The Champion bridge. Marshall Field heir
Ted lost a couple of fingers when he had
trouble steering his F5000 racer and handling
a tow rope at the same time. The car went up
the bank at right and turned over, grinding
off a couple digits when they got tangled
and he couldn't let go of the rope.

Those shutoff markers were a source of amusement to me. When I learned how to do it, I never let off the gas from the exit at Eight until the entrance to Six. Kind of boring in a way, but true. After the first couple of times, I wasn't tempted to let off here, but during IMSA qualifying I did. There was a Scirocco drafting me and I didn't want him to know about not lifting off, in case I got a chance to pass him during the race.

Hey, now! How did he get here? This is actually part of the practice lap the Sprite spinout pictures were taken on. This is much earlier on that lap. Here he is down too low too early. We got to follow him all the way around to Eight, driving better lines and achieving faster exit speeds, but he could accellerate a little faster. You saw what happened.

That view of Start-Finish, with Turn One threading
off to the left up there.

RIR -4-

The Old Riverside Course went straight on down to a 180 near the boilerplate wall you see over there, looking kind of checkered. The dogleg left was just a speed-scrubber in the Vega, and a drifter in fast cars. During some practices, faster cars were going nearly twice the rate I was, when they passed just around the bend.

You can see the end of the Turn Nine wall at the left of the picture. The wall itself is quarter-inch boiler-plate steel, backed by earth. The banking and the speed lasted quite a while (another more-than-180 turn), and it was like Eight in that there was a temptation to pinch down and apex too soon. If you did, you had to back off and steer right to miss the fence at the exit. Missing fences is important. To most of us.

That stuff is really close and at about 90 mph in the Vega it's a bit of a thrill, every lap. The next step is to move across the track, left to right, and get close to the wall under the Starter's stand. Not really necessary in such a slow car, but fulfilling esthetically. And, it gives you a fraction of a second earlier view around Turn One.

A little closer to Start-Finish, and a more visible entry to Turn One. Finished: One Lap Of RIR.