Plenty of surprises at Famoso

Words by Brian Losness / Photos by Tim Marshall, Brian Losness, James Drew and Bob Johnson


Fuel Altered driver Jeremy Sullivan pops the chutes as the sun goes down at Auto Club Famoso. (Brian Losness photo)

The 56th March Meet was held March 6-9 at Auto Club Famoso in Bakersfield, Calif. There was a mixed bag of results with some surprises and some things that were more or less expected.

TOP FUEL Qualifying

Tony Bartone (Bob Johnson photo)

Long Island City, New York’s Tony Bartone in the Steve Boggs-tuned AA dragster was at the top of the heap with a stellar 5.63-second run at just a tick under 242 miles per hour. Bartone’s car looked straight and smooth on the pass.

Following Bartone is somewhat of a surprise, the Neal & White team with driver Rick White at the controls with an excellent 5.69-second blast at 241.45 mph.

Sitting in third is none other than 2013 World Champion Jim Murphy. Murphy’s 5.74 run a tenth behind Bartone, but neither time did Murphy run the car to the stripe.