The shadows were drifting long in the afternoon before we cleared tech and jumped in line for our credentials. We had told the right lies, crossed the "T"s, dotted the "I"s and pressed twenties into the proper palms to get our whole group through with the exception of one.

Rick and Sharma finally had the chance to present their 71 Dart along with the other people on the wait list. If it came to taking the cars earliest on the list they would be in trouble as they had only decided to come a week earlier. From our vantage point, it appeared discouraging. We couldn't believe how many cars pulled into the empty lanes when the final call went out.

The actual number turned out to be a whopping 38 cars who entered after the main group of preregistered entries. It's not a stat Boone and I have ever kept, but my recollection would be thirteen tops in the past!

We would find out the next morning in the driver's meeting that the grand total was 387 through tech, so HOT ROD kept the record of not turning anyone away from a full field for another year, but it would also mean we'd start Monday with 31 more cars than DW 16, and 80 more than in 14 and 15.