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The weather forecast for this weekend looks pretty dismal.

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Thanks for taking your time to post all the great pictures!

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Monday looks good with 0 percent chance of rain and sunny......

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I'm Glad to do it David. Here are some more photos of the day. The first photo is Roger and Eddie Cook working on the their 429 Cobra Jet. The next is Eddie Brooks topping off the fresh water tank in the Motorhome. Its what most crews seem to be doing today. The next photo is of Austin Ford's Sam Tech sponsored 16 Cobra Jet. I also caught two of Jeff Teuton's cars out, Jeff was hidden behind the golf cart relaxing in his chair.

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Great coverage Ken! My friend and I will be there Thursday to watch qualifying. Will try to find you in the pits and say hey. Is Johns latest CJ a NOHC stick car? :D

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Living large!

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It's really great to see young people getting into the sport. And as long as there is a steady influx of mom & dads willing to spend 150-200 thousand to keep them interested, i think were gonna be alright. 😉

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Good morning all, Al, I am not sure what combo he is running, I will see if I can get that info for you later. Today is tech and it is going very smoothly, with very little waiting time, both in tech and credentials. Most rigs are already parked from the division race and now getting ready with their normally routine for tomorrows racing. The weather looks a little iffy tomorrow, but I think we will be okay.

Just some random photos of tech and the cars starting to come out of the trailers.

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A few more.

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The rain coming tomorrow shouldn't be very much or very long. Piesano's for pizza Thursday night!

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Jacobs cavalier is the fastest SS on the property. New car old car doesn't matter that cavalier is the baddest period!

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Awesome photos, Ken. Thanks for sharing.

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Thanks Jim, here are a few more. The first two shots are Jimmy Alund's 70 nova, Jimmy is here from Sweden. I also caught Evan Smith taking Anthony Bongiovanni's Cobra Jet to tech, Evan is not driving, he is here covering the event. The white COPO is Gary Wolkwitz new ride built and driven by David Barton, it will definitely be a car to watch in the showdown.

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Thank you for the pix..... almost like being there.

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Thanks for the pictures and the great reporting.

Up hear in the north east and waiting for the season to start.

Bob Lasko

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Good morning all, its a cloudy humid morning, but no rain yet. Stock has been called to the lanes. As you can see from the photo, it does not look good, but hoping for the best. Weather numbers for this morning.

Temp 73
Humd 78%
Bar 29.78
DA 1895
Wind slight tale

Be back....

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Ken look at the bright side, the sun will not be behind the tree this morning. The radar looks clear so hopefully you guys and gals get it in.

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Stock Q1 is in the books:

Kevin Skinner leads the Factory Stock class with an 8.449 at over 160. As expected, the quickest 8 Showdown cars are all supercharged. After one session, the bump is Roy Hill's 8.68. David Barton has top speed at 162.12.

Currently, the field has a nice mix
4 Cobra Jets (Skinner, Holbrook, Fezell and Hill)
2 COPO's (Barton, Harem)
2 Drag Pak's (A. Stanfield, Allegrucci)

There are 20 official Showdown entries including 5 N/A cars.

Now this is where is might get a bit confusing. The official qualifying sheet has been modified to reflect the addition of the Factory Stock Showdown. Basically, the top eight showdown cars are listed on a separate sheet so Anthony Bongiovanni (who is the first alternate in the Showdown) is listed as the No. 1 qualifier with a (-1.209) 8.691. This seems like a good way to separate the two classes since the traditional Stock qualifying sheet will reflect the ladder for eliminations. Basically, if you're playing the ladder game, you can look at the sheet from the previous round and have a decent idea of where you stand instead of having the manually remove the eight Showdown qualifiers. Everyone got that?

As for the weather, it is slightly overcast and a bit humid but we're running cars down the track so that officially makes it a nice day.

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The 2 Drag Paks, are they the new blown hemi?

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I know that Allegrucci's car is the new supercharged Hemi but I'm not sure about Aaron Stanfield. He is listed on the sheet as driving a Dodge but I haven't seen it in the pits and now that you mention it I'm thinking that he is more likely in a COPO. Q2 is underway now so I'll have a definitive answer shortly. Maybe Yo Ken can even provide photographic evidence when he gets a chance.

more later....

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Jimmy Alund has been entering all year as a '70, but those aren't '70 taillights. I pay plenty of attention to what happens in Stock, but I can't claim to be sharp on all the finer points of the Stock rulebook.

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Super Stock Q1 in the books.

Ray Skillman on top (-1.115) 8.785 in his Cobra Jet followed by Stephen Bell, Kevin Helms, and John Stock's unique '67 Cobra.

Top 5 cars are a second under

63 cars officially. Brian Oakes and Stephen Herbert listed as DQ. (possibly weight or fuel?)

Also 7 SS/AH Hemi cars listed. Class should be interesting.

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Thanks so much Kevin, James its still looking good here, no rain insight. Its been a little crazy here, but I mange to take shots in the lanes and at fuel check. I will have more later when things calm down.

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Well that escalated quickly. If you want to be part of the 8-car Factory Stock Showdown field, you need to run 8.5s. After two runs here's the field

Kevin Skinner (Ford) 8.449
Chris Holbrook (Ford) 8.451
Aaron Stanfield (?) 8.475
David Barton (Chevy) 8.477
Ryan Herem (Chevy) 8.481
Clay Arnett (Chevy) 8.530)
Jonathan Allegrucci (Dodge) 8.568
Don Fezell (Ford) 8.575)

First alternate is Chuck Watson at 8.650

Top spot in Stock qualifying changed when Bo Butner ran (-1.313) 8.837 in his FS/X Cobra Jet.

Top nine cars are Showdown cars, No. 10 is Gary Summers U/SA Mustang.

Class Elims coming up in a bit. Showdown cars will run traditional FS/XX and FS/X eliminations and we'll crown a winner in each. Then the quick 8 Showdown cars will return on Saturday with the final round set for Sunday afternoon.

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First pairings of Stock Class being called to the lanes ........and it's starting to rain.

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"The sky is crying, can you see the tears roll down the street?" -- Stevie Ray Vaughn

I can confirm what Mike just posted. A bit of thunder and lightning and what could best be described as a downpour over Gainesville right now. Hopefully it will stop and we can get it dried in time for class eliminations later today.

On St. Paddy's Day, a true Irishman would probably have cracked open a cask of whiskey by now but we've got a race to run.

more later...

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Does anyone know what min# Gary Richard has to be in FGT/A?

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Minimum weight for Gary's combo is 3170. The photos speak for themselves. The heavy stuff is just north of us and it has let up just a bit.

Since I have time I will go back to editing, I have lots of photos, stay tuned I will post asap.

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If you are going to quote lyrics from blues compositions....Please give credit to the author. "The Sky is Crying" was composed and originally performed by Elmore James in 1959.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFn538A_yBA

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Playing around with my new camera, and trying to give a different look. The photos from the last national shot by Chris Ashley were amazing, so I am trying to get as close as I can to her skill level, I have a long way to go.

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Next batch.... oh, and the rain is still coming down, still keeping our fingers crossed.

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If it's a Chevy II , it's got more wrong with it than the taillights .

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That's Clark's old car. He raced it forever so if something wrong its been wrong for years.

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I hear you they only care about engine and HP claimed Ken thanks for the updates
Stay dry!

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Ken, I believe the Wolkwitz COPO Camaro had the chassis work done by a well know shop in Indiana.

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I realize that, Ed, ...and also that Clark raced it as both a 69 Nova, and a 68 Chevy II , at times.

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noticed that Jeff Taylor is driving a stick car in stock, don't know if I have ever seen Jeff listed as driving a stick car. Maybe in comp ? Good to see Jeff on the dark side.

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Stock first round ladder is out with several notable matchups

With only 2 E/S cars on the property they managed to find each other - Gary Russell and Casey Miles will meet heads up.

Old and new - Anthony Bongiovanni- FS/XX Cobra Jet and Bruce Noland AA/SA big block Corvette will tangle in round one.

Another heads up - C/SA -Johnson and Barnes will meet

Mickey Whaley in his big block '69 Camaro ragtop C/SA will send out Tolson in his lumbering U/SA wagon .

Another long headstart going to Summers in his U/SA with Wilkes chasing in his A/SA

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Well, funny story. I love American blues and when I wrote that I almost included an Elmore James reference then I thought, "Nah, most of them won't get it."

Apologies for underestimating the cultural astuteness of the Class Racer faithful.

On a side note, I lived in Gainesville many years ago and one of the highlights was sitting next to Bo Diddley on a flight from Dallas. Fascinating, funny guy.

Anyway, hoping for a sunnier blues free day tomorrow.

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Hope the weather breaks up and get this race in hope they dont have to cram it in all day Sat