2012 March Meet- action from the K rail

Well- spent a very long weekend shooting the event. I'm exhausted after shooting over 2,000 images.
Here's a few to get the feel of the event for those far away.
Low rez images & unedited.

 

To the other end of track.
















Mindy Fry scattering parts in the lights




Big oil down




That's oil pouring out the bottom of body panels








Another motor. Almost every pair lost a motor.

 

Thank You I was there but couldn't see everything great picks !

 

Larry Dixon Sr

 

That's all folks.

 

GREAT photos....resolution, framing, exposure, etc. And, it really reinforces my "grumpy old fart" rant.......the current crop of "nostalgia" funny cars are moving further and further away from nostalgia, as the dragsters have done. Stretched noses, shortened rear decks, dropped rockers, pinched roof lines, noses to the ground and tails up.......they look like a B&D "Dust Buster." They aren't far away from clones to the current pro crap....slab sided billboards with a brand/model of what it's supposed to represent.

The majority of the dragsters from the 7.0 Pro class are more representative of nostalgia dragsters than the current crop of TF cars. Hell, take the spec tire rule away and look out.....270-280mph easy.

And some of the stuff from the index gas classes are nothing more than underpowered Pro Mods.

What happened to the "nostalgia" in nostalgia racing? Is this where nostalgia is headed or has come to? Or is my wife correct.....that I'm a dinosauer, and the world has passed me by?

Where's Mr. Peabody and Sherman and the Way Back Machine when I need them????????????

 

As always , some really great pics from you ! All the years that you spent racing are evident in your photography , thanks .

 

Great Shots Steve!... It seems like you were everywhere at once!
...
Will talk with you over on Traditional Speed & Kustom...
...

 

Great work!!
I would hurt myself trying to do a back flip if I got ONE shot as good as ANY of those out of full weekend of shooting!!
Very nice!!

 

Well I liked a lot of them, not sure of the classes, Thanks a lot Steve,,
I didnt know I was a grumpy old fart, that is until now,,
so thanks u 2 booger

 

Don't feel bad Novadude55, I'm a grumpy old fart to, it's just that nobody's called me out on it yet...

 

Thanks Steve! Great work. Some of the best top end shots I've ever seen. Looks like the tune up on the camera paid off.

 

awesome shots for sure... this is where my a good friend of mine Mark Sanders crashed, luckily was alright but car is toast

 

Great photo's. Thanks for sharing with those of us who could not attend in person.

 

great photos...i wouldnt know where to start getting a shot as clear and colourfull as those...

i always watch the live coverage on the bangshift site...i`ve always loved funny cars and it was quite exciting a few years back when they wheeled out the nostalgia `look` funny cars but to me just lately they seem to be moving away from the `look`...to me they shouldnt have added the low skirt in front of the rear tyres....they now dont look any different from `modern` funny cars

 

Thanks for those who appreciated the effort to bring the pictures to you.

For those who picked my thread to whine about the cars & the event- I suggest you pick up a rulebook for the NHRA Hotrod Heritage Series & read them.
As a former drag racer- the participants are their worst enemy. Everyone wants to go faster & faster. There are minimum rules regarding safety but that doesn't stop a participant from adding safety equipment to their cars above & beyond what's required as long as it's not a performance advantage. As far as stance, canards, skirts, etc- the cars are going faster & faster & something has to be done to keep these cars stable at speed. Again- it's the racers bringing this down on themselves. 7.0 Pro funny cars will "resemble" cars from the past because they can only run as quick as 7.0. Not so with TF & F/C. These cars are nothing like their modern counterparts that are capable of running a full second quicker w/ their huge fuel systems- dual mags & huge wings the size of aircraft carriers.

As a former crew member for Jim Liberman- we were never running anything close to these times at Famoso today. The cars of yesterday are only suitable for cackle cars today. So some will complain about the modernism of the modern Heritage Series & sit at home & bitch about it while the racing passes them by. I will embrace it & stand at the rail w/ rubber bits in my face, lungs filled w/ smoke & nitro & will have the time of my life.

 

regardless of the rules they still look wrong to me...whine over!

 

great shots, Steve...no way could I have shot as many as you. I conked out after six hours.
As far as people not liking the looks of these race cars, I couldn't agree more that these cars are not even close to the gorgeous cars of the 1960's.
But, this is the only game in town. These cars are racing, not parked.
There's the dozens of cacklecars in the pits that are the same beautiful rails that we all enjoyed looking at many years ago, so there's no shortage of 60's style dragsters to look at....sadly, they don't race them anymore.
Things have changed in the world from 1965.
We now lock our front door and the milkman doesn't deliver twice a week anymore.
I had three choices this weekend:
A. yard work
B. March Meet
C. sit in the house and watch DVD's of "the old days" of drag racing

All race cars today lack personality and style.
Indy cars don't look right.
Formula One cars are incredibly ugly.
winged sprint cars look, well, like winged sprint cars
and NASCAR cars all look alike and are awful looking

This is the last game in the entire Southern California area that runs a full quarter mile for fuel cars, so it's just fine with me.
I got the best of both worlds. I started shooting photos at the drags over 50 years ago and still shooting today.
I got to experience the "golden years" and I understand that these are race cars, not show/style/looks/beauty contest vehicles.
This is a race event where participants play by the rules and compete. It's not a posing, lean on your car, donut shop cruise-in gig.
This is real racing for the folks with the ability to still run big speeds and quick ETs.
That's what it is.

I don't know about you, but I had a great weekend, made some new friends and talked with many old ones.
I feel bad for you guys that weren't here in the 60's, but "wishing" won't make those days come back.
This, too, will be gone someday...this isn't going to last forever, either.
Wishing that the "golden years" will return has as much hope as Cindy Crawford begging you to marry her and share her millions of dollars.

 

Steve - Thanks for the great photos. I was there this week-end and had a great time. Did you catch any photos of Strange Brew? Would love to see any photos
of that car you might have taken. Thanks again.

 

Guys like Doug and Steve work their butts off taking great photos, then spend hours posting them here for those who couldn't attend the event to enjoy, and people use their threads to post complaints about the event. Unbelievable. If you want to bitch about something, start your own thread. Don't spoil it for those of us who appreciate the effort these photos take. I raced in the 60's. Yes it was the best time to be involved in the sport, and the nostalgia cars of today are not carbon copies of the originals, but like Doug said, it's the only game in town for us old timers who want a nitro fix. The cars of today are faster and safer, and put on a good show. Get over it.

 

Thanks Steve (and everyone else who supplied pics)for giving us a front row seat when not being able to attend.

Ive been to March Meet and HRR multi times and really missed it this year...

Mazooma1.... You have hit it on the head.....Ive been involved in motorsports all of my life...As my buisness,as an owner/driver,crew chief and as a hired gun in the circle track world

Ive raced a car for 27 of my 45 years on this planet and dont plan to stop

When I decided to go drag racing,
I built my currant Nostalgia "Looking"car with safety and speed in mind...cause we are racers right?

Most who bitch about the look of todays nostagia cars have never strapped their ass in a seat.

While I dont care for the look of todays(big show) fuel and funny cars I understand the reasons

I embrace ALL of todays nostalgia classes because its a way to "represent" an era long gone....Because in all reality ,thats what we are doing..Representing...and Im proud to put my little mark on it..At least in my mind

At least you can tell a Chevy from a Ford on the starting line

I ask a question to the complainers....If you where to build a new vintage looking house..Do you build a new 2 holer out back "Cause thats how they did it"
Or do you change a few things in the interist of comfort and safety and have indoor plumbing

Sorry to get OT and Thanks again Steve(and eveyone else who puts up pics from events)...Please keep doing what your doing,Helps us get through the snow!!!!

Tony

 

if you re-read the replies you`ll see nobody is complaining about any photos...infact nobody is complaining about anything, the photos as said before are some of the best i`ve ever seen and as i said earlier wouldnt have a clue how to get such clear colourfull shots...me and someone else have said they dont like the way the `nostalgia` cars are beginning to look and you go and piss your pants and accuse us of spoiling it for someone else...get real mate if we all had the same opinion think how boring it would be and lets face it at the end of the day this is a bloody discussion forum...so in your own words ...get over it

 

Great shots Steve Thanks Tim Jones

 

Thanks to all for posting them beautiful pics. Just wish I could make it back there again, maybe after I win the lottery LOL
While I miss the 'Old Time Look' of the cars that are showing up now, I fully understand the reasoning behind it. Just like I bemoaned the passing of the FEDs when REDs came in, that's racing and nothing in that game stays stagnant.