I meant to get this one up last week but never got chance so here's last weeks Fun Fact for Daytona. Whenever the drivers get down to Daytona some of the old stories of racing on the beach pop up and this is one of my favorites. Whenever Gober Sosebee got down to Daytona he always liked to tell how he made NASCAR re-write their rule book, one year, after a sports car beach race.

Seems back then the gas tank was kept inside the cock pit where it was safe from rear end damage. Well, a lot of the races run back then were short enough to not need refueling during the race. But Gober, the "Wild Indian" had a plan if he should come in need of re-fueling. His first oppurtunity for his brilliant idea for a pit stop came during a sports car race at Daytona Beach. As he pulled to a quick stop in his pit a crew member jumped into the car with a 5 gallon can of gas. After a brief 2 or 3 second stop he was off, with crew member aboard.

The crew member fueled the car on the go and remained in the car until the finish. The 3 second stop was enough to give Gober the win but within seconds NASCAR was talking "disqualification". They claimed that having the crew member aboard was a violation and they were taking his win away.

But Old Gober was ready for them and immediately stated that there was no rule against a second man on board. NASCAR read, searched and reread their rules before finally deciding that there was no rule against a 2nd man in the car. The "disqualification" talk quickly ended and Sosebee took home the trophy.

The following year there was an addition to the rule book: "No car shall carry more than one person at any time during a race, practice, or warm-up."

Now we know.

Keep The Shiny Side Up!

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