MARCH MEET

5.978 at 249 MPH to Williamson ’ s 6.077 at 245 MPH to end up in the finals against Hester .

Bowen got off the line first but drove out of the groove , drifted towards the center line and had to get out of it . Hester drove around him , beating Bowen ’ s 7.649 at 122 MPH with a 5.776 at 258 MPH to secure his first Nostalgia Top Fuel March Meet title , which had the “ Overtime Special ” gang going wild at the starting line .

In the first round of Nostalgia Funny Car , Westerfield was defeated by Cameron Ferré , 5.813 at 249 MPH , to Ferré ’ s quicker 5.618 at 244 MPH . Ferré went on to beat local racer Kamaka Pocock on a holeshot by a narrow margin of only seven thousandths of a second in the quarterfinals . In the semifinals , he was slated to run against Cory Lee . Ferré experienced tire shake and had to lift , while Lee advanced to the finals with a 5.714 at 259 MPH . On the other side of the ladder , Jeff Arend beat Jerry Espeseth in the first and reigning champ Bobby Cottrell in the second round after Cottrell ’ s chutes came out halfway through the run .

In the semis , Arend met Jon Capps . Unfortunately , engine troubles forced Capps to shut the engine off after his burnout , handing the win to Arend . In the finals , Arend was quicker on the tree but slightly slower on the track . Lee beat Arend with another strong run , a 5.658 at 260 MPH to Arend ’ s 5.829 at 236 MPH , to celebrate his first-ever win in drag racing competition .

Greenberg ’ s “ Cone Hunter ” Fuel Altered didn ’ t go for the cones , but Johnny West did in the first round . That gifted the round win to Greenberg . Greenberg met Ron Capps , who was driving the Burkholder Bros . Fuel Altered , in the semifinals . Both drivers had to pedal , but Greenberg took the win with a 6.328 at 200 MPH against Capps ’ 7.246 at 133 MPH .

On the other side of the ladder , it was Keith Wilson in “ The Witch Doctor ” Fuel Altered who beat Brian Hope with “ Pure Hell ” in the first and No . 1 qualifier Mathew Leonard in the second

round on his way to the finals against Greenberg . When the lights flashed green for the all-deciding final round , Greenberg spun the tires immediately after the hit , and it looked like Wilson had already won , but he ran a 5.777 at 225 MPH , which was too quick for the 6.00 index , handing the win to a very happy Greenberg .

Other winners in their respective categories were Brad Woodard in Junior Fuel , Wayne Ramey

in A / Fuel , Steve Schoenfeld in Nostalgia Eliminator I , Eddie Lucas in Nostalgia Eliminator II , and Ed DeStaute in Nostalgia Eliminator III . The 7.0 Pro final between Tony Trimp and Jason Vanderpool will be contested at Redding in May . The A / Gas title went to Keizer Small , B / Gas to Bill Anderson , C / Gas to Michael Corradi , and Doug Fournier won in D / Gas . The winner in the Hot Rod class was Joy Tucker . DI

30 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 188