While most people were happy to finally see some rain last weekend, Show N' Shine and drag race organizers were praying it would stop.
But the first rain in weeks didn't keep 347 exhibitors from coming out to line Cowrie Street and display their rolling works of art for the public to view last Saturday.
Some set up tents to protect the shine on their vintage vehicles, while others wiped off every raindrop or just decided to give up trying all together.
It didn't make any difference to the hundreds of spectators that paraded up and down Cowrie Street under umbrellas and large brimmed hats to get a closer look. There were smiles all around as they viewed restored and original cars, trucks, vans and custom built beauties from as early as the 1920s.
One obvious crowd pleaser was Dan Brown's huge yellow custom truck complete with strong-arm mirror holders and a mismatch of vehicle parts made to look like they belong together.
"I've been working on it for 18 years. I don't know what you'd call it really. It's just something to keep me out of trouble," Brown said with a smile.
As the Coasters Car Club Show N' Shine wrapped up under not so sunny skies, Sunshine Coast Drag Racing Association president Wayne Taylor was just starting his weather watch, knowing that continued rain would put a stop to the next day's drag racing event at the airport.
A wet track would make the races unsafe and hundreds of competitors and spectators would have to be turned away after months of planning.
"Lets just say I worried about it so much I ran out of Tums," Taylor said.
It rained until Sunday morning, but stopped drizzling by about 9 a.m. Taylor had competitors do some slow runs on the course to help dry it off and by about 10:30 a.m. the races were able to start.
"I was real concerned at about 10 a.m., but the weather just got better and better and the crowd grew and grew. In the end we had about 2,200 people there to watch the races," Taylor said.
New this year was the addition of a bouncy castle and play centre for small kids, which Taylor noted was an instant hit with kids and parents alike.
"We had been looking so long for something to entertain the little kids because they have a very short attention span and this worked out great. It took a lot of stress off of the parents and we will continue to do it at future races," Taylor said.
While the little ones were busy, the older kids and adults watched 135 different vehicles burn some rubber on the Wilson Creek airstrip on Sunday. Competitors came from the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast, with the exception of a racer who was up from Edmonton for the weekend. But locals dominated the drag races.
"Just about all of the winners were from the Coast," Taylor said.
Darrin Hemstreet won the $100 prize for best burn out with his smoky display, but no one was able to bring home the cash prizes for perfect light or perfect time.
To win the perfect time, prize competitors needed to correctly guess the time it would take them to speed down the track, and to win the perfect light time a driver would have had to cross the start line within 0.5 of a second after the light went green.
"Being able to do that is a rarity, even with the professionals, but we did do it here a few years back," Taylor said.
Bragging rights and trophies went to the top two competitors racing in each category.
The winners in each category were: street machine A: first place Dave Spicer, second place John Gibb, street machine B: first place Tim Rieck, second place Thom Sealy, super street: first place Yancy Bromley, second place Larry Avdeef, street rod: first place Mike VanDerlinden, second place Norm Robertson, hotrod: first place Shawn Boyd, second place Dave McRea.
Whether races left the event with a trophy or not, everyone got lots of runs in and had a lot of fun, said Taylor.
"I make a concerted effort to ask people what they thought of the races and with no exception, every competitor I asked said they had a great time. Our drag races are a laid back, fun event and we don't want to change that attitude. So far it's working for us," he added.
