81-Year Old NASCAR Driver

Posted by John Farrier in Sports on August 5, 2009 at 11:12 am

Hershel McGriff, an old NASCAR champion from yesteryear, started racing at the age of 17 in his family’s sedan and last competed in 2002. But he just returned and competed at Portland International Raceway, finishing 13 out of 26:

The odds were against him before the race started. Although he automatically qualified as one of 26 drivers in a race that had 28 spots, he had to start at the back of the pack and one lap down because of changes he made to the car after the qualifying session. He replaced the carburetor.

“I really didn’t have a lot to lose,” he said. “I did not want to go out there and flop around.”

He certainly didn’t, said Inglebright.

“There were a lot of other cars out there that were a lot slower,” the winner said. “He did a great job.”

Inglebright suggested that any concerns about an 81-year-old’s reaction time in a dangerous sport do not necessarily apply to the youthful McGriff.

“I followed him for a little while and I couldn’t get around him,” Inglebright said.

Link via Ride Fast & Shoot Straight

 
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World’s Most Interesting and Dangerous Raceways

Posted by Queuebot in Car & Vehicle, Travel & Places on June 25, 2009 at 1:47 am

Ever since the dawn of civilization, humans have had the need for speed. Indeed, raceways have been in existence for just about as long as we have cars, and although you may have
never found yourself in the middle of a Formula 1 competition, I’m sure
you’ve experienced the  taste of racing in some form or another.

Perhaps our interests in speeding things are the result of an early childhood training. Take, for instance, Disney’s Autopia:

In 1955, Autopia was an example of the multilane limited-access highways which were still being developed. Before the park initially opened, the cars were tested without their rubberized bumpers. This is course resulted in some major collisions, although that was the fun part of the initial test drive. The cars at Autopia were eventually fashioned with rubber bumpers, and a guard rail was put in place to discourage reckless driving. What’s the fun in that!

Over the years, Autopia was updated using the very latest is fashionable vehicles including a 1967 Corvette
Stingray, a Volkswagen Bug, “Dusty, an off-road style car; Sparky, a sports car; and Suzy. Each was designed to be tied into the Chevron line of animated ‘Chevron Cars‘, and 4 versions of the Autopia cars were sold as toys during the 2000 summer season at Chevron stations nationwide.”

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by lannaxe96.

 
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