Moapa Valley Progress Newspaper

Home

News

Sports

Opinion

Upcoming Events

Overton Dragster Wins March Meet

	John Lyon and his wife Mo in the winners circle at the 2008 Bakersfield March Meet.	By Vernon Robison Moapa Valley Progress Overton resident and sometime race-car driver, John Lyon, travelled to Bakersfield, California over the weekend of March 7-9 and came away a winner. Lyon entered a car in the 50th annual March Meet drag races and drove it to a first place finish in his class. Drag racing is a sport with rich history. It is a hybrid of two forms of racing, dry lakes racing and illegal street racing. Drag racing had its formal beginning in Bakersfield in 1951 when members of the amateur roadster club named The Smokers held their first drag race on an abandoned airstrip. That event laid the foundation for what was to become the legendary March Meet.
	The March Meet is a racing event of great renown across the country. “It is the biggest nostalgia drag race of the year,” said Lyon. Over 500 cars entered the Meet, with drivers coming from all across the United States; professional and hobbyist alike. The March Meet is called a ‘nostalgia’ event because the cars must be built using technology developed no later than 1970. After 1970, cars began to be built with engines placed in the rear of the car, Lyon explained. This and other new modifications made the post-1970 cars much faster, he said. Lyon’s car, which he purchased three years ago, was built in 1967. It has been fully restored to what it was at that time. It has, however, received updates to meet new safety specifications. Lyon now does most of the work on his own car, changing parts as needed and making minor modifications. At the races, he gets help in the pit from his wife and race team partner, Mo. The car is built and tuned to run a quarter mile in only 9.6 seconds. That means it reaches speeds of up to 145 miles per hour in a very short amount of time. The individual races are short affairs to be sure. Lyon explained that starting the engine, staging the car on the starting line and running the quarter-mile race takes all of about a minute. The race alone only lasts 9-10 seconds. But what heart-pounding seconds they are! “I can’t even begin to describe the experience,” Lyon said. “It is the biggest adrenaline rush you can imagine. That’s why I do it.” Since he bought the car, Lyon has raced it about 15 times, not counting track tests performed at the Las Vegas speedway from time to time. He raced in the March Meet last year and was the runner-up in his class. “I lost last year because the car and the driver were inconsistent,” Lyon said. “It was obvious last year that I lost that final race right at the starting line.” Reaction time at the start of the race is a big part of winning. That reaction time is monitored at the track in 1/1000 of a second. This year, Lyon said that his reaction time was better. In one of the elimination rounds, he even got a perfect .000 reaction time off the starting line. This means that he started at the precise moment when the green ‘go’ light lit up; not a split second sooner or later. That is quite an accomplishment, he said. In the final round, Lyon raced against a younger driver out of Redding, California. The opponent was actually a good friend that he had spent a lot of time with off of the track both last year and this year. “It is actually a real family-friendly environment, especially among the sportsman class,” Lyon said. The sportsmans class are made up of non-professional hobbyist racers. “Everyone gets together in the off-hours and has a really good time,” he continued. After winning the final round, bringing the car around to the winner’s circle was a good feeling, Lyon said. “We had a huge crowd in the stands and they were all cheering really loud,” he said. “It was the biggest thrill of my life.” Right after the race Lyon was unexpectedly interviewed by the announcer. But he said the he didn’t have a whole lot to say. The announcer reminded him to recognize his corporate sponsors. But unlike many of the other racers he doesn’t have any sponsors. “What about Mo-Jo Racing?” the announcer asked referring to the logo painted on Lyon’s dragster. “Well, this is Mo,” Lyon responded pointing to his wife, “and I’m Jo.” Lyon was awarded a big trophy for his win. He also received a cash prize of $650. “With diesel fuel at about four bucks a gallon that barely paid for gas in my truck to get down there and back,” Lyon said.