A pair of local Ohio racers showed out at the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) DeCerbo Construction American Doorslammer Challenge presented by Callies Performance, as Toledo’s Jason Lee and Hamersville’s Eric McKinney raced to victory in pro classes at Summit Motorsports Park Sunday afternoon.
 
Lee, racing in Penske/PRS Pro Boost presented by WS Construction, scored his first-ever PDRA victory in Eric Gustafson’s Coast Packing Company “Lard Machine” ’69 Camaro. McKinney, a multi-time world champion in Drag 965 Pro Nitrous Motorcycle, earned another event victory on his McKinney Motorsports Hayabusa. 

When there's a tradition, regardless of the circumstances, there are diehards who will find a way to make it work. Case in point, the Bakersfield March Meet is a staple of nostalgia drag racing, and for the folks at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, Ca., they were prepared to wait out a pandemic.

Thus, this weekend was the Bakersfield March Meet in May. Some things are worth waiting for.

Taking home top professional honors were Bobby Cottrell (Nostalgia Funny Car), Dan Horan Jr. (Nostalgia Top Fuel), Eric Gates (Fuel Altered), and Jeremy Hangar (Pro Modified).

Despite a challenging forecast for Saturday, racers in the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) kicked off eliminations in dramatic fashion at the DeCerbo Construction American Doorslammer Challenge presented by Callies Performance at Summit Motorsports Park. 
 
After finishing qualifying with a second session, the series completed the first round of eliminations in four out of six professional classes, as well as five sportsman and Jr. Dragster categories. 

After a two-month pandemic-related delay, the Good Vibrations Bakersfield March Meet thundered to life at Famoso Raceway just outside of Bakersfield, Ca.

Dan Horan Jr., Brett Williamson, and Johnny West all stand atop the leaderboard, with final qualifying runs slated for Saturday.

Horan established his role early in AA/FC qualifying by blasting out a 5.632 elapsed time at 249.40 miles per hour in his 1969 Camaro replica flopper. Defending series champion Bobby Cottrell was right on his heels with a 5.650, 258.12. James Day was third with a 5.654.

Due to persistent rain showers, Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) officials canceled Friday qualifying at the DeCerbo Construction American Doorslammer Challenge presented by Callies at Summit Motorsports Park.

The series will try to complete a second, final qualifying session on Saturday, with Sunday set aside as race day.

The video quality is about as rough as the State Capitol Raceway drag strip surface was, but this doesn't keep this classic Diamond P broadcast of the 1980 Cajun Nationals from being entertaining. With Don Prudhomme and Raymond Beadle failing to qualify, some of the "blue collar" Funny Car racers had their chance to shine, namely Paul Smith. You'll see other names such as Jeg Coughlin, Sr. in Top Fuel and Paul Smith in Funny Car. There's even a cameo appearance from the L.A. Hooker.

When Jerry Espeseth was going to miss this weekend's Bakersfield March Meet in FaMoso, Ca., there was only one logical choice to fill the opening.

No one knows the inside and out of the Atlas Camaro AA/FC than its previous owner Jason Rupert.

At first, Rupert declined the offer until he learned it was more of a command than an offer.

As families and friends gather this weekend to celebrate the holiday weekend, a friend lent a helping hand to another to get their message out to the public. Josh Hart Fearless Racing put a ‘Share Your Spare’ sticker on his Top Fuel Dragster last weekend.

Hart had the decal on his 11,000 horsepower Burnyzz's Speed Shop and TechNet Professional Automotive Service dragster at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas. The rookie driver also donated a portion of his proceeds for the weekend to the Justin Terrell family.

For the third year in a row the Texas Motorplex, home of the historic Texas NHRA FallNationals, held October 2-10, is teaming up again with the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation to offer military and first responders free tickets to the annual NHRA national event. The “Buy a Ticket, Give a Ticket to a Military or First Responder” campaign will also once again be supported by three-time NHRA Top Fuel World Champion and long-time Chris Kyle Frog Foundation supporter Steve Torrence.
 
“We are so proud to continue to support this promotion to honor our military and first responders,” said Torrence. “The past two years we have seen so many people at the races and it wouldn’t be possible without the ‘Buy a Ticket, Give a Ticket’ program. Everyone at Capco Contractors is behind this program and we think this is a great way for all NHRA fans to show their appreciation to our military and first responders.”

 
Small-tire racing star Daniel Pharris went to the provisional No. 1 spot in Penske/PRS Pro Boost presented by WS Construction during a proactive Thursday qualifying session to kick off the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) DeCerbo Construction American Doorslammer Challenge presented by Callies. Driving the GALOT Motorsports ’69 Camaro, Pharris covered the Summit Motorsports Park eighth-mile in 3.649 seconds at 207.05 mph. 
 
With rain in the forecast for Friday and Saturday, PDRA and track officials decided to run the first qualifying session on Thursday evening.