It's T-minus one day for the launch of the 55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, and the National DRAGSTER staffers are typing their little fingers off to finish this week's work early so we can all grab the dry cleaning, pack the suitcase, and hop an eastbound MD-80 Thursday morning.

This will be the fifth straight year that members of National DRAGSTER will be sharing their Indy observations, thoughts, and memories on NHRA.com through a series of dedicated blogs. ND Senior Editor Kevin McKenna, Associate Editors Candida Benson, Brad Littlefield, and Kelly Wade, and yours truly will be scouring the grounds at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis looking for tales to share from behind the scenes of NHRA's biggest, oldest, richest, and most prestigious drag race. To get your juices flowing with a preview of what kind of stuff you can expect, you can find last year's blogs here, and if you’re interested, here are the links for 2007, 2006, and 2005 as well.

It's my 27th straight U.S. Nationals, and I'm every bit as giddy as I was for my first, way back in 1983, when Tony Schumacher wasn't even old enough to drive a street car let alone a Top Fueler. Yeah, me and Indy go back a ways.

I'll be sharing that 27th anniversary with 26-year-old Tyler Moore, whose grandma, Indy local Peggy Verhonik, will be enjoying the Big Go again with him. Wait. What? A 26-year-old enjoying his 27th Indy? Explained Verhonik, whose parents owned the first dragstrip in Terre Haute, Ind., in the 1960s, "He was on my lap with big red headphones and a diaper every day of the 1983 Nationals but was not 1-year-old until two months later. He has not missed a day since and does not ever plan to miss the event." They'll be watching from the top row of the Top Eliminator Club, where they've been every year since 1988.

Our consecutive-Indy streaks, though, are nothing compared to that of super fan Bill Nelson, whom I met a few years ago at Indy and who will be attending his 50th straight U.S. Nationals. He's promised me a cold drink and some warm hospitality, so I'll be sure to take him up on that.

Yesterday, the 10-day forecast was calling for high 70s clear through until Monday, with nary a drop of rain in sight, but you know the old saying – "Welcome to the Midwest; if you don’t like the weather, stick around. It will change." – and the forecast has, but I have a good feeling about this U.S. Nationals.

There are going to be a lot of things worth watching this weekend, not the least of which is the battles for the final berths in the Countdown playoffs and whether Tony Schumacher, who has won the Big Go seven times, can go eight for 10 and tie "Big Daddy" Don Garlits as the event's winningest Top Fuel driver.

I'm also going to go out on a limb and predict that this is the year that Ron Capps finally wins the U.S. Nationals. Although he's had success in the various Shootouts at Indy, he's never done well come Monday – in fact, he's never reached the final round – but he has a six-time Indy winner, crew chief Ed McCulloch, in his corner. Brad did a nice feature on the two for the souvenir program that's for sale at the event, so be sure to check it out.

I've already gone on record in our preseason predictions that this also is going to be Capps' year to win the championship, and my old pal sure has made me look good this year so far with five wins and two runner-ups. It will take a small miracle (like an event win, maybe?) for him to overtake Tony Pedregon's 73-point lead to enter the playoffs as the top seed, but, hey, this is Indy, where incredible things happen, right?

I can’t wait.