Mother Nature didn’t want to cooperate with a snowstorm.

However, in the end the 5th annual DragstersForSale Practice Tree Race Jan. 19 in Evansville, Ind., was a success according to event organizer Don O’Neal.

“Last year we had 189 people show up and this year we had like 150,” O’Neal said. “I was worried about the weather, but the only good thing was that the weather didn’t start getting back until after people got to the event, but they had to worry about getting home, which probably kept some people from coming. So, the way the weather was that was a pretty good turnout, so we count that as a win.”

O’Neal and his friends have put on the DragstersForSale Practice Tree Race. The 5th annual DFS Practice Tree Race at the VFW Post 114.

“All in all, I think it was a great event,” O’Neal said. “We had over 600 entries in the main event and over 270 entries in the warm-up race and we gave away a truckload of stuff. It was a Who’s Who of gift certificates we gave out and products in the motorsports industry. I think we gave away over $6,000 in gift certificates. We look as the event as a success and we are looking forward to 2020, but not too soon just yet.”

O’Neal added that in the main event the purse was increased, and the winner earned $5,000 and the runner-up got $1,500.

“I’m only a few days removed from the event, and for our fifth one we were still attracting new people,” O’Neal said. “That’s is promising for the future of the event and people appreciate the event we are putting on because they flew in from Texas, people drive from in North Carolina, come from Alabama and that goes to show that people like what we are doing. My quest is still to get over 200 people together in the room for the event and who knows maybe Mother Nature will bless me with a little bit better weather to get them in there.”