Blake Bowser is convinced he was born to be exactly where he is today as president and general manager of Auto Club Raceway - Famoso. 

Bowser was drafted into the life when he was seven, working at the track's souvenir stand back in the 1970s. He went from picking up trash at the track to being a track operator. Racing jobs are the only jobs he's ever had. 

Bowser, 49, and his dad John are the tag team who also run the Kern County Racing Association, as well produce one of the most famous drag race events of all-time, the March Meet.

CompetitionPlus.com's Bobby Bennett caught up with Bowser to discuss what drives him in such a challenging atmosphere. 

COMPETITION PLUS: So Blake, what makes a good businessman with sound mind and judgment get into such an unpredictable business as running a race track?

BLAKE BOWSER - Wow, I don’t know if I can respond to that. I don’t think a good businessman would do that. But I’m a little; I think I’m an okay businessman. So A, this is all I know. I answer that with this is all I know what to do. I have since I was seven years old in some capacity. I’m 49 now, so this is what I’ve grown up doing, this is what I wanted to do, and here we are living the dream. 

CP: What’s it like to be the man when it comes to the Good Vibrations March Meet, one of the most revered events in drag racing? Everybody has to speak to you; everybody has to ask you a question. How overwhelming is that? 

BB - Sure, it is. But it’s all worth it. We do surround ourselves with really good people that can handle each area. You know, we have someone who runs the race, who runs the pits, who runs each area of the vendor row, the swap meet, all that all combined. I can’t micromanage, there’s no way I can do that. I take the macro approach, I trust my staff and certainly if it warrants me getting involved, then I’ll get involved. But we’ve got a good staff and I trust them, so it’s not overwhelming in a huge sense, but it’s a bit. 

CP: Yeah, I was going to ask you, how hard is it not to micro manage? 

BB - It’s tough. I had to learn that. I used to want to be on the tractor, and doing this and going there. But I can’t miss a race still. Mark Dawson, our director of racing out here, wants me to take a weekend off sometime, but I haven’t done that yet. So we’re working on that. 

CP: Is this a job that you wake up with, and you take to bed with you every night? 

BB - You bet. I have a notepad, well now it’s on my cell phone, a little notepad on my cell phone, and I wake up at night and the middle of the morning with ideas. It doesn’t consume me, but it’s with me all the time, yes. But it’s okay. I’m happy with that; I love my job. I mean my worst day at work’s at a race track, so I’m happy to be here.

Q: So there are some who aspire to run super tracks and all of this. But in your eyes, you’re happy with your little Nostalgia haven right here. 

CP - You know, yeah. Because we are running the largest Nostalgia race. This is their, meaning the racers, this is their national event, their big one, this is their Indy, their Daytona 500. And so to me that’s very cool. It’s a very important race to me. It’s nine months out of my year dedicated to this very race we’re sitting at right now. So, a lot of work involved. But no, I’m happy where I’m at. The Nostalgia scene has been to us, and we’re happy to be involved with it. 

CP: What does it mean to you to have a race with the history and the magnitude of the Bakersfield March Meet? 

BB - That’s where I feel the pressure as far as continuing the tradition. It started long before me, and hopefully, it’s going long after me. We’re obligated to continue the great tradition of putting on the March Meet. That’s where I feel the pressure most, is just making sure we’re doing it right. We have a lot of people from the Smokers down to this thing. A lot of great track operators put on the March Meet, and a lot of outside organizations have done it as well, and we’re happy to do it. So it’s very gratifying when it all comes off. 

CP: Your Dad’s involved in this. Is he the boss or are you the boss?

BB - You know, we’re pretty much, we are equal partners in the corporation that runs the track. So we get together, our board meetings are him and I having lunch and saying, ‘Do you want to try this, you want to try that?’. But ultimately, certainly. He is my Dad, and he’s always been my boss. So, yeah, we can say that. 

CP: So Dad’s the boss?

BB - You bet. Yeah, Dad trumps whatever…If we’re kind of stuck in the middle, I’ll go on his side. 

CP: Does he pull the Dad card on you?

BB - No, never. No, it’s strictly, when it’s business, it’s business. You know, when it’s personal he can pull the Dad card, I’m okay with that. When it’s business, it’s strictly 50/50, and he and I will work out our differences. We don’t have very many, so we get along pretty well. 

CP: How long have you been doing this? How many years?

BB: My Dad and I have been owners/operators of the track since 2006. But I’ve been involved in some capacity for the past 42 years. So I started out selling programs here, worked my way up, got involved in the racing side, worked the water box, done track prep, I’ve cleaned the pits, done staging lanes. So as a whole, 42 years, but out here actually as owner/operators since 2006. 

CP: What about your Dad?

BB: He’s been here in some capacity just about since he was in high school. He was here for the first March Meet. I wasn’t. We joked that I was just hanging around at that time. For him, off and on he’s always had a full-time job before this. Worked all the races out here off and on, so gosh almost 60 years for him. Which will be next year. Next year’s the 60-year celebration of March Meet. And he was here for the first. 

CP: How hard is it for you to maintain the nostalgic integrity of this track and not want to put all the modern day creature comforts in?

BB - Well I think that’s why it works here. I think you take this very race and go to some nice facility, and I’m not knocking them, Pomona is great, Las Vegas is great, we love going there. But I don’t think this race works in one of those environments. It has to be in a facility where it feels like walking back in time. And that’s what we have here. Now, we’re modern in every way on the quarter-mile - safety, timing, all of our equipment is all modern. It’s just the same stuff you’d see on track prep equipment at a National event. We do have an old school look with the wood bleachers. And we’ve got some simple paving out there, some gravel, and we’ve got a grass parking lot. But I think that’s why the Nostalgia race works here. It feels like it’s 1970 all over again. 

CP: When your time is done here at the race track, and you’ve finally decided that you want to move on to greener pastures, not so much greener pastures, but you’re ready to retire or whatever, what do you hope your legacy will be? 

BB: Wow, this is the question they always play when someone dies. So, I hope that doesn’t happen…

CP: Don’t die on me. 

BB: They always play that when… just that we took an existing event and put our little touch on it, our flair, and hopefully it’s in good hands when we pass it on to somebody else. Because it probably will happen someday. I don’t have anybody in my family that wants to get involved. I have two daughters, and they’re happy being girls and getting ready to go to college and all that. But that’s fine. My Dad’s going to retire probably sometime soon. And that’s a decision I’ve got to make is how long I’m going to be involved, and when can we let somebody else come in and try this. But for right now we’re quite happy doing it.