Bakersfield,
CA - March 07-09, 2008: The 50th anniversary of the March Meet can only
be summed up with a an amalgamation of superlatives that would
send an English major scrambling for their Thesaurus. Under four
days of Chamber of Commerce skies, the largest car count/spectator
attendance in history filled the hallowed Famoso Dragstrip grounds
for the event that lived up to its star billing - and more.
Joining 23 other
Top Fuel dragsters was Jack Harris who was back in the seat of
his Nitro Thunder car for the first time in two years. In 2006,
while taking on other projects including a funny car and driving
for the Paso Posse, Harris turned the driving chores of "Big
Red" to son Brett who won, among other accomplishments,
the 2006 VRA World Championship.
The Sheriff and
his Posse went into the weekend feeling optimistic that the spotty
performance the car experienced in 2007 was cured over the winter.
Considering the car was originally built for Jack and his size/weight
they felt the "balance" could be corrected. They also
lightened the car some 30 pounds which gave them a net loss of
about 100 pounds over last year. They had no idea that the weight
loss and some engine/tire/wheel changes would have them in the
drag racing history books by Sunday night.
Aside from the
unforeseen and grievous loss of Top Fuel veteran John Shoemaker,
the 2008 March Meet was a grand slam home run for Harris, Billy
Robins (also back after two years off) and the ace crew from
Kaysville, Utah. The 40,000+ fans that packed the facility over
the three-day event were treated to many career best performances
in all classes but the stunner was the incredible 5.56 at 263
by Harris.
