About 900 photos are here.

It rained.  It poured.  The sky flashed with light.  Mother Nature said, “In Landover, Team WTF?! does you!”

2008 is off to a start.  Sorta.  Kinda.  For some folks.  For others, like most of Team WTF?! and many of you, we’re still waiting.  The WDCR Practice event earlier this month came and went without any photos, so who’s to say that it actually took place?  The 2008 WDCR Championship Series kicked off with a sputter and clap of thunder the other day with only about half the competitors taking their runs.  The rest?  Hah!

The rest got to stand around in occasional rain for a while, then get poured on at the beginning of the fourth heat, then told, “Pack your crap and scram!  No autocross for you!” after the event was cancelled due to dangerous weather conditions.  Some of them were also yelled at by a testy Worker Chief just for trying to check in for working after being told to do so at the Afternoon Driver’s Meeting.

Miraculously, despite being treated like a pile of steamy doggy doo-doo by forces outside their control, over a quarter of the affected competitors (those being the ones that got to do all the bad autocross stuff like standing around in the wet; changing tires, multiple times in many cases; get yelled at for doing what they were told to do; and then go home without 4 minutes of precious early season seat time) have graciously refused to accept a refund for their event entry fees.  Some might say that they’re nuts.  We say that they’re Team WTF?! and deserve the respect of the community.  For without people like that, the WDCR Solo program would be a shadow of its current self.  Basically, without selfless, understanding, and fun-loving competitors like them, events would suck more than Don Koharski, Paul Devorski, Mike Hasenfratz and Don Van Massenhoven combined.

For Team WTF?! proper, there were some interesting storylines.  All those that showed for the event were scheduled to run in the afternoon.  We know the bottom line…no results to report.  However, it’s more interesting than that.

One Team WTF?! driver called his codriver early in the day (during the first lightning delay) and said, “If you don’t want to show up, I wouldn’t blame you.  I’m not even sure that we’ll get to run.”  The response to which was, “You’re probably right, but I need my daily self-flagellation fix, and I’m not going to get that sitting dry and warm on the couch at home.”

Another Team WTF?! driver thought that a puddle of water under his codriver’s car was something bad.  Uh, rain.  Puddle.  Go figure.

Of course, those two pairs of codrivers put on their dry weather race tires in grid while waiting for the fourth heat to begin after debating whaich tires to go with all day. :banghead:  It was cool, though.  John V ultimatley wound up changing two tires on the Old Yeller Boxster S between Mrs. Ken and Clyde’s first runs while Clyde stayed dry inside the car…albeit with many admonishments from John V to “roll up the f’ing window, a-hole!”  Which was fine with Clyde, as he was able to take copious notes about where the plethora of leaks from the car’s new top were coming from.  Just for ka-ka and giggles, Clyde kept the notes to himself.  For his efforts, though, John V did not go unrewarded.  Someone called him a “cheater” before that person got to work on changing tires on his own car (also being driven by someone else).

Bren, sitting in the #95/195 Team WTF?! C4 Corvette saw John V changing tires and immediately thought, “Where’s my tire changing bitch?  Bitch! Where are you?”  Never did hear how that one quite worked out.

Ken, Guido, Bren, and Alex all got to take Team WTF?! a run in A Stock for naught.  JST might have dones something in his G Stock 2008 MINI, but no one is sure for sure.  We suspect he just got wet.  Clyde was the third car from the line when the lightning flashed again, sending the event into a delay, and eventually cancellation.  He had street tires on one side, race tires on the other.  And then he didn’t get to run. What are you gonna do?

*Team WTF?! Note 2008-001: There will be no self-scoring Team WTF?! Challenge this year.  Perfectly normal Team WTF?! circumstances are the culprit.  There may be something good.  Or there may not.  We’re watching all.  We’ll see what happens.  Stay tuned.