[bruecksteve]

Leaving this morning! It's going to be a two day drive and I expect to get there sometime Monday afternoon or evening depending on how far I get today.

We'll be staying at the Fairfield Inn in Dedham (thanks to 00 Trans Am!) and I'll have high speed internet access so I'll keep you posted (with pictures) on how it's going.

So keep your fingers crossed, he only has to out qualify about 140 other kids!!! (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/thumbup.gif)

[bruecksteve]

Well, we made it! We got here Monday morning at 2am after a 20 hour drive. I decided to drive all the way through. We did have a lot of rain starting north of Richmond VA until Washington. Great weather after that. It was very hot today but temperatures are suppose to cool off starting tomorrow and expect highs in the 70's on Thursday!

All the kids were split into 7 run groups with about 15-16 in a group. The karts were "watered" down to make it more fair for all the kids. They were "locked" in to 2nd gear and the front brakes disconnected. I talked to Danny Sullivan today and he said that if the front brakes were working, the karts would just instantly stop and it would be too much for some of the kids.

Matthew ran two 10 minute sessions today and his best run was a 48.3 or 59.xx mph average around the track. Matthew said that when he went through the first turn at the end of the straight it was almost impossible to breathe. That's some g forces. He ended up 7th in his group. By the end of the day some kids were in the mid 46's so he's got some time to make up but most of it appears to be that first turn. So he knows what he has to do and we'll see how it plays out tomorrow.

I'll try to get some pictures off my camera in a few minutes. My internet access just started working today.