Bad weather forecasts are impossible to deal with and always make the right call.
If we wait all day and it rains all day then everyone says: "They knew it was going to rain, why not just call it at 10 AM and let us all go home."
If we pull the plug at 10 AM because it is supposed to rain all day, then it stops and we could have run, everyone says: "NHRA is so stupid trying to predict the weather, they should have waited and got the race in"
Yesterday my weather app said it was going to rain at noon 90% chance, at noon it was going to rain at 1. At 1 it said "Rain starting any minute" we got not a drop. At 1:30 it said "Rain for the next three hours" never got a drop. When I left the track, I had the wipers on before I got to I-10 Maybe 3 miles? I don't know if it ever did rain at the track, I had a plane to catch and my wipers were on almost every mile from the track to IAH.
By the way, the track gave Sunday fans 100% ticket credit toward next year and opened the gates Monday for anyone who wanted to come out. No ticket needed and no charge to get in. Did you know that?
One year we had a 100% chance of rain Sunday at Bristol. The fans believed it and stayed home. We ran the event to conclusion without ever stopping for rain. It was raining at the circle track and we kept hearing that it was raining just over the mountain and coming toward us, but it never rained. Fans were pissed! Many wanted refunds or credits because they didn't get to see the race. We ran the race and they stayed home, then blamed NHRA. Tell me how that works?
My favorite weather story was a Regional Event in Tucson where we got down to the semis and it rained. Monday forecast was crap. Mike Rice (Division 7 Director) called the racers to the tower. About 30 guys still in in all classes and said we have two choices, we can finish this at Sacramento which was the next Divisional event or we could try for Monday with the crap forecast. We had about a dozen guys who were from back east and came to Tucson because it was the week after Phoenix National so they were hitting it while they were out here. None of them would be going to Sacramento and didn't want to give up a shot at the win when they were already in the semis. The west coast guys were all good with Sacramento and if the other guys couldn't make it they would happily take bye runs. Plus they wanted to get home and back to work, not waste another day when "You know it's going to rain!" So, what would you do?
Mike said, we will come back tomorrow and try to finish it. If it is raining at 9 AM we will push it to Sacramento, but we need to try for all the guys who can't come back. When some of the west coasters complained that they would be missing a day of work when Mike "Knew it was going to rain" he told them to go ahead and pack up and leave. See you in Sacramento, but if it's dry at 9 AM tomorrow your opponent will take a bye run. All of the sudden they weren't so sure it was going to rain. When it was Mike making the call that they could complain about, they were all sure of their position, but when Mike told them: "You make the call and live with the results" they didn't have nearly as much confidence. The next day at 9 it was dry, we raced to conclusion by 11 AM and got it done. Nobody went home, not even the guys who "Knew it was going to rain"
Then there's the time it was raining in Memphis and AJ decided to go play golf in Topeka. What could possibly go wrong? I bet Jeff Arend remembers that day... Good Times.
Alan
