Words by Darr Hawthorne - Photos by Donna Bistran, Brian Losness and Michael Fischbeck

Fans have come to expect the best the class has to offer at the annual March Meet that traditionally is the opening race of the year for AA Funny Cars. The 54th March Meet at Auto Club Famoso Raceway was no exception.

This year AA/FC fans and racers were especially psyched about the possible performances at the race since defending Hot Rod Heritage champ Jason Rupert had already run over 259 mph at an NHRA National event in February. They expected the 260-mph barrier to be broken at the March Meet and a classic qualifying war in front of a capacity crowd (management says they sold out of paper tickets Saturday). They weren’t disappointed.

The final round.
(Donna Bistran photo)

Rupert ripped off a 262.02 lap that stood as Top Speed of the meet for all cars. The bump spot of the 16-car field was a stout 5.874! One of the sport’s legendary figures, Roland Leong, tuned the winning team. Race rookie Chad Head proved he can drive a nitro Funny Car as in his first pro race he went to the final round with a real chance to win. In many cases it took a career-best effort from a team just to qualify for the 16-car field. This March Meet was a historic race by anyone’s standards
The Famoso crowd was large and having a great time.
(Brian Losness photo)