Quote: Thanks again Joe for sharing all these great stories & knowledge with us.
I still want to hear the bologna & ketchup story again. That would be a funny one to share with all these guys.
Kevin,
I'm not sure that I can tell the bologna & ketchup story as well as Dick O but here goes.
Anyone who knew Donnie Carlton understood that he had certain likes and dislikes when it came to food. Yet, Donnie's tastes were fairly simple and straight forward. Also, take into context the times - back in the 70's Pro-Stock teams DID NOT have chefs and hospitality transporters following them around. IF we ate lunch at the track you knew that it would be fast, simple, and something that Donnie liked. Thus, on the occasions we actually got something to eat, Donnie splurged on his favorite - white bread, balogna, and his favorite condiment - ketchup. Hey, Donnie was the boss and if the boss wants balogna and ketchup sandwiches then EVERYBODY got balogna and ketchup sandwiches.
Another of Donnie's food quirks was that he ALWAYS would have a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich for breakfast - ALWAYS!!! It really should not be a big deal but you cannot believe the hard time he got from countless waitresses and restaurants in those years. When they refused to grant his wish, he would simply order an order of toast, an order of bacon, some lettuce, some tomato, and a small cup of mayo and build his own!!! That worked for Donnie but angered many a waitress and cook. We never got tossed from any restaurants for that but we got plenty of ugly stares... What usually got us tossed from a restaurant was Dick O going behind the counter and helping himself to the coffee. Sometimes the service in these places was less than stellar and we had to take matters into our own hands. For some unknown reason, certain restaurants took offense to our "self serve" methods. Usually they asked that we NEVER come back but a few showed us the door right then... Some folks just can't take a joke...
