Well race fans, yesterday marked the seventh day in a row commuting to and from Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. After last Wednesday's Media Preview and luncheon, everything went downhill . . . and fast. I'm sure you all kept up with the dismal news issued on a daily basis, but trust me, I'm dog tired from hanging around, dodging puddles, getting my cameras wet, and waiting some more, only to dodge more puddles. My hat's off to the entire NHRA Safety Safari for their Herculean efforts to dry the track, apply traction compound, dry the track again, and keep on drying the track repeatedly, until about noon on Monday. That's when their efforts proved futile and racing was out of the question until better weather came on Tuesday.Yesterday's sunshine sure helped, but it didn't warm anything other than the track surface. It was barely 60 degrees, which made for trying conditions when toting 40 pounds of camera gear and commuting between the starting line and pit areas and back again. The charges for my golf cart started at $360.00 for Thursday through Sunday, with an extra $90.00 a day for Monday and Tuesday. I could have rented a new Cadillac for the same price! Oh well. When you've been to as many races as I have and the pits keep expanding, due to the slew of Sportsman racers who travel with rigs 60-feet long, it's just impossible to walk it all. Hell, in Pomona, the Sportsman racers are pitted almost as far as the 10 Freeway!My main objective was to shoot Rick Jackson's "Centre Pointe Collision Center" Top Alcohol Funny Car for my next issue. What's cool about that is it reunites his new driver, Tony Bartone, and former Crew Chief, Steve Boggs. What makes it even cooler is they won the race! Sure, they got a gift in the first two rounds, but they kept picking away at the combination and went quicker each time out. Determination (and perserverance) rules! Check your local listings for Pro Eliminations coverage this Sunday on ESPN2 and the Sportsman show (T/AD and TA/FC) a week later. Cheers!