Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Its been dark here at Maple Grove Dragway for more than an hour but its still very nice temp wise at more than 70 degrees .This being the second stop on the D1 tour and probably the most popular with the racers and fans.It shows in the pits as tomorrow is "only" test n tune but there are a great many teams on hand .We may be in a recession but not this weekend .The only place to be Memorial Day weekend is here . Period . Personally I wouldn't know where else to go on this particular weekend every year..........guess its just habit .

In the morning we'll start our tune-up runs at Eleven AM sharp -- I'll try and let you know who's hot .

PS -- Interesting side note -- you wouldn't believe how many motorhomes are tuned in tonight to "American Idol"...........Hmmmmmmm.......................... ....Just for the record -- none of that stuff for me as I'm a "Law & Order" kind of guy . Double edition on tonight .

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Best of luck Jack..I am married to a "Criminal Minds" kinda woman..anyway, I miss class racing, but I am having fun back here bracket racing the Soul Train...The stocker is undergoing some updates, and hope to be out later this year..I also have a new car finishing up for next season...in the mean time, please know that I really enjoy reading your posts. Have fun and take care..

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Jack,

This is the first time I've missed this race in years. Thanks for the updates, I'll be checking back all day. Let me know what JB and Frank Bialas run if you can. Good luck.

Evan

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Good morning and pass my sunglasses please -- wow -- this place is extra brite this morning and will be welcomed by all .If you were on the fence about where to spend your holiday let me help make up your mind -- this is it -- pack the car and get yourself over as between the super nice weather ( with not-so-much as a drop of rain in sight ) and the fact that Lex Dudas and his staff have this track looking terrific ( Lex was spotted very early this morning on his cart taking care of "details"-- he's a hands on guy ) .

Speaking of weather check this -- 63 degrees already -52% humidity- .30 vapor pressure -- 29.93 barometer and a final DA of 1030 --- certainly not mineshaft conditions but OK to race in .

Robert - thanks for the kind words -- hurry with your updates and get back with us .BTW-- new car -- give it up - inquiring minds want to know .

Evan -- Sorry you're going to be AWOL - most thought you'd be here with your new racer - Englishtown maybe?

Later ...........

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Couple of early notes -- Al Mark in his dropdead nice '69 Camaro A/SA - 10.32 , Gary Parker H/SA -- 11.18 - looked good , Donnie Carroll in Frank's B/SA Firebird --10.47 ..........more later -like I said --no mineshaft but decent .

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Any idea when the gates close tonight?

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

jack... need your help

is clayton wright (or his u/sa car) there ?
could you let me know if he is intending on setting the record, as i might set it at the bowling green Ky sportsnationals open (my memorial day place to be for 40 years)

please post or call me 502-558-3450

it would be dumb for both of us to teardown

jack mccarthy

THANKS !

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Dave -- I'll find out for you -- last night it was 8pm

Jack -- haven't seen Clayton yet --I'll let you know whats up

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Hey Jack thanks as always for the updates.
Just checked Live Timing at 1320go.com.
It is up and running on the maple grove site with super street right now!

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

wow i see "Snake" went 8.73-150 in SS/AA
1320go.com is neat i have it on a lot.

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Dave - gates close at 8pm tonight - if you can't make it let me know -- I'll tell you how to handle the situation .

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Thanks Jack...I wont make it there till 9 or so.

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Thanks Jack for the info....

For those of us coming in tomorrow (friday morning)....

1) Do you know what time they are getting started and...

2) what is the run order?

Thanks
Tom Sheehan

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Jack, you parked near the S/G guys? You know where the good food will be, Uncle Buck and George D always have the best eats. How about a 9.90 report over the weekend?

Prostreetbird

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Jack,

You weren't pitted by your tree. Where are you parked?

RC

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Prostreetbird -- I've got this deal all figured out-- yep , I"m parked about 15 feet from Uncle Buck and George....my momma didn't raise no dummy ! ! ! I'll see if I could throw you some S/G tidbits .

RC-- I'm about 75 yards before the finish line along the road - right in the middle of the Supergassers.

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Here are a few of the things that went on today -- Tom Baird -- in his 69 B/S Camaro broke a ball joint in second gear and after losing his steering banged the wall a little -- he's OK and the Camaro only has slight damage .

Jim Boburka showed up with his new Dynacorn Classic Industries bodied 69 Camaro A/SA and went 10.20 out of the box -- this Bowtie has plenty of potential ....and like all of Jim's cars its a looker .

Speaking of 69 Camaros' another Jim won the B/SA contest today -- he had the fastest one on the property -- no doubt about it -- this one is Jim Boudreau .His "Orange Crush" colored racer was just plain fast today.OK , to you purists out there its Hugger Orange -- I like my description better .

Most racers I spoke with today said their ET's were better than expected -- weather had us fooled for sure .

Gates open at 7:30 sharp on Friday-- Time trials at 8:30 -- SuperStreet - Stock - Super Comp - SuperStock - SuperGas -- all get two runs .

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Lex Dudas in conjunction with the owners of Maple Grove Raceway are trying to do their part with making this Memorial Day weekend a little more affordable for the fans coming in -- check this out -- first he's got his famous Saturday carload deal after 3pm-Spectator Side- fill the car -- everybody's in for 25 bucks -- plus free Fireworks after the Alcohol show . Also kids 13/14/15 years old10 bucks daily with kids 12 and under FREE . At least they're trying ...........every little bit helps ! ! !

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Good morning gang -- The racing gods are shining on us again this day with plenty of sunshine and very nice temps to boot.Action begins in a little more than half an hour and most of us are chomping at the bit to get our chance at charging down Maple Grove's asphalt .We'll all get a couple of shots today and move one step closer to earning a" Wally " .....................later .

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Just finished Stock- #1 Sansome's "Mighty Mouse" early Nova -- #2 Boudreau B/SA -- looks like its just a tick slower tan yesterday -- plenty of blow-ups and oil downs.... more when the sheets come out . Lots of new rides here this weekend - one I saw this morning was Ken Kier's big block Nova with his son Adam driving in A/SA -- pretty neat piece .

They just now called SuperStock..........

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Park by George and Buck and you will surely not go hungry.

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Opps - Jim Boudreau is # 1 at 1.296 under - they had Sansome in the wrong class -- he is #8 --still not so bad .So far there are an even dozen B/SA 's out of a total of ninety cars that came out for the first run .Twenty -six made the cut at 1 second or more under -- and believe me its not fast here .The quality of the D1 cars that are here is exceptional .

Chris Howes showed up with his 70 Challenger in AA/SA Hemi car -- very nice piece indeed .Still has some work to do to be fast in AA/SA - but they can do it -- went 10.16 this morning .

Dave Casey made the lone Record attempt this morning in G/S -- went 10.954 -- I'll have to check what the current record is .Top speed in a Stocker so far is Richard Atkins @ 132.96 in his AA/S 67 Shelby.

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

As of 5/19, NHRA has the G/S record listed as a 11.70 minimum.

Have Fun all!

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TOP/STK would be great race with that many upper class racers at one place at one time...Might even interest a crowd.

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Maple Grove runs TOP/STK and JR/STK every year at the Dutch Classic in Oct.; unfortunately it doesn't attract a crowd. The only real crowd is on Saturday when the Hemi Challenge eliminations are run; on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday the stands are virtually empty. It's too bad because the Dutch Classic is a great race that has been run every year since the mid '70s.
Bil Seabrooks - superfan1
Bridgeport, Ct.

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Stock -- time trial #2--with the DA up over 3000 feet very few picked-up if any as most lost .03 to .04 on this run . Dave Casey went 10.94 and that should back up his G/S Record run .

SupetStock will be out shortly........

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Shortly turned out to be four hours -- they just finished -- most were surprised in the fact that it is much cooler now and yet they as a whole slowed up -- most .01 to .03 .

Marc Labrecque broke his #3 quailfied GT/TC a few feet off the line -- they tell me his trans let go .

79 S/Sers first shot -- more this time .Lawrence GT/AA still #1 .Armstrong #2

Clean-up runs in all catagories coming up...........

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Jack-no post in a while. Guess Uncle Buck has the grille going and its time to relax with a drink of choice. Have fun and be safe. Dont forget about the S/G report!!

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Geez - I'm finally back and feel like I was on a food tasting tour ---- first stop was at the Labrecque compound for a little Shepherds Pie which was terrific----they also had four kinds of cheese cake but I passed so I could eat other stuff later.After eating a little most of us got to watch Marc and co. change his PowerGlide and cuss a little -- always fun when you don't have to work ---- just watch .Next it was off to "Uncle Bucks" for some of the best and biggest scallops I've ever seen - they were grilled nicely and wrapped in bacon (and cooked by chef Tommy Goldman ) . Throw in some shrimp that were drowned in old bay along with fresh corn --- opps I almost forgot about the two huge pork roasts he had on the grille that are always a treat .After that I was waddling home when I stopped for a minute in Michael Iaconos' pit to say hello and they were grilling some really good looking steak kabobs but I couldn't fit a thing more in me - a real shame but enough is enough .

Enough about food -- tomorrow is our last time shot then its finally race time -- time trials are starting at 8:30 ............gotta sleep off this food .......... till then .............

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

drag racers do eat well

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Stock and S/S got their final shot this morning and what a difference a day makes -- even yesterdays bad air looks good today -- most slowed another 2 or 3 -- first round dials are going to be a real crapshoot at best - its a" you pick it deal" .Speaking of first rounds it could turn into more than one as the officials are saying tomorrow could bring some very bad weather suddenly and they'd like to run at least two rounds of everybody today .Also concerning first rounds all ladders are now being revised -- not sure why -- I'll find out .Later ...........

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Had some things go wrong here -- still no first rounds ...and its getting darker and windy .New ladders coming out -- it was a computer glitch .Alcohol coming yet ............

Final tally of entries -- a little more than 20 less than last year -- total in the 560 range -- not bad , not bad at all ! ! !

BTW -- Stockers a whopping 117 entries ..............

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Finally we got through the first round of S/S - the usual stuff -- breakage -- oildowns etc-- many racers I watched were afraid of the weather and ran out bigtime .Also saw several cases where a racer was being chased -never looked back and ran out when his challenger was nowhere close . Its real easy to armchair quarterback isn't it ?And then there was Michael Iacono who didn't stage in time and was timed out -- why -- I wasn't about to ask .

Alcohol finished their round and comp is "out on the field" as I type .If the weather holds out everyone will have round two this evening ..............

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Well they got two rounds of Stock and S/S in along with one round of other stuff .And they finished Alcohol funnies (Ace got beat in the final) and dragsters .Had some real big lighting but no rain .

Second round of S/S saw an unusual amount of redlights -- not sure why -- could be because it was nightime or ???? Some who went red - Lawrence , Labrecque , Hocrun , L.Morehead .... others who marched on--R.Morehead ,Antonette ,R.Linke ,Michael Iocono ,Santos looked good, Van Poppel,Timmy Worner and one of his sons (couldn't tell which ) .

Stock rd2 highlights -- Keir put Conte out ,Lowell over Bubba ,Hoven went red ,Carroll over a red Welker ,Casey over Gardner ,Al Mark took a big win over Dean Cook , Fetch beat Infantino , Valentine over Parker, Pires moves on , also Ficcaci , Boburka , Baird,Mocci , Gray , Todd Bednaz ,Dent ,and Colabro .

On to Sunday ..............Oh -- one more thing-- very nice fireworks display tonight .

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Outside my window I'm hearing cars "parading "around and getting them warmed up because in around an hour we'll once again get started .The rain never came during the night as expected and even today its a little cloudy but otherwise OK .Seems to me that we'll get started with SuperGas as they got dumped from the program last night .They are behind other classes as this will be their round # 2 . Speaking with some of them the last few days most share the same thoughts that they should flip-flop with SuperComp every so often - be dead last in the program always is their biggest beef with the NHRA -- just like the saying goes -- we'd like some change -- change can be good -- you know the rest .We'll see ---maybe "they"are listening........

Last night there was some great racing in all classes-- the nightime brought out the best and the worst in racers ................today we'll have some winners and hand out some Wally's ! ! A little later.........

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Jack -
How are ya?
The updates are great, keep em coming thanks a bunch !

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Stock rd3 -- Kopecky dead-on over Mocci -T.Bednaz wins -- Ficcaci runs out against Sansome -- Fetch takes another round -Barton over Boburka -- Oakes beats Carroll -- Kier with his new ride over Lowell -- Calabro over a red Gray - Casey over Mark - Woody over a redlighting Pie -- Perrone over Farrell.......

S/S 3 -- SOON..............................

Angie -- we missed you this weekend -- still on the mend ?

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S/S Rd 3 -- Santos goes red -Boucher over Lawrence -- Null over a running out Iacono - Rinehart wins -Sabin moves on - Sweitzer loses -Vanpoppel runs out - Tim Warner gone -R.Linke runs out against Antonette -- D.Linke loses to Cantucci...........


Interesting observation -- SuperStock drivers and fans will not watch SuperGas -- ever -- yet when SuperStock comes out SuperGassers will watch them.....Hmmmmmm.........

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Interesting observation -- SuperStock drivers and fans will not watch SuperGas -- ever -- yet when SuperStock comes out SuperGassers will watch them.....Hmmmmmm.........[/QUOTE]

I have noticed the same thing for Stock and Super Stock and do not understand why.

I like all the sportsman categories except alcohol. Alcohol to me is just like the pro categories at the entry level only worse. Who has the most money wins. Plus they always oil the track!!!!

My 2 Cents

Re: Live from Maple Grove- NHRA Lucas Oil Series
 

Jack
yes still on the mend (thanks for asking) - so far no complications, just a major pain not being able to use the hand.. but
about 4 more weeks (its been 3 already) like the end of June, and I should be ready to give it a go.
Take Care
Ang