In the straight dragstrip portion that once led to Old Turn Nine there are two white dashes. They are concrete freeway dividers like those now common at street tunnel-racing venues. During a mid-80s IMSA GT event a Fitzpatrick Racing Porsche struck one of these at an un-diminished (and unexplained) rate of speed in the mid- to high-hundreds.

Of the three orange Union 76 balls, the leftmost one is just above the roofs of the Firestone and Goodyear garages, its base at the gasoline station. Just this side of the station is the snack bar and restroom building, where you see the trees. The other two balls have their bases near the ends of the strip of grass separating the track from the racing pit road. (For a true appreciation of these relationships you must have the patience to wait for a 244 K image download)   The nearest ball is partially hidden behind the Winston tower outside Turn Seven.

Below that tower, where the straw bales snuggled up to a three-and-a-half-foot-high chain link fence, I met a trembling Camaro driver. He had lost control cresting Seven and slid backward into the bales. The collision bounced the rear of the car up in the air. When it came down it was centered over the fence. He was trembling because a post came through the drive shaft tunnel and was protruding a significant distance into the cockpit, right at his elbow. Gulp.

Below the rightmost 76 ball is that Starter's stand. After the 1969 Can-Am I relinquished my hard-won perch there to Chris Economaki, who very politely made that request so he could extract Denis Hulme, winner, from the crowd for an interview on Wide World Of Sports. I believe it was earlier on that same weekend when I spent a few minutes discussing the virtues of a new BMW motorcycle with Dick Smothers. Maybe not. Compression effect . . .