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I arrived at the track a little after noon, just as the rain was ending. There were less Late Models here than I expected, but I know there were a bunch that were waiting for the rain to end before coming over. I am told there were close to 60 at that time, though I didn't do a count myself. I know its safe to say more will arrive tonight & tomorrow. The weather man is saying tomorrow's (race day) weather is going to be gorgeous.

Here are a few brief random notes:

I ran into some old friends I haven't seen in a while, including Brian Latuch. Some of you will remember Brian from his days as Brad Leighton's crew chief at Grizco when they were so dominant in the Busch North Series. Brian is working as Trampas Demers crewchief these days. Trampas recently won a late model race at Thunder Road. You may remember Trampas's dad Dennis from the old Busch North Series as well.

I spoke at length to Brad Leighton, driver of the #55 Irving late model this weekend. It was great to catch up with Brad and his wife Lynn. Brad is definitely considered to be a front runner this weekend, having two ACT wins this year on his limited schedule. Brad mentioned his hotel in Auburn, The Hilton Garden Inn is the hosting many of the TD Banknorth drivers & teams again this year, including the Wallace's.

Former BNS racer Brian Hoar was already there, but didn't practice today. A lot of teams said they felt tomorrows 3 hour practice session would be sufficient. Rollie LaChance, Eddie MacDonalds crewchief wanted all the track time they could get, so they were on the track today. They wanted to try some stuff out this afternoon. Eddie finished 5th in Tuesday's PASS race at Lee USA Speedway Tuesday night, and fourth in the CWSE race at Thompson over the weekend.

Anyone wanting to pick up a copy of Beaver Dragon's biography, To Beat the Beaver, can do so this weekend. They were selling it in the pits today.

I was told there were close to a dozen late models from Vermont that just didn't budget money for this race, so they were not here. I was also told there were a few that didn't feel their cars were the same as the local division, the ACT have slightly different rules than other regional late models, giving them a distinct disadvantage. The biggest area of concern here was in the shocks and rear ends. To be completely competitive, I was told they would need to spend more money, that they didn't budget for. There also seemed to be a little bit of a buzz lingering from last years 250. The winning car was said to have had a different shock package and carburetor than the rest of the field, which whether the story I heard was true or not, it left a bitter taste in some of the racers mouths.

Last nights program was shortened by rain. The strictly & mini-stock races that didn't get in last night will start tonight's program. Jeff Hebrew, Cathy Manchester, Kevin Oliver and Jason Hannigan went to victory lane last night. The 100 lap True Value Modified Racing Series race will highlight tonight's action on the track. Tonight's program will begin at 6:30.

The neracing fans forum pick ten contest for the TD Banknorth 250 is drawing some interest, with Joey Pole being picked somewhere in all but one of the picks posted so far. Brad Leighton is the next driver to be picked the most in the top ten. Those two are also the leading drivers predicted to win. Fans have until noon on Sunday to pick their ten drivers.

That's it for this afternoon, we may post more news before noon tomorrow, but either way, stayed tuned on the neracing fans forum all afternoon and during the race for the latest news and information.