"Drag Week is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get!"

Paraphrasing this famous movie line is very appropriate on many levels. The entry list information is released two weeks before the event, but it is based upon racer supplied documents that they hastily filled out to preregister in six minutes back in March. Throw in the fact that there is almost always a twenty percent no-show rate, and truly, you have no idea what cars are going to line up Monday morning for the first official runs of the event. Then you have the "wait list" crowd, who bravely showed up ready to participate, despite not having a guaranteed entry. In the twelve previous editions of Drag Week, not one entry has been turned away, but many of us thought this might be the year.

Another level at which the quote rings true is Tech. Every year brings new challenges and different nuances to the all day affair. Race director Lonnie Grimm had taken to the "Drag Weekers" Facebook page to tell us it was going to be "awesome" this time, and he thought it would go much better. I didn't know whether to feel good or bad with that revelation.

I was slowly moving up in the line, lost in my own thoughts when the guys in and around the big Impala next to me started talking about stack injected cars.
"I think the red Nova is the only one this year", the driver commented.
"Well I saw that Gremlin come in...", one of the guys standing between our cars started.
"Yeah, he had something sticking way out of the hood, it may have been injected", the passenger agreed.
"No, that idiot went from a single four to twin Dominators on a tunnel ram", I jumped in before I even realized I hadn't been part of the conversation. "So they stuck out of the hood quite far already, then he added velocity stacks with breathers above that...and on Dominators they don't neck down so it just looks like two periscopes sticking out of the hood, looks stupid if you ask me!"
The five of them looked at me with mouths open in stunned silence for a second before the passenger asked the money question. "Do you know the guy?"
"Yeah, he's my little brother," I replied
That response was met with a wall of raucous, uncontrollable laughter from the entire group. Finally when they had almost regained composure, one of the group repeated the line, "He's my little brother", and the laughter burst out again. I laughed along with them, but the humor was lost on me...sometimes you just don't know what material is going to work!