[E.P.]

It wasn't technically a rain delay but it was rain related at the Big E.

It was 1984 or 1985 and it was the Thursday evening prior to the World 100. (This was a previous life prior to being baptized into open wheel racing so give me a little latitude.)

The car I was working on as many were in that day were still on open trailors. Our cars bumper was about four feet off the ground when loaded and hung off the back about three feet. Anyway I was the odd man out when it came for a real bed so I made a make shift spot with a cot under the fuel cell. We knew rains were coming and we took a big blue tarp and tied it to some bars on the drivers door, wrapped it around the back of the car to some bars on the other side of the car. When in place it created a nice little area under the car where my bed fit perfectly and it was protected from the rains that lasted about three hours. I actually remember telling myself to not try to go to sleep because this was a once in a lifetime memory. Stay awake and enjoy the moment. When the rain stopped I was treated at 2am with a front row seat to watchng CJ Rayburn, Jeff Purvis and Ray Baker changing engines and then firing it up and waking the entire north fourty around 4am :emote20:

To this day that is one of my fondest memories of Eldora. :thumb:


There was a rain delay story at the Kings Royal one year that involved the 50/50 girls who were shall I say very eager to have their picture taken. Anyway the story goes that we took about four complete rolls of film of the girls or so they thought. We actually had no film and we kept taking pictures with an empty camera. Every 24 shots the photographer would turn around and act like he was changing the film and come back for more picutres. :applaud: This went on for about a half hour before some of Darke County's finest got involved.

Anyway that too was a different life and it certainly involved a high amount of alchohol. :doh:

[Seadog]

Originally Posted by Pat O'Connor Fan At one 4 Crown back in the 70s I had towed Mark Alderson's midget to Eldora with his Dad's truck while Mark towed Steve Enslow's sprinter with his motorhome. After the rain washed out the program, Mark half convinced me that I would be Ok :kookoo2: getting the midget out of the infield. This was back when there was a quick left turn that HAD to be made immediately upon getting thru the opening in the wall -- there was a drop-off straight ahead, and it was partially full of trash. I could imagine not quite making it, and jack-knifing the truck and trailer as I would slide back in the next guy in line, or getting too far over the top of the track and putting the whole rig down among that huge pile of beer cans, etc. Lucky for me (and the Aldersons), I did make it out OK!

I am probably wrong about this, but I think the first 4 Crown was 1981? You may be off a few years on that date.

[Charles Nungester]

Wasn't a rain out but it was a World 100 back in the late eighties, early nineties.

They thought it was so funny to drop our tent poles so we had to set the tent back up about four times.

Bet they didn't think it was funny getting air for four flat tires

I get even
Chuck

[Gregg]

Fun rainout. Isn't that an oxymoron?:eek:

I guess the only fun rainout I ever had was one of it seems like several rainouts of a race at New Breman we ended up spending a couple hours at the Air Force Museum in Dayton.

[JakeCroxton]

About 1995 or so, ARCA race at Springfield.

It rained during about the seventh car in qualifying and Rich Hayes actually spun on the frontstretch coming to the green on his qualifying run. It was one of those isolated thundershowers isolated right over the racetrack. They happened to have some construction equipment on display at the fair and they brought out that and everything you could think of to run in the track. It seems like they even timed an 18-wheeler just for grins.

First car out after the delay was Bob Hill, driving for Ken Schrader in a white Kodiak #25 (before the green design, just a plain white car). He broke the track record that stood for about ten years.

Might've been the same year that they scraped all the mud down along the rail with a grader at the Silver Crown race the day before. I remember it starting to rain and the late Kenny Irwin flipped his Wynn's sponsored #4 near the pit entrance and in that mess of mud. I think they rained out until October, that year.

JC

Not sure the satute of limitations has expired yet!

I still say it was a borrowed rental car, others still say it was something else, a couple of local girls, way too much alcohol, some lawn work (donuts), a few signs and mailboxes, a really minor brawl in the lounge involving same names that I am sure would be recognized that I am NOT going to devuldge, unless they want to do it!

But it was at the Troy, OH Holiday Inn and since no one was injured badly or thrown in jail (as of yet) it has to go down in history as an all time rainout story that I hope to tell my grandkids, SOMEDAY!

It wasn't very smart, but it sure as hell was fun!:eek: :icon_smile_blackeye

[SpfldMile]

It rained during about the seventh car in qualifying and Rich Hayes actually spun on the frontstretch coming to the green on his qualifying r
un.

I think Rich spun about every 8 laps be it qualifying, heat, or feature. I saw him do it twice in one lap once. 1997 Indy 500, rained like hell. Drank myself silly and watched the puddle divers and mud football players. Pretty good day even if it was rained out. Obviously Rich Hayes wasn't in the 500.

[JakeCroxton]

[QUOTE=SpfldMile;16334]

I think Rich spun about every 8 laps be it qualifying, heat, or feature. I saw him do it twice in one lap once.QUOTE]

Haha. I remember that one too. One of those 95 degree 115% humidity days where if you got above the rubber, you went around.

[smith19]

steve enslow. now that's a character. remember in the early 70's he got on my brand new bike and rode it around the infield at lima. he waived into the stands before handing it off to a few of the drivers to test. ya talk about a pissed off 8 year old. i hadn't been on the bike yet...lmao

[QUOTE=JakeCroxton;16386]

Originally Posted by SpfldMile I think Rich spun about every 8 laps be it qualifying, heat, or feature. I saw him do it twice in one lap once.QUOTE] Haha. I remember that one too. One of those 95 degree 115% humidity days where if you got above the rubber, you went around.

From Jim Morrison
Not sure how fun this was but remember at Knoxville Nationals about 1998 watched as the clouds stacked up to the west on a hot and very humid day. Perfect for creating a tornado. As day turned to night, a few rain drops began to fall and then even more and it got real chilly. About that time, sirens started going.
A videographer from California looked at me and asked what it was. Told him it was a tornado siren. He said, "They don't come out at night, do they?"
Said I guess he'd never seen the move "Twister", which includes tornadoes at night.
He also asked what he should do, to which I said we don't stay here.
In hte press room, we learned there was a tornado directly over Knoxville that had actually touched down outside of town. Races for the night -- I believe it was Friday -- were postponed to Sunday afternoon, which was kinda weird since the qualifying races for the Saturday night final were ran Sunday afternoon. Don't remember exactly how they remedied that.