The fabled March Meet, originally dubbed the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships in 1959, celebrated its 67th annual showdown with the kings of the quarter mile, front-motored Top Fuel dragsters, shining bright under fantastic weather conditions.
Eleven of the finest Top Fuel machines, including the top five in last year’s NHRA Heritage series points chase, were on hand to do battle. Last year’s Top Fuel champ, Tyler Hilton, and the Great Expectations team lead qualifying with a stout 5.61 at 256 mph pass.
Tyler Hester and the Overtime Special team, last year’s March Meet champ, blasted a 5.69 at 262 for the second spot, followed by Pete Kaiser in the KFR red machine, whose 5.70 at 244 sat third.
In a wild third qualifying session, Kenny Cummings, the Top Fuel rookie who made the long trek down from Alberta, Canada, to compete in his first March Meet, ripped a clutch 6.04 at 244 on this final pass to bump out Shawn Van Horn’s last-ditch 6.14 and make the coveted field on the bump spot.
In round one action, “Bad Brad’ Thompson, who was doing double duty in his Funny Car and Top Fuel dragster this weekend, up-ended the March Meet repeat bid of Hester with a hole-shot victory 5.80 to a 5.77.
Kaiser held off fan favorite Adam Sorokin and his sleek Champion Speed Shop machine, while Hilton shut down Van Horn, who was in on the break rule for Cummings.
Shayne Stewart, who had blasted a jaw-dropping 5.86 in qualifying, got to the strip first against Bret Williamson but brushed the wall with his 5.96 and was DQ’d.
Williamson, who finished third in the 2024 points chase, would fight Hilton in the next round.
Kaiser and Hilton both won their semi-final match-ups, running 5.71 and 5.64, respectively. Hilton looked and ran every part, the man to beat in the final, having run five straight 5.60s in qualifying and eliminations.
In the final, Kaiser, who had red-lighted away a victory here against Hilton in October at the California Hot Rod Reunion, cut a .049 light and never looked back as the hard-charging Tyler Hilton tried to run him down.
The scoreboard flashed a 5.64, a sixth straight 5.60 for Tyler Hilton, but win light and the victory flashed in Kaiser’s lane with a 5.70 at 254 mph. With a 30-year gap between victories, Pete Kaiser had won the March Meet and the greatest trophy in the big wooden triangle that is the March Meet crown.
Fuel machines at the March Meet made a great run to the semifinals, where it lost to eventual champ Pete Kaiser.
Q3 to briefly put his ride into the March Meet field. The number would not hold, ending up outside the top eight for Sunday’s eliminations
This story was originally published on March 17, 2025. 
