It looks like it is Rich Mirarcki. Funny how some things stick and some don't. The neat little autograph sheet helps tell the story pretty well.
There is an interesting side story to that trip to Washington and to Capitol Raceway and I might as well tell it so that the rest of you guys can have a real good laugh...
I was still working for Fons at the time and we had just taken delivery of our new D800 transporter from Chrysler. The entire rig was still white as we had not yet had the opportunity to get the familar ROD SHOP paint scheme applied as yet. Anyway, Mike did not do too much of the truck driving - he pretty much left that chore up to me. This truck was equipped with air brakes as most of the larger trucks of the time were. It had a 413 with a 5spd trans and 2spd rear axle. Mike was not familar with any of this nor with the two buttons on the dash - one green, one red. Those two buttons were for the air brake emergency stop and for the air brake parking brake system.
We left Detroit for DC in a heavy rainstorm and it was raining very hard all the way. By the time we made it into Breezewood PA we were tired, hungry, and needed fuel. I pulled into an ESSO station that was just off the interstate and started the fill up on the saddle tanks. About that time I spotted a Kentucky Fried Chicken place about 100 yards back up the hill and told Mike that I was headed up there to get some chow for the two of us. Mike was messing around with the windshield wipers as they were squeaking a bit too much for his liking (they were air opperated). While I was waiting in line at the KFC for my order this older lady comes in from the rain and said very loudly "My oh my, did you see that big white truck go over the cliff out there?" I didn't pay any real attention to what she said as I KNEW my truck was getting fueled down at the ESSO station.
When I went back outside with our dinner in hand I did not see the truck at the pumps. I just figured that Mike had moved it around the back to fill up the water tanks so we would not have to do it the next day at Capitol Raceway. Boy was I wrong. As I approached the gas pumps, there was Mike looking VERY concerned and at the edge of the ESSO station property was the back end of what HAD been our brand new truck tilted at about a 40 degree nose down angle over the edge of a cliff with the front bumper of the truck only 20 feet from the plate glass windows of some restaurant!!! This thing was just teetering on the edge like a teetertotter!!! Within minutes there were all kinds of emergency vehicles surrounding us and a couple of the biggest tow trucks that I have ever seen arrived on the scene. It took a crew of workers several hours of using house jacks, timbers, and those two big tow trucks to pull our rig back up the hill and get it back on both axles. Suprisingly, we only ripped off one saddle tank and ripped up the skirting on one side. The thing was still drivable.
It turns out that Mike decided to put some oil on the offending wiper mechanism. He started the truck and started pushing buttons to get the wipers to operate. Somehow, Mike released the parking brake and while he was outside on the running board applying oil to the wiper mechanism, the truck rolled away - without a driver!!! Over the edge it went and the rest is history... For some unknown reason, the car was not damaged at all. Amazing...
By the way, the US Racing Team match race at Capitol Raceway was a real success. Fons did well and everyone had a great time. The air there was really humid but the car ran great.
It seems like just getting to the race tracks was as big of an adventure as the races themselves. That was just the way it was back then. You never knew what would happen next.
(Rich Mirarcki?) What do you think Joe P.; might it be Mirarcki?
