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closeSeepage forces postponement at NHRA Nationals
The Associated Press
Saturday, Jun. 28, 2008
NORWALK, Ohio - Water seeping through the Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park track forced NHRA officials to delay the professional racing portion of the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals on Friday.
Track officials estimate that more than 13 inches of rain has fallen on the track in the last week, creating a large water table surrounding the quarter-mile dragstrip. As the sun heated the track surface, water began to seep up through cracks in the track surface at various spots, including a large area just past the finish line.
NHRA and track officials worked for more than five hours to try and fix the situation, using backhoes, concrete drills and ditch-digging machines, but couldn't completely dry the track surface.
Before racing was delayed, Matt Smith rode his Buell to the top spot in Pro Stock Motorcycle, covering the distance in 7.059 seconds at 187.23 mph in the only pro category that got in a full session of qualifying.
Qualifying was halted seven cars into the Pro Stock category's first session. Richie Stevens was the leader with a 6.833 at 202.64 in his Pontiac GXP.
