Jim McCraw wonders whether all the money flashed last weekend at the March Meet drags is a sign the recession is on its way out.

In a story on ClunkBucket titled, “Bakersfield as Barometer,” McCraw, former editor of the famed Motor Trend, Hot Rod and Super Stock magazines, was wowed by what he saw at Famoso Raceway, just north of Bakersfield.

“The motor homes across from the pits stretched out side-by-side a quarter-mile long and four rows deep, all the way back to the fence.  On the deeper, wider pit side, there were hundreds of megabuck transporters and motor homes and trailers and a quadrillion dollars’ worth of vintage race cars, hot rods and customs. Orange groves, grape arbors and oil wells surround this hallowed, historic Kern County property, now littered with the entourages of 575 racing teams and those who came to urge them on. Nobody here was crying the blues.