John Stanley’s crew was hard at work getting the car set up this morning. When I talked to John, he said they had to throw about 160 pounds in the car to be legal for Pro Mod and he had no idea what the car was going to do on the track.

Chuck Bartholme and Franny McCarthy were poring over the data after their first test hit. With regular tuner Mike Dez tending to business and family at home, McCarthy was pressed into service, Bartholme says he has all the confidence in the world in “Dez Junior”.

Chris Evans, Eric LaFerriere, and Matt Butrim discussing Big Green’s tuneup. Evans–who just freshened the engine before the race–says the car should run right up top, and there are only a few racers he’s worried about. Butrim works the laptop on this machine.

Just a few weeks ago, Brian Devilbiss’ X275 GT500 was in the shop getting a complete makeover. They had it to the NMCA race at Norwalk last weekend and managed to tune the car to a 4.59. Devilbiss says the car is totally different now and they are working to get back to the tuneup, but it no longer has the “street car feel” it did previously.

Vinny Palazzolo is driving Benny Ortiz’ GT500 here this weekend. Palazzolo, who recently sold his own car to Bob Clayton, is debating whether to continue to drive in X275 and purchase this car from Benny, or make a drastic move into the seat of a Pro Mod.

Rich Bruder has all the luck! Jack French of Billet Atomizer just built this nasty RvW Challenger and Bruder is here getting ready to make some hits. It’s only a matter of time until this car is at the front of the pack in the class. You can read more about it right here.

One of the most notable performances in the test session this afternoon belongs to Mike “Hollywood” Decker III in Outlaw 10.5 – he joined the 4.0 club with a 4.07. This is the 21-year-old’s first official race behind the wheel of the Decker Salvage Camaro.

Keith Berry is providing “consulting services” to Fletcher Cox and Shawn Ayers, who are competing in RvW Vs. Outlaw 10.5 this weekend. There are rumors of Berry coming back to play next season, but when I asked him, all he said was “they are rumors”. I guess we’ll see…

Speaking of Fletcher, he was shining Golddust up in preparation for round one.

Last year’s Outlaw 10.5 winner, Joe Albrecht, has what I think is the loudest Outlaw car I’ve heard in years. The screw-blown machine turned in a 4.05 at 193.29 mph in the first round of qualifying.