LIVE from Farmington
 

A very good morning to you ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the IHRA Summit Pro-Am Tour at Farmington Dragway, just west of Winston-Salem, NC. Some small but thunderous storm cells blew through last night, cutting short the test n' tune session. Fog dominates the usually scenic facility this morning, but only a few puddles remain from the overnight rain. Track crews have been out working diligently on the track, and given that we're already past the 9am start time, it is apparent that both safety and a good racing surface are paramount -- we are on hold for the time being as they continue to work. The fog is falling so heavy, that just driving over to tech and back with the window down, my steering wheel is wet! I was #137 through the gate, so both Atlanta and the weather forecast have hampered attendance, although several are here that were on the fence.

Conditions are currently a challenging 67.6 F, 88% Humidity, 28.83 Barometer, 2440' DA, and a choking .580 vapor pressure. That said, a front is supposed to come through tomorrow with clearer weather.

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Keep us posted Michael. Thinking about coming up in the am if its still open for entries.

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Michael, I will see ya'll in the morning.
Looks like tommorrow will be good. There is rain on top of you though.
Good Luck and keep us posted.
Chip

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

CFM,
S/SS can not come in after qualifying is done. I would call Satch to make sure they are not going to do a run tommorrow before you go.
Chip

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Been on sprinkle delay....

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

I don't think there is a Sunday AM run.

Did they run the combo last night? If so, who won it, how many ran, etc?

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Postponed until Memorial day weekend.

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

I think that is a bad date to reschedule. They won't gain many cars.
Holiday weekend
Rockingham has 5,000-7,500-5,000 top et which will take a lot of the piperacks and rod cars.
Many other races that weekend too.
Hard for me to beleive they could'nt pick a better date than that.
Chip

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

A friend of mine got to the track at 10am and was told that the plan was to get one time run and go racing Sunday, so he paid 195.00 for a Jr, and a hot rod car. Just over an hour later its cancelled. The fact they cancelled it is fine but not after what we were told.

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

I was betting on today being a wash and them trying to get it all in Sun. Any runs at all today?

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Nope , they called hot rod to the lanes and the bottom fell out

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

We hung around and ate lunch after they called it, the sun was out as they radar showed and it turned out to be a very nice day.

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Will entry be open on the rescheduled day?

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Was told today that any racer entered at Farmington that chooses to go to Rockingham instead will get a bonus if they win.
$1,000 in Top e.t.
$500 in Footbrake
$500 in JD
Chip

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

I would say yes.
They never made an official IHRA run down the track and tech was still open.
I hope so cause Jr will have his new tranny in the superstocker and tested by that time .
We will bring a stocker and a superstocker if it is still open and it will.

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

They will pick up another 3 entries from us. Hate it for those that made the trip and got cancelled but hopefully they will get a great turn out in two weeks.

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

I wish they had scheduled the rain date for another time. Vacations ..Graduations..and races near by that have been scheduled all year. Like Mooresville's and Rockingham.
IH should let you transfer for free. $50.00 is too much.

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

That is either one relaxed dog or somebody better check him for a pulse quickly! Jim


.

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

We stayed the night last night for 2 reasons...
1. we drove 7 hours to get to the race and we hated to turn right around and head home.
2. When we have a chance to visit my parents we take it.

By noon yesterday sun was out and the pavement was dry. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, did not rain again until 7 pm. Final car count was 144...could have EASILY been given 1 run and raced. Even if they had tried to run the scheduled 2 day event when we left at noon today it was 73 degrees with clear blue skies. No reason not to run the race.

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

We ran Piedmont today, it was as nice as it was 2 weeks ago. I feel sorry for all the fuel spent when it could have been called on Thursday, I wont go back for the raindate.

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

At Farmington, they can't start racing until noon on Sundays and they have to be done by 8 pm. At the time they made the decision to call the race the weather forecasts were calling for rain all day Sunday.

BTW, I drove all the way down from Philly to cover the race. I was at the track 30 minutes when they called it so I drove back home.

Jim

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Hope Jr gets his transmission back together and it runs good. Hope to see yall there

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Looks like schedule is for a one day qualify and race.
27th Friday is tech and time runs followed by a combo race.
28th Friday is Qualifying and followed by eliminations.....
just letting you know it is on IHRA web site...........

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

They changed the schedule since Saturday. When I left Saturday, they said it would be Fri-Sat-Sun. I guess they figure the car count will be low so they can get it all done in one day.

Jim

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Ouch, tough drive but we all appreciate DRC's efforts to cover the races!!!

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

That's good for me .
I will get up early Sat morning and pull with the Suburban and save the fuel from driving the motorhome.
Up early huh Jim Carter ?

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

New schedule for Farmington
[ QUOTE ]
Gate will be open on Thursday to get in line for parking line will start moving on Friday at 12:00 open T/T from 3pm till 6pm combo race starts at 6 pm.
Race entry is $50 and T/T will be $20 T/T will continue once combo race has ran 3 or 4 rds. Saturday will be Qualifying and straight into eliminations.
CYA on Friday.. DC the gate man!!!!

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Danny, you've got a PM

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Got it ///thanks

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

I was checking Weather.com all morning on Satruday. When they called the race it was showing 20% chance of showers on Sunday. It was also showing that the rain was about to quit in about 45 minutes to an hour after they called it, and that there should be a 6-8 hour window of no rain...

There really wasn't any effort made. I feel like they should have at least waited a few more hours to see if they were going to have a window.

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

I was checking Weather.com all morning on Satruday. When they called the race it was showing 20% chance of showers on Sunday. It was also showing that the rain was about to quit in about 45 minutes to an hour after they called it, and that there should be a 6-8 hour window of no rain...

There really wasn't any effort made. I feel like they should have at least waited a few more hours to see if they were going to have a window.





Amen Lee!

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

The race actually should have been called on Thursday with the forecast that was predicted at that time. This day and age of racing many folks won't chance traveling with the cost of fuel with a forecast like that. It sucks for those of you that did take the chance and went last weekend, but I'd rather hear some of ya'll complaing about how they should have ran the race last weekend then the owner taking a beating at the gate and deciding he no longer wants to have a divisional race. Hopefully it all turns out great and there is a great turn-out next weekend so we can open IHRA' s eyes and have more races in the southeast. Just my .02..

Jeff Longhany

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

I agree with both ends on this one. If you're going to call it on a forecast, then commit to it and call it on the forecast on Thursday. You KNOW that between the forecast and having Atlanta the same weekend, car counts are going to be bad even if you can get it in. On the flip side, if you're going to commit to trying to run the race, then commit to try to run the race -- wait it out, run what you can when you can, and finish it Sunday. Everybody that made the tow knew that we were going to encounter at least a little rain at some point, but we were all committed to getting the race in. It's a lose-lose. I understand that officials and tracks alike have a very tough job, and no matter what decision is made, it will never suit everybody. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Well, it was a win for me, as I high-tailed it home, dropped the car & trailer, and made it to Ohio by Saturday night to spend the remainder of the weekend with my wife, whom I hadn't seen since the beginning of April! :( (She got a job in Columbus, OH and is staying with her aunt while we house-hunt up there, but I can't go be with her until I sell my house here in central NC. If anyone's interested in moving into the heart of drag racing for cheap, PM me!)

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

We had the radar up in our trailer, there rain was at exit 174 and it was clear behind. My only complaint was we were told 45 minutes before they called it when we got there was "we are going to do everything we can to race, even if its one time run and go racing on Sunday". The bottom line is if they call it Thursday and it doesnt rain no one would complain with the cost of towing these days. Think about it, if you transfer the entry to a double race you get to race twice in one weekend for a 50.00 penalty. Its cheaper than the gas even if you live 50 miles away if you were going to that race anyway.

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

I asked about transferring the entry while I was still there. Since I teched in early, I get punished if I cannot come back. If I had held on to the tech card and not teched in early to save time, then there wouldn't be a transfer fee if I came back. So, in the future, I will be holding onto my tech card until stock is called to the lanes on Saturday morning...

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Jeff,
Won't happen.
Chip

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Weather isn't looking the best. Will they attempt to run this race on Sunday or Monday if it rains?

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Farmington, Take 2. Looks much like the last time we were here: foggy, misty, but not as bad as before, and a TONS better forecast for the afternoon. Projecting a 10am start.

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

Sun's out, but still verrry humid. Had a little downtime during Hot Rod for some weepers up on top end, as we had some significant storms blow through last night.

At the end of Q1 for Stock, weather was 79.7 F, 61%, 29.08 Baro, 2936' DA. Vapor Pressure .62.... Bleagh!

Terry Taylor continues to demoralize the field, cranking out a 1.36 60', 6.80 @ 98 in J/CM. Someone go scrape Myron off the floor/ceiling, whichever the case may be!

I ran the Turismo at the Spring Fling 20's at Bristol last week, and discovered that the car would not fall out of a tree up on the mountain. Replaced cap and rotor, carb gasket, added a pint of ATF, and ran .15 faster than ET predictions off of Bristol's runs. I was .40 slower than Numidia to 1000' at Bristol! Sheesh.

The overnight rain also leading to some bald spots developing toward the end of Super Stock. Gotta say, the stick-shift combo in Steven Johnsosn's SS/CM sounds absolutely brutal!

Re: LIVE from Farmington
 

33 cars on the sheet for stock in the first session. Not bad considering the other events going on. Just called us up for the second hit.