Extreme Pro Stock icon Robert Patrick categorizes hot as two types. There's hot and then there's
Topeka hot.
This weekend's National Guard ADRL Independence Drags in Topeka, Kansas, promises to deliver some
of the warmest conditions racers have seen in 2009. Previous Heartland Park Topeka events have
pushed the thermometer mercury to beyond 100 and while Friday's high temperature is forecast for
only 90 degrees, it might as well be 140 degrees.
As Patrick puts it, the track will be 140 degrees minimum.
"When you're tuning a naturally aspirated car and it gets to this part in the schedule, you
essentially throw running the quick times out the window," Patrick explained. "It becomes a matter
of survival of the fittest and you just do your best to adapt to a hot track and crappy air.
"Running at the front of the pack isn't the one who has the most power. It's the one who makes the
best adjustments."
The last time Patrick competed at Heartland Park - Topeka was in 2001 when he campaigned a 500-inch
Pro Stocker.
