Hey, I won one! OK, I won three - had a good weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, put the new S2000 on the pole, and checked out in all three of my sprint races.
When you win, you're entitled to a victory lap. You cruise down pit lane, a volunteer worker hands you the checkered flag, and around you go. This lap is cherished (Lord knows amateur racers like me get little return on the blood, sweat, tears and cubic money we pour into the ridiculous hobby), but it's also fraught with peril.
In the photo, note that I've enlisted a crew member to hop in the car's passenger door and hold the flag. This is partly to thank the crew (who put in more hours than the drivers for even less reward), but it's partly to avoid embarrassment.
What embarrassment? Check out that flag. It's big. It whips around quite a bit during the lap of honor. Now imagine yourself trying to hold the flag, steer, change gears, and somehow wave to the spectators. The racing world is rife with stories about dropped flags, stalled cars, and even humiliating spinouts during what is supposed to be a glorious moment.
There you have it: the backstory on victory laps. Wish I had more of 'em under my belt.
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4 comments:
Congratulations!
I don't suppose anyone videoed the race, by any chance?
Gary, I have in-car video - should be able to post it soon.
Congratulations!!!
The coolest victory lap I ever watched was at an indoor motocross event. The race was for kids. No idea the size of the motorcycles, but maybe 50cc or so. The winning rider was maybe five or six years old. As he made his victory lap holding the checkered flag a man ran next to the rider. When they got to the jumps he would grab the flag from the little guy, then hand it back to him when the track smoothed out. It was adorable.
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