Saturday at Pomona

[Chuck Norton]

The weather was the biggest winner in Pomona again today. We left the house at about 6:30 AM and drove the 9.7 miles east on Arrow Highway to Gate 15 of the Fairplex in relatively gloomy weather as the eastern sky lightened. There were hints of thin spots in the cloud cover but it took a full sunrise to burn through the haze and set up a very clear patch sky over the track. The track driers were already on duty when I arrived at about 7AM. By 8 AM it began to look as if something favorable was going to materialize. When the sun made a full appearance by about 8:30 I felt confident enough in the possibilities to roll the car out of the trailer and begin to make some serious preparation to race. The pit surface was still damp and there were enough puddles around to cause some concern about splashing water into the wheelwells on the way to the staging lanes.

After pairings were made we continued to sit for nearly half-an-hour while track drying continued. Then, after a few pairs had run, there were electrical issues with the tree, enough issues that there were at least two re-runs, one of which reversed the outcome of the heads-up pairing of Jody Lang and Kelly Thomas. In addition to problems with the tree, there were episodes of water seepage down track throughout the round. Dialing was complicated by the fact that, while this morning's D.A. reading was nearly identical to that recorded after the second qualifying lap on Thursday, the barometer had slumped .20 (from 29.09 to 28.89) on my box and the humidity was much higher. Many people seemed to be dialing off the second pass and I believe that choice would have served me well had the need to push the envelope had arisen. Incidentally, I also noted a 15# variation in the scale reading between the second qualifying run and this morning's first round reading. I am not aware that anyone had issues with weight.

By the time Stock had just about run out the lanes, the announced run order for the day was changed to move S/G and S/S until after the Pro qualifying. You can readily learn by scanning Drag Central that a heavy rain began to fall at around 4 PM so those two categories lost yet another pass. Stock has been down the track three times (including first round) while S/G and S/S have only had one look at the tree so far.

The photo attached to this post caught some people by surprise and caused raised eyebrows around the pits this morning. After snapping the picture to record the moment for historical purposes, I launched an extensive inquiry to determine if the DeFrank's California Car Cover Stock/SS operation has made an unanticipated and unannounced switch to the Blue Oval camp. I could find no one willing to go on record to verify that such a change is being contemplated. On the other hand, it's an interesting image that presented itself to casual observers.

Festivities will begin again tomorrow. No race cars are to be started at the Fairplex before 9:30 AM on Sunday.

[Walker4108]

Can't thank you enough Chuck. Great reporting. Thank you from all of us who can't be there.

-Walt

[Philip Saran]

Chuck,

Yes, thank you for providing your comments and insight to the
weekends activities for those of us unable to attend.

[George Wright]

[Floyd Staggs]

The clocks were screwed up today. There were a couple of passes in top fuel where the right lane crossed the finsh line first but the left lane showed a much quicker ET.

[J Adams]

Was the rain the cause for all of the terrible driving in first round of stock? Only two good races and one decent one. But you gotta be there to win, and I am at home wishing I were there.

[Floyd Staggs]

NHRA admitted the times for top fuel were suspect but they didn't mention if any other times in the other classes were suspect. I gotta wonder about Greg Anderson's time. That was awfully quick for a cold green track. And, did anyone notice the "pop" when he went on the limiter on the starting line? And, there was another "pop" when he clicked it at the other end. Humm??????