Celebrating its 52nd year of competition, the March Meet at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield has always been a hotspot for the sport of drag racing. As a child, 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force remembers peering thru the chain link fence as merely a spectator of the event. In 1984 he found himself on the other side of the fence, living his dream capturing his first, and only, March Meet championship. Fast forward to 2010, Force finds himself wearing yet another hat as the Grand Marshal of the storied event this weekend March 5-7.

“The March Meet is and always has been a great place for entertainment. I will see a lot of my old race buddies that I started with and raced against there,” said Force. “I have wanted to come back for a long time. 2009 NHRA Funny Car champ Robert Hight has come up here with Tom McKernan, Auto Club CEO, and they always tell me the fun I’d have. It is an honor to have the Auto Club, Blake Bowser and Famoso Raceway invite me to be the Grand Marshal.”

Celebrating its 52nd year of competition, the March Meet at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield has always been a hotspot for the sport of drag racing. As a child, 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force remembers peering thru the chain link fence as merely a spectator of the event. In 1984 he found himself on the other side of the fence, living his dream capturing his first, and only, March Meet championship. Fast forward to 2010, Force finds himself wearing yet another hat as the Grand Marshal of the storied event this weekend March 5-7.

“The March Meet is and always has been a great place for entertainment. I will see a lot of my old race buddies that I started with and raced against there,” said Force. “I have wanted to come back for a long time. 2009 NHRA Funny Car champ Robert Hight has come up here with Tom McKernan, Auto Club CEO, and they always tell me the fun I’d have. It is an honor to have the Auto Club, Blake Bowser and Famoso Raceway invite me to be the Grand Marshal.” 

2010 will mark the first return of John Force to the event since that 1984 win. 

“It’s great to see the transition from where the sport was to where it is today. I saw it as a driver. So much has changed, not better, not worse, just different. It will be a great time and I encourage everyone to come up and enjoy it,” added Force.

“We’ve had some big names as Grand Marshals at the March Meet,” said Blake Bowser, vice president and general manager of the Kern County Racing Association, operators of Auto Club Famoso and producers of the March Meet, “but John Force is in a class by himself. He’s a living legend and the greatest Funny Car racer of all time. This will be a real treat for fans.”

Ticket prices are $25 for Fri., Mar. 5; $30 for Sat., Mar. 6; and $30 for Sun., Mar. 7. Fans can purchase a Super 3-Day Pass for $75 online at www.autoclubfamosoraceway.com and pick them up at the track the week of the event. There are no service charges for tickets purchased online. Auto Club members also receive a $2 discount off daily admission tickets by showing their cards when they purchase tickets at the track. Daily tickets for children ages 7 to 12 are $10 and kids 6 and under are free when accompanied by an adult with paid admission.