When I was 14 I started working at Bridgehampton Race Track. I should not have been able to work till I was 18 but that never stopped me. I was also doing surgery on dogs at fourteen and people at 16(much more on this in later posts) so why would I let a little age deficiency stop me. My brother-in-law Bruce Newman had the year earlier got involved in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). The SCCA ran auto races and road rallies across the country. They got members to volunteer to do all the jobs around the track during the races. The four main jobs were Pit marshal, Flagging and communication, rescue and Timing and Scoring. Bridgehampton was arguably the most dangerous racetrack in the United States. They ran local, regional, national races and the Trans-Am and Can-Am races. Twenty people both race drivers and spectators alike were killed over the 45 years the track was open.Take a look at the race course on this video of the Can-Am of 1968(jump to 1 minute and 10 seconds) (those cars are going 180-210 MPH):
The race track was built by local racing enthusiasts when in the early fifties people were getting killed and very serious accidents were happening on the back roads of Bridgehampton. It became one of the fastest and most dangerous tracks in the USA.
Also among the drivers with a deep sense of respect for the place is Mario Andretti, who first drove at Bridgehampton early in a career that includes a world championship and an Indianapolis crown.
''It's a special track,'' Mr. Andretti said in an interview. ''It was one of the first race tracks I raced on in my career, in 1965. It was actually an awesome course. It was dangerous, in a sense.''
The first of the course's 13 turns, a right-hander that dives downhill, was infamous among racers. ''Turn One was an unbelievable corner because it was blind, and you just fell out,'' Mr. Andretti said. ''It could scare the bejesus out of anybody.''
If you look at the video and see there were no guard rails. Those men in white jump suits were me when I was on flagging and communication (when I both almost died and saved someone else's life) and also when I was on rescue( again almost getting killed and saving someones life)(these to be later posts). Over the pit area you will see a tower, that is were I spent most of my time the last two summers working there. I met some of the greats of racing and had a ball getting an award for my work. My brother-in-law Bruce worked Pit Marshal all four years and I was for most of my first year.
This Blog Snippets of my life, is going to be a daily blog for at least one year. I will tell stories about me that I hope you find interesting. If you like them please do two things: click to become a follower; and post on your Facebook page or twitter them. I hope to have 10,000 followers by years end. Some stories will be very personal. I will try to remember the correct names of those involved, however, I have a terrible memory for names and some names will be completely fictitious. The stories however are completely truthful as far as I can remember. Hope you enjoy.
