Quote:
Originally Posted by L695speed
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Last time I seen him, he still had it. In fact, the last time i was getting rides in cars during the stewards appreciation time at Lime Rock Park, he randomly brought it into the pits, got a girl in it, and took off onto the track....and he wasn't asked to do it! Everybody looked around confused, and asked the stewards, their response to us was," It's John." He did it quite often actually lol. Then when I got a ride in a Porsche 356 coupe, we come up the hill and there's the Phoenix sitting on the side of the track. Here, his throttle linkage broke. He fixed it, and brought it back to the pits, and had to be talked out of taking it back out!!!! He loved that track, it was his Muse.
Also that weekend, I was there when they announced to name a turn in honor of Paul Newman. At that time, Paul was soon to pass. Instanly, the crowd started to yell at Skip Barber, and asked why not name it John Fitch turn, which he knew was going to be asked, and skimmed around the answer. Look, I like Paul, and everything he did, but he didn't design, nor help build that track. John had a lot of input on how to design the track to make it as safe, and technical, and at one point and time, was named one of the most challenging tracks in the world.....yes, that small track was considered, because of how tight, and fast it was. That was Johns baby, and to deny him of that honor was disgraceful.