Chapter 83

9/27/2005 

Ch 83 Breaks of the Game                                 Broken Arrow- Broken Shoulder                                 

This chapter WAS to be my finest hour except for the unforeseen circumstances that transpired. 

My swap association with Honda and salesman friend Ken Hughes gave me the wonderful opportunity to attend this weekend’s Indy Car Race at Watkins Glen. http://www.theglen.com/ Included were 2 free race tickets, 3 nights hotel lodging, meals, pit passes, VIP parking at the top shelf Glen Club, with AC lounge, closed circuit large screen TV monitors, balcony, cocktails, beer, wine tasting, complimentary breakfast, upscale lunch buffet, meeting the drivers etc. This package had a face value of about $1000. Honda is the points leading engine manufacturer in IRL and supplied the engine for INDY 500 winner and season points champion Dan Weldon (Andretti Racing) as well as rookie of the year Danica Patrick (Letterman-Haas Racing). Our high sales volume afforded us this perk; others in our Franchise had already gone on a free trip to Hawaii. 

I had gone with Ken on a motorcycle ride a few days prior to the race as he didn’t yet have his driving license. It was a terrific ride on the sunny end of summer day through the country side and he was bombing through the curves on his fast red Ducatti 996 sport bike. Ken loves speed, went through the Bob Sharp racing school at Lime Rock Park, raced carts at the Glen, and yearly attends Formula 1 Grand Prix races in Europe. At the end of the day before I went home, I advised him that it would be prudent to go a tad slower with the dangers of deer jumping out and poor sight distance. Later that evening, sure enough he got up close and personal with those critters, crashed, and broke his clavicle in 4 places [about 100 yards from his home]. This ended my dream trip to the Glen. Sometimes you bag the deer (like Dad’s pictured), sometimes the deer bags you.