Forgettable Racing Stories

[Robert Swartz]

Originally Posted by Mike Schwartz

- 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.

Real similar to this. We had a week once, weather was bad all week. Really couldn't decide whether it was worth getting ready or not. We prepped and loaded the car on
a Saturday during a lull. Woke up Sunday morning, sun was shining, weather was nice. I proceeded to my my partners house, picked him up, off to the races we went.

We get to the track, there's about a dozen other cars sitting in line. This probably about 9, track usually opened at 10, no problem. We wait for someone to show up. 10 comes and goes, no one. 10:30, still no one. This was mid 80's, no cell phone instant communication like today. Finally, we pool up and find someone with a driver car, I just happened to have one of the track operaters number. We send someone to call them. They come back 15-20 minutes later, tell us, they "woke him up". Said, the weather report was for rain last nite, THEY decided not to race Sunday. Nice 50 mile trip for nothing. It never rained that day!