As an announcer, one of the things that annoys me is when racers can’t follow directions. When they end up staging up for a run group or class and are in the wrong place. When they can’t seem to get themselves into some kind of correct order, no matter how many tools you give them. Numerical order? Nope that won’t work. Assigned spaces? Nope that doesn’t work either. How about class designations? Well, you may as well forget about it, because it doesn’t seem to matter how simple, we hot rodders can somehow screw it up. And I say we, because I know that we all get caught up bench racing and talking smack, and then forget to pay attention to what is actually going on. And, even when we realize that we are all screwed up and don’t know which way is up or down, we are too proud and stubborn to ask someone what they hell is going on. Sometimes we suck.
So, you’ve had to see a bunch of these things happen first hand while at some kind of race or another. Doesn’t matter if it’s autocross, drag racing, mud racing, road racing, or drifting, just let us know what some of the most annoying things are that you have seen at a race track. Hell, even if you were just a spectator we want to know.
Drag racing: When spectators/ crew/ other cars refuse to get out of the way while your head to the staging lanes or coming back after a run. Not everything is as easy to navagate (no power steering, small cooling system, etc.) as your Camry. Also guys that refuse to pit NEXT to their trailer. Instead they have to park perpendicular to their trailer and make the return road that much more narrow.
And any motor sport where the “tech” guys and track “officials” talk over their heads and refuse to learn something new or admit they are in the wrong.
Topeka NHRA race. Rode to the staging lanes with my buddy and watched him make a pass. Rather than walk the mile around the pit road and back in to the seating area I attempted to cut through the gate behind the tower. The NHRA guy would not let me walk in plain sight form one gate to another. Some of that credential crap. My mistake for for not thinking it through but I never went back to Topeka or another NHRA event. The HHRR’s are way more fun.
Drivers who treat Autocross like it’s a NASCAR event… c’mon people, it’s just good fun driving. No need to measure your gas with a tablespoon, put on tire warmers or strut your-anything. Always seems like those who do, are not on the leaderboard.
Drag racing my beater street car: The dirty looks I get from officials when I go around the bleach box. No, I DONT want to do a useless water burnout with my street tires!
A few years back, I was at the drag strip with my daily driver at the time. I was all set to go. I drove 2hrs to the track that morning. To save time in the pits, I put my race tires and wheels on before I left home. Like an idiot, I left my spare tire behind to save weight. Anyway, the lanes open up and I make my first pass. Everything went well until I crossed the finish line. I went through the traps at 107mph and I hear a loud banging noise that went away just as fast as it came. I get to pits and noticed my rear tire was losing air …..fast. Some chucklehead left a screwdriver in his engine compartment and it fell out on the track. When I hit it, it stuck in the tire, ripped out the plastic fenderwell lining, then flew out of the tire and punctured the steel wheelhouse. Now i’m stuck 2hrs from home with only 3 good tires. Luckily, a buddy of mine was able to bring me some plugs and slime. I was able to “fix” the tire, make a few more passes, and drive it back home.
First time I drove a funny car, Jeff Gordon’s King Cuda at Oxford, Maine on a Friday night June 1971. I did the burnout, got stopped, and looked down for the reverser lever and there was no reverser lever…it vibrated off and fell on the floor under the transmission and I couldn’t reach it.
Sat there a moment and thought about what to do…so I drove it down the track, put the chute out, made the turn on to the return road and got on the throttle to 70 or 80 mph with the chute in full bloom down the return road.
Made the other two runs ok, and got paid for all three runs. It was one of the best selling pictures at Oxford that year. The crowd loved it and so did track owner Bob Bahre.
Back when I bracket raced my class aways ran out of lanes 6&7,every event we would get a little sticker in tech reminding us of that. As the night went on the turn time got shorter so when we got down to about 6 cars I just went back to the lanes to wait,just like the other 50 times I went that far. The long time lane guy was out that day and for some reason a touring NHRA guy was still in town after the AZ. nationals. I had just jumped out of the car and was hanging around with the guy I was to race when this guy started waving then yelling at us to get back in our cars,we knew the other 4 cars in the class where not ready or up there yet so we started toward him just to save him some steps,he went on and on about us being in the wroung lane…again! and we needed to go back to the pits until called. Not knowing what the heck was going on we went back to our cars and turned around in the lanes heading toward the pits. We of course crossed paths with the other racers going to the lanes and told them we were told to go to the pits until called.
About the time we got to the pits we’re called back to lanes 6&7,we get there and now all of us are in the wroung lane(?).
Well the WTH was FireBird marked the lanes from largest radious to tightest 1-8,the visting tech guys home track was the oppisit. I guess he couldn’t look up at the little signs. Long cars and towed cars pulled out of 1-4 us slow guys ran the others.
Same thing happened Saturday at the Good Guys show,people ushering cars not knowing where they are supposed to go. Did the little Track parade at Texas MotorSpeedway when our time was over as we pulled into the pits to exit the track 3 “marshels”are guiding the cars. The first guy is giving us the come this way arm over the head,the next guy has his right arm pointing to an open gate and waving his left arm in a go that way motion,the third guy is doing the come this way motion,beyond him are 4 standing across the lane and pointing to there right at another open gate,well 4 over 1 I went there. These people need to talk to each other.
Teams that take 5 people 10 minutes to line up an 11 second car. 14 second cars blowing up and not pulling to the side, choosing to oil the entire track. Noobs that have to be reminded 5 times, “Windows up, belts and helmet on”. The same noobs that rear wheel stage 10 times in a row. Street tire cars doing a 45 second burnout on Sears radials, then dragging water up to the line. And whats with playing music on the track PA between announcements? Drag racing needs no soundtrack.