Back in '76, I'd built a new car for my girlfriend to race. She'd done real good the previous season, in her E/SA car, winning several races, at local tracks. But, for the 2nd race of the '76 season, we went to Greenville, MS. It was her 1st time there. So, for her 1st time trial, she did a good smokey burnout, and made a full pass. But, instead of coming back to the pits, she turned left at the end of the track and drove a long ways, away from the track,and almost out of site. I asked one of the boys "Where is she going ?"
I told one of the boys to drive the truck down there & see that she gets back. But, about that time we saw her coming back towards the track. When she got close, she saw that there was no return road, but that to return to the pits you have to drive back down the left side of the track. So, she fell in behind a pair of cars that had just run, & followed them back to the pits.
Turns out that the track was on the air strip of an old military base of some sort. There was no return road. But, there was a road which led to where there had been a bunch of buildings. The slabs were still there, but the buildings were gone. So, she had gone sightseeing down that old road, thinking it was the return road.
We ragged her about it, for a good while after that. I still mention it occasionally. She just said "Yeah, I reckin I'll never live that one down".
And she even reminded me of something else she did, during the '75 season. She'd won 6 of her first 7 races, then lost to a car she had beaten several times. I thought maybe the car had slowed on the big end, for some reason, so I was eager to hear what she had to say. Well, she got out of the car, and sorta sheepishly said "I forgot to release the parking brake".
It still worked. So, she had been using it to keep the car from rolling backwards in the staging lanes. We'd push it forward, then she'd mash the parking brake to hold it there. But, when she strapped in for the run, she forgot the brake was on. The guy that beat her was more surprised than anybody there, I suspect. After that incident, I'd often ask her if she'd released the brake, knowing that she had--just to rub it in & have a little fun.
