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RAIN FORCES CANCELLATION
OF AHDRA SEASON OPENER
With over 6 inches
of rain saturating the facility, and following hours of effort
from track crews, it was determined that conditions were not
favorable for a safe race surface forcing the cancellation of
the AHDRA's season opener at Gainesville Raceway.
Even with blue skies
and warm temps on Wednesday, the sunshine turned out to be the
enemy as it created seeping moisture to rise on the track surface.
The AHDRA staff and
track officials made every effort and examined all options,
but concerns over safety and time restraints of running the
nearly 400 entries forced the cancellation.
More than forty fuel
bikes lined the pits in Gainesville making up the largest field
of fuel bike entries ever for AHDRA. Screamin' Eagle Nitro Harley
rider, Johnny Mancuso had this to say about the unfortunate
outcome in Gainesville.
"I think it's very
commendable for the AHDRA to use their heads and try to put
on a safe event. They thought about the rider's safety more
than the gate revenues, and I think that is very commendable.
We knew they were going to step up this year. The organization
looks like it's going in the right direction. It's really unfortunate
to those of us who traveled, including the AHDRA folks to not
get the opportunity to put on a race when there are so many
good racers here and so much possibility for good racing".
AHDRA President, Craig
Tharpe says the decision to cancel the race is never easy, but
considering the circumstances, there was no question that safety
was most important. "We are back in the office and gearing up
for the Phoenix event", Tharpe added.
Although the rain
prevented racing action, the ESPN2 camera's were in Gainesville
and caught up with several racers for pit interviews and performance
features. The first episode of AHDRA's 2003 television series
with "Inside Drag Racing" will air April 4th at 6pm with a repeat
broadcast, April 6th at 630am.
ESPN2 will be back
for the upcoming Rivera-Primo Arizona Bike Week Nationals presented
by Hacienda Harley-Davidson on April 5th & 6th at Firebird Int'l
Raceway."
For more information
on the AHDRA 2003 National Point's series, contact 336-924-2095
or visit www.ahdra.com
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