Dad and I are leading bracket points at motorplex right now in the dragster. I know just about every TMP employee on the racing side.
They RARELY prep for Fast Friday, and here is why: If you put PJ1 down on rubber, then run street tires over it, the rubber will actually stick to the tire harder, and it will peel up. Since fast friday is usually all street tires, they usually hardly prep it.
Now, on the other hand, slicks need all the PJ1 they can get. Little River in Temple sprays 100%. Motorplex is usually 40/60 (PJ1/methanol) and Denton is the other way around, 60% PJ1 40% methanol. Kennedale can vary and nobody really knows (the director has told me they mix VP lane choice with PJ1 and methanol).
I was the crazy nut in the green safety vest shooting all day long. I am not directly representing TMP or NHRDA, only my own thoughts knowing that track like the back of my hand. The track was prepped pretty well in my opinion on saturday, about on par with what I see on bracket days.
Something you can always do as a competitor and I always do, is walk down each lane, end to end. I usually walk down the right lane and back up the left lane, looking for nuts, bolts, bald spots, extra-sticky spots, or any other anomalies.
At dinner after the race, I actually brought a side-topic to this up to Randy, and used TMP as an example. How often do you see track guys go down to the top end and look around? At big races like promods, nationals, or jet cars, there's usually a guy down at half track, rarely the finish line, that checks the track every few runs if not every run. I don't see that done at bracket races and I didn't see it done Saturday. Even though I am all but a track worker, i don't walk on the surface when shooting unless I absolutely see something.
Example 1: Last october at bracket finals (TMP), Friday afternoon, we shatter a crankshaft mandrel at the 1/8 mile, unknowingly. The engine shuts off (belt drive methanol injection pump), dad fires it up on the electric gas pump and drives back to pit. Takes the hood off, realized there's no front drive. 2 pairs have gone down track since our pass by the time dad gets to the ET booth to shut the track down. Track crew found 3 spacers, both belts, and the 8" long 1/2" mendrel bolt on the racing surface between 1/8 mile and 1000 foot.
Example 2: same bracket finals. Robert Grice is shooting from the roof of his golf cart at about 150 feet. Both cars do their burnouts and back up. Right lane lights his pre-stage, then Grice jumps down from his golf cart and runs to the middle of the track. Turns out there's oil from right were he was shooting, to the end of the track in the left lane. Track crew didn't see it.
Again, only my opinion and experience, not representative of TMP or NHRDA.
Photo link:
http://magnethead494.com/photos/2014-04-12_Texas_Motorplex/
