Today was the start of the 51st National Short Track Championships at the Rockford Speedway. The skies were threatening throughout the day, however practice and qualifying went off without a hitch.
As the time approached for the Heat races, a light rain started to fall. A decision was made to forego the heat races and move right into the feature events. As the rain continued to fall, track drying was ongoing. As soon as the track was deemed dry enough to start, the opening ceremonies began.
The first race of the evening was the Metro Medical 50 for the Great Northern Sportsman Series. Dusty Mann took the early lead. As the race wore on he was challenged by point leader David Trute. The two were locked in a battle and at one point Trute took the lead, but relinquished it a short time later as lapped traffic allowed for Mann to regain the lead. A light mist again hit the track and when Howie Ware and Michael Gilomen got together in turn three on lap 26 the caution flew.
Due to the rain, the race had to be red flagged. Despite all efforts of track personnel, the rain persisted and the race was called complete with the win going to Dusty Mann. It was decided that the Midwest Dash Series feature race would be run on Saturday and the Hornet/ Bandit Challenge and Roadrunner features would be run Sunday. Here are more images of the abbreviated action.
To see all the images from today's action please click here.
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