Fighting the Weather at
HangoverFest
Words and photos courtesy
of Cordova Dragway Park
1/7/05
Even
thought the weather predictors called for freezing rain
changing to snow and a Winter Storm Warning was issued,
diehard race fans came in droves to the 4th Annual
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HangoverFest
New Year's Day at Cordova Dragway Park.
“We knew the forecasters weren’t doing the
event any justice,” said track operator Scott Gardner.
“But we also know how resilient racers are to hit
the race track.” While the temperatures hung around
30 degrees and the winds howled at 15-20 miles per hour,
nearly 200 cars showed up for what Cordova Dragway Park
calls a “Midwest Racing Wonderland."
“Last year the weather was great,” said Public
Relations Director Tazz Hines, “we had a great forecast
and sunshine and 50 degrees and we were able to draw 364
entries; I don’t think almost 200 is all that bad
in spite of the conditions.”
In addition to those who raced, another 300 people came
to watch the action on what is normally a pretty boring
day in the Midwest. Those in attendance were treated to
a Jet Funny Car pass by Diamond Jim Crownhart. While missing
the 200-mph mark on his 1/8 mile run, Crownhart did manage
180 mph on the blast.
Time runs were under way at 11:00 a.m. with eliminations
starting at 1:30. The weather finally did manage to stop
the action at 3:00 p.m. with a persistent drizzle. Low E.T.
for the regular racers was an outstanding 10.10 recorded
by David Byrant with his front engine dragster. Not bad
considering the track surface temperature of only 15 degrees.
Since the Winter Storm Warning kept some people away, Cordova
Dragway Park has scheduled another wintertime race called
“Honest Abe’s FreedomFest” on Saturday,
February 12, 2005. For more information visit Cordovadrag.com.
