The driver's meeting lasted about 30 minutes. Three big takeaways were noted from someone who's been through a few of them. First, David Freiburger introduced Evan Perkins as the new Hot Rod Magazine Editor. It was clear he was going to let David, Brian, and the Drag Week staff do their thing, and get out of the way, so the tension of last year was gone, and I liked this new guy right from the start!
Second, Keith Turk explained that the racers were responsible for picking the appropriate class for their cars, and that he would intervene only if there was a dispute. Another positive in my book, essentially Drag Week is 350 Street Cars trying to complete an arduous journey, and no one enjoys getting beat over the head with a rule book.
Third, Lonnie Grimm was very specific in how the lanes were going to work, who was going to be in them, and that He and Sean Fling would be in charge of them from start to finish! "It is my goal to provide everyone an equal opportunity to get multiple passes each day", was the phrase he ended with. Once again, another positive, in my way of thinking, so far so good!

The meeting was over shortly after 9AM, and since the first two lanes were already filled, I figured cars would be heading down the track before I made it back to the Valiant. National Trail Raceway, however, hadn't scheduled the Ambulance to be on site until 10AM, so while we waited, the two hundred plus class cars packed every square inch of available staging lane.