Latest / BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show / In her own words: Nancy Crowther

Transcript

In her own words: Nancy Crowther · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

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Grand Touring Motorsports started as a social group of car enthusiasts,
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but we've expanded into all sorts of motorsports disciplines, and we
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want to share our stories with you.
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Years of racing, wrenching, and motorsports experience brings
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together a top notch collection of knowledge and information
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through our podcast, Brake Fix.
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In this special Pit Stop Minisode, Alana Roberts chats with Nancy
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Crowther, widow of the late David Crowther, featured in Alana's
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Argensinger Symposium presentation, The Ultimate Weekend Warrior.
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They chat about his extensive racing history and their life together in Canada.
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Dave was a passionate motorsport enthusiast.
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He raced various Mini Coopers in different disciplines of motorsport, including
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road racing, autocross, and ice racing.
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The interview weaves through anecdotes about Nancy and Dave's journey,
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starting from their meeting, dating, and into their 59 years together.
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It highlights significant events like Dave's victories, their shared
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experiences, from simple beginnings of their racing with no trailers,
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camping at events, and the camaraderie within the racing community.
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Dave's story also touches on cherished memorabilia that he kept, like news
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clippings and trophies, which was all part of his meticulous nature.
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Alana's goal in this is to preserve his legacy, underscoring his
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modesty and his passion for racing.
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And this episode serves as a wonderful reminder of the constant
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evolution of motorsport at every level, and the preservation of these
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memories for future generations.
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His wife Nancy initially gave him a year to get it out of his system,
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but soon Nancy herself was equally captivated by the racing world.
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Turning what was meant to be a brief phase into a lifetime of
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mutual enthusiasm and competition.
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Mark had told us stories about Dave, and I knew his wife Nancy is still alive.
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But up until recently, I had not had the honor of meeting her.
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During a trip this year to Canada for Bronte British Car Day, Mark and Trevor
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surprised me with the opportunity to sit down and talk with Nancy.
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I was only mildly annoyed that I hadn't had a chance to prepare
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questions, but it didn't matter.
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Nancy knew Dave, and Nancy was there for his passion in more ways than one.
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Instead of trying to sum up Nancy's role, I'd instead like to play a
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clip from my time spent with her.
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So they're doing like, uh, It's a symposium.
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It's a symposium, so it's basically she's going to be talking about Dave and
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his racing history, and just all about Dave, and Misty, and Minerva and Gumby.
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Yeah.
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Not so much about Gumby, but there's not too much about Gumby.
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No, no, not much on Gumby, but Minerva and all of his racing time.
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Oh, Minerva and I go to, yeah.
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Exactly.
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And I was like, Nancy will have a million Well, Minerva was
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number four, I think, right?
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I think there was a three.
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But they were all Minervas.
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Of course.
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Well, there's no other Minerva.
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Minerva is Minerva.
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Yeah.
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I name all my cars.
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Oh, I name mine, and so did Dave, so.
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Oh, they all have to have a name.
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Personality.
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Even my master has a name.
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I have questions that I prepared, that I just kind of figured.
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What?
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I'm supposed to tell you?
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When we met, Dave and I, uh, like we were married 54 years, and we dated for 5.
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So 59 years of my life.
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When we actually, we met at work.
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He was my boss.
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Uh, yeah.
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Um, I was engaged to someone else.
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Oh my gosh.
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Instantly with Dave and I, there was like a, a zzz, an attraction, you
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know, like, cars didn't enter into it.
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It was just like a, an attraction.
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Then when I got to know him, of course, I heard all about the cars.
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Now he was driving a Mini.
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I should have known.
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You know, and um, all his friends had Minis.
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Well, he raced in the, um, no, yeah, the Herald.
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Oh, yeah, yeah, before the Mini, he had a Triumph Herald.
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That was his first car.
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And he raced in the, uh, what was that?
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San Diego Grand Prix.
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I mean, no, no, no, sorry, the, um, Winter Rally.
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The Winter Rally, yeah, in 62.
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Won Winter Rally.
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That was before me.
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Ah, okay.
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Okay.
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He had a best friend named Colin, who had an MG. Colin had
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a, um, A very terrific father.
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Colin's father was born in England.
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He was just a factory worker, like Colin's father.
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Dave's father was like a manager.
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He was higher up.
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Now it was Colin's father, not Dave's father, but he said to the boys, Colin
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and Dave, I'm going to give you boys 500 each for entry fees to go racing.
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Okay?
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And in those days that was That was, you know, that was, you know, okay.
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So, both of them, they went as a team.
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Both were red, like Dave's Misty, and then the MG. And they raced, and the
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year before we got married, he did it.
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Uh, we were engaged, but, but I said, you gotta get that out of your system.
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Because once we're married, you know, like, other things, right?
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But I could tell, like, right from the beginning, like, Motorsport was his thing.
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So, he decided that's what he wanted, a year of racing.
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And he thought he'd sort of get it out of the system.
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But it ended up, immediately went into the driving skills slalom.
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And we did that for a long, long time.
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And did the whole Ontario circuit.
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And it meant travelling a lot.
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We started out very basic.
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David would change the tires at the event.
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He put the, uh, Racing cutters in the backseat.
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We do that now, isn't it?
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We didn't have a trailer.
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That's how we started.
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I used to always, always go with him.
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More or less a crew.
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You know, like I'd keep track of all his scoring.
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I loved doing it.
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I enjoyed being there.
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That explains why all the scoring is so neatly written.
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Well, I don't necessarily agree with that because he was very neat too.
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And very meticulous as well.
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It was probably him, not me.
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I've seen both your handwritings, they're both pretty good.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, they're now, so when he was road racing, I was always involved.
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Like I, I enjoyed timing and lap scoring.
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We belonged to a car club and I got a reputation for the
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timing and the lap scoring.
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So when the car club was doing events, I always got stuck in the
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timing, in the timing of things, like right from the beginning.
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I enjoyed cars, I enjoyed raising, and I was happy doing what I was doing.
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I, in those days, it was very.
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There are a few girls that actually competed, it was more a men's sport,
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and I really, really, really did not want to put the strain on the car, like
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blow out the transmission or something.
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You know what I mean?
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So, I was fine doing with what I was doing.
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With the solo events, eventually it got to the stage where I wasn't enjoying it.
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Being in a parking lot with no trees, and no shade, I can't take sun, I
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burn and I peel, I burn and I peel.
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Even with a hat and long sleeves and everything, you know, because you
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used to have to work when you went.
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Yep, you still do.
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Still do, yeah.
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Marshalling and checkpoints.
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Now you don't have to climb, of course.
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Now it's everything is still up on it, right?
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But, it got to me.
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It really got to me.
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I used to have to take gallons of drinks, like lemonade, water.
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And, um, of course, then you have to use the washroom.
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Mm-hmm . Yep.
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It's all port potties and a washroom.
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Like, just wild, you know?
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Yep.
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And like Mo, even most for like, that's real, really come, it's been
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upgraded of what they call now, um, Canadian Tire, motor Sport Park.
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It's no longer called Mosport, but used to go, it was like outhouses or
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Johnny's on the spot and they were not.
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It was like male and female, it was like, yeah, so you go in and you'd end up with
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wet jeans and pinch your nose and yeah, like, yeah, with, with the girls, like
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you'd end up all your jeans would be wet.
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A couple of times I went at night before we settled down and I got grabbed by the
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ankles, like, getting my way through these people that were passed out and drunk and
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they went to pull me like on my ankles and I came back to them and I was shaking.
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And they said, what's happened?
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I said, well, I. So, right, I've got a cat going to the bathroom, okay?
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Yeah.
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No problem.
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No problem.
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We'll go back to sleep.
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So, anyway, yeah.
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Yeah, when I said I was sort of losing interest in the slalom, we were living
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in Mississauga in Port Credit, and the event was at Square One, so it
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was just like a ten minute drive.
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I said, I'll come up, if you tell me approximately when you're running,
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I'll come up and I'll watch you.
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But I'm not going to spend a day there in the sun.
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So, he looked really thoughtful when I said that.
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He was losing interest too.
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He was getting tired of it.
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That's sort of, I think, all I needed.
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I like to think that anyway.
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I don't like to think I was instrumental in him stopping
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because he did really well at it.
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He had like walls of plaques.
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Oh yeah.
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Does that sound familiar?
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Yeah.
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In Canada, all you get is a trophy or a wall plaque.
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You don't get money.
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Well done!
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Another plaque for your wall.
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Here, here's your plastic cup.
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Yeah, really, really.
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In our region, if you get first place, you get a glass pint glass.
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Oh yeah, so we have a few of those in our cabinets at home.
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Is that right?
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It's kind of funny that you mention that, because of course, I've
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been autocrossing for a number of years, I've gotten her into it.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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And, uh, it's like I enjoy it, but at the same time, it's, I want more.
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Well, we found, we got invited through the slalom one year, the United States invited
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us down for an invitational solo event.
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And it was done through the Corvettes.
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I remember seeing the program for this.
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We should have, widened up to that.
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Yeah.
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Corvette Club invites you to.
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And so, but it was me going down because it was, we had I
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think six minis, seven minis.
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Nice.
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And we went through the tunnel.
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And the guard was at the end, like, you know, like, the American guard was at
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the end and he, the look on his eyes, his eyes were getting bigger and bigger.
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It was like the Italian job, because we all had these abrasive exhausts on.
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Oh my God.
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And like all, they were all Cuberessas, right?
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So, vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, you know, and the guard's looking
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like, what the hell is coming at me?
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You know, these six little minis.
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Here we go.
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And vroom, vroom, vroom.
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So, anyway, that was us.
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But when we got there, we didn't know what to expect.
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So, we're watching the Corvette, probably this Corso.
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It was in a park.
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It was very pretty.
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I don't know if it's changed now, but down there, And they
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marked the course with a chalk.
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Chalk.
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Yep.
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They still do that.
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Yeah.
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I could not believe it.
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You can't go off course.
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All the little Right now, when Dave took me out, clubs that allow passengers
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mm-hmm . He'd take me out and until he did that, I had no idea how hard it is.
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How fast they're going.
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Yeah.
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I mean, my god, like I, I got out of the car.
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I said, how do you do this?
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How do you not get lost?
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You know?
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Yeah.
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That's how they were.
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And wherever the Corvettes lost the back end mm-hmm
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. Mm-hmm . They'd make it wider.
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I said to Dave, well this, we came all this way for this, you know, I
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said, there's no way the minis are gonna win with And the long straight.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Hardly any corners, right?
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Mm-hmm . Keep it wide open to Corvette life.
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Mm-hmm.
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Yep.
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And so anyway, and then we saw where they booked us into, uh, holiday in.
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And it was Detroit.
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And, um, Beautiful breakdown.
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So I'm looking when we get to our room and Dave says, what are you looking at?
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And I said, there's holes in our window going out to the balcony.
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I said, are those bullet holes?
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Dave says, yeah.
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I said, we're changing sides on the bed tonight.
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You get the window side.
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You get the balcony side.
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So anyway, yeah, I was not impressed at all with coming down for the
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American Slip On, and none of us did.
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I know exactly what event you're talking about.
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Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Because he saved the postcard, and he saved the directions down to the event.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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That's what's so cool about this, is I can tell exactly
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which event you're talking about.
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It's the detail in which he kept it.
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Yes.
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It's amazing.
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I know, it was like that.
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Yeah.
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Like even his drawers, I could never take the laundry in.
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Yeah.
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Everything had to be.
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Just so.
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All the socks had to be lined up, colors all together.
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I remember the one time I was privileged enough to meet Dave.
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We came out, I think you were picking up either engine
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parts or something like that.
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I can't remember exactly.
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I was picking up all the, uh, the stuff from The barn or whatever.
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Down in the, down in the shop in, uh, where the rest
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of that Cooper ass had gone.
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Um, where the engine was.
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Yeah.
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But, it was just, again, like, walking to the garage, and I was like, This
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shelf is this, this shelf is this.
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Well, his garage was.
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Like when he was alive.
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got pretty messy after you done right?
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I'm sure.
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Well, it wasn't even messy after, you know, it was still pretty
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organized, but like, it was just all the junk was together.
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I, I remember seeing all the tires I had seeing Misty for the first time.
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Yeah.
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But also I saw he had the accessory ashtray in the door and all that.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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I saw the box and I was like, the box, oh, I, it is life dying.
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Yeah.
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He goes, yeah, just leave it right there.
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. Alright.
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Box goes with the.
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It was with the ashtray that's in the door.
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I know he's never seen this, the mini, right?
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Yeah.
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And when I wear it and somebody knows, where did you get that?
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Of course, because it's very unique.
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Dave just found it.
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Yeah.
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He didn't order it.
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He just found it.
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And he knew that I'd love it.
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Of course.
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Of course he got the chain and everything, but he found the charm.
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The charm's, the charm's then after he got it, I could have, I could have probably
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sold 500 of them and asked Eight hundred dollars a piece for them, you know.
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Where did you get that?
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Well, I didn't save it.
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Trevor bought me a necklace just like that.
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Oh, did he?
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Yeah, it's amazing, you know.
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I've never seen another one.
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It's nice to have.
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It didn't come in bold.
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Going through his things, it's like He kept everything.
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I mean, the banquet tickets, the menus.
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Yeah, and Mark said you're into horses.
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I am.
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I'm a horse girl.
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Dave was into horses too.
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That's my bear.
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He went through a stage of, aww.
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Yeah.
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Harness horses.
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Okay.
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Like, he got out of it and I'm glad because I don't know
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about your type of horses.
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I fall in love with animals.
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Me too, yep.
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Like, I totally fall in love with animals.
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That's why I have animals everywhere.
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I was gonna say your chipmunk mark took That's my Sammy at my house.
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Yeah.
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I had a tamed chipmunk and actually Dave really did most of the taming,
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but she was used to both of us chicken.
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Oh, yep.
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Onto your shoulder and cake peanut.
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That's great.
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And Mark was feeding her there.
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They're supposed to have a life of seven years.
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We know.
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She, she was around for 10.
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Oh my gosh.
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Oh my gosh.
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But I'm sure it's all the peanuts we gave her.
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Yeah.
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For the, she kept her going through the winter.
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Right.
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No, it's just a phase Dave went through, and then he decided he liked cars better.
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Yeah.
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I still like the car.
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I find them more predictable.
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Yeah, I think it was like a midlife thing he was going through.
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You know, like, one of his midlife things.
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That and his motorcycle.
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Oh, yeah.
15:36
Oh, yes.
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Did Dave ever do any racing in the States?
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Other than, uh, the solos?
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No.
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Okay.
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Not that I know of.
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Okay, so I know he's got like a checkered flag from Watkins Bluff.
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We regularly go down to race.
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Yes.
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Okay.
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To watch, yeah.
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We went together often.
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Yeah, that's around where we live.
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Okay.
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So we love it down there.
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We went before we were married, too, for one.
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It was cute.
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Bunch of girls and a bunch of guys and the girl end of things.
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One of the girls had arranged for the tent.
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Ended up to be a Boy Scout tent that was used.
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Oh.
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And it was humongous.
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Humongous this tent.
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And we ended up having half the camping area in our tent.
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That's fantastic.
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Because the ones that the guys got wasn't big enough.
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Yeah, yeah.
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They ended up in the tent.
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And then there was a few that came that were sleeping in the back of their trucks.
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Nice.
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They didn't have any.
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So everybody's like, come on in.
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So was that for Formula One races?
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I think that was.
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Yeah.
16:38
I feel good about it.
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Yeah.
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It gave us into, not into it, but through our car club we got involved in the Indy.
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Okay.
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The Indy series, it was because our car club took care of the supporting
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races when I won the Toronto Indy.
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Oh, that was very cool.
16:54
Okay, so it was BARC, British American Racing Club.
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As I said, like I had the timing, that's what my thing was, and Peter
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Wright was our ice racing pal and his wife was in timing as well.
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Lori and I were in the timing end of the supporting races and it would
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change every year like we did it for seven years Players challenge
17:13
one year Formula four is one year.
17:16
So it's all different a good mix and basically, you're just doing
17:20
the mock grid and Before they go out before the public season, right?
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I'm making sure these approved and they got the sticker and safety
17:28
and that's all we did and then David Peter though They got They
17:32
were in the hot part of the track.
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And if we had to re grid the race, you know, if something had happened, they
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had all the stats to re grid the cars.
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So they were with the Indy, right?
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They could go into the paddocks.
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Oh, that's really cool.
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But we used to find, like, when we did it, we used to take a
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week's holidays each to do it.
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Okay.
17:49
We used to take the Indy.
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Like at home.
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Because you see more on TV.
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Oh yeah, absolutely.
17:54
Well yeah, I mean, you know, with a podcast, you can go any, you know.
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Yeah, yeah.
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But no, you don't see the whole race.
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No, you see a couple of corners at a time.
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You're better off than watching it on TV.
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Yeah.
18:02
We 1.
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Yeah.
18:04
Yes.
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And we were at the first Formula 1 race in Montreal.
18:07
Oh, very cool.
18:08
So we went to that.
18:08
And I was not impressed the way you have to sit in grandstands.
18:11
Yeah.
18:12
Yeah.
18:12
Again, all you saw was one silly corner, right?
18:15
Yeah.
18:15
And they didn't have the TV screen up there.
18:17
Yeah.
18:17
Yeah.
18:18
And also it was like, to me, it was like.
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It's like 20 cars go by.
18:24
But he was like that.
18:25
And we did the ice racing every winter.
18:28
I remember the first time I saw Minerva was when Mark picked her up.
18:31
I know.
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And we were saying, this is seeing some serious ice time.
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I don't think there was a straight panel on that car.
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I don't even think Mark really knew that ice racing existed until he
18:44
sort of stopped in and saw Dave.
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Because he, he was more into Misty than he was Minerva.
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And when he went in the crash, of course Minerva's there, right?
18:52
And he left and it's all dimpled and dented.
18:55
It wasn't a flat part of the body, right?
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It was so pretty though.
18:58
And, uh, we rolled in that car.
19:01
I was with him.
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Yeah, that's what Mark was saying.
19:03
What was that like?
19:03
Glad you survived that.
19:05
I found it slow motion for Daniel.
19:07
Yeah.
19:08
For Dave it was really fast.
19:09
Yeah.
19:10
But with me it was like, and apparently it's something that happens.
19:12
And I thought, oh.
19:14
We're going to roll.
19:17
That's how I felt.
19:18
Yeah.
19:18
Yeah, yeah.
19:19
Did it have a cage or no?
19:20
Oh, yeah.
19:20
Okay.
19:22
Yeah, like, I was upside down.
19:23
Yes.
19:24
Hanging from my harness.
19:25
Now, my head was really heavy because I had the full face.
19:28
Yeah.
19:28
Yeah, yeah.
19:29
And I was swinging in the harness.
19:30
Oh, yeah.
19:31
A friend of ours, who drives a Mini, I don't know whatever possessed
19:35
him, he's trying to steady my body, and he said, it's okay, I got you.
19:39
And he's trying to touch my release button.
19:41
Oh, geez.
19:43
Yeah.
19:43
I said, don't touch it.
19:46
Don't tip me over.
19:49
Don't tip me over.
19:51
Don't hit the jacks.
19:52
Yeah, just make the car the right way.
19:57
Meanwhile, there's no windscreen left.
19:59
Dave and Peter ran all weekend with no windscreen.
20:01
Oh, that's a chilly day.
20:03
And it was like minus, I think it got to be minus twelve or something like that.
20:07
Yeah.
20:08
And there was snow coming in the car.
20:10
Your job when you were in the Mini, like, I was the second,
20:13
was to scrape the inscription.
20:15
The green screen so that they could see where they were going.
20:18
Our job got a whole lot easier.
20:19
Yeah, yeah.
20:20
And like, uh, ours had a welded diff on the front.
20:24
But before we welded the diff, the job of the passenger is
20:28
to get Wait over the driveway.
20:30
Yeah.
20:31
All right.
20:31
So yeah, you had to be a certain way, you know Yeah, you get the weight down,
20:37
but you didn't want anybody to have it.
20:38
Yeah, you know, yeah, so it was all a matter of science So that's it.
20:42
They would look at me like when the points were really tight for the last couple of
20:46
races and we were lining up There was a guy that was just neck and neck with us
20:51
in points, and right at the last, his passenger got out of the car, and Dave
20:55
said bye to me, like, get out of the car, like, you know, get out of the car.
20:59
Say, say, wait, move on.
21:00
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
21:01
And, uh, the weather was so nice that race.
21:04
Yeah, I need more grip.
21:05
Here, eat this cheeseburger.
21:06
We watched the race from somebody's dock in shorts.
21:10
Oh my god it was a nice warm day in Palm Beach.
21:12
It was gorgeous!
21:13
Yeah.
21:13
And the ice was separating.
21:15
The ice was separating from the shore.
21:16
Mark didn't enjoy ice racing.
21:18
You didn't get the equipment you need.
21:20
You need to have snowmobile suit, snowmobile boots.
21:23
And you need to be ready for cold.
21:24
Oh yeah.
21:25
And he was like, every time we went, well, we came every A couple of times, yeah.
21:30
Your wife did, but we didn't.
21:31
Nope, gotta be fair to Nicole up there.
21:34
He was chattering.
21:36
His lips were, you know.
21:38
He was so calm.
21:38
You're so weak willed, Mark.
21:40
And I could tell he wasn't enjoying it.
21:42
And I sort of thought, well, geez.
21:45
We really burst the guy's bubble.
21:47
He was looking forward.
21:48
It was good fun that you're on the track.
21:50
The rest of it was kind of like Yeah.
21:53
Cold and wet.
21:55
Yeah, yeah.
21:56
No, you didn't.
21:57
I could tell.
21:57
I didn't enjoy it.
21:58
No.
21:59
Not what you thought it was going to be.
22:01
No.
22:01
No.
22:02
I prefer the warmer weather.
22:03
Yeah, I know you do.
22:04
I prefer the warmer weather probably.
22:05
I'm a short cinnamon sandals kind of individual.
22:08
Yeah.
22:09
So obviously, Dave did it all.
22:11
Oh yeah.
22:12
He autocrossed, he ice raced, he road raced.
22:15
Did he have a particular favorite or any favorite track or?
22:18
I would say it's gotta be, he always wanted to go back to vintage.
22:22
So it's probably road racing.
22:24
Okay.
22:25
If he hadn't gotten sick, cause he couldn't breathe.
22:27
If he hadn't been chained to the oxygen, you probably would have
22:30
seen him in Varac in Minerva.
22:32
Mhm.
22:32
Pretty cool.
22:33
In the middle of a challenge car, yeah.
22:36
Oh, he used to be on the World Atlanta every year.
22:38
Oh, very cool.
22:39
With three other fellas, it was no women, it was just a bachelor thing.
22:42
Yeah, yeah.
22:43
And, uh Who was your They met Paul Newman.
22:46
Oh, that's cool.
22:48
Uh, yeah.
22:49
And, have you met Scott Lucas?
22:52
No.
22:52
I don't think so.
22:53
No.
22:53
Okay.
22:53
He, um, he was a mini driver at a friend of Dave's.
22:56
And, you have to know Scotty, like, he's just a hell of a guy anyway.
23:01
He was struggling along.
23:03
He'd had a beer.
23:03
He'd had a beer or two.
23:05
So the story goes with David.
23:07
Somebody was honking behind him.
23:09
So he moved over and they still kept honking.
23:11
And so he swore at them.
23:13
Yeah.
23:14
Yeah.
23:14
I don't know what he said.
23:15
Yeah.
23:15
Yeah.
23:16
And they said, Do you realize who you just told that?
23:20
Paul probably loved it.
23:21
You know, like, Scott, do you realize who that was?
23:24
You know, like, and he said, Well, who was it?
23:28
He said, well, it was Paul Newman, and he says, big deal.
23:32
He said, I still would have said it, you know, like.
23:34
That's awesome, yeah.
23:35
So that evening, he came over to their campfire.
23:38
They always used to put a Canadian flag up.
23:40
Yeah.
23:41
He came over.
23:42
Now, I don't know whether he came over because Scott told him to F off.
23:45
I don't know.
23:45
He just sat down, the four of them, I guess their jaw dropped.
23:49
He's like, what are you doing?
23:51
And they're like, why are you here?
23:52
And he said, I just came over to see if you guys have got
23:55
any of that good Canadian beer.
23:58
So he said, Oh, sure.
24:00
Yeah.
24:01
And he spent all like three hours at the campfire.
24:04
Those were some of my favorite stories.
24:06
It's just the people you meet.
24:07
Oh yeah.
24:07
Now when Dave and I went down to the Killing Indy race,
24:11
we did that through PBG.
24:12
Dave worked for Reynolds Aluminum, and PPG did the dye for their aluminum siding.
24:19
So that's how this all happened.
24:20
So they had a PPG Reynolds Aluminum seminar.
24:23
They wanted them to mingle.
24:25
So when dinner came, they mixed all this, they took the
24:28
names, typed it, and mixed it.
24:30
Dave ends up sitting beside the president of PPG.
24:34
Now Dave could talk to anyone, he was really good with
24:37
people, very good with people.
24:39
So anyway.
24:40
This guy says to him, he says, Oh, he said, you'll have to excuse me.
24:44
He said, I'm so tired.
24:45
He said, it was my weekend to host the hospitality tent at the last Indy race.
24:51
He said, so I didn't get a lot of sleep.
24:53
So Dave starts talking, racing, he said, Oh, yeah, yeah.
24:56
So they started talking racing.
24:58
So he said, so you and your wife like racing?
25:00
They said, Oh yeah, my wife loves it and I love it too.
25:03
So he said, well, how would you and she like to go on a weekend on us?
25:08
To any Indy race that you want to go to.
25:10
Oh my gosh.
25:10
Oh wow.
25:11
On us.
25:12
You know, like, you'd have to get there.
25:14
Yeah.
25:14
But like, the whole, the entry, and we'll all be covered by PPG, right?
25:19
Oh yeah, yeah.
25:20
Just, you know, so David had just bought our slide in camper
25:25
to fit on our pickup truck.
25:26
Yeah.
25:27
And he used to say to me, had it been an outhouse, that
25:30
would have slid into the truck.
25:32
Yeah.
25:33
He would have bought it because I hated the bathroom so much, but it was
25:37
gorgeous king size bed Nice furnace fridge kitchen with four burners stove
25:42
in an oven a bathroom gorgeous All I needed yeah Like I said, we just bought
25:50
it it was used We just bought our house and Dave fell in love with a motorhome.
25:55
And because of this racing, he thought we should buy the motorhome.
25:59
And we just bought our first house.
26:00
Motorhome's important.
26:02
Oh, very!
26:03
I'm trying to get him to send the video in here.
26:04
Our house cost 62, 000, I think.
26:07
The motor home was more, the motor home was $90,000, right?
26:13
Yeah.
26:13
Okay.
26:14
On sale for $90,000.
26:17
So this wheeler dealer salesman says, well, what you and the,
26:20
the little lady kept calling me.
26:22
You and the little lady who had a good job at the bank, which they
26:27
factored into the scheme of things.
26:30
Yeah.
26:30
You just sign here on the dotted line.
26:33
And you'll never have to make a motorhome payment, because what they do is they
26:36
lease it out for you, and you'd let them know how many weekends you want it, but
26:40
what they don't tell you is you have to keep replacing the motorhome, because
26:44
you're putting people that you're leasing, you're putting miles on it, depreciates,
26:48
so every year and a half, you're having to buy a bigger and better motorhome, right?
26:53
So I said, I said to him, we were having issues about it.
26:56
I said, look, I said, if it comes to a decision, whether we have to
27:00
pay the house payment, the mortgage payment, and Or the motorhome payment,
27:04
which is what I'm going to pay.
27:05
I don't want to live in a motorhome.
27:08
I waited a long time for house, so I said no, I'm not signing.
27:12
It's not that we couldn't have done it, but I just didn't
27:14
want to be financially hurt.
27:16
Yep, absolutely.
27:17
He didn't speak to me for probably a whole week.
27:21
But then he said he admitted it was the right thing to do.
27:23
And then he found this slide at me.
27:25
And we picked it up for 700.
27:29
Much better.
27:30
And we were completely broke because we just got the house,
27:33
spent every cent that we owned.
27:34
You know what it's like when you buy your first house.
27:37
We luckily had some bonds that hadn't matured, so we just got a manual demand
27:41
loan through the bank and when they've got a bonus at work, you plonk it down,
27:46
you know, and we hadn't paid in no time.
27:48
But they used to call it, our friends at Raised.
27:50
The Ritz Hilton, the sliding camper that we got.
27:53
Because a lot of them slept in customized vans, with coolers and Coleman stoves.
27:59
We went through that.
28:01
I mean, that's how we started.
28:02
But I mean, like, we were beyond that.
28:04
And now we were into solid comfort.
28:08
In our latter years.
28:10
Yeah, so we really, really, really enjoyed that.
28:12
They thoroughly enjoyed the racing times and the camping times, just judging
28:16
by how many camping stoves he had.
28:18
When he actually road raced, everybody in those days flat toed their car.
28:23
No one had a trailer.
28:24
We still had the A triangle bar that you flat toed with.
28:28
Everybody slept in the tent, like a pop tent, like not a grandiose
28:32
tent, like a very basic tent.
28:35
You were lucky if you had a warm sleeping bag.
28:37
You were lucky if you had an air mattress.
28:39
And that's how people raced.
28:41
And camp.
28:42
That's how it was.
28:43
It's changed so much.
28:44
It's changed so much.
28:45
It's sad.
28:46
Even you look at Formula 1, they used to be in like these
28:48
little campers and trailers.
28:50
Yeah.
28:50
Now they have basically a luxury accommodation.
28:52
Oh, the motorhomes.
28:53
Yeah.
28:53
You go to like, most sports.
28:55
Yeah.
28:56
And the motorhomes are still there, because part of racing is
28:59
you have to have the motorhome.
29:01
They don't use them.
29:02
Yeah.
29:02
The camp.
29:03
You're expected now to go to motels and hotels.
29:05
Yeah.
29:06
Half the fun of racing, when Dave and I did it, was after the race, the camping.
29:12
Being around the campfire, talking about the day.
29:14
Oh yeah.
29:15
And it wasn't like a drunken thing, because most people
29:18
had to run the following day.
29:21
So it was, you know, good, clean fun, right?
29:24
We really, really enjoyed it.
29:26
But now it's changed so much.
29:27
I think that they've taken all the fun out of it.
29:31
The more money you get into anything, the worse it gets.
29:34
It's so untouchable now for average day folks.
29:37
Yep.
29:37
You know, and they used to do like, uh, dances right on the track.
29:41
Oh, nice.
29:41
Oh my gosh.
29:42
Like after the thing was over, they get like a group and we'd
29:46
be right in front of the pits.
29:48
You used to get the bands as well, people, their guitar.
29:52
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:53
It was totally like festival, like back then.
29:55
Yeah.
29:55
It was a, it was a hangout for people.
29:58
You and I were talking, too, and it's like, I'd love to get into vintage racing.
30:01
I still, like, I want to get my license.
30:03
It's the way to go racing.
30:04
Yeah, and it's I mean, but it's still expensive.
30:06
Yeah, it's still very expensive.
30:08
You go through a set of tires a week.
30:10
But a racing mini is quite pricey if it's already set up these days.
30:14
It's You'll go through, like, two tires a week.
30:16
Oh, yeah.
30:17
You'll have to like, the front's going to the back, and
30:19
then he's going to get to you.
30:20
What the cost is, and all that.
30:22
Yeah.
30:23
Because Buddy might race his TR7s, and just how much he's Because
30:28
he's raced for many years, but he's gotten a lot more serious.
30:31
Yep.
30:32
A lot more serious this year.
30:34
It's been visibly financially straining on him because of how many of his
30:39
other projects he's had to let go, how much time he's spent on it.
30:43
It's just crazy.
30:44
Dave fell in love with the Mustang.
30:45
He fell in love with that when we went to Indy.
30:47
Because the Pace car was a Mustang.
30:50
And our trip, our weekend involved Pace car.
30:54
We went out with a head face scarf.
30:55
Yeah.
30:56
And not for me.
30:58
They had me in the back seat.
31:01
They was in the front, that was good.
31:03
All in the harness, that was cool.
31:05
But you were like sliding around.
31:06
I'm in a normal seat belt, normal mustangs, black belt.
31:09
No helmet.
31:10
No helmet.
31:12
Just relax, you'll be fine.
31:13
He's flopping around.
31:16
Cause as I'm talking to him, I used to call him that.
31:18
I was just gonna say.
31:21
It sounds terrifying, but also very funny.
31:22
I was just gonna say it sounds funny.
31:23
But he's dropping back, like he's the leader.
31:25
And he had twelve little, I call them smurfettes.
31:28
They were little driving girls with pink driving suits and little pink helmets.
31:34
But they could drive.
31:37
And it was like synchronized, you know, like synchronized swimming with cars.
31:41
And he let them get ahead of him.
31:43
And he was giving them orders on the mic.
31:45
And they said, why are you backing off?
31:46
And he said, because I'm coming through.
31:48
He said, I've got people in the car right now.
31:50
So he looks back at me and says, you ready?
31:52
And he floors this Mustang AWOL.
31:55
Dave, I've never seen Dave's sold.
31:57
I've never seen him look like that on Dave's show.
32:00
Dave's sold.
32:00
Wow!
32:01
Dave's a little bit faster than a Mini, right?
32:04
Yeah.
32:04
Just a bit.
32:05
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
32:06
So he totally fell in love with the Mustang.
32:09
Then he came home with a Mustang convertible.
32:13
I know for anniversary specials, and we went everywhere, but it's sort of in his
32:17
old age and the sickness It became his car of choice because it was easier to drive.
32:22
Oh, that is way more comfortable.
32:24
Yeah Yeah.
32:25
Which is fair.
32:25
Yeah.
32:26
Yeah.
32:26
Air conditioning and Yeah.
32:27
Being a convert, you know, convertible's so great.
32:30
Oh yeah, that's, they've, they've been driving a convertible all day.
32:33
Yeah, no, like the air flow, they're sold.
32:36
It's gorgeous.
32:37
I, I feel like I'm in the lap of luxury.
32:39
'cause I was in this TR four I know, and I, I've owned a TR three
32:42
for 25 years, and I never realized how uncomfortable that car was.
32:46
Because I never allowed myself to believe it.
32:48
But then sitting in that thing, driving across the 401 all day,
32:52
I was like, this is amazing.
32:53
And she was a cutie, too.
32:54
He took good care of that car.
32:56
It was me.
32:57
Well, you kept it clean.
32:59
Got washed every day.
33:01
You kept it clean.
33:02
He got some good stuff in there.
33:05
Well, he was like 10, guys.
33:06
Yeah, he kept it up very nicely.
33:08
He changed a lot of weird parts that you would be like, Oh,
33:11
that's the one thing about it.
33:13
Yeah, you're like, there's a brand new piece here.
33:16
It's like, nope, that's used.
33:18
He kept the used one, because he did replace it.
33:21
I think a lot of people wondered why he went to the Mustang though, you know.
33:24
You were so used to him pulling up in the Mini.
33:27
Yeah.
33:27
Well, the Mustang is just We started taking the Mustang into the car show.
33:33
Yeah, because, I mean, it was a nice cartoon.
33:34
Yeah.
33:35
We were at this dinner to honor Zach Brown.
33:38
Oh, yeah.
33:38
The International Water Research Center did.
33:40
And outside was James Hunt's car.
33:42
Oh, wow.
33:43
But you were in the picture with Zach Brown, yeah.
33:46
Oh.
33:47
He's very handsome.
33:48
Yeah, it's amazing, you know.
33:49
And very down to earth.
33:51
Yeah.
33:51
Come on, you clean up the best out of all of us.
33:53
No, we met at the Indy race.
33:55
We were in the hospitality tent.
33:56
Thoroughly enjoying, like, this gourmet dinner that we were having.
34:00
Oh, yeah.
34:00
We couldn't believe it.
34:01
And meanwhile We didn't know what to expect, so I had to light the camper.
34:04
The fridge was packed with food.
34:07
Yes.
34:07
You name it, I had it in there.
34:09
For sandwiches, for barbecue.
34:12
You opened it and things fell.
34:13
That's how much food was in there.
34:15
Oh my gosh.
34:15
And we had the whole weekend.
34:17
In the hospital.
34:18
Oh, and it's, I'm sure, yeah.
34:19
So you had everything that you ever wanted.
34:21
We Other than Dave had beer.
34:24
Well, you gotta have it.
34:26
So anyway, we were eating away and a boy says to us, Is there anybody sitting here?
34:30
And we just carried on eating.
34:31
We said, No, no, that's okay.
34:33
And he said, Anybody sitting here?
34:34
We said, No, no, mind if we sit?
34:36
No, no, go ahead.
34:38
Michael and Mario and Dreddy.
34:41
Right?
34:41
So they plopped down at our table.
34:43
So I look up.
34:44
And Your mouth is so big.
34:48
What?
34:53
I wonder why my mouth is hanging out.
34:55
You know, nice.
34:56
Oh, just nice people.
34:57
Genders.
34:58
They're just normal people.
35:00
As normal as can be.
35:02
You know, they don't put the dog on.
35:04
We were really impressed.
35:05
Well, they were part of the circus back then.
35:08
It was a community still.
35:09
People had to know each other and be nice.
35:12
And even when, uh, when we were working the Indy, like Peter and
35:15
Dave got to talk to the Indy teams and the Indy drivers and everything,
35:19
you know, and that's what he said.
35:21
He said, they're all just like Peter and I, they race, just normal guys,
35:24
a little bit richer than us, but a little bit more of a budget than us.
35:31
He used to say to me, he sort of had a, sort of like a guilt trip.
35:35
He said that.
35:36
His life had become my life, you know, like I was sort of dragged along and
35:41
he said didn't you ever want to do and he said you'd had no time to do it
35:44
because you're always supporting me and I said no I wouldn't have done it and
35:48
I hadn't enjoyed it I said look at what I did with this solo like I said enough
35:52
yeah I've had it it would have been the same thing with any of the racing
35:55
that he did but while I participated I was enjoying it you know you And
35:59
as I said, things have changed a lot.
36:01
When I was doing it, women weren't given a chance to compete and drive.
36:06
Now, She got her own car.
36:09
My one claim to fame is we both did a novice season in autocross and he didn't
36:13
win novice of the year, but I did.
36:15
Yay!
36:16
I came in like, I think, fourth in my novice class.
36:18
Your novice class was stacked.
36:19
Well, yeah, but you also cleaned house.
36:21
Like, you did a great job.
36:22
I had a lot of fun.
36:23
You also had a much nicer car to show me, too.
36:26
But it's like, I grew up riding horses.
36:28
Oh, yeah.
36:28
And jumping courses, so you would walk the courses.
36:31
Yeah, I would walk the course just like I'm walking a horse.
36:34
Yeah, I know.
36:35
I always look through some of the, um, Yeah.
36:38
When he was racing in the, in MISTI, he kept a lot of his, he had a picture
36:42
from each track that he raced at, and the standings for that race.
36:46
That's cool.
36:46
Yeah, and he actually, the year that he did road race, I hated it, because
36:50
in those days, There's no radio communication in the hummus and like with
36:55
the mini, I couldn't hide it anyways.
36:57
Yeah.
36:57
Three minutes, two minutes.
36:59
Yeah.
36:59
Right.
37:00
And if he didn't come when he was supposed to, start worrying, you yell.
37:03
See the safety car going out.
37:05
Yeah.
37:05
And then you're like, And then, oh, yeah.
37:07
You know, that's how I started going gray, right?
37:09
At 30.
37:12
People used to say to me, where'd you get your hair streaked?
37:15
And I'd go, what's that color?
37:16
I said, lots of natural, really.
37:19
Living with a race car life.
37:20
Yeah, I'm married to a racing driver.
37:22
What else do you need to know?
37:25
I just panic.
37:26
Nowadays, it's so great.
37:27
It's all, you can hear them, and talking to you all the way
37:30
through, and changed a lot.
37:32
Not in those days.
37:33
Not so much.
37:34
I found two in the states through doing Indy, like when we did a supporting races.
37:39
Always always Indy is suicidal heat.
37:43
The weekend that they hold the Indy in Toronto, like 103 Fahrenheit, right?
37:47
Yeah.
37:48
They have very strict fire regulations, CASC, not so in the United States, right?
37:53
So it's getting better.
37:54
You have to have like, if you're in the pits, full jeans, long sleeves.
37:59
Socks for fire.
38:01
Yeah, absolutely.
38:02
None of the shorts and halter tops.
38:04
No, none of the cute, yeah.
38:05
No, no, little pockets.
38:06
He's very nice.
38:07
And we had a very strict woman in Bark named Mary Wobbin.
38:12
She's from Scotland.
38:14
She used to like be so rigid about your attire when you were in the pits.
38:18
I can certainly picture this.
38:20
Oh, yeah.
38:20
With the Scotch accent, right?
38:21
She'd just grab women.
38:25
Uh, no you don't, not dressed like that.
38:27
You don't, you know, like, you're out, you're back over to the camping
38:31
area, get dressed properly if you're coming into the pits, yeah.
38:35
If I could be dying, it would be so hot, yeah.
38:38
They didn't have the nice tech fabric like they do nowadays.
38:41
And we used to have like, being indie, white jeans, but they were still heavy.
38:45
Oh yeah, white denim still warmed up.
38:47
Yes.
38:47
Yeah, any denim's warmed up.
38:50
And then they tried the poisonous every year with two box lunches with mayonnaise.
38:55
Oh, in the heat, oh no.
38:56
Spoiled eggs, nothing better.
38:58
Two years in a row, we went back to Berry to get the cooler
39:03
and for me to make sandwiches.
39:05
As I said, I'm not eating any more of that food.
39:06
No.
39:07
The cooler's actually out in the truck right now.
39:09
Yeah.
39:09
Oh, it's so cool.
39:10
I was wondering if you took Old Faithful with you.
39:12
He used to love that cooler.
39:13
That cooler's awesome.
39:14
I It gets so much attention.
39:16
I get a picture of it every time I see it.
39:17
Everybody loves that cooler.
39:18
Did you take the racing chairs?
39:19
I didn't want to take the racing chairs.
39:22
No, but they're, you know, they're a little too big for your cars.
39:25
Oh, they'll fit in the truck.
39:26
They'll fit in the pickup.
39:27
Alright.
39:28
The cooler fit in the pickup.
39:29
The chairs would've fit in there.
39:30
I had some other stuff that I was dropping off to some friends at the show.
39:33
The little black canvas ones.
39:34
They were mini chairs.
39:35
I found them specially.
39:36
They're a little bit smaller than the normal canvas chairs.
39:40
Those are our special mini chairs.
39:42
But those checker ones are my favorite.
39:44
Oh yeah, those are so cool.
39:46
Those checker ones are awesome.
39:47
Do you know how old those chairs are?
39:49
Nineteen Eighty four.
39:51
It was 1970.
39:52
They were way Oh wow.
39:55
And it all rotted.
39:56
And we kept having to re web.
39:58
And then we found a guy up in Barrie that did that.
40:01
And that'll never wear out.
40:03
And he charged us.
40:04
Something ridiculous like five dollars a chair.
40:06
Oh my god.
40:07
Wow.
40:07
To do that job with all the knots.
40:09
It's amazing.
40:10
Yeah I know.
40:12
I have another one of those chairs that's got the Toronto Blue Jays on it.
40:14
My grandmother used to do them.
40:16
Yeah Before I knew the history of the cooler, cause I mean obviously with
40:19
the part being in the pawn business.
40:20
Oh, yeah.
40:20
Yeah, it was like Where'd you get that really awesome cooler?
40:23
Can I buy it from you?
40:24
Yeah, he's like, no.
40:25
Okay, I know not everything's for sale.
40:27
And then he's like, no, it was Dave.
40:29
I think it was a special person.
40:30
Yeah, and then he's like, no, it was Dave.
40:31
I get it.
40:34
When Dave went, like, it was suddenly, it was a heart attack.
40:37
We knew that the COPD was getting bad, but we weren't expecting him to
40:41
hear the day gone tomorrow type thing.
40:42
I'm glad he went like that.
40:44
That he didn't have to suffer anymore.
40:46
But no, I know he thought the world was that cooler.
40:49
Oh, that's going to be amazing.
40:51
It's part of his life.
40:51
Like when we did Gizzy, he said, I go before you, you gotta promise me that, you
40:56
know, this will go to the right person.
40:57
I'll make sure a picture of it is in the presentation.
41:01
I was going to say, is there anything that you think that he would need
41:04
or want in that presentation?
41:06
Oh, well.
41:06
What do you think?
41:07
That he would not be left out.
41:09
I think, uh, I think a big part for Dave was a lot of his ice racing.
41:13
Yeah.
41:13
That was really a major That was, that was a really At the end
41:16
when he gave it up, he was tired.
41:18
Giving up all the rest of it, but he still kept ice racing.
41:20
That was his We were really competitive still.
41:23
Yeah.
41:23
Exactly.
41:24
When he stopped racing, when Minerva stopped racing And that may have been it.
41:26
And we were, like, it wasn't a challenge anymore.
41:29
Exactly.
41:30
Like, I was gonna tell you, one of the last races that he ran
41:33
that he would really Blew my mind.
41:35
That race that he told me to get out of the car.
41:37
Mm hmm.
41:37
The kind of day it was, it was mild, and you always had to
41:41
look at the ice conditions.
41:42
It was like driving on pavement.
41:45
The ice was real gummy.
41:47
It was starting to melt like the steers.
41:50
So even if you hadn't tractionized your tires properly, you got good grip.
41:55
And the fact that we were, um, no the, well the dip.
42:00
Like that used to send us flying anyway.
42:03
He actually lapped.
42:04
He lapped cars.
42:06
Oh my gosh.
42:06
Oh no!
42:07
That's like Jim Clark level of, uh, accommodation.
42:08
He was just wearing, like, steak.
42:10
And I was watching from the dock, because he told me to get out of the car.
42:14
He threw me out of the car.
42:17
I just could not believe that he left the car.
42:20
He was just flying.
42:22
It was like that zen moment.
42:24
Minerva had wigs.
42:25
She was just flying.
42:27
And you've got pictures of the ice racing, right?
42:30
You've got some pictures?
42:31
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
42:32
Oh yeah, I've got pictures.
42:32
I want to scan some pictures into the, uh, internet.
42:34
And when he started, he really enjoyed it.
42:36
Yeah, he always really enjoyed it, ice racing.
42:38
It was Peter that really decided that we were going to start
42:41
ice racing, not really Dave.
42:42
We had the extra car, you see.
42:44
Dave was fully into it, though.
42:46
Like, he used to come up to ice racing, even That was supposed to be my car.
42:50
Oh, yeah.
42:51
It was sitting in the underground, but we never got it, you know.
42:53
So Peter was looking, and he said, ooh, nice car.
42:56
So yeah, it's gonna be my car.
42:57
No, it's not.
43:00
This is going to be our ice racer, you know.
43:03
Are there any particular racing memories for Misty that are important?
43:07
I would say him getting checkered flag in Misty.
43:11
Okay.
43:11
He got a lot of them though.
43:12
I know.
43:13
He got a lot of them.
43:14
And it was bog stock in those days.
43:16
Yeah.
43:17
Like he did more after the racing because I did have first solo.
43:21
Oh, yeah, yeah.
43:22
Because most of the pre stuff, because he blew his engine.
43:26
He blew the engine in Picton and then left it behind and put it in the 1275.
43:31
And the car club that we belong to, like Oshawa, the reason we switched over to
43:35
Oshawa was it was mainly a slum club.
43:39
So what they used to do, they'd rent a truck for the weekend and have like a club
43:43
thing where you could set your car up.
43:45
But it was a fun weekend, like you could camp all weekend, you had barbecues.
43:49
Like a long tested.
43:50
Yeah.
43:50
Oh, yeah.
43:52
And it was phenomenal food, like for 20 bucks for the weekend, you
43:56
know, I mean you couldn't go wrong.
43:57
And, uh, one of the fellas in our car club was a butcher, so he'd
44:01
bring like porterhouse steak.
44:02
Oh, wow.
44:03
Yeah, and grill it.
44:04
We have, uh, friends that are engineers in our region, but
44:08
big barbeque guys, like smokers.
44:11
So, it's kind of the same kind of thing.
44:13
We have like a rolling lunch through the day, and it's usually like pulled
44:16
pork, or birria, or rump roast.
44:19
It's nice.
44:20
It's some stuff.
44:21
Hasn't changed.
44:22
Picton, they had, um, you know, the garbage barrels.
44:25
It's like they sawed the barrels in half and welded them together.
44:28
Yeah.
44:28
And make one big long barbecue.
44:30
Oh, that's nice.
44:31
Put all the charcoal in with the grates on top.
44:33
And so give each guy's tools and you cook your own steak.
44:38
And then another guy owned and managed the Kentucky Fried
44:41
Chicken franchise in Oshawa.
44:43
So he'd bring all the salads.
44:45
Oh, nice.
44:45
Coleslaw.
44:46
Yeah, the coleslaw's good.
44:47
And tomato salad.
44:48
Yeah, so we had, the whole weekend was gourmet.
44:50
Gourmet.
44:51
Yeah.
44:51
He used to enjoy that, like the setting up of the car type thing, and we were
44:55
setting up, of course, for a solo.
44:57
From what I understand too, you're not a big fan of Gumby.
45:02
I know why.
45:03
He took hmm.
45:05
And he's never done that in a car before.
45:07
And it's like, from England.
45:09
Mm hmm.
45:10
And it's Opposite from what he's used to.
45:12
Right hand drive.
45:13
Everything about it was all wrong.
45:14
And because I'm a wife and I'm always I thought he was going
45:18
to do something to himself.
45:19
You know, like And it was a little bit more potent.
45:23
A little quicker than A little quicker than Misty.
45:26
Much quicker than Misty.
45:29
I know.
45:30
I know.
45:31
I know.
45:35
But much to Mark's annoyance, I have an obsession with that car.
45:38
Well, Gumby?
45:39
Yeah.
45:39
Gumby.
45:39
Oh, do you?
45:40
Everybody loves Gumby.
45:41
Oh, Gumby's great.
45:42
Well, it's pretty Gumby.
45:42
Well, I mean Is Pumpkin Man still in Gumby?
45:45
Of course Pumpkin Man's still in Gumby.
45:47
Well, I mean, obviously, you know, it's a very nicely prepped car and all that.
45:51
Well, I'm on the Bull of it, so.
45:52
Yeah.
45:53
And the artwork is fun.
45:55
Oh man.
45:56
But it's just, to me, it's, that's the kind of car that I Gumby on it, right?
46:01
The guy that owned it, he was only, what, 19?
46:04
Oh my gosh.
46:05
The guy that bought it from me.
46:06
Yeah, young kid, yeah.
46:07
That's why.
46:08
David never put, I don't think David ever painted Gumby on his own car.
46:12
He came and then he deleted it.
46:14
How many Gumby's did they pick up over the years?
46:16
Oh, well, everybody would give us the Gumby's.
46:18
Gumby's were good.
46:19
All they had to do was see them in the garage, and everybody would give
46:22
us a Gumby whenever they saw it.
46:24
So we didn't have the heart to take it off the roof.
46:26
They're all still there.
46:27
Oh, yeah.
46:28
To a degree, that's effectively how I'm going to get my Ben Jerry's.
46:33
I'm going to find something like that car.
46:35
Yeah.
46:35
Yeah.
46:36
You know, it's like, I mean, it's not a pristine Coopers to
46:39
go out and destroy, you know?
46:40
I don't, I can't do that.
46:42
I need, that's one thing with ra, there's very little body contact.
46:44
Yeah.
46:45
Yeah.
46:45
Mm-hmm . They're usually pretty good.
46:47
Yeah.
46:47
It does happen.
46:48
What did Dave hit with Misty?
46:50
I remember hearing the picture or seeing the pictures.
46:52
Yeah, there, there was a kink in the bottom.
46:55
On the driver's side of Misty at one point in time, in the years.
46:58
Harewood had hay bales that were petrified.
47:01
Yeah, no, it wouldn't have been a No, it was, it was underneath.
47:04
It was like underneath the driver's side.
47:06
Almost like it was a curve.
47:07
It could have been a curve, or I used to always be happy when he
47:11
was racing Harewood or Shenandoah.
47:14
Because you could see them all the way around.
47:15
Yeah.
47:16
But most port, that's when I started going grey.
47:20
When we were first talking to my dad about it, he was like I remember Harewood.
47:25
He's like, oh, and straight into it.
47:27
I'm like, this racetrack was closed before I was born.
47:31
Yeah, it was great.
47:33
Had to find a handle, so if you went off course and hit a hay bale,
47:36
it would have taken a mini out.
47:38
That's how bad these hay bales were.
47:39
They have pictures of Dave, like, when he was at Harvard and
47:42
he was, he's only on one tire.
47:44
Mm hmm.
47:45
I have those pictures.
47:47
I didn't get to see those.
47:48
Yeah, I have those pictures.
47:50
He had one very good race where there was a professional photographer there.
47:54
I'm getting copies, yeah.
47:55
Yeah, we want copies.
47:57
That's one thing about this presentation is I want it to be Visual.
48:01
For people to feel like they've met him through this presentation.
48:03
You know, I want to sort of All the presentations they talk about famous Yeah.
48:08
Famous drivers.
48:09
And this is like the guy who reminds me of all of us.
48:11
Right?
48:11
He was.
48:12
He was.
48:13
He was.
48:13
He's your every man driver.
48:14
That's, the title is David Crawford, the every man driver.
48:16
And he would, like, if you guys were camping beside us, he would just come
48:21
over and just sat down and offered you a beer and you'd be instantly.
48:25
Yeah, a real beer.
48:26
Yeah.
48:26
No, but that's what Dave was like.
48:28
That was Dave's life.
48:29
It was just, I met him.
48:30
And that's what's so cool to me.
48:31
I met him at a car show.
48:33
And I was literally at his house like four days later.
48:38
He was, he was an awesome, he was an awesome fellow.
48:40
I need to thank you for introducing me as well.
48:43
I mean, it was just literally dumb luck I was up here picking stuff up from you.
48:46
Cause again, I met Mark because I needed parts for a 59 Mini.
48:49
Of course.
48:50
And just through Facebook, he's like, yeah, I got a set of seats.
48:54
And I met her through Facebook because of our Minis.
48:56
That was 2017, we've been friends ever since.
48:59
Like, we keep horse trading stuff.
49:01
I got to meet Dave, we get to meet you because of that.
49:05
It's what it's all about.
49:06
It's the community.
49:07
Mark's wife didn't really have anything to do with supporting his interest in cars.
49:13
And I think that had a lot to do with why the marriage turned out the way it was.
49:18
We found the balance.
49:19
Oh yeah.
49:19
He comes to the barn with me and sees the pony have kids.
49:22
No.
49:23
See, we didn't have kids.
49:24
We've got the corgi, the pony, and the cars.
49:27
And people look at you, and it was like, with cars, it's no toys to have kids.
49:32
I'm not saying we were anti kids.
49:35
No, no.
49:35
If it hadn't happened.
49:37
Yeah.
49:37
Yeah, because a couple times we thought we were.
49:40
And Dave and I were both happy.
49:42
Yeah.
49:43
But it turned out not to be, you know.
49:44
And no, I've actually seen through racing how it can destroy a marriage.
49:49
Yeah.
49:50
Like, we'll go to, like, a big car show somewhere.
49:52
Like, we, it was, I think it was in the fall.
49:54
We went down to just somewhere in, like, Amish country in Pennsylvania.
49:58
There's this gorgeous British car show there.
50:00
So, what did we do after the car show?
50:02
We found, like, two or three tack shops to go to for her.
50:04
Yeah, yeah.
50:05
Buy some stuff for the pony.
50:07
He comes to the bar and he brings offerings for the pony.
50:10
So, she can, gets like It's funny that you did that, because Peter
50:13
is His wife, totally into horses.
50:16
We know a lot of couples like that, jumping, like jumping.
50:19
Cars and horse people.
50:20
Yeah, well it's horse power.
50:22
Scott, Scott Lucas, this fella that told Paul Newman of, um, love that.
50:27
His wife, totally.
50:29
And they have two daughters.
50:30
One of the daughters is on the Canadian Olympic.
50:33
Oh, very cool.
50:34
Takes care of the horses.
50:36
Oh, she's still ahead of them.
50:38
Yeah, that's still an accomplishment in itself.
50:39
She travels with them, she goes down to Florida.
50:41
I did that.
50:42
I worked for an Olympic rider.
50:44
I know.
50:44
It was really cool.
50:45
And she loves it.
50:47
People that take care daughters, they're not going to get married.
50:50
They're both in their thirties.
50:51
His daughters.
50:52
I didn't think I was going to get married.
50:54
Somehow suckered me into it.
50:56
It happens.
50:56
I think a lot of people were She was, she was I think a lot of people were
51:01
worried you weren't going to get married.
51:03
It's, it's, it's been a long time coming.
51:06
I was going to say, I hope Dave's not looking up at us.
51:09
No, not at all.
51:12
Having a beer.
51:13
Yeah.
51:14
Yeah.
51:14
Having a beer is, yeah, nice.
51:16
And that's one of my other favorite things about Misty, too, is where he
51:19
covered up the hole in the barbershop.
51:21
Oh, with the, yeah, I love that.
51:23
That's because the first scrutineering we went through, we
51:26
were illegal because of that hole.
51:27
Yeah.
51:28
And like, we had everything done, like the holes and everything was
51:31
done, and they wouldn't pass them.
51:33
And the only thing that It's still there, I love it.
51:35
The only thing that Colin's father had was a can of beer.
51:39
We're done.
51:39
Like, that's the only metal that we could find.
51:42
And like, after he did it, I said, we should really Take that
51:44
off and put a metal plate on it.
51:46
No, it's awesome.
51:47
He said it's part of her heritage.
51:49
I have to leave it on there.
51:52
It's just the same as the ashtray that was in the door.
51:55
Yeah.
51:56
Dave quit smoking.
51:57
Yeah, I know.
51:58
Mid 90s.
52:00
Well, for the first time.
52:02
Well, he never took that ashtray though.
52:05
And it was part of Misty.
52:07
It's, it's her life.
52:08
Well, if you ever see the for real ashtrays in a mini, I mean, it's, you
52:12
know, I love that in the room for the gin.
52:17
He liked his gin, so they had room for gin.
52:20
There are times we took Misty We didn't drive her a lot because, like,
52:24
one winter we took her to Montreal.
52:26
I remember And it was, like, minus 30 with the windshield.
52:31
He had to keep it on defrost, right?
52:33
It was cold.
52:35
He told me, he told me, he says, It's gonna be cold.
52:37
Dress warm, and I had a snowmobile suit.
52:40
And it was freezing and my snowmobiles were on a blanket and we could see our
52:44
breath from the other side of the car.
52:47
Oh, it was awful, awful, awful.
52:49
When the, uh, when the concrete finally cured the barn we built at our house,
52:53
I had my car stored in my dad's garage and it was 2 degrees Fahrenheit outside.
53:00
So driving the 62 Mini was terrible.
53:03
Because you're enclosed.
53:05
I didn't have the top on the TR three and it reminded me of being 16.
53:09
'cause my first car was a TR three and I didn't have a top, at
53:12
first, I had the tau cover only.
53:13
So I drove that thing top down through the winter.
53:15
I wore a big, like, you know, winter suit to, for that drive
53:19
of Carhartt facing the bibs.
53:21
You're a Carhart farmer.
53:22
Bib.
53:22
Yep.
53:23
Now I, I think Dave would've said road racing vintage.
53:26
That would've been his, he didn't go.
53:28
Would've been his favorite.
53:29
Yeah.
53:29
That's what, if he hadn't have gotten stuck.
53:32
For sure, he would have taken, that was his dream to get.
53:34
Well, he wanted to go, he wanted to go hill climbing.
53:36
When he and I first talked about me buying Gumby from him, He was like,
53:40
maybe, maybe, but I want to get, I'm thinking about getting it set
53:43
up and I want to go hill climbing.
53:44
That might have been at the start of it, but he kept talking about Verac.
53:47
No, I think it was at the end when he couldn't, he realized
53:50
he couldn't do Verac anymore.
53:52
And he was like, well, the hill climb, I can probably still do.
53:56
And it was people, Nancy had heard what you paid to go with Bay Rack
54:02
. But I, I think it was just, it was a weekend of Bay Rack.
54:05
It was towards the end.
54:05
'cause it was not long after I bought Misty.
54:08
Yeah.
54:08
That he and I talked about gum the first time.
54:10
Yeah.
54:11
And he was like.
54:12
What about Minerva?
54:13
I never bought this.
54:15
What about Minerva?
54:16
And we talked about Gumby.
54:18
And he was like, I want to try to get it and go hill climbing with it.
54:20
He'll climb around the corner because of being so close to Blue Mountain.
54:25
Like all of that has changed as well.
54:27
We used to be able to, in Canada, you could print Tickets off.
54:31
Okay.
54:32
And you could get in for free.
54:33
Yeah.
54:34
And it was a great, I guess, uh, from even various, like a, an hour's drive.
54:38
Oh, that's not bad.
54:39
Yeah.
54:39
And in the convertible and the Mustang, you know.
54:41
Oh yeah.
54:42
Put the cooler in the car.
54:43
Yep.
54:44
Pick a corner.
54:44
Go from corner.
54:45
You didn't need a launcher.
54:47
With the top down.
54:48
Yeah.
54:48
Like I said, it didn't cost, other than the gas.
54:51
But now, no.
54:52
Oh, I know.
54:53
For a day it's like 55 each, 45, 55 each.
54:56
Yeah, 45 I had to get through the year.
54:59
Just for the day.
55:00
Yeah, but if you did Lime Rock it was 88.
55:01
Oh, Lime, yeah, Lime Rock was ridiculous.
55:04
Yeah.
55:04
That's changed.
55:06
Yeah, I think to go to the Saturday Vintage Races at Lime
55:08
Rock it was 180 for us, US.
55:11
But the only track that I've seen in the States is Watkins Glen.
55:14
Yeah.
55:14
Dave was saying Road Atlanta was.
55:16
It's not too bad.
55:17
I never saw a road atlanta.
55:19
I've seen the old Watkins Glen tickets from the 60s, they were like 2.
55:22
I know it was beautiful.
55:23
Oh yeah.
55:24
We love the Glen.
55:25
But then we have tracks in Canada that are St.
55:28
Jovi is You've never been there, have you?
55:30
That's just on Quebec.
55:31
Top of Mont Tremblant by, um I think I've probably been on that track.
55:35
Have you?
55:35
It's gorgeous.
55:36
I think I've been on that track.
55:38
There's not very many road tracks in Quebec.
55:39
They used to have a Canadian runoff at that track.
55:41
It was an event with Mini Canada.
55:44
Yeah.
55:44
And we did drag racing and road courses.
55:48
It's nicer than most places.
55:49
Yes, it was nice.
55:50
Top of the mountain.
55:52
Close your mind.
55:53
It took us forever to get up there though.
55:55
Eight hours later.
55:57
I know.
55:57
I skied Grey Rocks, but Tremblant is a beautiful area.
56:03
Plus, you hit Montreal and they can't speak English.
56:05
Oh yeah.
56:06
They can, but they don't want to.
56:09
They feel superior.
56:10
As soon as you hit the border.
56:11
This is why I speak French.
56:13
Did he have any superstitions or any rituals that he would do?
56:16
It wasn't very superstitious at all.
56:18
Yeah, I thought I'd know.
56:20
Definitely not.
56:21
I'm more superstitious than you.
56:23
So did you have any?
56:24
Yeah, there you go.
56:25
What were your superstitions before the race?
56:27
She told me you had to come home.
56:29
Never make number 13.
56:30
Yeah.
56:31
It's like, I get a call here from, oh, the nurse came in.
56:35
He said, now the hospital just called about your appointment
56:38
this Friday the 13th.
56:39
Oh, yeah.
56:40
And I looked at her and I said, I don't have an appointment on Friday the 13th.
56:44
Oh yeah, you have a test.
56:45
Uh huh, yeah.
56:46
Not today.
56:47
So I had to phone the hospital to find out the doctors that I
56:49
had when I had my appendicitis.
56:51
It's like a follow up, but they never told me that I was
56:53
supposed to have this stupid test.
56:55
So everything's booked and done and I'm not going on Friday the 13th.
56:58
No, no way.
56:59
So I phoned them and said, no, don't see me coming here.
57:03
Reschedule.
57:05
I don't think I've had any, I have my list of questions here, we'll see if
57:08
there's anything we didn't touch upon.
57:09
But, I want to make sure I do him justice.
57:12
Oh, yeah.
57:13
Well, it's nice that you're doing it.
57:14
No, I think, I, I, I feel, he'll feel honored that you're doing that.
57:18
Won't he?
57:19
Mm hmm.
57:20
Very much so.
57:20
He's a very quiet individual.
57:22
He was always one to put himself down, wasn't he?
57:25
Yeah.
57:25
Make light of his accomplishments.
57:27
Exactly.
57:29
People would come down to the basement where all his trophies are and blow their
57:32
minds, you know, and he'd never tell them.
57:35
Well, the one thing that struck me was he kept all the news clippings.
57:38
I know.
57:39
And he was so proud of his accomplishments.
57:40
Yeah.
57:40
And that's when I really kind of started thinking, well, I need to apply.
57:43
presentation about this because he'd want this stuff to be
57:45
saved and seen and preserved.
57:47
Yeah, you know, yeah.
57:48
He just didn't want to be the one to show it to anyone.
57:49
No, I, I, I, I feel so privileged to really get to.
57:53
We're lucky to live near the IMRC for that reason.
57:55
Yeah, exactly.
57:56
Because it will be saved.
57:57
Because there is a motorsport archive up here.
57:59
But what they do is they scan everything, so it's all digitized.
58:03
Oh, that's good.
58:03
Well, then they trash the original.
58:06
Oh, that's not good.
58:08
So we're happy to have it.
58:09
It's in an archival condition box.
58:14
And it sits on a shelf in a climate control room.
58:17
And then if anybody else needs to reference, because again, like,
58:20
there's, there's, there's Can I get any of the pictures on the wall?
58:23
Like, the checkered flag and, no?
58:25
Uh, I don't know, I think you have those.
58:26
I think I have them.
58:28
We'll give some, we'll give them some copies.
58:29
I think, I think you might have given us a photo of the herald.
58:32
Yes.
58:32
Yeah, yeah.
58:33
Probably have us on the far wall.
58:34
Because I am a fan.
58:36
Plus, he's a tribe guy.
58:37
Yeah.
58:37
But it's like, I love it.
58:38
It's not only going to preserve his legacy, but all
58:40
the guys he raced with, too.
58:42
Oh, I know, it's just, that's what's We've got to get that, speaking of,
58:45
since we talked about the Herald, we need to get good quality photos
58:48
of those Winter Rally plates.
58:49
Yes.
58:50
The license plates.
58:51
Yeah.
58:52
Those, again, need to be seen by the people.
58:53
Yeah, I just want a presentation that's going to be That's
58:55
one thing that blew my mind.
58:56
We used to go up to the start every year of the Winter Rally.
59:01
And until we started doing that, I had no idea how fast Rally could be.
59:04
Oh, it's insane.
59:05
It's so cool.
59:05
I mean, it's insane.
59:08
And I looked at Dave and I said, I'm really glad we didn't do that.
59:11
You know, until you add up all the navigating.
59:15
Especially like the group B years.
59:16
I know.
59:17
The rally.
59:17
It's crazy.
59:18
It's like you've got his.
59:19
Rally board.
59:20
Yeah.
59:20
Yeah.
59:20
And that's actually what I'm gonna do the presentation from is I'm gonna put that
59:23
up on the podium and clip my notes to it.
59:25
I guess you get used to it, you know, like Yeah.
59:27
It's like I, I grew up eventing where you go galloping in a field,
59:30
jumping these big solid jumps and you just, it's, I'm used to, yeah.
59:34
It's just, we seriously, we appreciate the time, obviously, you
59:37
know, she's been dying to meet you.
59:39
She's, oh, I'm glad you have met you.
59:41
Yeah.
59:42
Too bad.
59:42
You live in the state.
59:44
I was gonna say if I can, um, get your number, maybe call you and just see if
59:47
there's any pieces I need filled in.
59:49
I'd really love that.
59:55
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