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The latest update as of July 6, 2008


10:30 PM

Sometimes the best decision is the one made for you, as happened tonight when I left the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals early to help a friend catch a flight at the Edmonton airport and pick up an arriving friend. I considered going back to the track to watch the remainder of the event but decided to give it a pass, and after reading the story about Dale Creasy on Drag Race Central, am glad I wasn't there to witness the ugly injury to Creasy.

Despite the several rounds of racing left to complete tomorrow morning, I've got an afternoon appointment in Jasper,Alberta and the start of some well-earned vacation time. So I'm leaving it up to one of the hardest working men in drag racing, Larry Sullivan of Drag Race Central and my good friend Dean Murdoch of SpeedZone Magazine to cover the balance of the event. Have fun guys.

Until I return from holidays, there won't be any updates on the site and the balance of the captions and photos from the weekend will just have to wait. Sorry, but after three years of nothing new around here, you can certainly wait a week to see more. See ya soon!

3:30 PM

As expected, the rain hit hard and fast and the track is currently soaked and it's still raining, hard. The prospects of getting this thing done today are pretty much.... well, done. On the other hand, tomorrow is looking much better. So we're not sure exactly where we go from here, except the airport to meet the better (trust me, much better) half who is arriving on a flight from Vancouver in a few hours. If I can convince her to come out here tomorrow morning to see the conclusion of the race, we will have a report on same, and photos to prove it. Everyone together now: STAY TUNED!!!!

2:30 PM

Another entry in the "Stranger than Ficition" sweepstakes is that we've got the entire first round (and in pro stock, the first, only and final round) of eliminations completed without major incident. Almost every pair of fuel cars (short and long) produced at least one oildown, with a few small fires and several explosions thrown in for good measure. Since my last trip to Castrol Raceway three years ago, the standards in Top Fuel have fallen considerably and the nitro funny car contingent is not exactly running competitive numbers by anyone's standards. More about the performance (read: lack of) issue later.

Meanwhile we're sitting in the tower watching some very dark and ominous clouds gathering on the horizon and expecting rain within the next hour. Let's hope we're wrong but the odds of completing the Rocky Mountain Nationals today are growing longer by the minute. Check back later for more updates though, while we try to post some photos from today's action.

11:30 AM

While It's difficult to believe, but we're just moments away from starting racing from Castrol Raceway in Edmonton as the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals kicks off it's sixth annual automotive extravaganza. First up are some bracket cars, then it's straight into the Pros. The weather is still cloudy and cool, but it's not raining, and maybe, just maybe, we might get this event in the books today.

10:00 AM

When we rolled out of bed at eight o'clock this morning, the weather was looking very threatening and by the time we reached the parking lot, the rain was coming down heavily. It did stop shortly after and when we reached Castrol Raceway, the sun made a brief appearance as the track crews continued the drying process for the umpteenth time this weekend.

There's no update on a schedule change yet, but with eliminations slated to begin in less than half an hour, a late start is obviously on tap. We'll keep you updated as soon as we know what's happening, but it's looking very much like we'll see at least some, and possibly all the racing today. In the meantime, we'll get back to work on yesterday's photo galleries.

1:55 AM

It's definitely time to call it a night, but I have finally managed to upload all the fullsize images of the pictures that are posted already in thumbnail format. No time tonight to add all the missing captions or put up any more pictures (still a hundred or so to post), or do any more editorial content, but looking at the heavy rain still falling, we may have some extra time before the racing starts tomorrow. No idea at this moment what the forecast is for tomorrow, but it certainly isn't looking great right now.




To see previous updates go to the What's Old page