Sterling Marlin was headed for the checkered and Joe Nemechek for the green. After I waved the checkered over Marlin and gave Nemechek the green, the checkered flag fell off the staff and onto the track in a little wad against the wall. Obviously, I had no checkered to give to Nemechek, so I leaned way over the edge of the stand and gave him the OK sign.
I radioed Cox to hold up the rest of the cars while I rectified a little problem. The communication drew attention to me, and officials, spotters, crews, and everybody that was monitoring our frequency knew I had dropped a flag. The spectators went wild when I climbed down to retrieve the flag. I turned toward them and bowed.
Souvenir Returned
At the '96 Southern 500 at Darlington, there was a caution a few laps into the race. On the restart, I waved the green flag over about half the field, then dropped it. The wind was blowing hard enough that it blew the flag into the grandstand instead of it falling onto the track.
The kicker to the story is that a spectator picked up the flag and had a rare souvenir indeed. I was taken aback when he brought the flag to the stand and gave it back to me.
Last-Lap Loss
It wasn't always a flag that got away. Before the second Brickyard 400 (in 1995), my girlfriend, Barbara Flippen of Nashville, gave me a gold nugget bracelet, to which I became very attached. During the race, the bracelet came off my arm. After the race, we found some small, bent links on the racetrack about 150 yards from the flag stand. I couldn't figure out when I lost it or what I was going to tell Barbara.
The chief photographer at Indianapolis Motor Speedway sent me a photograph made from the inside of the track showing me waving the white flag over (eventual winner) Dale Earnhardt. The picture also showed that the bracelet was on my arm. It was clear that I had lost it on the very last lap of the race. Fortunately, the insurance company bought me another bracelet, which I wear today with pride.
Montezuma's Revenge
We were at Richmond in 1988, the year the track was rebuilt and extended to 0.75 mile. Henry Benfield, who drove Junior Johnson's car hauler, was always up to pranks and practical jokes. Once his hauler was unloaded, Benfield drove another team vehicle to the grocery store to get snacks for his crew. When he returned, he asked the gate guard if he could drive inside the garage to unload his items. The guard refused.
Benfield parked in the muddy infield, a bog from days of rain, and, lugging four grocery bags, returned to the gate and was stopped by the same guard, who demanded to see his pass. Benfield sat his sacks down in the mud and, without emotion, showed his pass. But Benfield was determined to retaliate.
At the time, Country Time Lemonade was a car sponsor, and there was plenty of it around the garage. Benfield mixed a concoction of lemonade-but mostly a strong and quick-acting liquid laxative-in the biggest cup he could find. He went to the guard and explained that he was supposed to meet a man wearing a Goodyear jacket and a Winston hat there and give him a big cup of lemonade. The guard said he hadn't seen the man. Benfield waited a few moments and said to the guard that his man must have gotten tied up and wasn't coming to get the lemonade. Benfield asked the guard if he wanted it. The guard thanked him and began to drink it.
Benfield came to me and said I'd better get somebody to guard the gate. I told him we had a man on that gate. He snickered and said, "Not for long." Sure enough, in a short time, the guard had to leave and was gone for most the day. I substituted as gate guard until the security officials could replace the indisposed gentleman.