be it on tv or in person... a race, meeting a driver, pit/garage experience, and so on.
here's mine...
so, i do love me some open wheel dirt racing. the USAC Silver Crown cars (affectionately nicknamed "fat bottomed girls" ;) , due to their tail tanks being over twice the fuel capacity of a standard sprint car, due to the long distances that they typically run) run in Springfield, IL every August during the state fair, the Bettenhausen 100 has been on the schedule for a very long time now. Springfield is about an hour and 45 minutes from where i live, and the race is typically held on or around my birthday, so that would be a no-brainer right? wrong. for those of you who have been to central Illinois you know it can be oppressively hot and humid. i have been to 2 Bettenhausen 100s in my life, and it has always been when it gets rained out, or for 2020 the fair got cancelled due to COVID. whenever they can't run the race in August, it gets rescheduled for October, which, while chilly, is much better to attend than August.
in 2020 i had the pleasure of seeing Kyle Larson put a beating on the field while he was suspended from NASCAR, wasn't sure if that could be topped.
fast forward to 2022, rain out... and my mind sure was changed about the 2020 race being the best i had seen there. thanks to Kaylee Bryson, the entire place was entertained.
picture it, Springfield, 10/15/2022...
she was 21 at the time, a young lady from Oklahoma who was in her maiden season (part time that year) in Silver Crown. she started 2nd that day and led 74 of 100 laps, ultimately finishing 5th. she led laps 1-22, 24-33, and 35-74. there was a caution thrown on lap 71 and she lost the lead and faded a bit on the restart. not sure if her momentum was lost or she had an issue with her tires or whatever, but she made a ton of fans that day. a Kaylee Bryson Silver Crown shirt hangs in my closet because of what she did that day.
what was so special about how she ran that day? see below...
she is the lone car up top
(https://i.imgur.com/C9cyxtn.jpeg)
yeah, all the "experienced" guys were running low in the turns and she was ripping the lip, riding that cushion and spitting up rooster tails of dirt. not a common thing at a dirt mile.
she eventually became the first female winner in the Silver Crown series at Belleville, KS i do believe the next year. she is still running Silver Crown while getting her feet wet in other forms of racing. lately she has run a 360 sprint car at Knoxville a few weekends.
you hate to see them move on to pavement and such (see Corey Day) but you gotta wish the best for them.
Believe it was 1991. Busch race at Orange County Speedway, Jimmy Hensley was in an unsponsored car running second to Robert Presley. They were the only two on the lead lap, bumper to bumper, with less than 20 to go, when a caution came out. On the restart, Jeff Burton, who was not on the lead lap, jumped up between them and Robert pulled away. Jimmy finally got around him and caught up as the race ended. I seen Jimmy in the infield right afterwards, told him that I would go get a few hits on Burton before his crew would get to me. He declined my offer, but his wife heard me, invited me to their home sometime, and we've been friends ever since.
Quote from: jh63fan on June 12, 2025, 04:25:44 PMBelieve it was 1991. Busch race at Orange County Speedway, Jimmy Hensley was in an unsponsored car running second to Robert Presley. They were the only two on the lead lap, bumper to bumper, with less than 20 to go, when a caution came out. On the restart, Jeff Burton, who was not on the lead lap, jumped up between them and Robert pulled away. Jimmy finally got around him and caught up as the race ended. I seen Jimmy in the infield right afterwards, told him that I would go get a few hits on Burton before his crew would get to me. He declined my offer, but his wife heard me, invited me to their home sometime, and we've been friends ever since.
That's a great story! Always liked Jimmy Hensley, seemed like a real humble, down to earth guy.
Way back in the late 80's I had moved up to running a limited late model. This was before LLM's were running aftermarket bodies, stubbed chassis or offset tube chassis's. We were racing real cars. Anyway, my first season was Bobby Hamilton's last in a LLM. He was actually racing an LLM and a LM. I was not getting the hang of the wedge bolt, racing shock deal and he helped get me close. Actually got to go out on the track and follow him for a few laps to get the line. He knew that I was never going to be a threat to him and his car owners budget. Anyway, super nice guy. RIP Bobby Hamilton
Drinking free Coors Light and eating free bbq sandwiches in the pits of the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway after qualifying night for the All American 400 with Dick Trickle at his hauler. Got pictures of that night! What a great guy! RIP Dick Trickle
It's a vague memory but I do remember my dad taking me to the Winston at Charlotte in 1990. I wasn't quite 3 years old yet so I don't remember most of it but the two things I do are seeing Richard Petty's blue and red STP Pontiac and Rusty Wallace's black and gold 27 Miller Pontiac. I wish I could remember more like the fact that Dick Trickle won the open, which was the only thing he ever won in a Cup car, but I didn't find that out until several years later.
Around that same time my dad took me to a car show where they had one of those simulator rides (the ones that look like the GM APVs) and Bill Elliott did the intro for the video.
Really thought this topic would take off and have a ton of entries. Since not, here's number 2 on my list:
Again 1991, fall Martinsville race. Harry Gant was in control and on his way to his fourth Cup victory in a row, when Rusty Wallace turned him around and the Bandit received some pretty significant damage. My friend with me at the race was a huge Gant fan, I kinda fibbed a little when I told him Harry had enough time to get back to the front. I believe Rusty was leading when Gant got to him, he just moved over and let him go. Guess he didn't want a dose of his own medicine. Harry ended up with the grandfather clock after some amazing driving.
Don't know if Speedracer has seen this or not. Hopefully he'll chime in with a story or two. He raced on dirt for years.