DONT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!!!! TRUE RACING STORY
A racer I know here in Oklahoma, who shall be nameless for reasons that
will soon become obvious, was the victim of an unfortunate mishap. This
racer is considerably larger than me and would not appreciate me passing
this story on. I value my life, however, this is just too juicy not to
pass on.
This racer has a very nice, custom built race car trailer that resembles
a
Oklahoma rodeo rider trailer in that it has a “tack room”. This is a
separate little room, in the front of the trailer, separated from the car
and tools. It is very nice with a little bed, microwave, mini fridge,
and
other assorted comfort items. The idea of the room is to have a nice
place
to bed down for the night during a three day racing weekend. It beats
sleeping in the pickup truck, and is considerably cheaper then a motel.
There is a nice little window for ventilation when it is cool, and a roof
air conditioner that runs off the generator for those hot race days and
nights. The door to the room is on the right side of the trailer, a
point
that will become important as this tale unfolds.
To beat the Oklahoma midsummer heat, the local race track usually opens
the
gates late in the afternoon, about 3 PM, with the Eliminations beginning
about 7:00 PM On this one occasion, there was a very large crowd, lots
of
delays due to oil downs with the result that eliminations did not start
until about 9:00 PM. Our hero did very well, lasting to the final round
before he was eliminated. Because of the large attendance, those final
rounds came off about 12:30 in the morning. By the time everything was
put
away and the car trailered it was around 1:00 AM. The drive home was
about an hour and a half down the Oklahoma Turnpike which meant that he
would hit the house about 2:30 and the bed about 3:00 AM.
In order to have the time to attend this race, our hero had made
arrangements with his workplace to do double shifts which meant that at
1:00 AM, he had gone about 24 hours without sleep. He was whipped. To
come so close and not win was both mentally and physically exhausting.
His wife who was his pit crew took pity on him and said:
“Honey, you are beat, why don’t you go back in your trailer and sleep.
I’ll drive us home.”
He took her up on the offer, climbed into his room and they were off down
the road. However, our hero found that it was still hot in the trailer
after a day of being in that hot Oklahoma sun. The temperature in the
little room hovered around 90 degrees. Even opening up the window and
door
vents didn’t cool his little room. Further the air conditioner, which
relied on the generator, would not work while the trailer was being
towed.
It started from the outside. Our hero solved the heat problem by
stripping down to his jockey shorts and was soon fast asleep.
He woke up, really groggy and a little disoriented. Every one has done
this when they go for a long period without sleep and then only grab a
short nap. The one thing he was sure of when he woke up, was that he had
felt a bump, a sound like a car door shutting and the trailer wasn’t
moving. There was no road noise, the trailer wasn’t shaking, it was
obviously parked. Home at last!!
Since it was just a short dash from the driveway to the back door and it
was the wee hours of the morning, our hero figured he could make the trip
from the trailer dressed in his jockeys. No one could see. Heck with
picking up his clothes, that could wait till morning. So, opening the
door
and anticipating a short walk to the back door our hero steps out
and............
The trailer pulls away behind him, leaving our hero standing in a
McDonalds
Parking lot at 2:00 AM wearing only his jockey shorts.
The Oklahoma turnpike has McDonalds restaurants at the main rest stops.
His wife had stopped for a bathroom break, and a quick cup of coffee.
She
jumped back in the truck, started it and drove off. The trailer, you
remember, had the door on the right side. She didn’t see him get out of
the trailer in her rear view mirrors, nor did she know that he had
stepped
out of the trailer. It was the truck door slamming shut that woke our
hero, and caused him to think that they had arrived home.
Our hero had to suffer the unfortunate embarrassment of walking into the
McDonalds clad only in his Jockey shorts and asking someone to call the
Oklahoma Highway Patrol. And, to say that he was the subject of
considerable laughter was an understatement. In fact, when the OHP
arrived, the officer was laughing so hard, that he was in tears. So was
our hero. The trooper drove him home, laughing all the way. And since
the officer’s car was faster then the truck and race trailer, they both
got
to his house at the same time, to the complete surprise of his wife.
She responded by falling to ground, not with shock, but with laughter.
This, of course, set the trooper off in another laughing fit until both
of
them were gasping, and unable to draw a breath. Our hero could only
suffer in what little dignity he had left.
I don’t suppose there is any moral to this tale but it is just too darn
juicy not to pass on!!!
Don’t let this happen to you.
Merle Grabhorn
grabhorn@busprod.com
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