A winter type storm spread rain and wind throughout Central and Northern California on the second weekend of April, wiping out a good portion of the racing calendar for that area.
Only one Friday night program was affected, but more and more of the tracks are now canceling their shows when a bad forecast is issued rather than have the competitors make the long tows and wait for the weather to deteriorate.
The only Friday night show to lose out was the season debut of the outdoor track for the outlaw karts in Lakeport. They managed to finish time trials and were starting their racing program when the rains hit.
Virtually, no programs were completed in the northern half of California on Saturday. Most tracks cancelled early due to the dire forecast. Among them were the QRC All Star Outlaw Kart Tour event at Delta Speedway, Shasta Speedway, Ukiah Speedway, Altamont Raceway, Madera Speedway, Merced Speedway and Kings Speedway.
When the rain hit the area on Saturday, tracks like Petaluma, Antioch, Stockton and Placerville also cancelled. Because they were able to get a Friday night practice in, Siskiyou Motor Speedway in Yreka also dodged the rain drops for most of Saturday. They got hot laps in and nearly one half of the heat races before rain stopped the visit by the brand new Pacific Coast Dirt Late Models. That event has been rescheduled for May 17.
Tracks like Lemoore, Santa Maria, Bakersfield and Mesa Marin were the only California tracks north of Southern California to finish off their Saturday night racing cards.
