The 59th annual Good Vibrations March kicked off the Heritage Series season over the weekend. Mother Nature played her hand during the event. On race day Sunday, the weather was very cool and it rained for most of the morning pushing the start of eliminations back by two hours. As the day went on the temperature stayed very cool then the rain returned, forcing the final rounds to be pushed to Monday.
In Funny Car, Ryan Hodgson motored his way through the field. In the opening round, he put a 5.717 @ 239 mph to surpass Danny Gerber who lost traction and turned the car sideways but was able to reel the car back in despite at one point having all four wheels off the ground. Round two was a bit closer as both Hodgson and Dan Horan Jr. put 5.67 second runs on the scoreboard. Hodgson won by getting off the starting line first with a .095 reaction time to a .135. He would then square off against the number one qualifier Mike McIntire. McIntire ran a solid 5.838 @ 252 mph but it would not be enough as Hodgson laid down another stellar 5.718 @ 251 mph to advance to the final round and meet up against Kris Krabill. Krabill went for a wild ride in his final round match up with Hodgson as his nitro Funny Car burst into flames around the thousand-foot mark. Krabill brought the car to a stop and climbed from his burning race car unhurt. While Krabill went for his wild ride Hodgson picked up the March Meet victory with a 5.609 at 259.91 mph.
Fan favorite Mandy Fry in her high-speed motorsport dragster scored the win in Top Fuel in her first race back behind the wheel of a front motor dragster after several years behind the wheel of a nostalgia funny car. Her opening round match up was against number one qualifier and reigning nostalgia Top Fuel champion Tony Bartone. Fry put an impressive 5.597 @ 249 mph on the board while Bartone had several problems, beginning with he nearly left the starting line too soon which would have disqualified him right off. If that wasn’t bad enough his dragster began to lose traction and crossed over the centerline which is also an automatic disqualification, Fry then took out Pete Wittenberg with a 5.783 @ 220 mph to advance to the final round against Jim Murphy. Fry scored the win over Murphy when his dragster broke the fuel pump on the burnout and was unable to make the run. Fry in her first appearance back behind the wheel of a nostalgia dragster put a 5.598 at 256.88 mph on the score board.
In the AA Fuel Altered class Bryan Hall in the Tramp took home the trophy after defeating Dan Hix in the opening round when Hix ran too quick on the 6.00 second dial in. Hix put a 5.944 @ 215 mph on the board but it was a disqualification handing the win to Hall with his 7.594 @127 mph. Hall then took out Keith Wilson. Both drivers ran under the 6 second dial in. Hall went 5.987 @ 240 mph to Wilson 5.726 @ 205 mph. Wilson’s run was worse so he would get the big DQ and Hall would advance to the final round to face off with James Generalao. Hall then motored past Generalao Jr. with a 6.06 at 214.45 mph to a 6.434 at 189.42 mph to score the win.
