Well, I busted my *** all day, make it to the track, met some nice gate personnel (after I figured out how to get to the gate), some very friendly and helpful parking guys (landed right in front of some portajohns, so at least I won't have to hike for that), but evidently missed the cutoff for the end of the tech line by about 60 seconds.
Fantastic, so I've wasted 4 hrs of my life (and work), and get to try again in the morning. Enjoy your evening, all.