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Mike Schwartz · 03-09-2010, 12:59 AM

Lots of 'little' annoyances back in the pre-internet / pre-GPS days:

- Driving from North Jersey to race at Englishtown. Fifteen minutes into the trip I come off a curved overpass and ram a car that stopped to make a left turn The crash destroys the front end of my Torino GT and I break the bridge of my nose on the steering wheel.

- North Jersey to Atco in a rusty old Datsun 200SX for an import race. 25 miles from the track the exhaust system breaks. I remove the muffler and tailpipe, drive the rest of the way, win my bracket, and return home, all with an open exhaust.

- This time I'm driving from North Jersey all the way down to Sumerduck in Virginia for a $1000 footbrake race. It starts raining when I get to VA and by the time I'm close it's pouring and the forecast says it won't stop. I drive past the turnoff and head home without even bothering to find the track. 600 miles for nothing. (These are all solo trips in street-driven bracket cars BTW)

- Finally, I'm at Maple Grove on a Saturday night for the Bracket Finals. After I'm eliminated, I decide I'll go north to run Numidia the next day. By the time I get there at 1AM I'm dead tired, so I park outside the track gates and go to sleep. I wake at sunrise and wait for the track to open. 8AM: nothing happens. 9AM: still nothing. It's almost 10 when someone towing a drag car drives past me, gives me a funny look and continues down the highway. I finally realize: "Duh! There's no race today" I rush home, and two hours later I make it to Island Dragway and manage a last second time trial just as cars are being called for eliminations.

03-09-2010, 12:59 AM	#19
Mike Schwartz Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Maryland USA Posts: 533 Likes: 130 Liked 248 Times in 89 Posts	Re: Forgettable Racing Stories Lots of 'little' annoyances back in the pre-internet / pre-GPS days: - Driving from North Jersey to race at Englishtown. Fifteen minutes into the trip I come off a curved overpass and ram a car that stopped to make a left turn The crash destroys the front end of my Torino GT and I break the bridge of my nose on the steering wheel. - North Jersey to Atco in a rusty old Datsun 200SX for an import race. 25 miles from the track the exhaust system breaks. I remove the muffler and tailpipe, drive the rest of the way, win my bracket, and return home, all with an open exhaust. - This time I'm driving from North Jersey all the way down to Sumerduck in Virginia for a $1000 footbrake race. It starts raining when I get to VA and by the time I'm close it's pouring and the forecast says it won't stop. I drive past the turnoff and head home without even bothering to find the track. 600 miles for nothing. (These are all solo trips in street-driven bracket cars BTW) - Finally, I'm at Maple Grove on a Saturday night for the Bracket Finals. After I'm eliminated, I decide I'll go north to run Numidia the next day. By the time I get there at 1AM I'm dead tired, so I park outside the track gates and go to sleep. I wake at sunrise and wait for the track to open. 8AM: nothing happens. 9AM: still nothing. It's almost 10 when someone towing a drag car drives past me, gives me a funny look and continues down the highway. I finally realize: "Duh! There's no race today" I rush home, and two hours later I make it to Island Dragway and manage a last second time trial just as cars are being called for eliminations.