COTTRELL MAKES HISTORY WHILE WHYNAUGHT EARNS REDEMPTION AT THE MARCH MEET
History and struggle created prestige at the 65th running of the iconic Good Vibrations Motorsports March Meet at Famoso Dragstrip. Bobby Cottrell captured his fifth March Meet title in Nitro Funny Car, tying the legend "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, while Mark Whynaught mended his heartbreak from the year before taking home the crown in AA/Fuel Altered.
Joining Cottrell and Whynaught in the winner's circle at Famoso was Eily Stafford in Nitro Pro Comp. The AA/Fuel Dragster group elected to run their eliminations in October during qualifying at the California Hot Rod Reunion, the series finale for the NHRA Heritage series.
The AA/Fuel Dragster group opted not to return on Sunday, postponing their final eliminations until October during the California Hot Rod Reunion.
Cottrell continued his dominance in the Nitro Funny Car ranks, kicking his title defense off in style, capturing his third March Meet title in a row and fifth overall, tying "Big Daddy" Don Garlits.
"We went from zeroes on Thursday to heroes on Sunday," Cottrell said. "Just a testament to my team. They've just been outstanding. We've had adversity from when we got here... actually on the way here. Just to get here was a mountain to climb. I'm just super, super happy to tie Don Garlits. To be in the same sentence with that guy is a big deal for me. Obviously, he's one of my idols. Couldn't ask for any better ending and on to the next one, I guess."
For a team that has shown little to no weakness for the past few seasons, it was on full display this weekend, starting with a fire during testing on Thursday.
Nevertheless, the Bardahl-sponsored Funny Car driver stepped up when it mattered the most. Cottrell eliminated Chris Davis in the opening round of eliminations with a solid 5.685 on Saturday afternoon. However, just as he was getting ready to battle with young Drew Austin in the second round on Sunday morning, Mother Nature had other ideas, forcing the completion of eliminations into Monday.
Although race fans had to wait nearly 20 hours to see the highly anticipated battle of the Austins, the sibling rivalry of car owners, their drivers Cottrell, and the third-gen Austin did not disappoint. Cottrell took the round with a 5.69, nearly edging out Austin, who was right there with a 5.70, and both cars running over 256 miles per hour.
The champ showed off his driving talents again in the semifinals when he defeated Tony Jurado on a massive holeshot, running a 5.82 to Jurado's quicker but losing 5.78.
Cottrell was set to battle with Canadian Tim Boychuk in the final round when his opponent lost fire at the ready line. The team confirmed the Funny Car body pinched the coil wire on the way down after firing, grounding out the magneto.
Awarded a single in the final round, Cottrell finished off the day with an elapsed time of 6.09 seconds at 179 miles per hour, ceiling his fifth March Meet crown.
For his part, runner-up Boychuk worked his way to the final round with wins over Jim Maroney, Ryan Horan, and Brad Thompson.
Whynaught came into this year's March Meet with one thing on his mind... redemption. One year ago, Whynaught seemed well on his way to his first March Meet victory when his opponent Dan Hix smoked the tires right at the hit in the final round. Unfortunately, Whynaught's car lost fire halfway down the quarter-mile, allowing Hix to drive around for the victory and causing heartbreak for the Las Vegas, Nevada native.
One year later, he left no doubt in everybody's mind that he was the one to beat as he qualified his "Nitro Mamba" AA/Fuel Altered on the pole and never looked back. Whynaught took down Jason Pettit in the opening round with a solid 6.237 at 212 miles per hour before shutting off on the starting after staging his car and taking the tree during a bye run in the semifinals when his opponent Derrick Moreira couldn't make the call.
The pressure was on Whynaught in the final round as he squared off against one of the more seasoned veterans in AA/Fuel Altered, Johnny West. Whynaught was up for the task, defeating West in the final round on a holeshot with a 6.120 at 223 miles per hour to West's 6.109 at 247.
"I'm on cloud nine right now," Whynaught said. "I got to thank all my boys for getting this thing tuned up between the rounds. We finally did it after last year blowing it up in the final. It's pretty cool racing Johnny West, getting a holeshot win against a legendary Top Fuel guy from back in the day."
West's "Plan A" AA/Fuel Altered defeated James Generalao Jr and Cory Lee.
From the number one qualifying position, Eily Stafford took home the crown in Nitro Pro Comp at the March Meet.
Stafford, tuned by iconic drag racing crewman Donnie Couch in her Mark Borjon-owned rear engine Top Fuel Dragster, defeated Tim Elckstadt in the opening round with a stellar 6.20 at 225 to Elckstadt's 6.282 at 226. She went on to win a close race over Keith Wilson in the final round on a massive holeshot, laying down an impressive 6.040 at 232 to Wilson's much quicker but losing 5.753 at 261.
"This was my seventh final," Stafford said. "So I think this is what I was waiting for, for this moment. With Donnie Couch and Mark (Borjon) and the guys, this is such a dream come true.
"I went to the March Meet final in 2012, and the last final I was in 2017 here (California Hot Rod Reunion), and we lost by three thousandths, so this is just awesome. It's such a dream come true."
Other winners at the 64th Bakersfield March Meet included Wayne Ramay (A/Fuel), Jason Vanderpool (7.0 PRO), Steve Schoenfeld (Nostalgia Eliminator-1), Scott Chamberlain (NE-2), Ron Anzalone (NE-3), Chris Kurtis (A/Gas), Meghan Gorman (B/G), Eddy Plaizier (C/G), Jesse Howe (D/Gas & Hot Rod).
The NHRA Heritage Series returns to action at Redding Motorsports Park, Redding, California, with Groups 1 & 2. The Nitro Funny Cars' next stop will be May 6-7 for NAPA Auto Parts Ignitor Nitro Opener held at Firebird Raceway in Boise, Idaho.