The 2012 March Meets
The legendary Fomoso Raceway houses the March Meets every year, and the event never ceases to impress. Spectators, who show up in the thousands, experience a completely different hot rod event. What makes the March Meets different? Human senses are what make an experience unique, and the March Meets stimulates all five in a unique way. The first thing that spectators will experience when they come into the front gate are the sounds of Fomoso Raceway. There are hundreds of race teams who are testing their motors as early as 8am. The heart beat (exhaust note) of these motors will hit your ears right when you exit your parked car. These aren't just any motors, many of them are top fuel engines which are the loudest of them all. The sounds at Fomoso will instantly make any spectator excited, even before they step foot in the front gate. Next are the sights. Once again, the March Meets and the nature of Fomoso make this experience unique. Fomoso is an old race track that screams nostalgia. There are hot rodders hanging around in every corner of the facility. You can see car clubs, rockabilly men and women, hundreds of hot rods, many vendors, a large swap meet, and most importantly, the race cars. The pits at Fomoso are completely open for spectator foot traffic and viewing pleasure. This foot traffic brings us to our next sense... feel. You can literally touch the race cars, with the permission of the owners of coarse. I have seen spectators called upon to help with either lifting a front end onto a car, or to block traffic so a race car can back out. The first hand (up close and personal) experience in the pits with race teams and race cars make this event unique. It is hard to find other large scale race events which let you walk the pit grounds and talk to any race team you wish. It is simply a different experience. The tastes of the March Meets are unique as well, just in a less impressive way. Corn Dogs, Nachos, Beer, Soda, and any other "Carnival" type food can be bought at any corner of the event. I am not saying this food is bad, just more common than other experiences at the event, but the food and tastes help make the March Meets, well... the March Meets. Finally, the Smells of the March Meets. This might sound like a stretch to claim the smells as an unique experience at a race event/car show, but it is one of my favorite aspects of the event. When you enter the front gate, if the racing has commenced, you can smell race fuel. Walk a little further and you can smell exhaust, walk further still and a faint hint of burnt rubber will hit your nose. These smells will make any race enthusiast's excitement rise, it will even make some more intense enthusiast's nerves heighten as if they were about to race themselves. Like I said, the smells are one of my favorite aspects of the event, they turn a thought into reality. Overall, the race was a huge success. The weather was beautiful and the crowd was large and enthused for the race and show season to begin. We tried to cover the event with our cameras, but to experience the event fully you must see it, hear it, touch it, taste it, and smell it for yourself! Check out our galleries of the show and the pits.
Article by: Russell Zulim (HRC)
March Meets "The Pits" Gallery
