Gentlemen (and Ladies), I was fortunate enough to make it California Speedway for Friday's qualifying session with photo access. As most of you know, EFI has made it's way into the top class of NASCAR (about time) and since were in the early stages of this new era, I like others are interested in what this all means. So with camera in hand, I was able to capture some shots during and after qualifying, enjoy!

Denny Hamlin takes the top spot from teammate Kyle Bush during qualifying running a lap at 38.626, .181 sec quicker than the #18.

Jimmie Johnson , who received a favorable ruling earlier this week, rounded out the top 10 turning a lap time of 38.893.

I was pleasantly pleased to find that they have introduced a new feature called the [NASCAR "Front Runners Garage"] which as the sign says is designed to provide a behind the scenes look at the top competitors. This new-elevated view provides an outstanding perspective as you can see from some of my images.

During post qualifying, I observed NASCAR officials collecting and analyzing data from the top qualifiers. One NASCAR official stated that they were not collecting and reviewing data, however after talking to a McLaren representative he confirmed that this indeed was what they were doing ;).

There were a few contrasting observations I made and that was the use of "Old School" Throttle Linkage vs. Cables. (I'm not sure if anyone used cables before or not though) Another observation was the use of Dual TP Sensors for the Toyota and a Single Sensor for the Roush Fords.

There was lots of activity following Friday's Qualifying session, which allowed me to capture several activities, which were as follows:

The Poll Sitter's Differential Set up for Inspection .

More vehicle service and care for the #11 car.

#88 Car undercar service.

Old School vs. New Age Spark Plugs.

A cool undercar tool-caddy the #48 team uses.

Inspection is intense as always, here is a look at one of the vehicle templates NASCAR uses as a Go-NOGO gauge, which explains why Chad Knaus may still be a little nervous about his "C Pillar".

Hope you all enjoy these images, I should be able to capture some more throughout the weekend and look forward to sharing them. I just hope we have forgiving weather that will permit an uninterrupted racing weekend!

Take care,

Scott Brown
Administrator
iATN
Brea, California, USA

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