Property Devaluation Racing had a broken engine sitting in the paddock. All was right with my world.
Every year the Chief Perp Jay Lamm knows that chaos lurks around the corner at Gator-O-Rama. Yet every year he attempts to keep us all from acting like idiots on the track at the mandatory driver's meeting. This year, yet again, he failed.
I had the first shift. Mike ran late, so I threw on my race gear at the last second. No time for nerves, but plenty of time for smiles.
128 teams entered, 121 eventually hit the track. I have no idea how many made it to the starting line up, but I'd say it was more than a few.
There are two legal places to fuel. One is in the hot pits, in full race gear. The second is at the track pump, where you'll pay $1 more per gallon than at the local shoot and loot. Guess where we're going. Yes, I will pay a convenience tax, thank you very much.
And here's the reason we were heading to refeul: we'd been pulled from the track for a black flag. Mike, driver #2, had contact with two other cars. Not his fault (of course) but still penalty worthy. We got the so-called "Bart Simpson" - we had to write "Three-ways are not as much fun as they look" on the car fifty times. We figured that while we were off, we might as well gas up.
And do a driver's change, of course.
I don't have any shots of Andy's stint (driver #3). I do have a sequence from Chris' stint below. He looks pretty good, doesn't he?
Day #1 lasted nine, yes NINE, hours. So I had the privilege of taking the checked flag for our first day at Gator-O-Rama 2010. The car ran beautifully, we didn't wreck (much) and we ended the day comfortably in the top half of the pack. The TetanusNeon needed rest.
Oh, and did I mention Chris had a birthday Saturday? Happy birthday, have some cake!
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