Great discussion. I remember all the sights and sounds as mentioned by everyone else, plus a few that are special to me. Getting to the track early, jumping into the '52 GMC pickup and placing the fire extingiushers around in their alotted places. Loading 400 lbs of Cement and maybe a bag or two of Speedy Dry in the truck bed. (We called it Grease Sweep then, and it would burn your sinuses so bad if you inhaled it !) Adding in all the brooms and other clean-up equipment. Then, parking the truck in the infield and MAYBE, just maybe, being asked to set up the flag stand and thus being able to start warmups by sticking out the yellow flag and turning on the caution light, on those days when the flagman was a little late getting there.
I remember the constant engine sound being in the infield when there was a full field and the race had started. I remember the smell of Dry Chemical extinguisher and the ice cold blast of CO when that type of extinguisher was used. I remember picking up debris, and we really did have debris, not NASCAR type debris, and you learned real quick to wear gloves when touching it. Tools - I probably found ten to twenty wrenches, screwdrivers, sockets, hood pins, bungie cords and all other manner of things forgotten to be put back into the tool box before putting the hood on. Then, there was the big stuff to pick up - some guy's clutch plate. A drive shaft. (Found out the hard way how heavy those things are). Ah, the memories !
Then there were the people. All kinds of personalities. Basically all really GOOD people enjoying what they were doing, be they the racers, the track officials, the wives and girlfriends, and even the numerous fans that came out to watch that were not directly connected to any car or the track - they just enjoyed racing.
Race night was special. Some really special nights were "big" race nights where championships were won, or holidays like the 4th of July when I got the "honor" of loading the aerial bombs into the mortar tubes during the fireworks show. (You have no idea what an adrenalin rush it is to be a few feet from the fireworks show as it is going on). And THAT smell is unlike anything else !
I remember being tired and really achey after the show was over and dirty from head to foot. It didn't matter, I loved it. Then I'd go collect my $17.00 for my evening's work ($20.00 minus the $3 that was my contribution to the insurance poilcy the track had on all infield crew). My final chore each night was lowering the US Flag, properly folding it and delivering it to the track office.
By this time all the fans had gone. The final event of the evening was to congregate at the tool shed behind the concession stand and grab a cold glass of brew from the keg the promoter furnished after every race. We'd sit around - track crew, drivers, wives and girlfriends, and even some of the Highway Partol guys that had been on security duty, and discuss the events of the day.
It was really a great time to be nineteen.
Steve
