Mario, as in Marcelo Escobedo's Salt Flats Cafe? Indeed I did eat there, although I certainly did not plan on it when I headed out of the room. I used the phrase in a more generic way, implying only that I was intending to tie on the feedbag somewhere in the area. Donny Cummins and Big Tim and Randy Speranza and Bob Sirna were there, too.
I'll assume you've seen the latest SCTA-BNI post about the water. The wind blew a whole lot of the water away and toward the mountains, leaving bare salt with no puddles. It says that the plan is to continue as announced earlier today - start racing Monday morning.
Lots of the set up has yet to be done. Some basic stuff is/was done Tuesday, but Wednesday is when the timing light wires are laid out. There's something like 35 MILES of wire hooking up about 8 lights per track. That's a time consuming chore that has to be completed before racing. The ribbons marking the pits, impound, vendor area, etc - those caution tape ribbons are tied to rebar stakes that are put in holes drilled with a power drill. I don't know if anybody had measured the total ribbon (must be a few miles, at least), but the stakes are 40 feet apart (I think). Do the math, and there's another chore we gotta do first. Toilets? Honey Buckets won't be bringing those 'til Sunday.
In other words, there's one heck of a lot of stuff that can't be started until it dries better but has to be done before racers come in and set up pits. Of course, maybe the salt will get all better soon and we can reset the schedule again another time over again.
I point out that SCTA-BNI has become really good at keeping hoi polloi informed. For the freshest info - check that site or page first, then come on over here for the day.
