Am I making this up in my mind?

[cheeseczar]

While watching the Rolex field roll off pit lane I noticed the officials standing between the cars with their arms out.
Years back I want to remember NASCAR officials doing the same but several drivers seemed to swerve at one in particular
who acted like he was moving out of the way by moving his hips, like it was a sort of game between the drivers and him. I saw it during
the start off several races.

'Zis ringing a bell with anyone?

[window]

While watching the Rolex field roll off pit lane I noticed the officials standing between the cars with their arms out.
Years back I want to remember NASCAR officials doing the same but several drivers seemed to swerve at one in particular
who acted like he was moving out of the way by moving his hips, like it was a sort of game between the drivers and him. I saw it during
the start off several races.

'Zis ringing a bell with anyone?

I don't remember it.

Looks like the merge is popular. The "crowd" in the stands is larger than ever.

[Z28]

They did and may still have an official at the head of the field between the two lines of cars. NASCAR may continue to believe drivers aren't bright enough to follow the car ahead of them, otherwise I really can't see a purpose. Dale Earnhardt more than likely would have been the guy to swerve at the official, goofing around, as he was apt to bump the pace car of Elmo Langley under caution. NASCAR has abandoned the 'paddle man' who stood at the end of pit road with the green/red paddle to stop drivers so they would have to join the rear of the pack. I guess they trust the drivers more in that case than they used to or electronic scoring.


As for the Rolex crowd, I think last year they claimed the infield was sold out so like some other events they can make it as big a crowd as they want to claim.

[11rowsof3]

While watching the Rolex field roll off pit lane I noticed the officials standing between the cars with their arms out.
Years back I want to remember NASCAR officials doing the same but several drivers seemed to swerve at one in particular
who acted like he was moving out of the way by moving his hips, like it was a sort of game between the drivers and him. I saw it during
the start off several races.

'Zis ringing a bell with anyone?

ASA cars used to cross in front and behind the official? Was that it?

[cheeseczar]

Nah...I think it was Cup and maybe it was Dale Sr. that was doing it.
I could see him doing that.

[indybigjohn]

The old ASA crossover was one of the coolest things I ever did. I learned to do it with the UMRA TQs, and one day at I-70 Rex Robbins wanted to spice up the show a little Wayne Doebling suggested we try it. I was game, but Rex was horrified at first. I told him nobody wanted to hit anything this big. Some of the guys liked to see how close they could get. I told them that was fine as long as they were going to the outside. If they were going inside, they really didn't have any idea how close they were. One day at Milwaukee, Terry Lingner and Greg Oldham put a cameraman behind me, and he laid the camera down on my cap as I kneeled to do the crossover. Muttley Kurkowski did a close pass to the outside and the cameraman flinched.

Back in the UMRA days on those really short fairgrounds dirt tracks, Rick Meyer from Greensburg, when he was going to the outside, loved to pitch his car and see if he could lift the left front over my left toe. He could, too, and that's the reason I never kneeled with those guys.

[KevMcNJ]

When I was flagging at New Egypt, one of my tasks was to stand on the front straight during track packing and slowly work the cars down into the muck.

Id start standing maybe 5 feet off the catch fence and Id force the cars down to the infield one lane at a time

One of the modified drivers started aiming for me and it became a game between he and I to see how long Id go before stepping out of his way

During warmups on the night I knew was my last night working there I decided I wasnt going to move.

I saw the driver coming slowly down the straight at the beginning of track packing

Closer, closer, closer

At the very last second I saw the front tires make a hard left turn to miss me with inches to spare

I could see in the cockpit and his eyes were as big a silver dollars

He was obviously surprised that I hadnt moved this time

Next time by I just smiled and waved at him

At the end of the night I walked over to the pits and explained why I didnt move and had a good laugh over it

Good times

[11rowsof3]

The old ASA crossover was one of the coolest things I ever did. I learned to do it with the UMRA TQs, and one day at I-70 Rex Robbins wanted to spice up the show a little Wayne Doebling suggested we try it. I was game, but Rex was horrified at first. I told him nobody wanted to hit anything this big. Some of the guys liked to see how close they could get. I told them that was fine as long as they were going to the outside. If they were going inside, they really didn't have any idea how close they were. One day at Milwaukee, Terry Lingner and Greg Oldham put a cameraman behind me, and he laid the camera down on my cap as I kneeled to do the crossover. Muttley Kurkowski did a close pass to the outside and the cameraman flinched.

Back in the UMRA days on those really short fairgrounds dirt tracks, Rick Meyer from Greensburg, when he was going to the outside, loved to pitch his car and see if he could lift the left front over my left toe. He could, too, and that's the reason I never kneeled with those guys.

YES, I knew about this and have seen it before. I can't fin any the races on youtube that show it. What years did you do it and any races that are on You Tube?

[indybigjohn]

11rowsof3, it was from late in the 1976 season (I think) through the 1984 season, my last with ASA before I went to work at IRP. We didn't do it at Michigan and Atlanta. I was game (crazy?) for it, but they didn't want to chance it. Best was at Milwaukee, and I've got a DVD of that race somewhere around here somewhere. I think it was the 1983 race won by Alan Kulwicki, and the crossover is on there, from the track.

I imagine the last time I did it for an ASA race was the first time they came to IRP after I left. Sort of a "guest" appearance. Actually brought tears to my eyes.

FYI, I wanted to do it for a Silver Crown race at IRP, but Roger McCluskey vetoed that idea.

[11rowsof3]

I can only find a pic, not video. I'll ask Ross (won't say the last name here, but I'm sure you know him) if he knows where any of the old videos are located (probably in Georgia or Florida now).

http://www.frontstretch.com/jpotts/28100/

[indybigjohn]

Yeah, that's Trickle at Winchester. You might try hooking up with R.J. Scott. I understand he bought a lot of ASA stuff from the private collection, including videos, after Becky Robbins passed away. Ross might also be a good source.

[dalz]

No dice on the crossover on any of the ASA youtube offerings I've seen.

In the SCCA club world there is someone waiting soon after the pre-grid, sometimes on the track, to direct the line of cars left or right as they roll off, I guess to make for an orderly lineup if a car is absent from the grid. The starting positions are not "official" until that moment. They don't take kindly to cantankerousness by anyone.