Background; Pacific races at night, time runs start at 5pm and we must finish by 11pm due to a noise ordinance. So I went into last night, our final points race of the season 13 points out of first place. We get 10 points per round so basically 2 rounds behind the leader, one round behind second.

2 Time runs, I go .006, and .002 on the tree, identical 12.627's on both passes. The car generally isn't even remotely consistent, but we were on a roll and I was liking my chances (I runner up'd at the race Friday night). We finally get called for first round at 8:00, some oil downs and a car count of 195 wasn't helping our cause. My .002 gets me the first round bye assuming an odd number, so they stick me off to the side of the staging lanes and start running pairs down. Both guys in front of me points wise win their races, Another oil down (antifreeze this time) halts the program. I finally end up making my single at 9:30! I'm .010 and 12.62 again, nice.

This is where everything goes to _____ ........ Like I said we have to be done by 11, they start running the other brackets. Another oil down, apparently some peoples engines are getting tired this late in the year. This oil slick is 6 feet wide and runs about 1000' long. Track Manager makes the call that we're done, he'll fix the track, finish the round they're in for super pro (7 pairs) and that's it. Its 9:45 and this point and they're estimating an hour to clean it up.

We tried to negotiate run offs between the top 3 cars in each class who were in contention for championships, we asked for them to reschedule the race, all to no avail. So the points fall how they were to that point, everyone left in competition splits their respective purses and that's a wrap on the points series for this year.

To sum up the night; I'm .006, .002 and .010. 12.62 all 3 runs. I win one round and finished 3rd for season since the race was called and I'll get a check that's probably not big enough to cover my entry fee. I feel slightly cheated to race all spring and summer to this point and not have the opportunity to win or lose it myself, but everyone has to play by the same rules and it was the managers call.

End of the season at the end of july? What's it going to do in August, snow?

When you race with Chevys oil downs are just part of the program. I know you feel like you got screwed and maybe you did, maybe you didn't. You could have gone red the next round, you never know. Better luck next year.

I was also at Pacific trying to get ready for the national event. If I was in the hunt for the points with all the rain outs and an ending like that, well I wouldn't go back to that track. Not only did they do that, but the track has been poorly prepped all season. The present manger said Chris (last year’s track manager) spent too much money on VHT, and he has saved the track lots of money this year. And it's too true. I almost crossed the center line Friday night and was moving all around for the first time trial Saturday during their bracket race. Nice thing around here, it’s not the only track around. I’ve always liked Pacific Raceways before. This season, testing Friday nights - don’t even bother. And testing during a bracket race, when the track should be in prime condition, is another waste. It yields no useful data. With Bremerton, you can count on the track prep and get useful data.
Sorry for the rant.
And you did a great job this year, Dustin.

sorry to here about that dustin, why in the heck are they ending the season so early?

Sorry to hear you did not get the chance to "finish" off the season. But congrats on finishing well under the conditions. Are you coming to the ET finals here?

I'm not upset, I should have gotten the job done sooner, no one to blame but me. The season ends so early up here because ET finals is Labor day weekend and the month before that is filled with the NHRA divisional, national, big $$$ race and a road course event. There are races through September, but nothing points related.

I'll be going to Division 6 ET finals in Boise. I'll be making a lot of changes to the car after that race so I figure I should go. No idea what next year is going to hold with all the new parts and pieces i'm adding so I should do what racing I can before I start the transformation and completely screw myself up.

Thanks everyone for the support, Its been a decent year to this point. Hopefully I can carry some momentum through the real end of my season.

Jess, I'll see you this weekend at the national.

Al, Congrats on the win!

Jim, You need to get out more!! I don't think I've seen you or the car since Pinks.

Want to talk about an early ending to a season? Sacramento's Summit ET points season ended in JUNE. All there is now is a monthly heads up (.60 classes) deal, the Mopar gig in September. Oh, there is one more ET race at the end October...a month after the ET finals.

The good news is that with the economy and most racers would rather team race for other tracks, anyone who paid the $20 fee can go to the bracket finals...as they won't be CLOSE to having full fields.

Back to the point, congrats Dustin on a good season regardless! Best of luck at the finals and best of luck hooking up all that new horsepower next year! (Assume the Dart's heading for the chassis shop this winter??)