Re: Live from Martin
 

What happened to Brad Zaskowski?

Re: Live from Martin
 

Brad broke a trans and with the help of some Ford, Mopar, and Chebbie friends got it repaired.

Re: Live from Martin
 

Just got home.First time ever that I have been held hostage at a dragstrip.They said that you couldn't leave between 6-10 pm,so I figured if I loaded up and headed out before 3pm,I should be fine.But no.Then it started to rain,still couldn't leave.Finally,there were enough rigs blocking the road that they had to let us leave.Surprised we didn't have to pay ransom money.

Re: Live from Martin
 

Well, I singled for class, they didn't have enough plaques so had to get that today. Tony gave it everything we had to run against Lent, and continued where I left off in the rash of redlights for us . . .

This morning, I was the first one out for our team. Facing a stiff tailwind, Alex put a 13 flat on the window and I was very happy with that. And I thanked him with a -.009 redlight. But I ran only .01 over, so my crew chief was awesome, the driver was just a bit too jumpy. I had a -.005 in class, so I found my spot, I guess. Just need to back the car off. Tony ran Charlie Bob and had an uncharacteristicly slow RT. Dialed the car right also, but Charlie had a better package. Alex who had a .005 and a .000 during our two qualifying runs declided he couldn't let me sulk alone, so he slapped a -.007 RT on Brad Plourd. GRRRRR! Three up, three down. The Martin jinx continues for us. I am the only one out of all three of us who has gotten past second round here (quarterfinals last year).

I am disappointed in a few things here.
1. I appreciated letting the bracket cars and the junior dragsters in, it's a big deal for them I am sure. But I am bothered it's at the expense of our third qualifying run. We used to get a third hit Saturday morning and we lost that and I am really frustrated by that. Top Sportsman and Top Dragster were scheduled for three (they only ended up with two, but the intention was three). We all paid good money to race, $190 per car. I think we deserve three hits. I am going to let the powers that be know, I invite anyone else who feels the same to also write Scooter.
2. There is no rhyme or reason to the parking here. Maybe if we had gotten here earlier it may have been different, I guess, but we weren't that late (7 pm ish). It's a cluster.
3. I have to say however, they have some of the nicest, most wonderful staff at IHRA events and always have. Especially the tech guys (Jim, Bob, Hank, etc)! And our division starter, Bill, is truly tops! The people - it's one of the best parts of IHRA - and I would be remiss if I whined about some of the negatives and didn't mention a big positive.
4. They need to hire Bob Unkefer FULL TIME! We were in the stands for second round of Stock & SuperStock (grrrrrrr) and people around were commenting about how good his announcing was - he was a pleasure to listen to and was so informative and entertaining! Aaron Polburn, if you know what's good for growth and fan understanding, bring Bob on full time!

That's it for now . . . loading up in the a.m. and heading south. Scott Macy just went -.004 in the Moser Final. BUMMER! A stocker running at Top Sportsman car! Scott still made the drive worthwhile - way to go get getting to the final!

Re: Live from Martin
 

I was surprised at how few bracket cars there seemed to be.The Junior Dragsters and the Bracket cars really didn't take that long to run.
Those Top Dragsters seem to take forever,If NHRA runs them at National events next year like they are planning,the quotas for the other categories will probably go down substantially.
The Saturday morning time run is a good idea.There probably would have been several more entries in Stock and Super Stock if you were allowed to enter Saturday and get one qualifying run like it used to be.

Re: Live from Martin
 

Don Solomon showed up Friday afternoon (after work, I am sure) and wasn't able to enter his Superstocker as the fields were set. Maybe he ran it in the brackets, I am not sure. I just know he wasn't on the Superstock ladder. Had we had the third run, he and many others who would show up Saturday morning might have come. IHRA needs to reconsider this if they truly want to be "working-stiff-friendly." I recall a lot of guys would show up for the Saturday run only. I cannot believe they are in a position to turn people away.

Re: Live from Martin
 

[quote=Beth Kieffer;132925]

4. They need to hire Bob Unkefer FULL TIME! We were in the stands for second round of Stock & SuperStock (grrrrrrr) and people around were commenting about how good his announcing was - he was a pleasure to listen to and was so informative and entertaining! Aaron Polburn, if you know what's good for growth and fan understanding, bring Bob on full time!

Beth, he would have to outbid Steve Kent , for he is the bartender for Roger Brodgen's camp.lol

Greg Schenck

Re: Live from Martin
 

Beth, your post pretty much hits the nail on the head. Car count overall was down though. Based on the fact that there was no one pitted in the spectator parking area. The last two years there was at least 25 to 35 cars pitted in that area. I too was disappointed in the fact that people who showed up Friday morning got a much better spot than those of us who were there on Thursday night. Hope to see you guys soon.

Re: Live from Martin
 

Beth & Mike,


Thanks for the reporting, hope the weather holds out so they can finish the race....I also agree with your comments and hopefully IHRA will FIX the problem... During these tough times Racing needs to be more user friendly as shown by the car counts...
Good Luck the rest of 2009..........

Re: Live from Martin
 

[QUOTE=Schenck;132942]Greg,

PR man, Bartender, videographer, weatherman, photographer, and after this weekends conversations with Rodger, sounds like I might be doing a little more,,,,,,, whew, anybody got a serious hat rack handy? :-)

Still thoroughly enjoy announcing though when the opportunity arrives.

Thanks Beth, appreciate the kind words,

Unk