BigDaddy
07-28-2004, 06:32 AM
No, this isn't the plot of Tom Clancy's next book, this is the story of one racer's misadventures at the Tulsa NATS. For the record, Roman Kormeluk is a good friend, and a dedicated slot racer but he should give up any dreams of becoming a travel agent.
Let me set the stage. It is about 1:00 AM Wednesday morning, Kent Nigro, Benny Justice, the crew from Port Jeff and I are toasting Erkle in the pool hall next to the track on his Pro I-15 win. It was a great race and Erkle showed his metal for the second time this week. I am reflecting on my second place finish to Jonathon Sohl in Am I-15 earlier in the day and realizing I won't be getting any sleep for yet another night as I have a 3 hour drive to catch my flight home at 6:30AM :( .
I bid farewell to my friends and head back to the "hotel" for a quick shower and to collect my things before hitting the road.... or so I thought. As I pull into the hotel parking lot, I am greeted by firemen and police officers. The parking lot entrance is closed and I am faced with the prospect that I am not going to make my flight because the hotel is burning down :mad: . The fireman who greets me says I can try the rear entrance as I might be able to access my room from the back parking lot. This hotel is several buildings and all rooms are accessible from outside stairs.
As I am walking toward the rear stairs to my 3rd floor room, I see many firemen and police near one of the first floor rooms, my only goal is to get a shower and get my stuff fast before the building is evacuated. Suddenly I see the police remove a man in handcuffs from one of the rooms :confused: . I bolt up the stairs and throw my stuff into the suitcase. I jump into the shower and then I hear the dreaded knock. I thought great, now the fire department is going to make me leave the room in nothing but a bath towel. Have you ever seen a naked slot racer :eek:? I will spare you pain of that description.
I get dressed fast only to find out it was Jimbo Kirby letting me know he returned to the room. He said a TV reporter told him Osama Bin Laden was arrested in the hotel:eek:! Jimbo said for a minute, the reporter had him going as he always believed that bastard was right under our noses.
Jimbo then tells me, the reported said there was a meth lab in the hotel and it blew up! The guy I saw was arrested for drugs and the whole area was now a crime scene. Later I would find out from Jeff, the owner of Slot Car International, that the hotel Roman booked for us, Lexington Suites, had people living in it and it was on "the wrong side of town".
So, to my friend Roman, from Kent "Snake Pliskin" Nigro, Brain "Lamo" Eardley & Jim "Jimbo" Kirby,
WAY TO GO ROMAN!!!
True story...
Jeff "Big Daddy" Muller
Let me set the stage. It is about 1:00 AM Wednesday morning, Kent Nigro, Benny Justice, the crew from Port Jeff and I are toasting Erkle in the pool hall next to the track on his Pro I-15 win. It was a great race and Erkle showed his metal for the second time this week. I am reflecting on my second place finish to Jonathon Sohl in Am I-15 earlier in the day and realizing I won't be getting any sleep for yet another night as I have a 3 hour drive to catch my flight home at 6:30AM :( .
I bid farewell to my friends and head back to the "hotel" for a quick shower and to collect my things before hitting the road.... or so I thought. As I pull into the hotel parking lot, I am greeted by firemen and police officers. The parking lot entrance is closed and I am faced with the prospect that I am not going to make my flight because the hotel is burning down :mad: . The fireman who greets me says I can try the rear entrance as I might be able to access my room from the back parking lot. This hotel is several buildings and all rooms are accessible from outside stairs.
As I am walking toward the rear stairs to my 3rd floor room, I see many firemen and police near one of the first floor rooms, my only goal is to get a shower and get my stuff fast before the building is evacuated. Suddenly I see the police remove a man in handcuffs from one of the rooms :confused: . I bolt up the stairs and throw my stuff into the suitcase. I jump into the shower and then I hear the dreaded knock. I thought great, now the fire department is going to make me leave the room in nothing but a bath towel. Have you ever seen a naked slot racer :eek:? I will spare you pain of that description.
I get dressed fast only to find out it was Jimbo Kirby letting me know he returned to the room. He said a TV reporter told him Osama Bin Laden was arrested in the hotel:eek:! Jimbo said for a minute, the reporter had him going as he always believed that bastard was right under our noses.
Jimbo then tells me, the reported said there was a meth lab in the hotel and it blew up! The guy I saw was arrested for drugs and the whole area was now a crime scene. Later I would find out from Jeff, the owner of Slot Car International, that the hotel Roman booked for us, Lexington Suites, had people living in it and it was on "the wrong side of town".
So, to my friend Roman, from Kent "Snake Pliskin" Nigro, Brain "Lamo" Eardley & Jim "Jimbo" Kirby,
WAY TO GO ROMAN!!!
True story...
Jeff "Big Daddy" Muller