The April Fools' Thunda' and Lightnin' were aptly named.  The rains were torrential throughout most of the day, with thunder and lightening gracing the after-race party.

Art drew a 22nd starting position.  The sky opened up as he lined up for the start, and didn't let up for the rest of the day.  The race was pretty clean with only a few red flags.  Art ran a fantastic race - I don't see how he could have done better.  Visibility was almost zero.  Even though the wipers worked, the windshield fogged up and there is no heater or fan in the Sentra.  Aside from a forced detour into the infield, there were only a few minor bumps until the last lap.  With the checkered flag waving, some putz spun Art around in turn four.  Rather than lose more time getting the car turned back around, Art did the right thing by finishing the race in reverse.  It isn't an easy thing to drive backwards in a race car; there are no mirrors and you cannot turn around completely due to safety restraints.  So it isn't surprising that he tapped the wall as he crossed the start-finish line.  That would have been OK, except that someone else decided to slam into him crushing the rear of the Sentra.  It may be a total loss, but that is a topic for another day.  Art finished 17th, moving to 15th overall in the standings.

I drew a 5th place start.  Not really important for the Monte, because I intended to hang back early on so I could figure out my newest ride.  All I can say is HOT DAMN!  The Monte handles great.  Even though the tranny wasn't downshifting, I was running fast enough to be competitive.  During the later part of the race I was able to pass all but the fastest cars.  I got spun around twice, once was clearly intentional.  And someone tagged the left front bending the upper A-arm.  But that actually helped the handling in the turns even though the car was a little loose.  I finished 16th, moving to 12th overall in the standings.

This race was FUN!  Running in the rain with near-zero visibility on a partially flooded track was a real blast for a couple of enduromaniacs like us.  We're knocking on the door - a top ten finish, or even a win, is within our grasp.  Hopefully you'll be there to see it.