Cracker
Barrel 500
Spud returned to the great state of Georgia
in March of 2000 after receiving a call from a friend who was the crew
chief on a Winston Cup stock car.
The team had been struggling with the setup
of the car and just couldn't get their Ford Taurus up to speed.
Knowing that Spud's knowledge of front end geometry and chassis design
is second to none, the crew chief invited his garden variety friend
to come down to Hampton and consult for the team. Never one to let his
friends down, Spud jumped aboard the next available plane.
Soon after arriving, Spud went straight
to work: analyzing the wind tunnel results and taking measurements from
the body templates. After a few hours of tireless review, Spud
recommended some changes and the crew went to work. Hammering
and pounding, sanding and reshaping, the hours ticked by, but the hard
work was realized when the finished car rolled onto the course and obliterated
the track record for qualifying.
Other teams marveled at the remarkable
turnaround the team had made. After hearing that their success was due
to the influence of a tuber, many were seen rushing to the local grocery
store to buy bags of baker potatoes.
Since NASCAR
still hasn't amended their rule and allowed tuberous organisms to
race, it was decided that Spud would be the jack man for the race instead.
Unfortunately, being an inanimate hollow hunk of plastic, carrying a
70lb jack would prove to be impossible. Once again, he would have
to watch the race from the stands.