The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series makes 23 stops at 20 different venues during the season. No two facilities on the tour are identical with layouts, configurations, topography and locales, offering a vast array of contrasts and contradictions. At some national events, such as the just-completed CarQuest Auto Parts Nationals at Pacific Raceways near Seattle, Wash., there can even be huge differences between the left and right lanes.

As the weekend began, it was apparent the left lane was to be avoided, according to the overwhelming majority of racers who found the bumpy and inconsistent surface almost impossible to negotiate cleanly. With lane choice considered an absolute necessity for anyone hoping to advance through eliminations on Sunday, the right lane was the one that almost every team was expected to choose. The transition between the concrete launch pad and the asphalt surface on the left side of the track at about 400' has never really been smooth and several attempts to correct the problem have led to only marginal improvement.

After racers openly criticized the track during qualifying, the NHRA's track preparation personnel worked on the left lane Saturday evening after action had concluded, grinding the transition further, hoping to reduce the bump prior to eliminations. But there would be controversy as early as the second round of the nitro classes.

In the quarter-finals, Darrell Russell, the defending Top Fuel event winner, found himself facing defending POWERade champion Larry Dixon, who, with lane choice, put Russell in the left lane. Dixon won easily as Russell smoked his tires, sending Russell's tuner, Wayne Dupuy, into an angry tirade on ESPN's network telecast.

"This isn't right," said Dupuy. "It's tough enough to have to race Dixon but the NHRA's track preparation is terrible. You can't come up here and race to win when you're running on this kind of track. This shouldn't happen."

Soon, there would be controversy of a different kind.

After Funny Car points leader Tony Pedregon lost in the first round, Whit Bazemore, in second place in the standings, was in position to close the triple-digit gap. In the second round, Bazemore was slated to race his Schumacher Racing teammate Gary Scelzi, who had lane choice. Although Scelzi had qualified No. 1 with a 4.96/299 pass in the tricky left lane late Friday in cooler conditions, the decision was made to put Bazemore in the preferred right lane with the track temperature near 130 degrees. With every appearance that team orders had been issued, Bazemore easily beat Scelzi -- who immediately smoked his tires -- giving Bazemore the opportunity to gain valuable ground on Pedregon in the points race.

Scelzi's tuner Mike Neff said following the loss, "We thought we could win in the left lane. I guess we were wrong."

Ultimately, Bazemore would advance to the final, losing to John Force but gaining 60 points on Pedregon with nine events left on the 2003 schedule.

A totally renovated race track is in the works for Pacific Raceways but it may be several years before the project is completed. Until then, there will almost certainly be more drama than anyone bargained for when the NHRA tour returns there next season.

Bill Stephens covers the NHRA for ESPN and ESPN.com.