Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!!

How bad have you got it? Probably not this bad

By Marty Smith, NASCAR.COM
September 28, 2006
10:20 AM EDT (14:20 GMT)


A couple years back, NASCAR posed a question to its fans by way of a whimsical advertising campaign: How bad have you got it?

The spots were quite clever, played well off of intricate NASCAR details -- stuff hardcore fans consider hysterical and casual fans find intriguing, like caution flags stationed in vases outside familial restrooms and fragments of badminton nets recycled as window nets and ripping doughnuts in the cul-de-sac following victory in the neighborhood poker game.

Good stuff, certainly.

But believe me, those examples pale in comparison to a true life "How bad have you got it?" story from Dover last weekend.

Cyndi Sanford and her boyfriend, John Orr, arrived in Dover on Tuesday, set up camp in Lot 2 on the Dover International Speedway grounds -- chairs, NASCAR flags, grills. The essentials. After dinner, they hit the hay knowing sleep would be minimal for the remainder of the week.

The following evening, while introducing himself to neighbors, John heard a noise that sounded like an explosion. Cyndi, who was inside the camper, heard nothing, but could see red flashing lights out the window. When she emerged from the camper, she and John noticed fire trucks swarming in their vicinity, just a stone's throw away in Lot 2.

A propane gas line had ruptured in a nearby camper, triggering an explosion that blew out an entire side of the vehicle. When Cyndi and John arrived at the scene, the camper was aflame. Thick, black smoke billowed from every window and door. Plastic pieces melted in strings like cheese on a pizza.

Fortunately the owners, Nancy and Rich Gower of Jersey Shore, Penn., were out to dinner when the explosion occurred. Nancy sought to cook dinner at the campsite that evening, but Rich, knowing his wife was exhausted following a lengthy travel day, insisted they go out to eat.

"That change of plans saved their lives," Sanford said Wednesday. "I believe that."

Some 10 minutes later, at roughly 9:30 p.m., Nancy and Rich returned from dinner to a decimated living space. As the fire marshal on the scene explained the disastrous circumstances to Rich, and firemen plunged heavy axes into the sides and top of the Gowers' motor home, Nancy just stood there, staring, alone, hands covering her mouth.

Amid the chaos, Cyndi eased over, offered embrace to a woman she'd never met. She and Nancy hugged.

"You can't just leave somebody standing there," Cyndi said. "She just stared and stared and cried and cried, and I tried to reassure her, [saying] 'Hey, this looks bad, but you're here, you're not in the hospital. You're not dead. He's not hurt. This can be replaced.' Just saying anything you can."

"I was in a daze. Shocked," Nancy said Wednesday evening. "What do you do? You're standing there and your motor home's blown up? You're in a shock. The first thing that came to mind was 'What are we going to do?' The next thing was our tickets."

"When they were finally able to get inside the motor home, the first thing she yelled out to them was, 'Please find my tickets!'" Cyndi chuckled. "I kind of giggled. I was like, 'You really are a NASCAR fan!' She just kept saying it, 'Please find my tickets.' Well, he found her tickets."

They hadn't been touched. No damage.

"The explosion blew the side out of the motor home, blew the doors open, totaled it," Nancy said. "My Jeff Gordon coat was destroyed and my Jeff Gordon bag. My doll. I had pictures of him all over the motor home.

"My husband's a Kasey Kahne fan, but he had all Bill Elliott stuff all over the place. He lost some of it. It's destroyed, but that's OK. It can be replaced."

Pause...

"But they did save my tickets!" Nancy said.

So, uh, how bad have you got it?
 

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Wow, that was quite an unusual finish to a race.

Congrats to fat boy for being able to coast the last half a lap (without any fuel) for a win. Unbelievable.

First fuel milage win for the 20.

Mile and half (cookie cutter) tracks suck, imo.

Spyder, sorry about JG's fuel pump. Tough break man. :(
 
I must admit. I never thought I'd live to see Pasta Boy win a fuel mileage race, but wow, what an exciting finish. To see Tony glide dead stick around the final few turns hoping like hell to coast across the finish line before his 17 second lead evaporated was a site to behold. I won't soon forget this race. I mean, it's one thing to run out of fuel after taking the checkered flag, but quite another, to still win the race while running out of fuel after you received the 'one lap to go' signal. Of course, seeing the #24 on pit road with a few laps remaining didn't sit all that well for me, but with how things shook out by race end, Jeff didn't fair too badly. Things could have been much, much worse for the Dupont Chevy.

Next week, Talladega!!!

- Spydertrader

<img src=http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=1217728>
 

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