Rain, ranging from heavy to steady, to light, to none (briefly), thru the day, as bands of weather went thru.
!st qualifying session the track was completely wet (it had rained steadily till the session before ours), but it was only misty to no rain when our session started. Tire choices ranged from wets to slicks.
Dale Rader took the provisional pole using old rains.
Anna Qualls was monitoring the weather on the internet and was telling us the front had passed and the afternoon would be dry.
It was not raining during lunch.
Surprise!
After lunch, the first of several bands of rain came thru with heavy rain.
Two sessions before our 2nd session it was pouring and the track was completely flooded.
The rain lessened and stopped at the end of the session before ours, but the single car that was on track during that session was throwing up lots of spray.
On the grid, the tire choices ranged from wets, to intermediates, to slicks.
Thru the 1st half of the session, the amount of spray went down significantly to the point that the cars were throwing no spray.
Now the cars on slicks started going good for about 3 laps, and then it started to pour.
By 5 pm the sun was out and the track was drying.
When we walked the track about 7, it was almost comletely dry.
It is sunny this morning, and the humidity is down, so it should be a dry race today.
final grid -
Rader 1:11.5 (somehow, unbelievably, on his old rains even in the 2nd session)
Womer 1:11.7 (slicks)
Kittel 1:11.8 (slicks)
Glenn 1:12.5 (intermediates)
Kearney 1:12.6 (slicks)
Shields 1:13.2 (???)
Fredricks 1:13.8 (???)
Blanarik 1:13.9 (slicks)
Qualls 1:14.9 (intermediates)
Beaver Run National
Re: Beaver Run National
Sorry, but I can only provide a partial report/results.
Top 3 finishers -
1 - Ed Womer
2 - Rick Shields
3 - Jim Kearney
I was not carefully watching the race as we were packing up after Glenn dropped out with brake failure.
So I'm not sure about the other positions.
I did see the 1st 10 laps (race was 30 laps).
A lead group of Glenn Tupper, Rick Shields, and Gary Kittel pulled slightly clear of Ed Womer and Jim Kearney.
Tupper, Shields, and Kittel all took turns at the front, and as they battled, Womer caught them by about lap 8-9. Kearney was still slightly split off.
Then Tupper went off as his brakes failed. He managed to not hit anything and bring the car back in slowly.
That left Shields, Kittel, and Womer fighting over the lead.
After that we were looking at the car (found a burst braided brake line) and were loading up for the long trip home.
I did see Kittel coast into the pits with some problem, reducing the lead group to Womer and Shields.
Shields led into T1 starting the last lap, and still had the lead on the back straight.
But when they came into view at the top of the front straight it was they were side by side with Womer winning by less than a car length.
Top 3 finishers -
1 - Ed Womer
2 - Rick Shields
3 - Jim Kearney
I was not carefully watching the race as we were packing up after Glenn dropped out with brake failure.
So I'm not sure about the other positions.
I did see the 1st 10 laps (race was 30 laps).
A lead group of Glenn Tupper, Rick Shields, and Gary Kittel pulled slightly clear of Ed Womer and Jim Kearney.
Tupper, Shields, and Kittel all took turns at the front, and as they battled, Womer caught them by about lap 8-9. Kearney was still slightly split off.
Then Tupper went off as his brakes failed. He managed to not hit anything and bring the car back in slowly.
That left Shields, Kittel, and Womer fighting over the lead.
After that we were looking at the car (found a burst braided brake line) and were loading up for the long trip home.
I did see Kittel coast into the pits with some problem, reducing the lead group to Womer and Shields.
Shields led into T1 starting the last lap, and still had the lead on the back straight.
But when they came into view at the top of the front straight it was they were side by side with Womer winning by less than a car length.
Bob Tupper