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The latest update as of May 29, 2010
Mission Raceway - Day Two - NHRA LODRS Lordco BC Nationals
Today's visit to Mission was late, short, and not altogether sweet. Leaving North Vancouver just before noon, with a light-ish rain falling, I found myself in heavier and heavier rain as I headed east to the track. The downpour eased up a bit by the time I arrived at Mission, but continued unabated as we waited at Dean Murdoch's encampment in the pits for the inevitable pronouncement from the Division Director. Here it is as translated by Drag Race Central:
MISSION, B.C. - 1 pm. - NHRA has officially canceled racing action for today. The plan is to give every class a time trial/qualifying run tomorrow morning starting with Stock Eliminator at 9am and Top Alcohol Funny Car and Top Alcohol Dragster at 10am for their qualifying run. Remember this is all based on us having better weather tomorrow.
Assuming that the rain stops overnight as forecast, at precisely 2am, and the jet drier and other sundry equipment starts rolling at say... 5am, then maybe 9am as a start for qualifying is do-able-ish. Realistically, we'll be lucky to be running much before noon and finishing the entire event in basically one day is going to be a task of monumental proportions. It's been done before, more than once, at Mission Raceway, but it's always a pain for everyone and really not that enjoyable once you strip away the inevitable dramatic situations that are guaranteed to occur.
That said, I'm still setting my alarm for oh-too-early and plan to be on the highway in time for a pre-9am arrival, contingent on seeing dry pavement and clear skies outside when I roll out of bed. For now, you can check out the few photos that I took before heading home and if you're really desparate for entertainment on a Saturday evening, check back later for some captions added to the pics from Thursday and Friday.
PS: If it's any consolation, it's raining on the Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway in England and the pro qualifying has been put over to tomorrow. Fortunately, they've scheduled eliminations for Monday (a bank holiday in the U.K.) and the forecasts are somewhat optimistic. Cross your fingers. Oh, and one more note: so far the AHRA Reunion event at LaRue, Ohio has not been cancelled/postponed by weather.
Here's a couple of views of the very wet and deserted track. A very sad sight on a race weekend.
The main reason for even driving out to Mission today: Murdoch's BBQ: steak and dogs.... hmmm....
Time to check out the staging lanes; at least no one's crazy enough to be in them.
A backward glance at the tower with some kid walking his Great Dane dog/horse in front.
To see previous updates go to the What's Old page