How To Embarrass Yourself At The World Finals
Steve Wallace sent me this tale from 1996 some time ago. I lost it, and any record of who sent it, in the legendary Trakbytes computer crash of 2000 and some weeks after asking for the author to re-send it .......it arrived in my mail box. Here it is..........
The story takes place in 1996 at the world finals. I was crewing for Roy Lewis on the 'Ot Rod 440 wedge powered Mod ET slingshot.
We'd reached the quarter finals and if Roy won we were set up for a grudge match with Tony Guy and his deuce. Roy completed the burnout, staged and Launched. I waited for the signal and followed him down the strip in the chase car, a Toyota Hi-Ace van.
About Eighth track I went to shift from third to fourth and was greeted with a loud graunching noise and no clutch. Three or four attempts to get the van into gear failed so I simply held the clutch in hoping to coast to the first gap in the Armco and turn on to the return road.
Needless to say the momentum of the van finally ran out directly under the finish line gantry, alongside one of the Tannoy speakers. John Price was, I felt, rather uncomplimentary as the top end safety crew came out to rescue us with a tow rope.
To top it all Roy had cut a Red and the entire incident was filmed by a friend on the bank.
Steve Wallace