YEARS AGO, TWO COUPLES WERE TALKING, and someone mentioned that engine power was the most important thing in racing.
I said that the three most important things in racing are "tires, tires, and, of course, tires." It's an old axiom in stock-car racing.
This woman asked why tires would be that big a deal.
I mentioned that tires were the only thing touching the track. You bust a tire or you lose rubber, and you aren't going anywhere.
She looked at me with a strange look and didn't say anything.
MORE TIRES: You probably remember Dale Earnhardt's bad luck in the 1990 Daytona 500. He busted a tire on the last lap, and Derrike Cope won the race.
Several years later, we were in the Richard Childress Racing shop, and that tire was hanging on the wall. It was totally shredded. That shop is now the RCR museum.
This woman asked why tires would be that big a deal.
I mentioned that tires were the only thing touching the track. You bust a tire or you lose rubber, and you aren't going anywhere.
She looked at me with a strange look and didn't say anything.
MORE TIRES: You probably remember Dale Earnhardt's bad luck in the 1990 Daytona 500. He busted a tire on the last lap, and Derrike Cope won the race.
Several years later, we were in the Richard Childress Racing shop, and that tire was hanging on the wall. It was totally shredded. That shop is now the RCR museum.
----------------------------
EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com TWITTER: EDITORatWORK
More entries from TARJ
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)
EDITOR@WORK blog entries
Entries from The Dog Blog
More blog entries by Tom Gillispie
Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie
No comments:
Post a Comment