“Welcome to Alberta.” That’s the response you’ll elicit most of the time when referring to anything meteorological in this part of the world. And it will quickly be followed by “if you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.”

Stock answers that we’ve all heard before, for sure, but at Edmonton this weekend, well, you could have written the owner’s manual for unpredictable weather.

Friday and Saturday rapidly developing storm cells disrupted qualifying for the CARS RV & Sport & Marine Rocky Mountain Nationals, limiting pro qualifying to no more than two rounds, depending on class. 

 

“Welcome to Alberta.” That’s the response you’ll elicit most of the time when referring to anything meteorological in this part of the world. And it will quickly be followed by “if you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.”

 

Stock answers that we’ve all heard before, for sure, but at Edmonton this weekend, well, you could have written the owner’s manual for unpredictable weather.

Friday and Saturday rapidly developing storm cells disrupted qualifying for the CARS RV & Sport & Marine Rocky Mountain Nationals, limiting pro qualifying to no more than two rounds, depending on class. 

There was more of the same Sunday, as early morning showers forced officials to roll the track-drying equipment yet again. With the racing surface finally dried and re-groomed, eliminations finally kicked off, only to be halted again by – you guessed it.

In what IHRA President Aaron Polburn called a “heroic effort,” weary crews set to work again, putting their backs, and hearts, into one final push. At 7:30 the order to fire the cars was given, and the last chapter of the saga was about to be written.

Well, almost.

Just after the Alcohol Funny Car final was in the books, and Laurie Cannister had secured her fourth Ironman of the season, the rain returned to Castrol Raceway, and the balance of the program was postponed until Monday at 9 AM.

It was an impressive victory for Cannister, who has dominated the Alcohol Funny Car class this season. The Johnstown, Ohio, native shows showing no sign of curbing her assault on the rejuvenated class.

In the final, Cannister, who qualified in the No. 6 spot on the list, paced her Kalbones Grill’n Sauce-sponsored 1999 Camaro to a winning mark of 5.906, 241.37 over Paul Noakes, who  carded a pass of 5.950, 238.43 in a runner-up effort.

It was Cannister’s fourth win in five races, and her second in a row over Noakes. She has lost only once in 15 rounds of competition this season, and that loss came at the hands of Dr. Tom Carter in the final at Milan, Michigan in May.

Final pairings Monday will be:

Top Fuel:

Kevin Jones vs. Bobby Lagana Jr.

Nitro Funny Car:

Grant Downing vs. Matt Hagan 

Pro Modified:

Carl Spiering vs.Thomas Patterson