RACE thread ---- The Open and the All-Star

Thanks for the info. I deleted my comment because I was worried about wading into this, but screw it. A bunch of aholes gave the area I live near a huge black eye tonight.
It's just the reality of the situation.

Some people get bent out of shape over one man.

One. Single. Man.

Honestly, this is why I love what I do and embrace the challenges of it. What I do is small, but **** I would not trade it for anything. I want this sport to be better than what it is. I don't care how small, I want to make a valid attempt to make a difference. This sport is changing internally, but its pressure on the outside from really letting it from blossoming into what it really could be.

NASCAR is progressive and it needs to be to move forward.
 
Late Model Stocks have been going through this phase where they’re running bigger carbs and bigger motors and more horsepower and the racing, amazingly, keeps getting better.

Let’s put 950 horsepower in these Cup cars and get them off the ground and see what we can do.
I bet Larson still wins. :D
 
I was around then

EVERY race at Martinsville and Richmond and places like them (North Wilkesboro, London, Phoenix, St. Louis) suck with this piece of **** car.

St. Louis is a good track that was kinda with the Gen7. 670 hp ain’t it at short tracks.
 
I love the explanation of wedge. Been watching for 20 years, I now know what the wrench in the back window does. Hahah
You know all about it until you need 50 pounds and send the new crew guy up and down pit road to find you some.
 
Well that was damn cool. Probably one of the coolest experiences racing wise I’ve ever been to. I’m bummed I didn’t get to take many pictures, my phone battery has been funky this weekend. A huge wrong has been righted with Cup coming back here and I’m humbled I got to see it. Of course you log on here and see the “Muh Entertainment!!!” Crew out in full force.
Glad to hear it bud! I'm sure they will run a points race soon! Yeah I logged off of here well before all the bs political and butt hurt people crap started.
 
After reading the thread this morning I thought they had to give Bubba a police escort from the track last night! All I saw was Bubba flip off somebody ( big deal) and by the end of this thread the majority of fan base is racist. I read where someone got on his channel and told him to go away that he wasnt wanted in NASCAR and called him an ahole. Evidently Bubba didnt hear it according to what I read. Its a pretty common occurrence to have cross traffic on your radio during the race, I remember one time some jackass hacked us and told Spencer that he was washed up and to stick to TV before we could switch channels, another I somehow was on the same frequency with a commercial plumbing company and I heard them talking about replacing a water heater until we moved up to channel 3.

There was a time when they quit publishing driver frequencies but the smart ones would scan all of the radios and lock in the numbers , it was like a game of cat and mouse. These people would then sell the frequencies on race day ( this was way before you could rent the radios) and make a good bit of money. Some of us would run a frequency during practice and qualifying Friday and Saturday and then Sunday morning completely change the primary and the backups so effectively those guys were selling a bunch of crap. Listen, I get that we have a very SMALL portion of our fan base that doesnt like Bubba because he is black but I also know that we have fans that dont care what color he is, they just dont like the way he handles certain situations but every driver has their detractors and some are freaking jerk offs like the one who hacked Bubba and told him to quit and "we" dont want you in this sport . If I could talk to Bubba I'd tell him ignore the F87k out of those people and dont justify their existence, when you get in to a pissing match with a fan they LOVE it, they think they are important and it just emboldens them and becomes a huge distraction for you. This guy is hitting his stride and is bad fast and capable of winning every weekend so Bubba I know you read R-F religiously so heed my words, FOCUS and block out the noise!
 
@Jorge De Guzman since you were there as well I'd love to hear your feedback sometime on the experience. Where did you park? That was my biggest concern. Well, that and the fact that you literally couldn't move in the concourse (if you can even call it that) between races or when there was a standstill moment. The infrastructure was completely overwhelmed with just 25-30k people, and I've already bi***ed about the phone service and lack thereof. But up until the green flag dropped, I was still having an absolute blast. My only other feedback for them would be that, believe it or not, we're not all country music superfans. Give us a LITTLE variety. Just one rock band. You can compromise and make it Southern rock, I don't give a darn, just... something. Please. I beg. I despise hick hop and had to endure three concerts of it this weekend for my wife. :owquitit::XXROFL:

Best advice I could EVER give anyone considering going next year (if) is to ignore SMI's parking pleas and park in private lots on Fishing Creek Road. They're $25-40, just as "safe", and much, much closer to the track than the $70 SMI tram lot.
 
@Jorge De Guzman since you were there as well I'd love to hear your feedback sometime on the experience. Where did you park? That was my biggest concern. Well, that and the fact that you literally couldn't move in the concourse (if you can even call it that) between races or when there was a standstill moment. The infrastructure was completely overwhelmed with just 25-30k people, and I've already bi***ed about the phone service and lack thereof. But up until the green flag dropped, I was still having an absolute blast. My only other feedback for them would be that, believe it or not, we're not all country music superfans. Give us a LITTLE variety. Just one rock band. You can compromise and make it Southern rock, I don't give a darn, just... something. Please. I beg. I despise hick hop and had to endure three concerts of it this weekend for my wife. :owquitit::XXROFL:

Best advice I could EVER give anyone considering going next year (if) is to ignore SMI's parking pleas and park in private lots on Fishing Creek Road. They're $25-40, just as "safe", and much, much closer to the track than the $70 SMI tram lot.
We sat in the Turn 1-2 Grandstand Section 2 Row 23. Pretty good seats, you could really see them hustling those cars and appreciate their lack of grip from where I was. I got really lucky parking and traffic traveling in from staying in Mooresville, we chilled for a bit after the race by the car and let the traffic die down as well as let my phone charge a bit,I also wanted to check socials to gauge the mood of the night and see how other fans felt about the race…the ones at the track looked to have had a great time. I parked in lot 5, I was an idiot that paid for the $200 parking pass but honestly it allayed my fears of Kentucky Part 2 after seeing how seamless things went with the truck race. I’d probably pay that again but I also wanted to investigate parking in the neighborhood close to the track, that looked cool and a bit more convenient. But the walk from the lot to the track over 421 wasn’t bad.My seats were literally right there after crossing. These folks were prepared. I mentioned last night on here my battery was not doing well and that was before the weekend as I’m too cheap to buy a new Iphone ,so I don’t think that was due to lack of internet but it was frustrating at times not having internet.

As for the facility itself, they did a hell of a job getting this place ready. I would compare it to going to a balllgame at Wrigley Field, almost like going back in time. You have to know going in the place is….old, kind of gross in places, run down in a few spots, a hassle to get around in and missing some of the newer ambiance, but it makes up for it with its charm, nostalgia and history. I was grateful to just be there and take it in, I never thought I’d have the chance to watch an actual Cup race at NWB. I only hung around the main grandstand on Friday and before the trucks race as Sunday it seemed there was a lot more people around so I didn’t get to explore much there, plus the track workers were keen to keeping you in your own sections.…I really wanted to get a hot dog or coca cola from the main “refreshments” area right before start finish line, but couldn’t make it there. We ended up eating sandwiches we had made at the Publix by our hotel and a cooler to store them in our car in the parking lot.

I will say going three days in a row kind of wore me out. My wife was over it by Saturday and we only saw the Midland concert. They would have concerts in the middle of the afternoon which I found odd like Dierks Bentley played at an odd time on Saturday to where we would have been at the track for like 9 hours. No thanks, so if I go back I think I’m only going to the Cup race and will try to buy tickets to that. That’s honestly the only complaint I had, I didn’t see the concerts and the “at the track” time if you wanted to do everything was going to be plentiful. I didn’t want to spend that much time at the track but I also think they did it that way to stagger people coming in and not all get there at the same time. In closing I’d probably go back next year if they have something, talking to a lot of folks at the track and locally, they thought this place was getting a points race and the all star, which if in fact is the case I’d choose the points race, it’s just one race and done. I do know after looking at socials, Marcus and SMI have a thankless job, I hope the b*tching from this fan base last night doesn’t deter them from having another Cup race at NWB, its truly a cool place to see a race. I hope your experience was as good as mine.
 
We sat in the Turn 1-2 Grandstand Section 2 Row 23. Pretty good seats, you could really see them hustling those cars and appreciate their lack of grip from where I was. I got really lucky parking and traffic traveling in from staying in Mooresville, we chilled for a bit after the race by the car and let the traffic die down as well as let my phone charge a bit,I also wanted to check socials to gauge the mood of the night and see how other fans felt about the race…the ones at the track looked to have had a great time. I parked in lot 5, I was an idiot that paid for the $200 parking pass but honestly it allayed my fears of Kentucky Part 2 after seeing how seamless things went with the truck race. I’d probably pay that again but I also wanted to investigate parking in the neighborhood close to the track, that looked cool and a bit more convenient. But the walk from the lot to the track over 421 wasn’t bad.My seats were literally right there after crossing. These folks were prepared. I mentioned last night on here my battery was not doing well and that was before the weekend as I’m too cheap to buy a new Iphone ,so I don’t think that was due to lack of internet but it was frustrating at times not having internet.

As for the facility itself, they did a hell of a job getting this place ready. I would compare it to going to a balllgame at Wrigley Field, almost like going back in time. You have to know going in the place is….old, kind of gross in places, run down in a few spots, a hassle to get around in and missing some of the newer ambiance, but it makes up for it with its charm, nostalgia and history. I was grateful to just be there and take it in, I never thought I’d have the chance to watch an actual Cup race at NWB. I only hung around the main grandstand on Friday and before the trucks race as Sunday it seemed there was a lot more people around so I didn’t get to explore much there, plus the track workers were keen to keeping you in your own sections.…I really wanted to get a hot dog or coca cola from the main “refreshments” area right before start finish line, but couldn’t make it there. We ended up eating sandwiches we had made at the Publix by our hotel and a cooler to store them in our car in the parking lot.

I will say going three days in a row kind of wore me out. My wife was over it by Saturday and we only saw the Midland concert. They would have concerts in the middle of the afternoon which I found odd like Dierks Bentley played at an odd time on Saturday to where we would have been at the track for like 9 hours. No thanks, so if I go back I think I’m only going to the Cup race and will try to buy tickets to that. That’s honestly the only complaint I had, I didn’t see the concerts and the “at the track” time if you wanted to do everything was going to be plentiful. I didn’t want to spend that much time at the track but I also think they did it that way to stagger people coming in and not all get there at the same time. In closing I’d probably go back next year if they have something, talking to a lot of folks at the track and locally, they thought this place was getting a points race and the all star, which if in fact is the case I’d choose the points race, it’s just one race and done. I do know after looking at socials, Marcus and SMI have a thankless job, I hope the b*tching from this fan base last night doesn’t deter them from having another Cup race at NWB, its truly a cool place to see a race. I hope your experience was as good as mine.
Awesome recap.I'm glad you had a good time. People who find joy in things are better to hang around and you def sound like my kind of people.
 
We sat in the Turn 1-2 Grandstand Section 2 Row 23. Pretty good seats, you could really see them hustling those cars and appreciate their lack of grip from where I was. I got really lucky parking and traffic traveling in from staying in Mooresville, we chilled for a bit after the race by the car and let the traffic die down as well as let my phone charge a bit,I also wanted to check socials to gauge the mood of the night and see how other fans felt about the race…the ones at the track looked to have had a great time. I parked in lot 5, I was an idiot that paid for the $200 parking pass but honestly it allayed my fears of Kentucky Part 2 after seeing how seamless things went with the truck race. I’d probably pay that again but I also wanted to investigate parking in the neighborhood close to the track, that looked cool and a bit more convenient. But the walk from the lot to the track over 421 wasn’t bad.My seats were literally right there after crossing. These folks were prepared. I mentioned last night on here my battery was not doing well and that was before the weekend as I’m too cheap to buy a new Iphone ,so I don’t think that was due to lack of internet but it was frustrating at times not having internet.

As for the facility itself, they did a hell of a job getting this place ready. I would compare it to going to a balllgame at Wrigley Field, almost like going back in time. You have to know going in the place is….old, kind of gross in places, run down in a few spots, a hassle to get around in and missing some of the newer ambiance, but it makes up for it with its charm, nostalgia and history. I was grateful to just be there and take it in, I never thought I’d have the chance to watch an actual Cup race at NWB. I only hung around the main grandstand on Friday and before the trucks race as Sunday it seemed there was a lot more people around so I didn’t get to explore much there, plus the track workers were keen to keeping you in your own sections.…I really wanted to get a hot dog or coca cola from the main “refreshments” area right before start finish line, but couldn’t make it there. We ended up eating sandwiches we had made at the Publix by our hotel and a cooler to store them in our car in the parking lot.

I will say going three days in a row kind of wore me out. My wife was over it by Saturday and we only saw the Midland concert. They would have concerts in the middle of the afternoon which I found odd like Dierks Bentley played at an odd time on Saturday to where we would have been at the track for like 9 hours. No thanks, so if I go back I think I’m only going to the Cup race and will try to buy tickets to that. That’s honestly the only complaint I had, I didn’t see the concerts and the “at the track” time if you wanted to do everything was going to be plentiful. I didn’t want to spend that much time at the track but I also think they did it that way to stagger people coming in and not all get there at the same time. In closing I’d probably go back next year if they have something, talking to a lot of folks at the track and locally, they thought this place was getting a points race and the all star, which if in fact is the case I’d choose the points race, it’s just one race and done. I do know after looking at socials, Marcus and SMI have a thankless job, I hope the b*tching from this fan base last night doesn’t deter them from having another Cup race at NWB, its truly a cool place to see a race. I hope your experience was as good as mine.
Sounds like an awesome experience. I want to stress that I had a great time all weekend, but it started to unravel for me unfortunately right when it should have been at its peak during the All Star itself. The parking was very frustrating, but I didn't win the tickets until week of the race so lots 1-5 were NOT available to me. I would have gladly paid for them. We were in Green Lot, which was 1.5 miles from the track (per Google Maps) on Fishing Creek Road. I went ahead and bought Sunday at $50, but didn't know about Friday so I waited. When I went to buy for Friday, you could no longer buy pass online and had to pay at lot. They had jacked it up to $70 then. So I was a little miffed, but hey, the tickets were free so...

Seats were in C row 16, only like two rows from top. I could see everything except bottom lane of 1 and 2 due to haulers. No complaints there. My sight complaint was that they needed to put replay screen in between the VIP area and the Turn 3 grandstands on backstretch. You couldn't really see or read it from where I was off of 4. Very inconvenient. Wouldn't have been a big deal to me if I could have pulled up NASCAR scoring on the app on my phone, but no internet kinda killed that. It was way different watching them live in person versus relying on Fox to show us on tv. I don't know if tv could really capture just how insane they were wheeling it in 3 and 4 down on the concrete patch, especially Larson. Also, as I said somewhere in another post, tv couldn't have done the job Michael McDowell did to just keep that thing going any credit. He wheeled the HELL out of that busted car, and the crowd really wanted blood whenever the 54 got near. That was funny and quite entertaining. I won't touch the booing any more, I think all that needs to be said has been said. In the break between the Open and ASR was the first time I darn near popped a fuse and it wasn't fun. I tried walking to the concourse and bathroom, and it was a standstill mob. Seriously started getting claustrophobic. When I finally made it to restroom, I'm glad I still had my scanner on because they were BLARING, and I mean BLARING 90's country music on speakers in there. This was while they were doing Open pre race and someone was singing "God Bless America." I'm used to Charlotte where they have MRN or the house PA system on in the loo. And for some reason several scanner channels would not work. I couldn't get 68 (TV hot mic feed), the 48 car's channel one or two, and a couple others to work at all. MRN on 69 worked, but it was so muffled and low I couldn't hear it even on low volume. Some channels were loud and clear like NASCAR officials 1 and 2. The 9 radio was it's usual "I can hear it but..." I've made my feelings on the racing known already so I won't beat that horse. It was still way cool to be at NW again. (last time I went was 30 years ago or so for a late models and maybe mods race) We went to the concerts on Friday but were burnt out and left after Chase Rice because my wife doesn't like Midland really. We got there early enough Sunday that Tim Duggar was still on stage when we made it over there, and sat through Dierks. We found a nice spot of shade under/behind the Penske merch hauler and my wife wanted to stay there versus getting closer.

After race, it flowed fairly easily on foot. Then we got to the trams to take us to the Green Lot, and all hell broke loose. It was pure chaos. They had hammered us to stay right and behind railing all weekend to that point, but come crunch time when it mattered it devolved into a real life battle royale. Only the most aggressive/obnoxious/drunk people could get near the trams. Mobs ran and cut in line and jumped into the trailers before they could even stop or get to the station. After seeing a couple rounds of this, what felt like a hundred of us said screw it and started walking. About a mile or so into the walk, one of the tram drivers was headed back towards the track and had like a half full load. I found that odd, but ok. We were near an intersection and he yelled that he was turning around and if we'd wait he'd pick us up. Truly a Godsend he was. At this point, nearly everyone around me had frayed tempers and were tired. He took us the rest of the way, and it was jammed up again with all the trams and busses trying to drop off and turn around. Irony was that the ones stopped were the first trams with all the wild westers on it. We got off of ours and everyone walked because we could see the parking lot, and smirked at the people who cut in line being forced to sit there. Why they didn't walk I'll never know. Once we got to car, that was the easiest out and home I've ever had. I've had more trouble leaving a high school football game than that, but the drama was even getting to the parking lot with your car. Hopefully they can find a way to smooth that out. So, in the end, I had a weekend of nostalgic fun that hit me in ways I couldn't describe when I'd start thinking about going to Orange County or South Boston with my Dad. It was the same excitement as when he'd tell 8 year old me that the BGN or Modifieds were in town and would I like to go. I can't describe it other than that. Walking in I almost misted up, I'll admit it. But to have all that good mojo ruined in the last hour I was there was a bitter pill to swallow. I do hope it can improve, because I know what a boon it is to this area.

I'm DrB, and this has been my Ted Talk. Thanks for listening!
 
Awesome recap.I'm glad you had a good time. People who find joy in things are better to hang around and you def sound like my kind of people.
Thanks, I sure did have an awesome time. One of the better races and events I have been to. Sometimes as a fan I need a reminder why I like racing, I sure got one this weekend.
 
Always enjoy reading race experiences from fans that were there. I'm happy to read the good stuff and sad to read that people can be stupid/rude no matter where we are and I'm referring to the types that push and shove and think they're more entitled than others. It's more fun for everyone to remember they're all at an event for the same reason: to have fun and be entertained.
 
unpopular take: I was super excited for the return of NWS.

Watched the truck race... was good racing

The cup cars.... about put me to sleep. The track is excellent, the cup cars suck on it.

NASCAR needs to fix their short track package.

happy to see a full house of 25k show up, and I hope this track returns to its rightful home, as a Cup series points paying race.
 
Thanks, I sure did have an awesome time. One of the better races and events I have been to. Sometimes as a fan I need a reminder why I like racing, I sure got one this weekend.
First two Rovals made me feel that way. I also used to love the All Star qualifying back in the day with no speed limit. Other than that, it's been very spotty with my attended races the last several years.
 
Sounds like an awesome experience. I want to stress that I had a great time all weekend, but it started to unravel for me unfortunately right when it should have been at its peak during the All Star itself. The parking was very frustrating, but I didn't win the tickets until week of the race so lots 1-5 were NOT available to me. I would have gladly paid for them. We were in Green Lot, which was 1.5 miles from the track (per Google Maps) on Fishing Creek Road. I went ahead and bought Sunday at $50, but didn't know about Friday so I waited. When I went to buy for Friday, you could no longer buy pass online and had to pay at lot. They had jacked it up to $70 then. So I was a little miffed, but hey, the tickets were free so...

Seats were in C row 16, only like two rows from top. I could see everything except bottom lane of 1 and 2 due to haulers. No complaints there. My sight complaint was that they needed to put replay screen in between the VIP area and the Turn 3 grandstands on backstretch. You couldn't really see or read it from where I was off of 4. Very inconvenient. Wouldn't have been a big deal to me if I could have pulled up NASCAR scoring on the app on my phone, but no internet kinda killed that. It was way different watching them live in person versus relying on Fox to show us on tv. I don't know if tv could really capture just how insane they were wheeling it in 3 and 4 down on the concrete patch, especially Larson. Also, as I said somewhere in another post, tv couldn't have done the job Michael McDowell did to just keep that thing going any credit. He wheeled the HELL out of that busted car, and the crowd really wanted blood whenever the 54 got near. That was funny and quite entertaining. I won't touch the booing any more, I think all that needs to be said has been said. In the break between the Open and ASR was the first time I darn near popped a fuse and it wasn't fun. I tried walking to the concourse and bathroom, and it was a standstill mob. Seriously started getting claustrophobic. When I finally made it to restroom, I'm glad I still had my scanner on because they were BLARING, and I mean BLARING 90's country music on speakers in there. This was while they were doing Open pre race and someone was singing "God Bless America." I'm used to Charlotte where they have MRN or the house PA system on in the loo. And for some reason several scanner channels would not work. I couldn't get 68 (TV hot mic feed), the 48 car's channel one or two, and a couple others to work at all. MRN on 69 worked, but it was so muffled and low I couldn't hear it even on low volume. Some channels were loud and clear like NASCAR officials 1 and 2. The 9 radio was it's usual "I can hear it but..." I've made my feelings on the racing known already so I won't beat that horse. It was still way cool to be at NW again. (last time I went was 30 years ago or so for a late models and maybe mods race) We went to the concerts on Friday but were burnt out and left after Chase Rice because my wife doesn't like Midland really. We got there early enough Sunday that Tim Duggar was still on stage when we made it over there, and sat through Dierks. We found a nice spot of shade under/behind the Penske merch hauler and my wife wanted to stay there versus getting closer.

After race, it flowed fairly easily on foot. Then we got to the trams to take us to the Green Lot, and all hell broke loose. It was pure chaos. They had hammered us to stay right and behind railing all weekend to that point, but come crunch time when it mattered it devolved into a real life battle royale. Only the most aggressive/obnoxious/drunk people could get near the trams. Mobs ran and cut in line and jumped into the trailers before they could even stop or get to the station. After seeing a couple rounds of this, what felt like a hundred of us said screw it and started walking. About a mile or so into the walk, one of the tram drivers was headed back towards the track and had like a half full load. I found that odd, but ok. We were near an intersection and he yelled that he was turning around and if we'd wait he'd pick us up. Truly a Godsend he was. At this point, nearly everyone around me had frayed tempers and were tired. He took us the rest of the way, and it was jammed up again with all the trams and busses trying to drop off and turn around. Irony was that the ones stopped were the first trams with all the wild westers on it. We got off of ours and everyone walked because we could see the parking lot, and smirked at the people who cut in line being forced to sit there. Why they didn't walk I'll never know. Once we got to car, that was the easiest out and home I've ever had. I've had more trouble leaving a high school football game than that, but the drama was even getting to the parking lot with your car. Hopefully they can find a way to smooth that out. So, in the end, I had a weekend of nostalgic fun that hit me in ways I couldn't describe when I'd start thinking about going to Orange County or South Boston with my Dad. It was the same excitement as when he'd tell 8 year old me that the BGN or Modifieds were in town and would I like to go. I can't describe it other than that. Walking in I almost misted up, I'll admit it. But to have all that good mojo ruined in the last hour I was there was a bitter pill to swallow. I do hope it can improve, because I know what a boon it is to this area.

I'm DrB, and this has been my Ted Talk. Thanks for listening!
This is oddly like my first time at Kentucky in 2014.......that walk was absolutely horrible from the lot I dont even know where we parked. It was by the entrance maybe off of turn four going into the start finish line. We passed a forest, a gully and more hills than I can remember. In July in that Kentucky heat, just awful. I made up my mind as I washed my sweat off my face in the sink in the nearest restroom under the grand stands "never again to this place". From what I read this morning on socials, the tram lots were like the wild west trying to get out of there. Sorry that happened to you, that would have soured me real quick too. I'm glad I paid the $200 for parking lol, it really paid for itself. I hope you go back to Wilkesboro in the future if they have a Cup Race, maybe if the package gets short track package gets fixed and the tram lot issue is resolved, you'll have a better time.
 
The Larson burnout was my favorite part of the evening, just burned it down all the way around. Also seeing your favorite driver go from last to first and then not only staying in first but lay the smackdown while others are hanging onto dear life is pretty sweet, not gonna lie. I think he proved last night he's at the height of his powers and the best in the biz, talent wise and everything that goes into it. It was cathartic seeing him win the way he did after the luck he has had thus far this season.
 
The Larson burnout was my favorite part of the evening, just burned it down all the way around. Also seeing your favorite driver go from last to first and then not only staying in first but lay the smackdown while others are hanging onto dear life is pretty sweet, not gonna lie. I think he proved last night he's at the height of his powers and the best in the biz, talent wise and everything that goes into it. It was cathartic seeing him win the way he did after the luck he has had thus far this season.
You just described me at the first Roval that Chase won to a T. From blowing it into Heartburn Turn to the comeback and burnout in said wall, so perfect for me.
 
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