Shootout 2013

[RayTheRat]

Hey, can Rats swim? Are you at home or in Wendover?

I'm in Wendover.  About swimming.  For me, it means staying alive until I get to dry land. 

[SLCMike]

How's the weather looking, we have thunder, lightening and rain at Hill AFB. I was at speed week but didn't have a chance to catch up with you.

[rlague]

Hey, can Rats swim? Are you at home or in Wendover?

I'm in Wendover.  About swimming.  For me, it means staying alive until I get to dry land. 

Ray I don't care about swimming, but I have some questions:

OK how does it look in Wendover? 
Any rain over night?
How does it look now?

[rlague]

I hear the salt is flooded again from a big storm last night.

It is my understanding this site is the official word from the Cook meet.  So what is the official word?  The silence is a bit deafening.

[Glen]

I am sure they are on the salt and inspecting all 12 miles of it. They will update us soon.

[RayTheRat]

Hey, can Rats swim? Are you at home or in Wendover?

I'm in Wendover.  About swimming.  For me, it means staying alive until I get to dry land. 

Ray I don't care about swimming, but I have some questions:

OK how does it look in Wendover? 
Any rain over night?
How does it look now?

This isn't the "official word."  Those of us who post here can only report what we get from Cook, Jr or Sr. 

Continued demands for information that we don't have only prevent us from doing the other parts of our jobs.

To answer your questions, it looks cloudy in Wendover, I heard that it rained last night and it still looks cloudy in Wendover, since that's where I am.  I'm trying to finish a Target 550 post and haven't gone to Lands End yet today.   I was on the phone with Freud when you called him and he has the same info I do.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Unh, official?  Well, here's the latest.  First of all -- i was in the truck heading out here this morning when I talked with Junior -- and I can't type and drive at the same time.  If Nancy were here - - but she's not.  Anyway:

As of this morning Mike Junior reports that indeed, it's wet out there on the course.  I haven't yet gone for a look-see in person, but it isn't very great, that's for sure.  But - the Cooks polled the racers that are here in town -- and they all are willing to sit tight for the time being and see if the course gets better - as are Mr. Cook and son and everyone else on the crew.

That's all I can say for now.  I'll head out for a personal visit in a while - after taking care of a few minor little details here in town.  And maybe after visiting Marcello's to see if there's anything new on the menu (like that'd happen, hey?)

By the way -- Ray's right about the flies being busy.  I stopped for a quick chat with Mike Crawford - and he handed me my own fly swatter - the one that he was using couldn't keep up with the flies.  Here in the motel XXX parking lot (using their wi-fi without being registered -- can't tell you where -- the flies are swarming.  And I did take a shower this morning. . .

More later.  Stay tuned.  Oh, yeah -- it's mostly cloudy and high 60s here, with mild to no wind.  Skies show some blue to the west and even the south - grey and dark to the east.

[Larry C]

Keep up the good work Ray, weather reports are mostly useless, we take what the salt will give us. If folks are trying to use the weather reports to figure out to travel to the shoot out I have a word of advise: don't bother with the weather reports ! Anyone who has spent any amount of time on the salt knows that it is unpredictable, what things look like in Wendover are totally different on the salt, let alone in L.A. on a website weather post !! I for one will be watching the posts here to get the straight scoop !

[Sumner]

....don't bother with the weather reports ! Anyone who has spent any amount of time on the salt knows that it is unpredictable, what things look like in Wendover are totally different on the salt, let alone in....

Yep and it isn't necessarily the amount of rain that falls on the salt that means much.  It is if it rains hard on the hills just to the west and it runs from there out onto the salt.  You can see a lot more inches of water on the salt at times than is just possible from rain directly on it.  It comes from those hills.

This has been the strangest weather pattern I can remember in this area.  We usually only get a couple hours or maybe a day of wind from the east but now it has been a couple days.  The storm that moved east has now circled back west again and there is like a mini-low that is circulating moisture back towards Wendover.

It does look like the whole thing will finally move east a day or two from now and if not much moisture finds its way to the salt then things look good from Saturday on. I sure hope so for all of the crews and Mike and his guys that have put so much into making this happen,

Sum

[Larry C]

Weather patterns were odd this year at the BUB event as well, but I agree, lets hope the Cook meet gets a break and we can see some history made !

[Freud]

The later in the year that it gets the less heat and wind.

We need both. If the wind was to blow it away it could come back.

It must evaporate and that is a function of heat and dry wind.

So be it.

FREUD

[Glen]

The world finals are only a few days away and we are all hoping this weather pattern stays to the east. We need some test passes on the Turbinator ll as well.
The new car bugs hopefully are sorted out and a couple of good passes would answer a lot of questions so next season we can kick A$$.

[rlague]

Ray, you guys do a great job and I appreciate it.  I apologize for the post and coming off as being pushy for information.....sorry.

I guess I am just frustrated by having equipment rented, rooms reserved and changed every day, film crew members on standby, cancelling airline reservations, etc.....

But of course I am not alone....many are in the same boat......and I should know Bonneville by now after spending so many days and weeks waiting for the salt to dry.

My response was to what I saw on the weather observations from Wendover last night, and an e-mail from a competitor whose crew was there.  I was relying on Landracing to keep me filled in.

Sorry please accept my apology and will buy your a beer or 6 when I get there.  OK?

[RayTheRat]

Apology accepted.  I'll go for cream soda, thanks. 

SSS has done a wonderful thing for racers, fans and media people by providing us with a centralized hub where information can be disseminated and received.  I use LR just like call phones and email; I know that I've become used to getting my info about anything in the LSR sphere here on LR.  But like any centralized resource, I get frustrated when the info I want isn't available.  Fortunately, I've kicked the tv habit, so I don't depend on the idjit box to keep me informed by the "bubble-headed bleach blonde" (apologies to Don Henley). 

The other issue is that we're at the mercy of Mother Nature.  Until weather control is invented and put into world-wide use, if She sez it's gonna rain...well, She gets her way and we mortals ain't got much of a vote in the matter.

Finally, I've gotten the message from 2 members of Cook's staff that incorrect and/or incomplete info is very high on the rh*t list.  Since I'm on the salt by their permission, I figger that I otta do as they ask.  Once SSS posted what he got from Junior, I now feel ok about posting the info I have.  Like this table of weather data ( http://w1.weather.gov/obhistory/KENV.html ) that, when examined closely, shows that 0.91 of rain fell between 11:23 pm and 12:02 am....but that was at the Wendover airport.  Until a weather station is established at Lands End, that's prolly as close as we're gonna get.  Nonetheless, that's still a lotta water falling outta the sky in a relatively short time.

Now it's time to get back to the Target 550 post preparation.

To answer your questions, it looks cloudy in Wendover, I heard that it rained last night and it still looks cloudy in Wendover, since that's where I am.  I'm trying to finish a Target 550 post and haven't gone to Lands End yet today.   I was on the phone with Freud when you called him and he has the same info I do.

Ray, you guys do a great job and I appreciate it.  I apologize for the post and being pushy for information.....sorry.

I guess I am just frustrated by having equipment rented, rooms reserved and changed every day, film crew members on standby, cancelling airline reservations, etc.....

But of course I am not alone....many are in the same boat......and I should know Bonneville by now after spending so many days and weeks waiting for the salt to dry.

My response was to what I saw on the weather observations from Wendover last night, and an e-mail from a competitor whose crew was there.  I was relying on Landracing to keep me filled in.

Sorry please accept my apology and will buy your a beer or 6 when I get there.  OK?
[/quote]

[Seldom Seen Slim]

It's about a quarter after 1 here at Land's End, and I just got a minute with Mike and Junior.  Here's the current story and what's what:

As of right now -- if no rain falls and the weather cooperates -- look for a drivers meeting Sunday afternoonand racing starting at sunup Monday morning.  There -- that's that.

It's partly cloudy and calm, with temps in the lower 70s.  That is not, my friends, good salt-drying-out weather.  But the water is slowly going here and there, subsiding and soaking into the ground.  The weather forecasts don't offer lots of good news, but what the heck -- we've already discussed the forecasts at great length.

From Land's End I see pretty much unbroken water from west northwest all the way to the dike on the east.  As I drove down I-80 getting here a few hours ago I saw lots of mud along the highway - and water where the Zero of the Int'l (Shootout) race course is.  That doesn't look good, but that's what I see.

Now the good news:  The race teams that are here are all in favor of sticking around 'til the race course is ready for them to put down some astounding numbers.  The teams that aren't here -- are calling constantly, asking if they should head out here yet.  They want to race, too.  David Cooke form the OSU team just stopped by to invite me to visit the hangar and see the new car.  They're hoping to test is on a runway tomorrow.  That doesn't sound like a team that's ready to book it for home, does it?  And so on goes the list.  I don't know all of the teams that are here in Wendover - Poteet/Main, OSU, Ack Attack (well, I see a bunch of Top1 Oil awnings and draw a conclusion from them), and so on.  I'll probably find more as the day goes on.  I walked into the Salt Flats cafe and found a bunch of racers there - that's a sign that folks aren't ready to toss in the towel, right?

I'll post more when I get it.  Junior is using landracing.com as the link for updates, so stand by, boys and girls.  When he calls -- I post it ASAP.

Later -