Sunday - Racing Resumes

Without stopping at the auto parts store on the way to the track, the team re-grouped at the track for a quick team meeting and a once-over on the truck before the driver's meeting. Robbie skipped the driver's meeting to help me with getting the van unlocked because we somehow locked them inside with the driving suits and helmets. It only took about a half hour and we were back in business.

The team decided that Dennis Gros (Rowdy #5) would be first up today. He got the truck in line early and was the 3rd car on the track to resume pace laps at 9:32 a.m. The green flag dropped at 9:50 a.m. Today is the day that the race is won. There are a lot of cars that won't be starting and, out of those that do, many of them won't make it through the entire day. Not only will the attrition rate climb due to mechanical failures, but the count on penalties resumes and there were a lot of teams that are dangerously close to being put out.

Speaking of penalties, we've seen some pretty wild ones assessed and carried out so far this weekend. Yesterday, I was in the golf cart passing the impound area and saw a guy with his shirt off and his driver's suit tied down around his waist. The strange part was that he had been coated with honey and feathers and he was standing there picking feathers off of himself! I realized after a moment that it was the "Colonel Sanders Penalty." There was the "Sarah Palin 'Hunt the Bear' Penalty" where the driver has to put on lipstick, pull on a camoflaged hood and apply "coon urine." The driver must then take the baby and shotgun and hunt a brown bear in the pits. When the driver returns he/she must then change the baby.

Another of my favorites is the "Barnyard Penalty" where the Arc Angel welds metal farm animals to the roof of the offending car. And another that I saw and almost fell off the top of the motor home from laughter was the "You Drive Like Shit Penalty" where the Arc Angel welded a toilet paper stand on the front fender of a car.

Our friend, Winston Landymore was given the "Grateful Dead Parking Lot Penalty" where he was given a bongo drum and escorted to the stands where he had to play for the crowd until the Judge felt he was sufficietly humiliated. (There are close up pics of the Wheel of Misfortune and the penalties in the Saturday Racing Slideshow.)

At 10:28 a.m. Dennis was brought to the penalty box. The team met up with him while he was getting out of the truck and the penalty was being explained. Supposedly, he passed under a yellow flag and ignored a black flag for quite a while. He was to stay in the penalty box for 30 minutes. In talking, Dennis remembered that an Rx7 was passing him and suddenly put on the brakes to drop back in line. Apparently the official that called it in saw what looked like Dennis going by the RX7. Oh no! That's not going to fly! We explained it to the impound officials and they let us go after 7 minutes into the half hour. Whoo-Hoo! Patty kissed the Judges (on the cheek) before jumping onto the back of the golf cart as it sped back to the pit.

Rowdy #6 (Robbie Poupart) was next up. The team got him in the truck and on the track within 10 minutes from being released from impound. The first standings sheets for the day came out at 11:09 a.m. showing The Professionals in 14th place with 223 laps in the race and a total race time of 7:23:54.944. The team's best lap was now a 1:20.200, probably set by Robbie in his first 25 minutes of his stint. His helmet radio was working and Chris and I had the headsets on to communicate with him and each other. At one point, Chris is telling Robbie to pick out his spot to get in line before going through the tire walls on the back straight. We watched as Robbie made his own lane and drove right up the left side of everyone and ducked in front of them! Chris radioed back, "I'm sorry, I forgot who I was talking to." Robbie keyed back with, "You're talking to Rowdy "F**king" Burns!"

~Patty