"Live" from our Southwestern Swing

[Don Kennedy]

Larry and the "Excutive in Charge" of the whole deal "Patsy" > Gate 1 at firebird is where all the cars are staged go in get in line then early wednesday morning we will go into second holding area for a while then into the pits for the fun to begin .Don't worry about any rain here in Arizona we have :dry heat" it will cooler and a nice race. The weather will be cool at around 90 degreees in the afternoon and a possibility of no wind .

[Larry Hill]

Well we drove another 300 miles after we left Noble to just west of Amarillo, TX. We had planned on staying at "The Big Texas Restaurant" where they have a 72 oz. steak for free (if you can eat it in an hour). But when we got there their truck parking was full. We almost had to be towed out whenever we got in a hole and had to engage both axles to get out. So then we decided to stay at a Walmart and put the address in the GPS. Then we decided we were not going in to a very good neighborhood, so turned around at a convenience store. So we finally went on down the road a piece and stayed in a truck parking area and slept quite soundly. We slept in a little this morning while we waited for the fog to clear and are back on the road. Oh, when we were driving in the dark last night we kept seeing these red blinking lights. We found out this morning that it was a wind farm!

Well more later.

[C and W Racing]

Originally Posted by Larry Hill

Rumors heard at Noble: 6,6 1/2, and 7 pound classes. Still doesn't put new cars in their own class. Just makes Fezell's car fit stock again. Also front wheel drive cars absorbed into regular classes. Stick and autos run together with sticks having to carry an additional 100 pounds. Don't know if any of this is true, just rumors at this point.

I was told in Charlotte that there would be a 6, 6.5, and 7 pound class. Didn't hear anything about the rest of the stuff though
Chuck

[Jody Lang]

Thanks for reporting guys.

Larry & Patsy did they say why they were waiting until Thursday to run the race? It sounds like they were doing everyone a favor by doing it on Thursday. Still seems like a long tow to Georgia for those that might stay.

[Dyno]

I checked Mapquest and it is 1034 miles to Phoenix (15 hours driving time) from Noble. I just talked to Randy Mans at Noble and they are still scraping the track. I t will be a long hard tow to make it cross country that far. They should run the race on Wednesday so everyone can make it on time, or have a late cleanup run on Friday afternoon for racers getting there late. Larry (Patsy), keep the updates coming, it is fun to be traveling with you this way. Dyno

[Jim Kaekel]

Originally Posted by C and W Racing

I was told in Charlotte that there would be a 6, 6.5, and 7 pound class. Didn't hear anything about the rest of the stuff though
Chuck

If so, I wonder how NHRA will designate them?

[Dave Casey]

7lb class WTF/S (way too fast)
6.5 lb class OMGWTF/S
6lb class DOUBLEOMGWTF/S

[BobUnkefer]

Originally Posted by Jody Lang

Thanks for reporting guys.

Larry & Patsy did they say why they were waiting until Thursday to run the race? It sounds like they were doing everyone a favor by doing it on Thursday. Still seems like a long tow to Georgia for those that might stay.

With the amount of rain that fell Sat night the track got substantially soaked & water got under the rubber and caused blisters in the rubber on the track. BOTH lanes were going to need to be completely scraped, be treated with resin and then dragged repeatedly after the resin was worked in to restore the racing surface, obviously a process that takes a considerable amount of time & labor. With the amount of work that needed to be done it was felt that it would be Wednesday mid-day before the possibility of sending a car down track could even be considered.
There was considerable discussion with numerous in & out of division racers and the track owners & management before a final decision was made. Several options were put on the table & each was thoroughly reviewed & disected before the call was made to run on Thursday morning at 9 am. There was even a mapquest search done to determine how far from Noble to Reynolds & Phoenix (just about the same actually) in trying to address those who needed to travel.
Yes, it does put a strain on those that were heading east to Reynolds or west to Phoenix, and those events played heavily on the final decision. Being able to assemble the needed personel to work the track, and then staff the event had to be handled too, because like most who race, they have weekday jobs too.
Over the last 22 years being invloved in the sport I've had the opportunity to watch & listen as unfortunate situations have been dealt with, and in my opinion everyone involved deserves a huge ATTA BOY for the way this one got handled, to me it was diagnosed and thought out about as well as it could be.
Nobody likes to get rained out, nobody, but track Manager Marcia Crook, owner Todd Stephens & Division director Craig Hutchinson all worked / are working very hard to make the best out of a bad situation.
Everyone can grumble, bitch and moan all they want, but until you've walked a mile in the shoes of the people that made the call this weekend, you really have no idea the anguish involved in trying to make the best of the situation, ....FROM WHERE I SAT THEY ALL DID A HELL OF A JOB!

That's my .02

Unk
See ya in Phoenix this weekend

[Larry Hill]

Well, I guess you wonder where we have been all day since we haven't been posting. We have been too busy watching the scenery go by to post. I took 165 pictures today, so after I weed thru them I will be posting a little later tonight.

[Ed Fernandez]

Originally Posted by Dave Casey

7lb class WTF/S (way too fast)
6.5 lb class OMGWTF/S
6lb class DOUBLEOMGWTF/S

If they keep it up I might get to run WJ in eliminations someday.Way to go NHRA covering your ***** with Ford and Fiat Motors.