After the completion of our World of Outlaws Late Model
Series ‘Illini 100’ on March 31 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway, we had no races
scheduled for a month. But I couldn’t go that long without seeing a race, so the
weekend of April 13-14 I decided to load up my car and make a trip from my
Phenix City, Ala., home to Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., for the two-day
Mike Peters Open.
It was Friday the 13th when I headed south to the
Sunshine State – and considering what I saw during my drive to BRP, the day
lived up to its billing.
First, in Georgia, I saw a dump truck off the highway lying
upside down in the trees, with EMS personnel on the scene. An ambulance streaked
by me.
Then, in Cordele, Ga., a semi-truck (cab only, no trailer
attached) was in the slow lane going around 60 mph as I was making a pass in the
middle lane at 70 mph. The semi-truck appeared to be exiting the freeway
off-ramp, but he inexplicably stayed on the shoulder at 60 mph so I moved over.
All of a sudden the truck shot directly left behind me, missing my rear bumper
by less than a foot, and went head-on into the guardrail on the fast-lane side
of the interstate. Parts and pieces of the truck flew everywhere. I stopped,
called 911, and had police and EMS dispatched to the scene as another driver
tended to the driver, who was injured. I’m hoping the truck driver made it
through the accident O.K.
Later, in Florida, another semi-truck suffered a blowout to
the nth degree, as coming up over a
hill I found shredded truck tire everywhere. To make matters worse, the truck’s
rear steel fender was in the middle of the road!
Mercifully, the rest of the trip was uneventful for me and
the Late Model races at BRP were run off well. It was an enjoyable off-weekend
visit to Florida – and once again made it clear that when you live your life as
an Outlaw, sometimes it gets a little exciting on the road.
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