Photo by Ian Tocher
4/7/03

Saturday Night Follies

HRA President Bill Bader may be forgiven if he suspects a higher power just didn't want to see the 33rd annual IHRA Spring Nationals completed over the course of the Mar. 28-30 weekend. Before the race finally was postponed to October due to heavy rain on Sunday, Bader and his IHRA crew had already suffered through intermittent rain showers and plagues of insects and pollen on the track that made racing treacherous and forced lengthy delays and cleanups.

It actually was quite a source of humor when a severe infestation of sand gnats at the top end of the track briefly interrupted racing early on Saturday, as officials didn't want to see anyone wiping out on slippery bug guts. But the troubles really came to a head during that night's final qualifying session -- which got under way about 45 minutes after the scheduled 6:30 start time -- and after the IHRA crew spent considerable time, effort, and adhesive preparing the recently ground and sealed Rockingham strip.

IHRA prez Bill Bader found himself in the eye of a storm of controversy at Rockingham Dragway, after track conditions rapidly and mysteriously deteriorated on Saturday night. Pro Stock and Funny Car teams in particular were concerned about the wisdom of making additional qualifying attempts.

First up were semi-final eliminations for Sportsman competitors in the Holley All-Star Shootout, but after just a few passes light rain was falling on the track, necessitating another hour's delay in the proceedings. When the track finally was dry again, reigning class champion Monty Bogan Jr.faced off in the Super Stock semis, but after leaving well from the left lane his car appeared to wiggle a little about half-track, then made a sudden move toward the left wall near the 1,000-foot mark. He lifted, and lost, immediately prompting several veteran observers to remark how odd it was to see Bogan make a mistake like that. But when drivers in the next two pairs of Quick Rod semi-finals also had traction trouble (one actually got sideways and crossed into his opponent's lane), it was apparent something was wrong and the event was again put on hold while the track-prep crew went back to work.