HARRISBURG -- When cold weather and the NHRA comes together at Maple Grove Raceway, speed records usually fall in bunches.
If Mother Nature keeps her current pattern going in eastern Pennsylvania, an atmospheric recipe for record-setting performances may be in the cards for this weekend’s Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals, Oct. 4-7 at the Berks County track.
It's a familiar formula, according to the NHRA and its drivers, like Spencer Massey: championship intensity plus record-breaking performances equals awesome action.
At last season’s event here, two national records were set, and every track record in the Professional classes was rewritten. With forecasts calling for temperatures in the low 70s and upper 60s throughout this weekend, teams will be throwing out as much horsepower as the track can handle in hopes of breaking even more performance records.
"There's a cold front coming in and, obviously, the colder conditions mean more power for our race cars and means better track conditions," said Massey during a brief visit Thursday to the CBS 21 News studio.
Massey won last year's Top Fuel event at Maple Grove.
Antron Brown holds the Top Fuel series points lead over Massey by 21 points; after back-to-back wins in Dallas and St. Louis. Several other drivers are in title contention, including seven-time world champ Tony Schumacher, Al-Anabi Racing driver Shawn Langdon, Brandon Bernstein, Morgan Lucas, Steve Torrence, and Doug Kalitta.
NHRA teams in title contention in the fourth of six rounds of the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship playoffs will look to earn valuable 20-point bonuses that national records can bring.
Video and some information used in this story is provided by NHRA.
