Texana Opening Night Cut Short due to Rain

[TRP]

How do you make the best out of a bad situation when rain rolls in? You do right by the drivers!

 

It was touch and go all day on Saturday at Texana Raceway Park in Edna, with light mist and showers, but during the day, the track seemed to miss the bulk of the moisture. Opening night kicked off with a bang, with 118 race teams signing in for competition. There was a healthy car count for each of the classes. Opening Cermonies consisted of a Salute to the Fans with Parade Laps by drivers, led by Atzenhoffer Chevrolet of Victoria.

 

The track was going to be tacky with the clouds holding the moisture in the track for the entire afternoon and into sundown. Two heats of Mini-Stocks ran, three heats of Classic Dwarf Car's ran, two heats of Bombers ran, three heats of Limited Modifieds ran, and the first of two heats of the Hot Stock Trucks attempted to run. Attempted, because the rains came during the first heat for the Hot Stock Trucks which made the track so slick it look like oil had been poured on it. With too much rain and the track sealed, there was no recovery for the night. So, the difficult decision of stopping the event was made by track owner, Bruce Tesch.

 

Tesch called a drivers meeting and advised "I'm paying the full purse, because you paid to compete, I would have paid the purse with a full event, and it's the right thing to do. You can't help it that it started raining and neither can we, but we're paying the full purse". During the drivers meeting Tesch proposed to pay the full purse to the Minis, Dwarfs, Bombers, and Limited Modified based on how the cars finished in the heat, since they were completed, and where they would have lined up in the feature. Tesch asked if anyone did not like the idea and all drivers were in support. For the Super Stocks / SLMS, Hot Stock Trucks, and Modifieds who had not completed their heats, it was determined that the entire purse for each of the groups would be divided equally among the drivers in that group. That was also agreed upon by everyone. So, when dealt a curve ball, Tesch paid the complete full purse, entertained input from the drivers on the most equitable manner to accomplish, and made good out of a bad situation that was out of anyones control.

 

Opening ceremonies were nice and the heats that ran were good. Although everyone would have loved to see the full show, the best was made out of an unfortunate situation.

 

We'll giver 'er a run at it again on April 12th. We'll post information on that event in the near future.

 

-Monty

Edited March 30, 2008 by TRP