INDY - the highs and lows

[Jimi B]

Originally Posted by Jack Matyas

Over the years have had plenty of highs and lows at Indy -- most of the lows came while in the employ of the NHRA ................

Got caught coming into the motel at 6:30 am by Dave Danish on a work day -- he made me work extra hard and long that day .........and then told me that if I wanted to play with the "big dogs" I should be prepared to pay .That incident gave new meaning to the "Lady in Red" .

A year later some NHRA staffers "found" me in my room with another lady that had a full leg cast on - took years to hear the end of that .

While getting driving lessons from a fellow worker the rear suddenly went bye-bye on a NHRA rental car in my possession -- more explaining to Danish -- I'm probably the reason for his gray hair .
My first time going to the Ford dealer to work teardown I got lost -- more explaining .

These are just a sample of my NHRA Indy lows -- I could go on and on .............These may be lows but I wouldn't trade the memories for anything .

Highs -- Not many but -- My one and only Indy class trophy in 1975 -- even that had its problems -- while at the AMC dealer for teardown "they" forgot about me and I was there around the clock - 25 hours in teardown ! ! ! And then there was the time "Big Stuff" took me for a ride in his new PT Cruiser - well , thats another story for another time .

You just became one of my new favorite old timers hahaha.

[Lyn Smith]

Highs : Winning in 1985 by .001 on a heads up run.Lows: being tossed in the mid 8o's in teardown because the lift was over by .002.the same cam had checked at Gators earlier in the year.That was when class was worth $800.plus dollars to win!!!Another low was not being allowed to race at the 50th in 04 because after racing at 28 straight, they told me I had not"participated enough the year before"!!!! Some racers who had never ever raced at the Nationals before got in.

[Nitro Joe Jackson]

oh boy do i remember the Moroso parties as Vigil Cates and myself had front row seats all the time, lol

48 E/MP's in class 1971

[Dallas Kelly]

Originally Posted by Nitro Joe Jackson

oh boy do i remember the Moroso parties as Vigil Cates and myself had front row seats all the time, lol

48 E/MP's in class 1971

See, I told you some would remember.

[joe176]

Unfortunately work has kept me home again...had a blast in 2008...even with having to go through teardown....definately want to go back.....nothing compares to the Big Go !!!!!!

[Mike Carr]

Highs:
-Getting to meet people you'd only talked to on message boards, e-mails, IM and chat rooms. Years ago, before Classracer, there were two other boards (Marie's board, and Dale's board). Dale had a chatroom that many of us used to gather on nightly and talk from 1999 up til a few years ago. I made it to Indy in 2001 and was great to meet people from there from outside my area.
-Seeing cars in person that you'd only seen in pics or read about.
-Class Eliminations. Watching all the baddest of the bad bang heads at the same track, same time, and all the talk about "who did what elsewhere" was put to rest.
-Seven to eight days away from home, a vacation that may not have exactly been relaxing, but awesome nonetheless.
-Racer gatherings in racers trailers/parties/houses, hearing all the stories, truth, fiction, and flat out fibs (LOL).

Lows:
-None during the three years that I raced there (2002-03-04). Maybe seeing thr disapointment on friends faces after a DNQ or blown engine. The fact that Indy has become watered down over the past few years. The fact that a racer can win Class and not make the show, making a Class Win mean less. Class win money is almost non-existant (I won a hundred bucks each of my three years, and might even be less now).

The best high of all, for me: Winning Class at Indy.

"Entry Fee: $300.
Crew Pass: $85 each
Motel Bill for the week: $600
Two propane tanks for the grill to cook for a week: $20
Fuel used to tow to Indy, be there and back: $250-$300
Getting the Wally for Winning Class at Indy:





PRICELESS!

(* = money as of 2002 through 2004 prices.)

[foglize]

Changing every part in the trailer, to try and pick up a few hundreths
Keeping the engine so cold in the lanes that the engine block starts sweating
Racing the fastest cars in the country in a all out real heads up race.
And no one cares about horsepower on Monday

Letting it all hang out WIN or LOSE

That is what Indy is about.

Can't wait for this year. Three weeks and counting



Andy Fogle