Carl, you are correct that it was not turn 6 that presented the brake
"fade" in the Mustang, but rather turn 9. And the straight at that time
had a dogleg to the left around half way down toward 9 and I guess that
turn had been widened out a bit.
I had a near death experience at Riverside around 1966. I was crew for
Jerrel Henry at the runoffs. He was driving an X team 289 Cobra that
year. In addition to my crew pass I also had a photographers pass to
take some photos for a local publication for which I still write monthly.
I was standing on the point where cars would move drivers right to enter
the pits, or continue down the S/F straight. I had set up a tripod
right next to the concrete block wall pointing my camera toward the exit
of turn 9. Brave sole back then, today I would not get anywhere near
that point. No guard rail, only the block wall about 5 or 6 blocks high
and backed with dirt with me standing on top.
It was the B Production race and several laps in I took my camera off
the tripod and was looking down changing the film. Suddenly Danny
Gerber's Shelby Mustang was tapped coming out of 9, he swerved drivers
right and slammed into the wall inches from where I was standing. There
was this awful noise and I dropped my camera, broke it incidentally, and
looked up in time to see Danny's car, literally inches from my head,
spinning down track and about 5 feet in the air. Needless to say there
was mayhem as he was one of the leading cars, track blockage, impacts,
big problems.
I told the folks I was with that I could do anything I wanted the rest
of the day as it was not my time to die. If the reaper had wanted me,
he certainly had his best shot at that moment.
Cheers to all,
Larry Dent, Ex Driver (retired this year) SCCA National Chief Steward,
SOVERN Chief Steward and general nar-do-well!!!!!
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