Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! Or not…
Maybe we'll see some racing!
Chris and I had been eagerly waiting the kickoff to the 2009 racing season. The off-season work on the car has kept Chris (and Bob) pretty busy these past couple of months, but nothing gets the blood pumping like hearing those engines run. Chris and I had planned our trip to Pomona months ago and could hardly contain our excitement for this past weekend. I planned to fly out to Seattle Thursday night and meet Chris for our 7am flight the next morning. We made it to Ontario early on Friday holding our breath for that day’s qualifying. The weekend was supposed to be filled with rain, but Sunday was looking like the clouds were going to part and bless the track with some racing.
Friday was a complete bust. We headed to the track, just in case the rain held off long enough to race. We walked around, said ‘hello’ to a few friends around the track, and ultimately ended up underneath a tent while the hurricane ensued. We finally gave in and decided to head to the car only to be caught mid-storm. The result was two soaking, cold and grumpy race fans hiding out in the rental car. The rest of the day consisted of course work for me, programing for Chris, and naps for all.
Cold and Silly Looking
Saturday offered a little more hope for racing. When we arrived they were busy drying the track, and the racing started, better late than never. We were thrilled to hear those engines start up again! They made it through a couple of pairs before they were forced to stop because of rain. The whole day was stop and go racing due to the rain. And it was cold and windy in the stands. But they managed to get one qualifying round in, which was enough to race on Sunday. The forecast was looking good for race day and Chris and I were crossing our fingers.
Sunday proved to be a huge disappointment. It started only 30 minutes late, but a few pairs would run, the rain would start, and two hours of drying would take place. Rinse and repeat. It was like that throughout the entire day until the unforgiving rain canceled the whole event. NHRA was barely able to make it through one round. It wasn’t until Tuesday that they were able to finish the race. I can’t tell you how much I wanted to see those final pairs.
As Chris often says, “I love this sport, but we really do spent a lot of time waiting.” If I had one complaint about drag racing it would be the ridiculous amount of time I spent on my behind waiting for the next pair. Ah, well. You take the bad with the good, right? All in all, I’d pick a rained out weekend with Chris over nothing at all.