Me and Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon and I have something in common.
No, it's not two wins in three Nextel Cup races or 75 career Cup wins or a Belgian model fiancee. (Jeff Gordon, not me, has those things I just listed. Just to clarify.)
What we do have in common is a too-close encounter with a chunk of concrete on a Southern road. The only difference was that Gordon was behind the wheel of the No. 24 and I was piloting a 1999 Honda Odyssey van with my wife, three kids and a week's worth of beach junk.
The full saga after the jump ...
Remember that 2004 race at Martinsville when a piece of the track came up and knocked the crap out of Gordon's car? I remember thinking what sort of damage could a little bitty rock cause?
Plenty to Gordon's car, as it turned out -- and plenty to the left front tire of my van.
Here's what happened: I was coming into Raleigh onto I-40 at about 5 p.m. Sunday. I was in the far right lane, cruising along at about 70, grooving to the race ("Dale Jr. is making a run on Jeff Gordon!") and thinking maybe I was a little to close to the SUV in front of me. That car jogged right and I kept going straight - right into a big hard chunk of something I hit with my left front tire.
The sound wasn't anywhere near as bad as the metal-on-metal sound you hear if you've ever been in a wreck. But it was bad enough - a loud BANG! followed by that unmistakable sound of driving on my rim.
Lucky for me the voice of a long-ago driving instructor cut through the racket ("DON'T JERK THE WHEEL! NICE AND EASY!"). So I slowed down the van, found an exit about 100 or so yards past where I popped the tire and glided down the ramp till I found flat ground and a place to change the tire. The spare carried me a few miles down Glenwood Avenue to a hotel near a tire shop. (Who knew you can't buy a new tire in Raleigh at 6 p.m. on a Sunday?) By Monday morning, I was on the way home with a new set of tires (the van needed new rubber anyway) and an appreciation for the power of concrete.
Man, that stuff's murder on a car.
Comments (1)
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Glad you and your family are safe.
I thought you were going to say that a white Ford Fusion with USG Sheetrock decals all over it was in front of you so you nudged it out of your way.
Posted on July 12, 2006 11:12 AM