Rain postpones season championships at Independence

As I mentioned in my blog last Sunday, rain on race day is never a good thing unless Mother Nature puts the kibosh on the program hours before it's scheduled to begin. Saturday, she wasn't that kind at Independence Motor Speedway. Rain showers that moved into the area after the 5 p.m. hour remained persistent to the point the season championship program was postponed to next Saturday, September 1. (Details are at www.independencemotorspeedway.com.)

Throughout the afternoon, I received numerous text messages and phone calls regarding the scheduled program. The track's facebook page also lit up like a Christmas tree when I posted in the middle of the afternoon that we were on as scheduled. The track had not received any rain. We had no reason to cancel and we would not cancel based on a weather forecast. We hadn't done it all season and were not about to do it on the biggest night of the season.

Many callers questioned "what we were going to do" since it was raining in Mason City, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids and Dubuque. My reply to each of those callers was that we would not, nor could we, even address that concern until/unless it rained in Independence. You know, where the track is actually located.

While I understand that frustration of driving from a different town to take in the races when the radar doesn't look too promising, it isn't something any of us want to face. Drivers and fans lose money, promoters lose money and everyone is frustrated that their evening plans are ruined. Unfortunately, that stuff happens and we're forced to accept it.

I'd venture to guess (yes, this is an assumption on my part), that many of the individuals who were upset that we didn't cancel earlier in the day are also those who get upset when the weatherman is wrong because "that's the only job where you can be wrong all the time and still be employed." We, like everyone else, were hoping this was one of those cases. There were breaks in the radar and the rain changed paths so we were hopeful we would dodge the moisture... as we successfully did a couple of times in recent weeks without pulling the plug early.

The bottom line is, it wasn't raining in Independence and there was no reason to cancel when those calls came in. Everyone knows how it works - had we canceled and the rain chose a different course (leaving Independence dry), we'd have made the wrong decision by pulling the plug too soon. I'm sure those same complaints would resonate with race fans. Unfortunately, the rain started shortly after 5 p.m. - long after many of the race teams and fans had already arrived. We waited out the precipitation as long as we could until pulling the plug at around 6:40.

For those who arrived at the track at their normal times, stuck it out until word went out that we were postponed, thank you! Your patronage and commitment to Independence Motor Speedway are greatly appreciated. At the same time, we do not fault those who elected to stay home fearing the weather might get the best of us. Sometimes it does and sometimes, as proven multiple times earlier this summer, it misses us. Regardless if you had any intention of being there tonight, we appreciate your patronage all season long and hope to see you back next weekend.

To those who feel the need to write negative comments on our facebook page, I encourage you to take those thoughts to friends and family who share your opinions. They will be immediately removed from our facebook page. While we are sorry that we were unable to race tonight, we do not apologize that we attempted to wait out Mother Nature to crown our six track champions. It didn't work tonight, but we'll be right back there next Saturday night to give it another go.

Due to the rainout, I will have limited time next weekend to assemble my final Stats Blitz for Independence. It's a short turn-around time before Super Nationals that week, so the season-ending Stats Blitz will come sometime during the week of September 10.

Tomorrow, we'll try to beat the rain once again at Benton County Speedway. With the last two weeks rained out in Vinton, we're due for some action on the quarter-mile. In fact, rain has never canceled three consecutive weekly programs in Vinton. With any luck, that record won't be broken any time soon.

Thanks for reading.