As my stories have expanded every year, I like to think I try to tell as complete a story as my memory allows, and I try not to gloss over the gory details of what happens when you show up unprepared or things don't go your way. After six years of doing this, I've also been made acutely aware of the fact that writing and posting stuff on the internet about real people and real events does not take place in a vacuum. Generally the response has been favorable, but when you are critical of the processes or handling of certain issues, sometimes people may feel said criticism is unjust.

One such area is Drag Week tech. I think I've been honest in my reviews, but perhaps I should've been less vocal about it on certain face book sites and web boards. It's just that it chaps my hide when some DW rookie comes on the internet trying to get approval for something he's done to his car which may change the class he's put in, or asking about some rule in the NHRA rule book which only applies to Pro Stocks at National Events, and everyone always refers the poor guy to Keith Turk, which to me is like advising your friend who won five thousand cash in a street race to call the IRS and ask if he should report it on his taxes, or asking the prison warden if it's OK to bring in contraband!

One of the things that I've pointed out (many times, on many sites) was the fact that the Hot Rod Tech sheet only had one line for the NHRA tech official to fill out, which simply listed the minimum ET which the car was allowed to run. My argument was, "How serious do you think they are about enforcing the NHRA rules when this is all the sheet has on it!"

Now, you may look upon me as a scofflaw, or a rule bender, or even an outright cheater, but I've always approached tech at any event much the same way a batter faces a pitcher or a receiver goes up against a defensive back. As such, you want to scout your competition, so anytime I arrive at a track, I like to go up and watch a few cars go through tech and figure out what the procedure is, and what each inspector is looking for. All of them have specific favorites they like to check for, and all of them have a clock in their head as to how long they can spend on each car. Is the inspector a talker? Do they like to start at the front of the car, or with the paperwork, or with the safety gear? Knowing all this before your car is next in line is key to hiding the things on your car that aren't up to specs, and trust me, in 32 years of attending drag strips, I've never had a car that was 100% legal.

So, while most of our crew was unloading cars and gear, I made my way to the head of the line to watch. It appeared to me that the Drag Week staff was watching me with a wary eye as I was lurking around, but perhaps it was only my own guilty conscience. I didn't like what I saw. In years past they had one NHRA tech who was just running around between the cars in line checking the boxes on each sheet and handing them back to the drivers, then the final check was lights, horn, and the street stuff. This year everyone was required to fill out a full NHRA tech card in addition to the Drag Week sheet, and the two NHRA techs were doing full inspections after the cars cleared all the Drag Week street stuff!
This meant it would be harder to slide things past the gendarmes, if that was your intent. The second consequence was, that it would take longer to clear registration, on a day when they were getting a late start and there were a record number of entries. Sunday was shaping up to be a long, grueling, interesting day!