Weathered Out Again

Thursday night Fred and I headed out to the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa for night number one of the Fall Bash hosted by Darkside Promotions. After seeing the "good to go" message on Facebook, we were anticipating a full night of racing on the fairgrounds 1/4 mile. Arriving early, we were pleased to see cars lined up at the gate and the pit area already filling up. As one driver had messaged me earlier, the pit road was a muddy mess, but the parking areas were good, and the track prep crew was hard at work. Between the track condition and the back up of cars on a week night, it soon became obvious that the 6:00 hot lap time was a pipe dream, and we would be in for a long night. It was announced that the drivers would be asked to help roll in the track at 6:30. Then the rumblings began. First a late model drivers wife let us know that they would not be racing on what would likely be a soft and rough track, and they were headed home, to be joined by another late model team. As we walked the pits, we saw another pair of late models pulling out and a two car late model and modified team loading up. Then it was the stock cars loading up. Finally about 7:30, the drivers meeting was called, and about 15 minutes later the announcement came that the majority of drivers did not want to race on the surface as it was, and the Thursday portion of the show would be pushed back and combined with the Friday show, with hot laps set for 5:00. So with over 200 cars in the pits, including at various times 36 late models, the night was over early. Refunds were given to folks in the bleachers and in the pits who were willing to stand in line. Although I would be willing to make the 300 mile round trip to see the show, I had plans in place to take in the Big Ten late model, MOWA sprint car show tonight at Jacksonville,Il. Raceway. Thanks to Darkside for their hospitality and best of luck to all the drivers tonight in Tipton. The sun is shining as I sit at the computer this morning, so hopefully my streak of watching graders and pickups circle the track instead of race cars ends tonight. It is warming up, so everyone head for a track somewhere tonight!