Re: Critical Mass - Blind Man's Bluff = SPLIT THREAD
I already had a USAC Chief Mechanics licence, and Darrell had got a licence somehow, I can’t remember what it took for a driver to run his first Indy car race, maybe just a waiver. Of course we had to go through an inspection process, but there were no problems with that. Finally Darrell was allowed to go out for a practice session, and since he had never drove one of these beasts, he was kind of sneaking up on it. There were other cars on the track, so he had to pick it up pretty quick or get run over. He ran a few laps, and then coming off turn two into the dog leg, he spun and went down into the infield. Lots of that desert dust was flying, but the car was not damaged, just had to clean out the cockpit, and the engine. Darrell got back out in another practice session, and everything seemed to be O.K. Next, he had to make a qualifying run, and he made the show. We had cleared the first hurdle! The race started, and Dockery was doing fine, and later in the race he was “black flagged”, and had to come into the pits. Gordon and I went over to see what the problem was and we were told that he was brought in for leaking oil. Me, Gordon and a couple of tech guys looked the car over, and it was bone dry. It was another red car that was oiling the track down, and we sent him back out. He finished the race, and we had cleared a second hurdle. Now we had to get organized and get the car ready for the road course at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California.
Larry
I already had a USAC Chief Mechanics licence, and Darrell had got a licence somehow, I can’t remember what it took for a driver to run his first Indy car race, maybe just a waiver. Of course we had to go through an inspection process, but there were no problems with that. Finally Darrell was allowed to go out for a practice session, and since he had never drove one of these beasts, he was kind of sneaking up on it. There were other cars on the track, so he had to pick it up pretty quick or get run over. He ran a few laps, and then coming off turn two into the dog leg, he spun and went down into the infield. Lots of that desert dust was flying, but the car was not damaged, just had to clean out the cockpit, and the engine. Darrell got back out in another practice session, and everything seemed to be O.K. Next, he had to make a qualifying run, and he made the show. We had cleared the first hurdle! The race started, and Dockery was doing fine, and later in the race he was “black flagged”, and had to come into the pits. Gordon and I went over to see what the problem was and we were told that he was brought in for leaking oil. Me, Gordon and a couple of tech guys looked the car over, and it was bone dry. It was another red car that was oiling the track down, and we sent him back out. He finished the race, and we had cleared a second hurdle. Now we had to get organized and get the car ready for the road course at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California.
Larry
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