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I remember meeting Chris at one of Hoosierdome races. 1992-ish. A whole bunch of folks were waiting around in the concourse to cross the floor to the pits. I'm sitting on a bench against the wall and Chris plops down next to me and starts talking to me like he had known me forever. I suppose he had a gift for speaking with stangers, given his occupation. I was sort of speechless. I remember feeling 'starstruck'. Anyway, when they let us cross, I was walking and talking with him as a couple of drivers were headed towards us. Suddenly, Chris slips and falls backwards on the concrete floor, hitting his head. A couple of us were helping him to his feet, and he says "I see stars...." The jokester in me wanted so badly to say "No, that's just Schrader and Ziggy". Not sure why I didn't. I must have felt that it would have been inappropriate to make a joke given that he had just hit his head pretty hard. Of course, Schrader and Ziggy(the two drivers I spoke of) ran up to us to ask if he was okay. Needless to say, it's been a pleasant memory(aside from the part when he fell) that I've carried with me ever since.
I also remember how exciting it was to get a copy of NSSN from their man in the pits at the USAC shows. You'd see somebody, somewhere, reading through one at any given moment throughout the day.
It seems as though everyone's memories of Chris Economaki are pleasant ones.
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