"Live From" Maple Grove, NHRA Nationals

[Ken Miele]

Hello from Maple Grove Raceway, what a deference a year makes. The weather for a change... its not raining. The ground is solid as Maple Grove has not seen much rain in the past few weeks. The forecast calls for some rain on Thursday and Saturday, but it does not look like a wash out. With only 242 sportsman cars, getting this race done on time should not be a problem.

We are in the stacking area and there are about 100 rigs here. Parking starts at 8am and unlike Indy it should go smooth. The parking crew was marking off the pit area and we should all get parked in good areas and have it done in a timely manner.

An interesting note on the schedule, Super Stock will be out first on Thursday for Q1, Stockers get to sleep late for a change.

[Jack Matyas]

Hi gang - Just pulled in a few minutes ago and I'm # 69 - not too bad considering the hour .And believe me there is not a better feeling than turning into gate 4 and coming here as this has been my 'home' track since the late sixties .

As Ken said in his opening post Stockers will get to sleep in on Thursday because S/S will go out first .Me ?? For the first time in decades I have a chance to get a little extra shut eye and what do I do ??? Yep , I entered SuperStock .Never get a break - never ! ! !

Tomorrow will be just like every other National event lately -Wednesday is for parking -make believe tech and shine your stuff up for the camera that's pointed at your whip.

More in the AM ………….

[Ed Carpenter]

I’m in the wrong line of work. Getting to a race on Tuesday is impossible......hell Thursday is a stretch.......Maybe when I retire in 20 years.....lol

[Jack Matyas]

Talk about a boring day - fix this - get parts for that , you know the drill .And then there is tech and tickets - more yawning ! !

They sent out a notice that S/S will start an hour early tomorrow because of bad weather coming .Great -now I'll get less sleep and bad weather . Good news is because there are less entries most racers like their pit spots.

[Ken Miele]

Parking went well, they started at 7:45 and empty the lot by 11. Lots of nice spots to park, plenty of room for all. Tech line was also easy and fast. Like Jack said start time has been moved up to 9am. The local forecast is showing a chance of rain later afternoon, I think we will be okay.

I found a few race cars out an about, if I get any new info I will be back.

[Ken Miele]

A few more...

[Jack Matyas]

Couple of drips coming down and the sky looks ugly -maybe it will pass.Have you ever tried to capture lightning ?

[Dave Turner]

Originally Posted by Jack Matyas

Couple of drips coming down and the sky looks ugly -maybe it will pass.Have you ever tried to capture lightning ?

Only in a bottle....

[Ken Miele]

Good morning everyone, we had a little rain over night. The track dryer is out and we should be starting on time with Super Stock Q1 at 9am. Its humid out and temps will be in the low 80's today with a slight chance of a showers during the day. Since Stock is not out until after Super Comp I have time to shoot Super Stocks Q1. Its going to be tough to get all of Stock, but if I make a good run in Q1, I can skip the other qualifying and I will get all of Stock.

Be back later....

[Jack Matyas]

A few pics from Q1 Stock