LIFE GOES ON... and on... (Part 171t)

LIFE GOES ON… and on… (Part 171t)

With that out of the way my thoughts went to thinking about Saturday… the opening of the stock car racing season. During racing season I’d get up early, go to the landfill, stop at the garage and do the last minutes check of the car and load it on the hauler. Then I’d go home, mow the lawn if it needed to be done and then check the yard at the church. I’d be home for lunch and have a couple of hours before Cliffy would stop by with the hauler to pick me up at 3pm. But, being opening night he wanted to be there early remembering the confusion of the previous year. I was really ‘up’ for opening night. We had a ‘fresh’ motor, new tires and, based upon our point standing from the previous year, a pretty decent starting position for the feature event. He stopped at 1:30pm with Beth, his wife right behind him. Elle was to babysit their new baby, now five months old. I hadn’t seen him in a while and was surprised at how much he’d grown. Elle and the kids were looking forward to it, sort of like practice for them when our baby was born. On the ride to the track we all seemed to be ‘up’, including Cliffy who tended to be a ‘worry wart’. At the track we had to register and fill out all the insurance releases before they would let us in. We were given the same pit stall as the previous year, next to Pee Wee and within sighting distance of C J. That was a plus and as soon as we pulled in I took a look to see if Karen, C J’s girlfriend, was in her tight white pants. Seeing her in them was, to me, a good omen and I looked forward to checking her backside out after we unloaded the car.

Cliffy’d been told that there was the potential for as many as 35 cars to show up which would make qualifying more difficult with only 24 cars eligible for the main event. For opening night though we had one thing going for us… new cars at the track would have to start in the back. Cliffy took a few more practice laps than he’d wanted as the car didn’t handle like he’d expected it would which put more laps on our new tires. That notwithstanding, when we pulled onto the track for our qualifying race we found ourselves starting fifth. All Cliffy had to do was stay out of trouble and we’d be in the feature race. It’s easier to write about than to accomplish. The green flag dropped to start the race and the front row cars got together. With all the cars bumper to bumper at the start there was no way not to be involved. The damage was minimal and we were able to continue but had to restart near the back. All we had to do was finish sixth to qualify… and it turned out to be a real battle. We made it by a half a car length.

After the race I went over my ‘check list’ on the motor while the others checked over the rest of the car. Once done I was free to go look at the competitors cars… and to check Karen out. I went over to C J’s father, “Seeg” to say hello and to look for Karen. I had to wait for a bit to get my awaited VPL. It was still the same as the previous year. Based upon the size of the crotch line, in all likelihood her panties were made by Van Raalte, my favorite. We’d managed to pay off the Ford heads that “Seeg” and C J had let us use. In our conversation "Seeg" reminded me of the “good deal” he’d given us telling me he could’ve sold them at the season ending flea market for more than twice what we paid. I remember thinking that I’d have to listen to that crap all season long but since we had the heads and they worked it was worth it.

When it came time to line up for the main event we found we’d be starting eighth… fourth row on the outside. We’d hoped for better but some of the good cars had problems which let some of the normally slower cars qualify. I remember talking with Alan and kind of handicapping the cars in front of us and noting that a couple of them could/would be a problem to get around. We called them “squirrels” because you never knew which way they would go. Crossing our fingers when the cars pulled out onto the track all we could do was hope. Of the cars who usually raced at the track there were four or five you could almost always count on to challenge for the win. There were six or seven other who, if everything went right for them, were capable of pulling off a win and we were in that category. C J was one of the cars expected to win but, with trouble in his qualifying heat, had to get in by running in the ‘last chance’ race which put him in the rear of the 24 car field. As the green flag was waved to start the race the whole crew held their collective breaths. Getting through the first and second turns was always a crap shoot. The reason we were so concerned was that the car starting third (inside on the second row) was one of the “squirrels” who had a habit of “pushing” in the turns (sliding towards the outside). He was a nice guy but not much of a driver. The pit grandstand was in the first turn so we were right there when ‘all hell broke loose’. As Alan and I’d predicted, the “squirrel” went into the turn and it didn’t seem like he ever turned the steering wheel. He drove right into the side of the car directly outside of him and they headed for the outside retaining rail. The car right in front of Cliffy drove right into the two cars… and Cliffy should’ve been involved… but somehow managed to yank the wheel to his left and missed them. He didn’t go unscathed as he actually drove into the side of the car that started along side him but hit his side rails and continued on. The race was stopped to clean up the mess and when they repositioned the cars for the restart we found our car starting fifth… a tremendous break for us.

By half way (12 laps) Cliffy was running second… with at least three or more car lengths back to the third place car. The crew was all excited because the car that was leading was one we had consistently beaten the previous year. But, like they say “don’t count your chickens” because there was another wreck and then a restart which had us starting on the outside… and with all the fast cars now all caught up and with C J right on our bumper. I honestly can’t say I know what exactly happened when the green flag flew to restart the race but C J dove to the inside. When he did he hit the rear bumper of the car who was inside of Cliffy and the next thing we knew Cliffy was in front. There was no yellow flag and the race continued with Cliffy in the lead. On the white flag lap (meaning one more to go) C J was actually pushing Cliffy… and that’s the way they finished. It was truly unbelievable that for two years in a row we’d won the opening night feature.

Even though we weren’t among the ‘elite’ racers at the track, Cliffy was friends with most of them. It was like a parade as they came by to congratulate him. One who I was looking forward to seeing was C J to hear what he though about the finish. But it was only “Seeg”, his father that I saw. He walked up with his hand out and I thought it was to congratulate me (us). He had a stern look on his face and in somewhat of gruff voice told me we needed to come up with $200 more for the heads we’d bought from them. That was a shock, for sure. Alan had been standing near me and heard the request. I’ve always been a bit too serious and I’d ‘bitten’ on "Seeg's" joke. Alan picked up on it right away and called “Seeg” out on it. He started laughing and I stood there feeling foolish. By the time I realized I’d been ‘had’, C J was talking with Cliffy. Standing next to him was his girlfriend, Karen. As I walked up to them Karen turned around to walk away and what I saw was like an illustrated VPL. She’d obviously been sitting on something that was dirty and the crotch line of her panties was just like someone had traced it on her pants. Cliffy had won… the team had won… and I had won!

     

Feature Winner... May17, 1969

To be continued…