MARCH MEET

with a 5.584 at 260.56 to eliminate Austin, who ran 5.890 at 224.88. Westerfield advanced with a 5.917 at 261.70 after Horan shook the tires and coasted to a 7.952 at 228.02. Cottrell rounded out the semifinal field with a 5.634 at 254.38, defeating Monise, who ran 5.789 at 223.99.

In the semifinals, Peck powered to a 5.666 at 260.04 to defeat Cottrell, who had to lift and ran 5.879 at 254.81. On the other side of the ladder, Sitko advanced with a 5.590 at 259.44 over Westerfield, who posted a 5.964 at 195.73.

The final paired Peck against Sitko in a close contest. Peck left the line with a. 077 reaction time and drove his Camaro-bodied Funny Car to a 5.581 at 261.70. Sitko was close at the finish line, running 5.620 at 260.19, but it was Peck who claimed his first-ever March Meet Nostalgia Funny Car victory.

FUEL ALTERED Out of the eight entered Fuel Altered teams, Australian driver Mathew Leonard went to the top with a 6.004 at 238.34 in the“ Nitro Rat” Fuel Altered. Vince Karstetter’ s 6.031 at 261.47 earned him the second spot in front of Brandon Seraphine, who ran a best of 6.071 at 230.29 in his“ Spare Money” Fuel Altered to secure the third spot.

Competing under a 6.00-second index, the Fuel Altered category once again delivered one of the most unpredictable shows at the March Meet at Famoso Dragstrip. In elimination round one, Leonard broke the index with a 5.98 at 225.28 but still advanced over Jeff Bennett in the“ No Mercy”’ 48 Fiat, who kicked a couple of cones during his 6.16 at 192.002 run. In the next pairing, Karstetter in“ Cherry Bomb” ran 6.252 at 201.11 to defeat Bob Godfrey in“ Burnin’ Money,” who crossed the stripe in 6.541 seconds at 175.33. Seraphine in his’ 32 Bantam Altered named“ Spare Change” ran 6.177 at 229.29, but the win came when James Day, who was driving the Burkholder Bros.’ 48 Topolino, fouled at the starting line(-. 010) despite running 6.202 at 230.53. In the final Round One matchup, Dylan Winefsky advanced despite running a slower 6.015 at 208.81. His opponent, Kyle Hough, broke out with a 5.98, handing the win to Winefsky.

In the first semifinal, Winefsky advanced with a 6.289 at 193.88 after Leonard broke before attempting a run. The other semifinal saw Seraphine run 6.100 at 229.65 to defeat Karstetter, who pulled a red light.

Engine failure in the semis prevented Winefsky from making the final-round call, giving Seraphine the Fuel Altered victory. Seraphine, on a bye, posted a 6.144 at 206.89 to cap off his winning weekend.

Other winners in their respective categories were Wayne Ramay in Pro Comp, Alan Hull in Jr. Fuel, Steve Faller in 7.0 Pro, Hans Jakob in Nostalgia Eliminator 1, Eric Warner in Nostalgia Eliminator 2, Don Mallory in Nostalgia Eliminator 3, Keith Morovich in A / Gas, Neal Westbrook in B / Gas, Brian Smith in C / Gas, Tim Mulvihill in D / Gas, and Jesse Howe in Hot Rod. DI

28 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated. com Issue 200