The pit area was very nice. It was a gently sloping, firm bottomed pit area with short grass and lots of shade trees. It was most likely a park, but I don't remember that for sure. The course was one mile and we would run five laps. We pitted down around the safety bouy. This time, the only racer that came up from the Gulf Coast area with us was Alex Wetherbee. Most of the Dallas area guys were there however, and there were several I had never met such as Keith Taylor, Woody Marcy, Jim Bryan and Jimmy Epperson. Jimmy had just gotten out of the army and this was his first race back.

There were good fields of A's and B's, but C, D and F classes were low so some of the guys stepped up. The weather was good for racing and there were lots of July 4th things going on. It was on a Tuesday this year.

We started off with a bang louder than the five minute gun. I made a good flying start in A runabout and got around the first turn quickly and smoothly. As I got straighted out and slid to the back going down the back straight, I found myself in the lead. I kept waiting for someone to pass, but nobody did. As we approached the second turn, Bobby Wilson was there, but I made a good pass through the turn and held him off. Bobby fought to get around me at every turn, and he could match my speed, but could not overtake. I wish I could have had a complete video from flag to flag watching Baldy in the pits. I didn't know who it was I had been battling with, but Bobby Wilson came all the way down from the far end of the pits where he was to shake my hand and congratulate me. When he found out it was my very first win, his "Bobby Wilson Grin (those who know him know what I'm talking about)" got even grinnier. He told me back in 1993 as we headed back toward the airport from the World Championships in Florida that he still remembers that heat and was still proud to be the first one I ever beat. I told him the same thing about never forgetting, and how proud I was that my first win was a real win against someone the caliber of Bobby, and was glad that it somehow cemented our family's relationship right out of the chute. I don't remember what happened in the second heat, but my 400 points was good enough for second overall.