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Jondal 5th (F500); Harvey West 5th AS; Norm Nelson 5th in EP; Chuck Snyder was moving up the standings in FM when he was knocked off in turn three, and was unable to continue, winding up 12th in class; and Dave Bowman was able to work out many of his June FV problems to finish 13th. Mike Vrchota had planned to put his new car on track for the first time when he ran into some problems completing his physical. Mike is confident he will be back in business soon, but not until after this year’s racing is over, and we wish him a rapid return.
We were pretty busy with the company flying in July, putting together a big merger, and hadn’t seen much of the NASCAR tracks between the Daytona Firecracker and the Brickyard race. Maybe soon we’ll see a doughboy on a car; they’ll have to bring Benny Parsons (or Tiny Lund) out of retirement to do the driving. Some people (my wife included) have a hard time considering Winston Cup trips "work", but they can be a hassle from a pilot’s point of view working out details for arrival and departure. I consider the chance to catch a race payback for some of the less-than-fabulous trips we make to various boondock locations in Nebraska, Arkansas etc. My personal favorite airport (not) has to be New York’s JFK, where they do everything possible to discourage corporate traffic. I’m convinced that soon they will be giving the cabbies surface-to-air missiles, and putting a bounty on non-air-carrier airplanes. The Firecracker at Daytona was great, and a press conference to celebrate Richard Petty’s 63rd birthday offered me my second photo opportunity with The King. For the second time, I again forgot to don my wraparound sunglasses for the shot to emulate Richard. We watched the race in a suite just past the start/
finish, and it offered great views of all the track except right in front of the suite, due to the steep banking in the tri-oval. It was at that spot where Terry Labonte lost it and rammed the wall. All I saw was a quick puff of tire smoke, followed by a huge thump which rattled the suite (sounded like a mortar round going off at close range!) Watching the replay on TV it really didn’t look like a hard hit, but it broke Terry’s ankle, plus caused a concussion which ultimately stopped his incredible record of consecutive starts when he suffered problems at Indy. These cars pack some serious kinetic energy. Although John Andretti was moving our car up the standings, the final round of pit stops pushed him back, so we hit the road with a couple laps left. Our driver from last year (Johnny Benson) again led some laps in the late stages before also losing ground in the pits. When he was out front I suggested our marketing honcho grab a Pop Secret decal and head for the winner’s circle, as Benson had just lost the Lycos sponsorship the day before the race and there was plenty of empty space on the car.
This year was my second straight visit to the Brickyard and we did it right with Friday’s arrival affording an opportunity to catch NASCAR practice and the IROC. Saturday (race day) we were up early, and a police escort from downtown whipped us past a couple miles of stalled traffic approaching the entrance to cover the whole trip in about 15 minutes. We got the full tour of garage and paddock areas before being whisked up to the Speedway’s premier suite above the new Formula One garages at the end of the pit row at the turn-in point inside turn one. Where once the snake-pit offered grandstand fans voyeuristic opportunities during the 500, the area was completely cleaned
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The Tonneau is the official publication of the Land O’ Lakes Region of the Sports Car Club of America. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Land O’ Lakes Region, its members, officials, or board of directors. Letters to the editor are always welcome. The Tonneau staff reserves the right to edit letters for length.
Editorial staff
Editor 'N Chief
Lois Bjelke
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Tom Fisk
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Contributing Editors:
Todd Erickson
Tom Fisk
Tony (FUBAR) Foster
Bill Medcaff
Greg YoungdahlAdvertising Manager:
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Tonneau On-Line September 2000
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Copyright 2000, Land O'Lakes Region Last revised: March 13, 2003
