Race track superstitions
 

Most people are superstitious in one way or another. Auto racing has it's own line of superstitious things.Some of the things that I have heard about include:
Eating peanuts in the pits.
Eating fried chicken the day of the race.
Wearing of anything with the color green on it.
Having a green car or anytype of green on the car
And of course the number 13.
Putting the 'right' glove on first before the left.
Putting on the helmet before entering the car.

If you ever tried to eat a peanut in close proximity of a racecar, you most likely would be asked to quickly move away from the car.
It's a known fact that most racecar drivers are quite superstitious. So where did it all start? The legend of the peanut comes from years ago when supposedly a driver in the Modifieds was eating peanuts before he went out to race and subsequently crashed and died.
The story of the peanut spread through the racing circuit like a bad case of poison ivy. Before you knew it, nobody would touch a peanut at the racetrack
Then you have the color green -- I mean anything green: clothes, cars, you name it. Green cars supposedly wreck more than other color cars so no one wants to drive one.
The list goes on and on but you get the picture. Racecar drivers are superstitious and they make no bones about it. So if you find yourself cruising around the garage area, take my advice -- whatever you do, don't EVER eat green peanut M&M's or you might find yourself flying over the fence and I don't mean in an airplane
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Re: Race track superstitions
 

When my uncle raced at Kokomo & Bunker Hill in the 1960's & 1970's. He was serious about the "no peanuts in the pits" thing. I got cussed up and down for sitting on the left rear and eating peanuts one Sunday night at Kokomo. I was only 15 and he scared the crap out of me.

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Wimmen in the pits used to be a no-no. I can't imagine why.;) Just kidding, ladies; don't forget that.

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Originally Posted by Danny Burton:
Wimmen in the pits used to be a no-no. I can't imagine why.;) Just kidding, ladies; don't forget that.

Danny, women are bad luck all around, not just in the pits :3: :2: Ladies I am simply joking, but it's because the DWB has such bad luck with them. Show me a little love every now and then.:41:::10:

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Originally Posted by danny burton:
wimmen in the pits used to be a no-no. I can't imagine why.;) just kidding, ladies; don't forget that.

but now look at them...when the big dogs are in town....the wimmen ...is usually eye candy for us perverts....lol:14:

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The superstition about peanuts is very old. The way I heard it is that it comes from the midget races at the Nutley Velodrome in the late '30s. Before the races fans would put gifts on the seats of the midgets. One of the drivers received a bag of peanuts and you guessed it he was killed in the race.
I have no idea if this is correct but it is what I have always heard and I know that the superstition has been around longer than I have. Duke, what have you heard on this superstition?

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I read somewhere that the peanut superstition has origins at IMS. The way I was told, this was back when folks (fans) used to build their own scaffolding over their passenger cars to watch from the infield. It seems that one year there was a delay, and one (or more) of the race cars was parked under or near some of the scaffolding until the race was run. On raceday, this particular car had mechanical trouble, and pieces of peanut shells were found in the intake. So far as I am concerned, the supertition is aimed more at peanuts in the shell than the other.

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The ole Number being the same upside down as right side up comes to mind. But I haven't witnessed it being unlucky
69 11 88 all have championships

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Originally Posted by Charles Nungester:
The ole Number being the same upside down as right side up comes to mind. But I haven't witnessed it being unlucky
69 11 88 all have championships

Chuck, to some 69 is a very good number.

I've always looked at it this way: If I cheer for someone they will have bad luck. That's why I tell everyone I know and am friends with I am not cheering for them during the race.

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Some people believe that cameras steal your soul as well.

Something as common as peanuts and underwear can only have power over you if you believe it does. If you believe it is, it is. No matter what the truth is.

I think Steve Kinser kind of blows up many of those superstisions.

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Originally Posted by dirtywhiteboy:
Chuck, to some 69 is a very good number.

I've always looked at it this way: If I cheer for someone they will have bad luck. That's why I tell everyone I know and am friends with I am not cheering for them during the race.

Didn't Rich Vogler and Robbie Stanley drive a 69 car on their passing night?

Re: Race track superstitions
 

Another superstition is racing with a For Sale sign on the car.

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Originally Posted by LEADERS EDGE:
Some people believe that cameras steal your soul as well.

Shhhh. I have quite a collection, you know. . . . .

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Always heard that wearing a helmet that you did not bring to the track your self, and towing a car to the track backward were both bad luck, but have no idea of the origins.

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Earlier this past season, my wife made the big mistake in the green superstition. She had pit armbands green for the night, not knowing about the green superstition, some drivers were very upset, some would'nt wear them, some wore them white side out. Needless to say she learned her lesson that night.:3:
Dave

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I've got a deep seeded superstition with green. One of the very first races I went to, I had green shoes on (hey,it was 1975), and wouldn't ya know it, my neighbor, who took me to the races, flipped. To this day, I attribute that flip to those green shoes.

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Originally Posted by Dyno Don:
Didn't Rich Vogler and Robbie Stanley drive a 69 car on their passing night?

Don,

The Hoffman car was carrying #1 when Rich Vogler died. I just checked my copy of "No Time for Yesterday" to be sure.

Re: Race track superstitions
 

I have 1 superstition that I take heed to religiously...

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS nip off the excess of a plastic zip tie after you install it....never ever put a car on a track with a complete zip tie somewhere.

Picked that up from a team I was helping 10 years ago..I always had trimmed my own zip ties in the past but after witnessing how anal and serious they were about it I am now a bit O.C.D. about zip ties.

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Originally Posted by ronmil:
Don,

The Hoffman car was carrying #1 when Rich Vogler died. I just checked my copy of "No Time for Yesterday" to be sure.

Thanks for the info.

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Long pants only at the race track. I have been involved in numerous fires, shorts would have been a disaster.

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Originally Posted by ronmil:
Don,

The Hoffman car was carrying #1 when Rich Vogler died. I just checked my copy of "No Time for Yesterday" to be sure.

It happened and nobody can change it. :(
However, The number 1 is also a upside down number

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Out side of whats been mentioned. Me and a buddy that drives will not allow any one to put decals on our cars at the track, have to be ready to race.

Originally Posted by Tony74:
Out side of whats been mentioned. Me and a buddy that drives will not allow any one to put decals on our cars at the track, have to be ready to race.

There are a few teams I know of like that. One in particular will not put feature win stickers on their car till Thursday.
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Originally Posted by Tony74:
Out side of whats been mentioned. Me and a buddy that drives will not allow any one to put decals on our cars at the track, have to be ready to race.

I won't let that happen again. Let a guy put decals on our 2 cars last year at Montpelier... I flipped and our other car crashed into a pond off the backstretch.

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Originally Posted by Charles Nungester:
It happened and nobody can change it. :(
However, The number 1 is also a upside down number

Wasn't someone else hurt bad in the Hoffman car? It seems I remembers somebody that got hurt and there was an aura about driving The Hoffman cars for a few years

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Originally Posted by Tony74:
Out side of whats been mentioned. Me and a buddy that drives will not allow any one to put decals on our cars at the track, have to be ready to race.

We put decals on the Late Model I was working on and someone on the team mentioned that the last time we did that the car got all torn-up. Sure enough we got in a crash and trashed the front and the drivers side. Almost all sheetmetal containing stickets needed to be replaced.

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before my time...my dad drove a tq for a guy named jim boone on the west coast. one their way to ascot one day, they stopped to get gas and my dad bought a snickers bar. when he went to eat it in the truck, jim took it from him and threw it out the window going down the freeway and gave him a lecture on why you don't eat peanuts on raceday. my dad has abided by the rule ever since...

MJ