EDMONTON, AB. (April 27) – Track officials in Edmonton have informed the Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model Series that the open test ‘n’ tune scheduled for Saturday, April 28th has been cancelled due to inclement weather. “We got the word Friday morning that the track is pulling the plug,” says NPP Series announcer Gord Craig, “remnants of the fresh snow was on the ground into the afternoon.”

The Edmonton region experienced one of the driest winters in fifty years, however Environment Canada says the month of April looks like it could be one of the wettest in over a decade. “It’s good news for farmers,” admits Craig, “but this moisture is already playing havoc with the race season. The track looked real good on Thursday. If we didn’t get the rain [last night] and the snow this morning, cars would have been on the track this weekend [Saturday].”

This is the fourth time in the last five years that a scheduled test ‘n’ tune event at Castrol Raceway has been lost due to inclement weather. Castrol Raceway officials have already said that the open test ‘n’ tune will not be rescheduled. “We really needed this test ‘n’ tune day,” says Craig, “several new drivers in our Series were hoping to get on the track before the season started.” This will still happen according to Craig. NPP Series officials have announced that they are pushing back the 2012 season opener to Saturday, May 12th. “Saturday, May 5th remains the 2012 season opener for the Edmonton track. This will be a non-points event for NPP Series competitors. Moving our season opener to May 12th means that new drivers in our Series will be able to get in some track time under less stressful conditions.”

2012 NPP SERIES SCHEDULE (revised as of April 27th)
April 28th – Edmonton (test ‘n’ tune)
May 5th – Edmonton (NPP test ‘n’ tune / Castrol Raceway season opener)
May 12th – Edmonton (NPP Series season opener)
June 8th – Rimbey
June 9th – Rimbey
July 20th – Edmonton
July 21st – Edmonton
August 4th – Merritt, British Columbia
August 5th – Merritt, British Columbia
August 18th – Edmonton
September 1st – Kindersley, Saskatchewan
September 2nd – Kindersley, Saskatachewan