This compressed schedule thing is really messing with our coverage here. Seems like before we had all the time in the world to get practice pictures, wander around, shoot the breeze, get what we had to get done post-race and make it back to the hotel with plenty of time to fiddle with pictures and go on and on at length in text.

But we didn't get any practice until yesterday, and it was one of those kinds of practices where it was 45 minutes on the track, then 45 off (not enough time to really get anything done), then 45 back on. Then we got to sit around for what seemed like an eternity before anything else happened, and when everything was all over last night, it was midnight and there was no way to stay awake long enough to post anything remotely readable or pictures that would have done anyone justice (for the record we have about 1,500 pictures to go through from Friday alone, that's not a 20 minute job to even pick out which ones ought to be posted).

We can't even post a spotter's guide like in years past. Not only have the cars already been on TV, but three of them are now damaged enough that they won't compete tonight, the teams going to back-up cars that are significantly different-appearing from the primary cars.

If I ever had even one gripe with Irwindale Speedway, it's the track exit in turn one. Not only does leaving the track there open cars up to surprising those behind them by slowing up high on the frontstretch, but it's also an unforgiving opening at a fast part of the track. Say what you want about, say, Thompson Speedway's antique gate on the frontstretch, but at least if someone got turned around on that part of the track he's not going to hit that, come to a complete stop and bounce back down into race traffic.

The tide has turned here, the West Series made the East guys look about as bad as the East guys have made the West Series look the previous three years. There's talk that the West drivers have fifty-lap cars that will fall off dramatically afterwards, but that's not all that comforting to know when the race will be stopped and fresh tires put on for a fifty-lap dash to the finish.

Here's hoping that the feature event tonight will be carnage-free, unlike yesterday's qualifying races and the feature events in the last couple years. And we'll be back to recap everything after it's over - or, if it turns into another late night, (relatively) early Sunday morning.