IHRA: Rain, rain wouldn't go away in Canada

The IHRA Drag Racing Series has been pretty lucky this season when it comes to the weather – especially compared to other series – but that luck ran out at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada last weekend during the Mopar Rocky Mountain Nationals.

The three-day show turned into a four-day show, as Friday showers eliminated one of the Pro qualifying sessions, and the one that did make it on the track wasn't completed until after 11 p.m. Fortunately, Castrol Raceway management brought in plenty of generator-powered portable track lighting, and because it's so far north – about 330 miles north of the Canadian border – Edmonton has about 16.5 hours of sunlight per day.

Saturday was precipitation-free, and Sunday started out that way. But by noon, weather radar was on the laptop screens of most every track official in the tower. And when it finally started, it came down hard, and it was stop-and-start for nearly six hours until the track was dry enough to keep racing.

And after that, there were at least four more delays, but none nearly that long.

So how does it affect racers?

"It does tire you. It can wear you out," said Shawn Bowen, winner of the AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car class. "You sit and wonder if we're ever gonna get it done."

"There's not much that can happen at a racetrack I haven't seen," said Jay Turner, winner of the Nitro Motorcycle class. "It does wear on you, and nobody is happy, not racers, fans, sponsors, vendors, the track, everybody. But you just have to deal with it."

Even though Sunday's show extended until well past 1 a.m., racing was to resume Monday morning at 8 a.m. to finish some Sportsman eliminations. The Pro Mod cars will come back later in the year to complete their eliminations, as will the "6.95" class, an area-only class consisting of Funny Cars and Roadsters that essentially bracket race at the 6.95 ET mark that was packed with good-looking machinery.

But overall, it was a successful show, and Saturday's crowd was the largest the IHRA has seen all year. The only real disappointment in the Mopar Rocky Mountain Nationals: The Rocky Mountains are four hours away.