Hey everyone, it’s Rickie. I’m sitting here Saturday morning in Englishtown wondering how warm it is going to get before we run our first session today. As of right now it is only 72 degrees outside, but the high today is supposed to be around 90 degrees, which will make things very interesting for the morning session today. Is it going to get hot and humid early or will it get hot and humid throughout the day? Will the sun poke through the clouds or will we have cloud cover this morning? These are all questions us racers have to ask ourselves before we decide on a tune-up. Should we change transmissions and rear-ends or should we use the same ones as yesterday? Weather like we are having here this weekend makes your mind go in so many directions, but hopefully we will make the right call this morning.

Normally Friday night is “the session” and looking at the numbers everyone ran last night, it might have been. We hit the nail on the head last night. The track was hot and sticky, but the air was almost perfect. I mean, look at the difference in last weekend compared to this weekend. Last weekend in Joliet it was 20-30 degrees cooler than it is here in Englishtown, and the field is actually quicker than it was last weekend. Almost every field out here this weekend is record breaking. I know the Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle field are the two quickest fields ever. Which says a lot when it’s around 90 degrees.

Last night we went into the session thinking it was going to be good. Did we think it was going to be that good? No, I don’t think anyone did. I ran a career best in Pro Stock at 6.679 at 207.40 and needed every bit of it as I am qualified No.9 going into today. The bump in Pro Stock is 6.692. Normally at most races that would be a No.1 qualifiers elapse time. It is just absolutely amazing how competitive and how fast it is in Pro Stock now-a-days.

Matt on the other hand is doing remarkably well also. He was the quickest bike in the final session last night at 7.030. He is qualified No.3, since two others ran quicker in the opening session yesterday. But I have to say his bike has totally turned around from the beginning of the season. His bike is one of the most consistent bikes in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Hopefully it will be hot and sticky today and we can stay in for the big show on Sunday. With a bit of luck maybe next time you check back in we will both be going some rounds on Sunday. Stay tuned…