In the Mini Stock class at Cayuga about 1970 there was a rule that all cars must have proper racing seatbelts. My brother Don bought a VW racer from Bob Silverthorn that had been racing at tracks other than Cayuga. Everything on the car was legal except the seatbelt. Too late to buy one, we rigged up a way to use my seatbelts such that they were not bolted in but had large hooks that you could just hook or unhook with some heavy duty eye bolts.
We now had a way that his car could pass inspection. Usually the cars were spread out so Don would park as far from my car as he could, then find out which end the safety man, Butch Ball was starting from. On this particular night Butch was going to start his inspection from the end, where Don’s VW was parked, but Don now had the good belts.
When Butch got to Don’s car, Don and I would do anything we could to distract him. Butch looked in the car, saw the three inch belts and marked a check point where it said “seatbelts”. We did it! Out come the seatbelts and I take them up to my car and install them, everybody is happy. Don still had his stock belts that came with the car, the next week Don had installed a proper set, and nobody knew about it until now…
Courtesy of Jim Dunham
