EDMONTON, AB. – A spring snow storm has slammed much of Central Alberta just days before the scheduled start of the 2010 racing season. Facility preparations at the home track of the Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model Series have come to a halt. “This is not good news for this weekend’s season opener,” says NPP Series announcer Gord Craig, “there are snow drifts two feet high in some areas at the track.”

The major storm comes less than three days after a successful test ‘n’ tune session at Castrol Raceway. “The weather was good on Saturday. The track was in incredible shape. Now it’s back to square one in getting the facility ready for race number one of the season. Its probably a few steps back from that.” Several hours of heavy rain preceded more than 6 hours of continuous snow fall on Tuesday. The snow was whipped around by wind gusts hitting 60 kilometers per hour. “I expect the track to make an announcement sooner rather than later regarding the status of this weekend’s season opener.”

The 10th season of the Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model Series and the 20th season of racing at Edmonton’s Castrol Raceway is still scheduled to begin Saturday, May 8th. If this weekends race is cancelled due to facility conditions, the 2010 Lucas Slick Mist Season opener for the NPP Late Model Series will be held in Edmonton on Saturday, May 15th.