Outlaw Street Car Reunion V was the first time that I actively watched as Tyler Crossnoe ran an event. Prior to this, I’ve seen the dude work the track surface up into racer’s paradise at several different events, but I couldn’t recollect seeing him running the whole show. This time around, from start to finish, he was the man to answer to, with Lonnie Grim and Kurt Johnson assisting in every way possible to ensure that the fun was going to stay on the rails as much as possible. Friday, however, had other plans for racers and the team alike. Name it, it happened…oildowns, carnage, crashes, fire, we saw it all. And then we saw the street sweeper tractor literally quit on the spot, ditching an entire wheel hub assembly at the top end of the track during a cleanup.
I’m known for a quick temper, so I can’t use myself in that position, but when the tractor packs it in on a hard day, most people would be tempted to wonder if it was worth fighting. These folks pressed on…Lonnie was on the phone working rental companies for a new sweeper while the tractor was hauled off of the track and just about every time I paid attention to starting line prep, Crossnoe was there actively working instead of sitting in the tower monitoring. The difference between a leader and someone in the position is the amount of involvement in what’s going on. Instead of just sitting and directing, Crossnoe would be scraping or laying down another layer of glue or whatever else it took to make sure that racers had something to work with. Highly impressive to watch from the sidelines, for sure. When there wasn’t drama, the cars were hitting the strip in preparation for Saturday’s day of reckoning. Here’s some more of what went down on Friday afternoon, which you can check out by clicking on a photo below!
