Wow,I thought i would never get here, i kept flunking the visual verification test. I started my recovery from a heart attack followed within three w eeks by three strokes in the fall of last year, when i came out of a fog one of the first things i did was to pick up a copy of Hotrod magazine that had stacked up for three years and read an article about the Maxton Mile. I am surrounded by pictures of myself and Jack Roush in the winners circle at Talledaga and Daytona, pictures of me drag racing in numerous cars and albums of cars i have owned over the years. The Maxton article set my mind to spinning and i asked if i could start driving again, which i did in the parking lot of the local highschool and then to county roads to the interstate. Jumping ahead, i talked with Joe, Keith, and Tonya last spring to ask questions about how to join, register and run at Maxton and ordered a rule book. I started preparing my ss chevy truck to run in a production class and while what i spent is peanuts compared to the special built and modified owners it was still significant. I participated in the Sept. event and had the most exhilarating experience, i was hooked when i found how close to a class record i was. I did not really plan on going back in Oct. though i had it on my mind constantly, and two weeks before the meete my grandson said "PapA why don't you go back to that Maxton Mile and break that record" and i found motel rooms, reprogrammed the computor, and bought new Goodyear formula 11 tires. In my second life the biggest thrill i have ever experienced was making the fourth run on Sunday morning after fighting the wind along with everyone else on Saturday and set a new track record in A/pp. I called Tonya two weeks before Thanksgiving to order another record setting shirt and she asked if i had desided to go to Ohio. She also told me that there was so much interest that it was being considered to limit the entries to 150. The week after Thanksgiving i called and with difficulty reserved two rooms, called Tonya to see if i could pay next years dues and preregister to run. She said that final cost hah not been determined yet and to just wait until after the first of the year.Since then i have contracted for chassis dtno time, to have my truck valve train improved upon, to install electric cutouts and to have an hp tuneup put in my truck, again peanuts to what i realize most of you invest but not to me. Now after all of that , in case there is a huge demand for entries which category do i fall in, the guy that just wants to run his car wide open throttle and not meet tech or am i now a "regular" that chases class records and now continually comes back, or am i in no mans land. Everyday i am consumed with what i can do to increase my speed from 127 mph to 130+ in april at Ohio and still maintain my production status and i would be glad to send my checks Monday morning, where do i stand. One more thing, i could not have felt more welcomed and offered advise and assistance from both the volunteers as well as the other competitors, making a kind of nervous first time experience a relaxed joy. I was at the track at noon and until dark on friday in the rain in Sept. to complete my registration, go through tech inspection and rookie orientation, i was first in line in the prestage line in sept. fourth in line on Saturday in Oct. always with my helmut and jacket on, in order to never possibly hold things. I got two runs in on Saturday and was fourth in line at 6:00 pm after the oildown. I was back at the track at 6:15 am on Sunday in the staging lane and made one run to obtain my track record, i wanted to move up in class and make one more run before starting a ten hour drive home but the prestage line was back to almost the portable toilet on the return road. With respect has it been considered to have a backup printer as that seemed to be a holdup in Oct. Happy Hollidays to all and i really hope to see you in April, Garrell Patterson
