"Rock's Last Stand"
"Last Roundup At The Rockpit"
"Requiem For A Rockpile"

The titles for this day after the event look back at the Northwest Nationals almost write themselves. But the story doesn't. So, just what happened on the last weekend in July at the venerable Seattle International Raceway's Prolong Super Lubricants Northwest Nationals?

What was newsworthy about this final event under the management of long-time S.I.R. promoter Jim Rockstad? Did he have another war of words with Whit Bazemore? Did more of the aging, decaying, crumbling grandstands collapse? Did the infamous "skihill" in the left (or is it the right?) lane cause any crashes?

Unfortunately, for the crash and burn afficionados in the audience, the answer is no. There was a large section of grandstand missing on the tower side of the track, but evidence of what caused it's removal was gone before the gates opened for the weekend. However, unlike last year's race, no sections of the stands actually collapsed while they were in use.

On track incidents were minimal, with no crashes or fires of any significance, with the worst damage and injuries being those suffered by one of John Force's crewmen when the lift gate of one of his fleet of semi-trailers collapsed on the Wednesday of race week, sending his number one car crashing to the ground (pretty much writing it off) and injuring the crewman that was hanging on to it.

STILL IN PROGRESS - TO BE CONTINUED