In racing go-karts, there is a class called Bushing and it was for kids. The power came from a Briggs & Stratton five-horsepower lawnmower motor but they could make consistent speed, although not all that fast, and this was good for learning.
The Bushing class was my introduction to racing and this happened at the kartway in Auburn, California. That was a bit of a trek from where we lived in Davis, outside Sacramento, but it wasn't a fraction of the trek the family made for some of the races. My ol' Dad really loved racing and we spent just about every week-end at some track around California in the Summer time.
There may be some truth to his insistence on attendance was because at the track there was little risk of us finding a way to attract the attention of police, something Doc and I did with fair regularity. If one or other of us went to do something then maybe we would get into trouble but both of us going somewhere together meant there would almost certainly be a police report.
On this day of my initiation into racing, there was to be a formidable confrontation in the Bushing class because there was a hotshot from Sacramento and, man, he had a Mac 2. That wasn't an early offering from Apple but rather a McCulloch motor and more powerful than the normal Bushing motors. My ol' Dad warned me before starting, if he gets past you then you will never see him again.
Through some luck of the draw, I was on the pole and that's a grand feeling the first time you stand on the accelerator after the flagman waves to race.
The adults would take forever to start a race as my ol' Dad and his racing nemesis with be dancing with each other as they paced one another to the flagman. They wanted their RPMs to be just right when they step on it so they constantly jumped forward of each other ... but then the flagman would get pissed off and wave them to go around again. Try it one more time, gentlemen.
Kids weren't hip enough to it try things like that so we just got right to racing and that went well for a few laps. So long as you drive the best and fastest line for the corner, the only way to get around you is either knock you out of the way or use a lot more power to get around you.
But he did get around me ... and my ol' Dad was right. I never saw him again and he was the winnah!
I came in second but that doesn't count in racing, not to me.
There was no disgrace in losing to him, not that there would have been for kids anyway, but, here's the name-dropper part, the other kid was Tony Bettenhausen.
Note: unless you're a fan of racing, you probably do not know Tony Bettenhausen went on to race in the Indy 500.
A brush with greatness in a random way.
Note: it was NOT Tony Bettenhausen Senior or Junior. That needed some attempt at validation but it failed as the Bettenhausen family didn't live anywhere near Sacramento. WIKI just shot one of my great stories all to hell as I'm sure that was the name I was told but someone got it wrong. It's possible the family was touring about but Senior had died in 1961 so it doesn't seem likely Mother would have been driving the boys around for racing.
There was another brush in a different way as Lotho had an offer to race in NASCAR. That doesn't mean you go straight to the Daytona 500 but it's definitely big league. The details of it are not clear to me and I don't want to speculate and risk errors or offense. I know the offer was in the air and it was serious but I have no knowledge beyond that.
On reflection even now, it could have been cool or he could have got dead. Likely it would have been easier to do it myself than to watch my brother doing it. When Tinkerbell got a bloody nose from skydiving, I thought I killed her so that thinking would work so well for NASCAR ... which runs just about the same speed as a skydiver in freefall at terminal velocity (i.e. about 200 mph).
Questioning a man about his driving will make many feel like you question his bed skills but that's not how I look at it and there is no problem acknowledging Lotho was a better driver. He has a natural, fluid skill which is incredibly haulin'-ass fast. It was the same with skiing as he was a complete natural.
Note: that's past tense because he didn't develop such a passion for it. He was immediately a good skier but that didn't seem to impress him and he had other interests.
The Bushing class was my introduction to racing and this happened at the kartway in Auburn, California. That was a bit of a trek from where we lived in Davis, outside Sacramento, but it wasn't a fraction of the trek the family made for some of the races. My ol' Dad really loved racing and we spent just about every week-end at some track around California in the Summer time.
There may be some truth to his insistence on attendance was because at the track there was little risk of us finding a way to attract the attention of police, something Doc and I did with fair regularity. If one or other of us went to do something then maybe we would get into trouble but both of us going somewhere together meant there would almost certainly be a police report.
On this day of my initiation into racing, there was to be a formidable confrontation in the Bushing class because there was a hotshot from Sacramento and, man, he had a Mac 2. That wasn't an early offering from Apple but rather a McCulloch motor and more powerful than the normal Bushing motors. My ol' Dad warned me before starting, if he gets past you then you will never see him again.
Through some luck of the draw, I was on the pole and that's a grand feeling the first time you stand on the accelerator after the flagman waves to race.
The adults would take forever to start a race as my ol' Dad and his racing nemesis with be dancing with each other as they paced one another to the flagman. They wanted their RPMs to be just right when they step on it so they constantly jumped forward of each other ... but then the flagman would get pissed off and wave them to go around again. Try it one more time, gentlemen.
Kids weren't hip enough to it try things like that so we just got right to racing and that went well for a few laps. So long as you drive the best and fastest line for the corner, the only way to get around you is either knock you out of the way or use a lot more power to get around you.
But he did get around me ... and my ol' Dad was right. I never saw him again and he was the winnah!
I came in second but that doesn't count in racing, not to me.
There was no disgrace in losing to him, not that there would have been for kids anyway, but, here's the name-dropper part, the other kid was Tony Bettenhausen.
Note: unless you're a fan of racing, you probably do not know Tony Bettenhausen went on to race in the Indy 500.
A brush with greatness in a random way.
Note: it was NOT Tony Bettenhausen Senior or Junior. That needed some attempt at validation but it failed as the Bettenhausen family didn't live anywhere near Sacramento. WIKI just shot one of my great stories all to hell as I'm sure that was the name I was told but someone got it wrong. It's possible the family was touring about but Senior had died in 1961 so it doesn't seem likely Mother would have been driving the boys around for racing.
There was another brush in a different way as Lotho had an offer to race in NASCAR. That doesn't mean you go straight to the Daytona 500 but it's definitely big league. The details of it are not clear to me and I don't want to speculate and risk errors or offense. I know the offer was in the air and it was serious but I have no knowledge beyond that.
On reflection even now, it could have been cool or he could have got dead. Likely it would have been easier to do it myself than to watch my brother doing it. When Tinkerbell got a bloody nose from skydiving, I thought I killed her so that thinking would work so well for NASCAR ... which runs just about the same speed as a skydiver in freefall at terminal velocity (i.e. about 200 mph).
Questioning a man about his driving will make many feel like you question his bed skills but that's not how I look at it and there is no problem acknowledging Lotho was a better driver. He has a natural, fluid skill which is incredibly haulin'-ass fast. It was the same with skiing as he was a complete natural.
Note: that's past tense because he didn't develop such a passion for it. He was immediately a good skier but that didn't seem to impress him and he had other interests.
5 comments:
Dude If I had an offer to drive in any form I would have taken it.
I was given an offer of go kart sponsorship from Hill Distibuting out of Michigan.
Ol Dad turned it down at the time. It required many unsupervised trips with tje owner for races,and business Ol Dad questioned why he only sponsored drivers in the junior clssses of you know what I mean
So while Scott Pruett became one of the winningest drivers in sports car history I dudnt
Oh well
Rats. I'll stick with my telling, tho. It sounds much cooler (larfs). The way it came to me was the rumor of driving for NASCAR in some way and Ol' Dad turned it down because he didn't want to bury a racer. Amazing how these stories evolve as they float around. Damned if I know who told me, tho.
I didn't know anything of this twist.
We attract gay guys and must be the chipmunk cheeks, I guess. Larry and I had a car breakdown problem in Florida so we're stuck in a motel. The place is a dive so there's nothin' to do except watch cars drive past and and talk about where we would rather be. Some guy in some other dive across the street sees us and somehow gets the room number to call up and ask, do you wanna.
There was a beer run from a party and some guy was saying, how do you know you won't like it if you don't try it ... and it suddenly dawned on me what he meant.
Face, it. Yep, you're a sex object.
No worries Twice the chance of a date on Fridays
Those fishnet stockings are so itchy, tho
Post a Comment