Re: USAC Sprints - New Bremen - 10/24/71
 

Marv, The Bob Jones Radiator Spl was my very first ride in a sprint car. He brought it to Lawrenceburg for a 50 lapper in June of 1980, without a driver. The car was #34 by then. Jeff Bloom had just driven it at the Indy Mile recently. Bob was hoping Dick Gaines would show up. In the meantime I begged him to give me a shot at it. He would have none of it at first, but then, his son intervened and lobbied for me and he finally agreed. When I hot lapped it, it felt like the throttle was stuck and I drove it off of each end of the track. When they pushed me back to the pits, Bob was very angry and felt like I had deceived him. As he was getting ready to load the car up, his boy took the hood off and checked the injectors. He found that a shop rag had been sucked down one of the tubes and held the throttle open. After that, everything was good. I made the feature and wound up finishing 11th. One of the greatest days of my life! I had finally realized my childhood/lifelong dream of driving a sprint car. I'll never forget it!! I can't thank the Jones family enough!!!