After getting snowed out the previous Friday, it was again snowing this past Friday, and racing was cancelled. "Come on out Saturday," they said on their hot-line, the weather will be fine.

Saturday morning, gates opened at 8:30 but I had other obligations and didn't get there until around 10. In the past, that's been fine, they don't call my class until around 11. They were still working track prep, temp was kind of cool (45 degrees), plus they had additional classes that day. My first TT wasn't until 2 p.m. The weather station shows a higher DA than the previous weekend, but even though my tires slipped off the line (very rare these days), ruining the 60', the ET was still as fast as the previous week's best. They had to stop the action every few runs to clean up water that was seeping up from under the track just beyond the 1/8 mile.

2nd time trial at 4:30 p.m. Usually have a couple rounds of elimination completed by then. Temp has gone up to 55 degrees, DA still higher than previous week, but ET is another .04 better with a decent 60' this time. Still cleaning up water after almost every run at half track. Finally start eliminations at 6 p.m., usually have racing done by that time on Saturdays.

They run the non-box class and 3 "fast" classes (the "extra" ones this weekend). They have to stop occasionally to clean up the water. After the sun goes down, the clean-up spot moves from half track to between 100 & 330'. DA has dropped dramatically as temp falls. I don't have a clue what I'm going to dial, since DA has improved although humidity has gone up, but my car always runs slower after a long wait and with rising humidity. They start running the bikes, call us into the staging lanes at 7:30, a lot of clean up going on between each run (about 6 people with mops & towels out there working on it). After the bikes are done, they go out and mop & sop, mop some more, bring out the blowers & torches. Getting close to 8:15, the guys at the front of the staging lanes in my class move towards the burn-out box. Finally at 8:30 they come on the PA and say they can't keep up with the water, they're going to have to call it like a rain-out - the classes that completed a round of elimination will have their points awarded, they'll split the prize money amoung all the winners. The classes that didn't get in a round of elimination will get half off their next entry fee.

Just as well, I guess, since I didn't have a clue what to dial.

Forecast for this coming weekend sounds a lot more encouraging.

 

At least when the conditions change and you have no clue what to dial in, you're not alone since just about every other racer is thinking the same thing. Best you can hope for is that you gambled better than your opponent.

My worst day was about 4 or 5 years ago during an NHRA open event. It was a cold wet weekend. We were able to get a hit in the morning then the rains came. Off and on all day not giving enough time to get the track dry. 8 hours later we did first round. I was running the truck in sportsman at the time so I still had to wait so they could get all the class cars down the track first.

First round of eliminations and I red light. Getting one hit in the morning then sitting around all day there was no way anyone could have guessed at an ET. After waiting all day long to get on track my day was finally done. I was actually glad it was over.

Our first race is this weekend and the weather looks poor. Chance of snow on Wednesday. Cloudy with a high of 11c on Friday. The weekend is still a long way away. It could get better or worse by then but I'm ready. I fired the car up today just to make sure it starts

 

It's probably true that some/most of the others also didn't know what to dial. But, this is my first season with my "own" weather station, and my 3 times out so far have produced numbers that don't at all converge. Plus, the wierdness of the day (long wait times, engine/drivetrain total cool-down, etc.) didn't help any.

For reference, the DA went from around 7400 mid-day when I made my runs to 6800 just before they called it. The lowest I've ever seen it (from other guy's weather stations) is ~6300. The previous weekend, when the car was .04 slower, the DA was 6900. Wind wasn't a real factor either weekend.

The forecast for the coming weekend is for the high 70's/low '80's. DA will probably be well over 8000' then.

And you complain about a measly 5000' DA...

 

Since you have your own weather station now, don't rely on anyone elses DA conversion. You can have 2 PerformAire machines beside each other and they'll give different readings. As long as you use your own source for data, that's the best thing to building up a database to predict an ET.

Weather forcast still looks poor during the week. It's raining right now but the Saturday forcast looks good. So far mix of run and cloud and a high of 12C. The cool weather will build HP but the track will probably be slick. It hasn't had any time yet to build any real heat in the ground. The frost is gone but the track will still be cold.

We should be below 5000 feet this weekend Maybe I'll get that 9 second time slip! Depend how much T&T I get on Saturday.

 

five7kid, how is the track prep at Bandimere? I'll get my car next year and plan on heading up there with my brother any free weekend I've got. Really curious to see how much time I'm going to lose coming from sea level...

 

The track prep is typically very good. This coming Friday is "Club Clash", and there will be a lot of street tires there, which they let run in the groove. Even then, I rarely have problems - one of the reasons I was surprised I slipped at the line during the first TT last Saturday. I hear guys with faster cars complain about it all the time, this was the first time since going with slicks that I recall it happening to me.

For your Bandimere time, multiply your sea level ET by 1.078.

 

Doesn't sound as bad as I thought it would be, still in the 13's.

If the track prep is anything like HRP in Houston, I'll be happy.

 

The track is concrete from the burnout box to 1/8 mile. When prepped, it's black from the burnout box to the finish line.