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Well after the beautiful race weekend we had last weekend, Mother Nature showed her dark side to the racing community. I was a little later than normal getting to the track and at 1:30 p.m. there was one car in the pits. The word from track owner Jerry Rabbers "On hold till three p.m." On hold ... that is a terrible statement, yet it builds up a level of anticipation unmatched except by the arm drop of Rich Christianson on Pinks.

I have mentioned before that I am a weather spotter for the National Weather Service, and I knew the sky was screaming out doom. As the wait continued, I took to the track in my truck. I will never pass up the chance to drive around on the racing service. My daughter was at the track with me, and Dennis (Garlanger, competition director) said "Take her around the track its fun." I must say I enjoyed myself; my daughter was on the edge of her seat.

As the three o'clock hour arrived, more and more cars arrived in the pits. As tracks cancelled their night’s events, racers were looking for someplace to go. Mid-Michigan Speedway was a go. Approximately four fifteen p.m. cars began hot laps. Time was not on their side, so the decision was made to go into hurry up. There was an occasional brief shower, but they did not lose the track.

Hot laps are done, time for qualifying. Since we all know how this story ends, I thought I would at least list the top qualifying times and drivers. That is as close to feature winners as we could get. Now not all drivers were able to give an attempt at qualifying due to the weather, but the car count was about twenty to twenty-five cars.

In the Super Late Models of the drivers that qualified, the No. 41 of Brent Jack put in a time of 14.70s. He was followed by Brian Huntley in the No. 43 at 15.25s. In the third spot from Mooresville North Carolina in the No. 30 Joey Shuryan at 15.41s.

Only two Modifieds made their qualifying effort. The 0z of Chris Ozanich turned a lap of 16.38s, and was looking as smooth as ever. The other Mod qualifier was Bill Butler in the M1 putting in a time of 15.97s. Everyone was wanting and ready to race, but with the occasional showers, some drivers were not going all out. Understandably so, no one wants to wreck their car.

Next we have the Mini Stocks. There were no rear wheel drives that showed up; they were all front wheel drives. Turning the fastest qualifying lap was Yogi Metz in the No. 62 at 19.67s. Yogi's car looked to be in top form especially coming off of turn four. Second fast qualifier held the fast lap until Yogi hit the track, and that was the No. 12 of Mark "The Shark" Eaton. Mark put together a lap at 20.55s. Man that kid can really wheel that car. For those who do not know Mark, he loves racing, and says it is his therapy because there is nothing like being in a race car. Mark has cerebral palsy, and drives with one hand. He says he wants to race in a sportsman. Announcer Sean Sprague replied “Mark you have to shift." "I know" he replied, "I just have not figured that one out yet."

Only two cars got their laps in the sportsman class. They were the No.16 of Mike Ammerman with a 16.12s lap, and the No.76 of Chris Rice a 16.82s lap.

The drivers offered much cooperation when during qualifying a passing shower moved through, and they hit the track to help keep some heat in it so they would not lose it. Great job everyone.

Now to get on with the negative part of the day ... rain. From up in the booth you have quite a view, and in the distance it looked like a wall headed towards the race track. As the storm arrived, the skies opened up, the wind blew like mad, and everyone ran for cover. Then there I was looking to the west, trying to see the other side of the track, and could not. The rain was coming down so hard the west side of the track was not visible. It did this for about twenty minutes, and stopped.

Given the narrow window between storms a meeting was held, and unanimously decided by the drivers the track was now unsafe to run. Given two options of what to do, the drivers, again unanimously voted to postpone the events of the day till the next weekend. Appreciation was shown by the drivers for the track working with them in making this decision. Several drivers made the decision that this was their first time there, but definitely would not be the last.

So now here we stand. Mid-Michigan Speedway's Grand Opening cancelled. Bummer, but after the meeting I spoke with owner Jerry Rabbers and asked him if the Grand Opening would also be postponed till Saturday the first of May also." Yes absolutely, without a doubt. Saturday May first will be changed to Grand Opening of Mid-Michigan Speedway." The smooth sweet words we all wanted to hear. So for anyone who stayed home on the 25th due to weather, and was bummed out you could not enjoy the festivities, you have a second chance. So until then race fans, I'll see you In the Draft.