Okay, so back to the original post. The funniest thing that Jude and I have ever seen was years ago in Topeka Jude totally destroyed his ring and pinion on the ITC Fiat 124. It detonated close to the pits so with what momentum he had he rolled through the pits and up the hill to the paddock. Gravity took hold and the car stopped rolling about halfway up the hill. Since he needed to wait for a tow and he could not put the car in gear he took the steering wheel off and used it as a wheel chock to hold the car.

Well, after the race was done, about 25 minutes later, Jude got back in the car and waited for a tow. He could not get the steering wheel out from under the tire until the car was pulled forward a bit.

Keep in mind that the car is sitting on a hill. The tow vehicle pulled up and the gentleman driving asked where his steering wheel was. Jude said that it was holding the car on the hill. The guy asked why he just didn't put the car in gear. Jude explained that the rear end was now non-existent and therefore the transmission would not hold the car. The guy then said that he could not by the safety rules tow a car without a steering wheel.

Jude said that he could not get the steering wheel until he was pulled forward a bit to get the weight of the car off of the steering wheel. The guy again said that he was not allowed to hook up to a car that did not have a steering wheel so please get your steering wheel and then I will tow you. This inane conversation went on for too long until I showed up with our tow vehicle and hooked up to the Fiat and pulled it back to the paddock.

We got in trouble for that too.....