Originally Posted by psullivan:
The 1996 DelMar race was one of the most memorable in S.C. History - I was there and it was quite a weekend. There was concours de elegance that featured an incredible array of restored cars - R Ward and Troy Ruttman were the grand marshalls, there was an art and photo auction - T.Q's in a rodeo ground like area (wasn't good - but different. Scott Delosio announced and was a riot - as was Bruce Flanders for the big show)) and then the race itself featured the blown tire on the white flag by Kenny Irwin when he had the title in his hand - crashed into young Ryan Newman, and Jimmy Sills, to the shock of all, won his third title. (Jay Drake won the midget race which made him a winner on the mile in two straight races - he also won at Sacramento) The venue was stunning - but the race was awful. Robbie Flock finished on the podium and the whole front of his car was like it had been sand blasted - and then to start they used this concrete area for a launching pad and I think it cost a ton of money to clean. It was incredible, however, running the S.C. cars at the place that had not seen big open wheel cars since Rex Mays took his last lap.
Del Mar, great spectacle, bad race.
Anyone have any idea if the new synthetic Polytrack surface at Del Mar would work for race cars?