more prominent role within the Heritage Series, signaling a clear understanding that stewardship, not control, was the path forward.
Which is why the current scheduling conflict is so perplexing. After empowering Bowser, after learning firsthand how easily heritage events can be destabilized, NHRA effectively turned around and said, “Oh, by the way,” by overscheduling against the March Meet — not once, but now for a second consecutive year.
Some might argue that NHRA national events have overlapped Heritage Series races before, and that’s true. But the March Meet is different. If you’ve ever seen Step Brothers, you know the Catalina Wine Mixer isn’t just another party — it’s the party. In the nostalgia drag racing world, the March Meet occupies that same space.
To be clear, Gainesville overlapping Bakersfield is not a death knell for the March Meet. Famoso Dragstrip will be fine. The stands will fill, the pits will buzz, and the event will once again deliver what it always has — a living, breathing museum of drag racing’s formative years.
That confidence is reflected in the March Meet’s recent public-relations push, which has featured prominent voices from NHRA’s modern era reinforcing the event’s importance.
Don Prudhomme has said the March Meet offers a direct connection to drag racing’s foundation.
NHRA Funny Car world champion and drag racing historian Jack Beckman has pointed to the event’s place in cultural memory.
Ron Capps, a Funny Car world champion and March Meet winner, tied the event to his own origin story.
The uncomfortable reality is that all three will be unable to attend this year because of the scheduling conflict. Without the overlap, they would be there. That matters.
This concern may sound self-serving, and in some ways it is. I’ve made the March Meet a fixture on my calendar for decades. But I’m far from alone. There are photographers, historians, crew members, media professionals, former drivers, and current NHRA employees who earn their living on the Big Show schedule and cannot simply choose Bakersfield — even when their hearts are there.
Drivers, crews, legends, and fans are being forced to make a choice they shouldn’t have to make.
There have been quiet rumblings that the conflict will end next year. So far, the public response has been limited to, “We’re working on it.” At this point, that isn’t enough. Heritage doesn’t survive on intentions. It survives on decisions.
Just as the U.S. Nationals live on Labor Day weekend, the March Meet has always lived on the first weekend of March. NHRA moved. Famoso Dragstrip didn’t.
NHRA does more right than wrong. That deserves acknowledgment. But if the organization truly values the heritage it celebrates, this is a wrong that needs to be righted — not quietly, not eventually, but decisively.
History deserves that much.
John Doe
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BOBBY BENNETT: FAMILY SHOULD NEVER COMPETE WITH FAMILY
In many drag racing circles, the Bakersfield March Meet is a BFD. I won’t take the time to spell out what BFD means, other than