Famoso Raceway

Last updated
Auto Club Famoso Raceway
"Famoso Raceway"
Location33559 Famoso Road, McFarland, California
Time zoneUMT -0800
Coordinates 35°35′53″N119°08′09″W / 35.59815°N 119.13576°W / 35.59815; -119.13576
Major eventsMarch Meet
Drag Strip
Length0.25 miles (0.402 km)

The Famoso Bakersfield Raceway dragstrip is located in McFarland, California just north of Bakersfield, California, and is known historically as the home to the annual March Meet, also known as the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships.

The strip, located on Famoso Road between Highway 99 and Highway 65 east of the Highway 99 and Highway 46 interchange, was originally built in World War II as an Poso Auxiliary Field training base for the nearby Army Air Corps training base at Shafter's Minter Field. After World War II, the Army abandoned the field. It was in the 1950s that an aspiring group of drag racing pioneers from the Bakersfield area, the Bakersfield Smokers, purchased the west of strip and made the necessary adjustments to allow for drag racing. The Famoso Bakersfield Raceway hosted the first ever March Meet in 1959 and it helped establish the National Hot Rod Association's (NHRA) legitimacy. The east part of Poso Auxiliary Field became the Poso Airport. [1] [2] [3]

The Famoso Bakersfield Raceway still hosts the March Meet but it is now strictly a "nostalgia drag racing" event. In the 2000s, "Saturday Nitro" events featured Fuel altereds then switched to nostalgia funny cars around 2010. After a driver died in an on-track hit on the guardrail, they stopped hosting these non-sanctioned events. The track also hosts A.N.R.A (American nostalgia racing association) events and the annual NHRA Museum's California Hot Rod Reunion in October as well as a high school racing series and other smaller events. It is run by the Kern County Racing Association, Inc. with major sponsorship from the Automobile Club of Southern California, which also sponsors NASCAR and NHRA events and tracks throughout Southern California.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drag racing</span> Type of motor racing

Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most commonly 14 mi, with a shorter, 1,000 ft distance becoming increasingly popular, as it has become the standard for Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars, where some major bracket races and other sanctioning bodies have adopted it as the standard. The 18 mi is also popular in some circles. Electronic timing and speed sensing systems have been used to record race results since the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Hot Rod Association</span> North American drag auto racing organization

The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsports sanctioning body in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Garlits</span> NHRA champion, drag racing pioneer

Donald Glenn Garlits is an American race car driver and automotive engineer. Considered the father of drag racing, he is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. A pioneer in the field of drag racing, he perfected the rear-engine Top Fuel dragster, an innovation motivated by the loss of part of his foot in a dragster accident. This design was notably safer since it put most of the fuel processing and rotating parts of the dragster behind the driver. The driver was placed in front of nearly all the mechanical components, thus protecting him and allowing him to activate a variety of safety equipment in the event of catastrophic mechanical failure or a fire. Garlits was an early promoter of the full-body, fire-resistant Nomex driving suit, complete with socks, gloves, and balaclava.

The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) is the second-largest drag racing sanctioning body after the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA).

Nostalgia drag racing is a form of drag racing that uses cars from earlier eras of drag racing, as well as cars built to fit the guidelines of earlier eras using parts that would have been available in that era.

Poso Airport, also known as Poso-Kern County Airport, is a county-owned public-use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) east of the central business district of Famoso, in Kern County, California, United States. It is mostly used for general aviation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shafter Airport</span> Airport in Kern County, California

Shafter Airport, also known as Minter Field and formerly known as Air Corps Basic Flying School, is a public use airport located four nautical miles east of the central business district of Shafter and 14 miles northwest of Bakersfield, a city in Kern County, California, United States. Originally a World War II primary training facility for pilots, it is currently a public airport owned by the Minter Field Airport District. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.

California Hot Rod Reunion is a gathering of drag racers, hot rod enthusiasts and street rodders held in Bakersfield, California, United States.

Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, originally known as Madison Township Raceway Park, is an American auto racing facility located in Old Bridge Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mendy Fry</span> American racecar driver

Mendy Fry is an American dragster and funny car driver competing in the NHRA. Under the tutelage of her father, Ron, she began driving quarter-midget sprint cars at age 4. As a teenager, she campaigned in the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster class. She is the only female drag racer to record a 5-second 1/4 mile elapsed time in a front-engined Top Fuel dragster, as well as the only female member of the exclusive "Nostalgia Top Fuel 250 mph Club". In 2019 she recorded the first 5.4 second quarter-mile elapsed time in a AA/Fuel Dragster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom McEwen (drag racer)</span> American dragster driver (1937–2018)

Tom McEwen was an American drag racer who was a winner of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) U.S. Nationals. His racing career spanned 45 years. He is ranked at number 16 on a list of the 50 most significant drivers of NHRA’s first 50 years.

Bakersfield is home to several minor league sports franchises and collegiate athletic programs at Bakersfield College and California State University, Bakersfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Trail Raceway</span>

National Trail Raceway is a quarter-mile dragstrip located between Hebron and Kirkersville, Ohio, USA, off of U.S. Route 40. The race track is located about 30 minutes east of Columbus, Ohio. It is known to local residents as 'National Trails'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New England Dragway</span>

New England Dragway is a 14 mile NHRA dragway in Epping, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, United States. The track hosts the New England Nationals event as part of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. The track also hosts a regional event as part of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.

Roland Leong was an American drag racer from Honolulu, whose "Hawaiian" brand cars achieved many victories. He later went on to act as crew chief in Funny Car races.

The March Meet is an independent drag race held at Famoso Raceway, a dragstrip located approximately ten miles north of Bakersfield, California. It began in 1959 under the sanction of the "Smokers Car Club" and was initially known as the "US Fuel & Gas Championships." The event became officially known by its nickname, the "March Meet," when the Smokers sold the rights to the name "US Fuel & Gas Championships."

Altered is a former National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drag racing class and a current drag racing chassis configuration that forms the basis of many classes of NHRA Competition Eliminator.

Roberta Maxine Leighton was an American drag racer. She was the first woman licensed by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to race competitively. She was also the first woman to win a national title, in the 1962 U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, in the J/S class. In 2002, shortly before her death, she received a lifetime achievement award at the World Finals at Pomona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firebird Raceway</span> United States historic place

Firebird Raceway is a motorsport racing venue in the western United States, near Eagle, Idaho, in the Boise metropolitan area. The raceway opened 56 years ago in 1968 under management of racing enthusiasts Bill and Ellanor New, and it has remained under ownership of the New family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minter Army Airfield auxiliary fields</span> WWII-era US airfields in Kern County, California

Minter Army Airfield auxiliary fields were a number of airfields used during World War II to support the Minter Army Airfield near Shafter, California. Minter Army Airfield was also called Lerdo Field, after the nearby road. Minter Army Airfield also housed the Shafter Gap Filler Annex P-59A and Shafter Army Aviation Test Activity and opened in June 1941. An Army depot open on the base in October 1941, the Minter Sub-Depot, a division of the Sacramento Air Depot. Minter Army Airfield had 7,000 troops and civilians working at the base.

References