Odd Fellows

  There have been a couple of other folks that have lent a hand for a race or two this year, but none as memorable as John.  John is Richard's brother and somewhat resembles a Hell's Angel member, but has a heart of gold.  Nicknames can strike at any time and John earned his in Salt Lake City.  The last points race was held for the first time at Rocky Mountain Raceways and the weather was not cooperating.  Thunderstorms had plagued racing all day Friday, with the result being cancellation of our qualifying pass on Friday night.  We knew we'd be going rounds on Saturday, but had no idea the day would be as long as it turned out to be.

  We arrived at the track pretty early on Saturday morning; crew call was 8:30 am and after stopping for supplies and whatnot, we arrived about 10:00 am. The skies were still threatening and a strong breeze blew most of the morning, but we were able to get a qualifying pass in and did fairly well, posting a 6.06 elapsed time at 240 mph. The fairly regular pace of the day halted to a stop when we started getting some light rain late in the morning.  Racing was postponed for about an hour due to the precip, which further delayed qualifying.  The challenge with this race is that it was only scheduled for Saturday; whereas the previous race in Boise was spread out over three. This meant that we had to qualify and hopefully go rounds - all on Saturday.

   So back to John and the story behind the story.  So John helped to get the hauler out from LA and is now helping out with between round servicing.  Mid way through Saturday, one of us spotted him asleep on top of one of the pit tables.  Not only was he asleep - he was sound asleep and snoring.  I wish I had taken a picture or a video because it was a pretty funny sight.  We got him awake and went on with the rest of this 18 hour day, but he earned his nickname there.  Yep, he's Sleeping Beauty, or Beauty for short.  Again, I wish I had a picture of him, because then you'd understand the humor of a guy who looks like a HA being called Beauty around the pits.   I love drag racing....