Brainerd Pictures (1 Viewer)

[willy]

Joe,

The Zoo is on race track property so I think the only way to get into the Zoo is with a race ticket. With that said….. I suppose some people buy a race ticket just for the party.

As for it getting out of hand….

Not only have trailers been burned but cars, trucks, bathrooms, dumpsters, tents, porta-johns along with the usual couches, chairs, pallets etc…… It has calmed down some over the last few years though.

Brian.

Thanks for sharing all the stuff, Brian..very cool.

Drinking from the Stanley Cup..damn..how cool is that??!!

 

[mick]

Jamie Langenbrunner from the New Jersey Devils had the cup
at his folks place two summers ago. My folks were at their house
for some big gathering......... oh look, it's just the Stanley Cup.
pretty cool that the players can take it to show off.
Like someone commented about the snowmobiles at the drags......
can't help it up here - hockey & snowmobiles - tons of people doing it,
lots of $$ being made selling all the stuff.

 

[DrRocket]

Joe,

The Zoo is on race track property so I think the only way to get into the Zoo is with a race ticket. With that said….. I suppose some people buy a race ticket just for the party.

As for it getting out of hand….

Not only have trailers been burned but cars, trucks, bathrooms, dumpsters, tents, porta-johns along with the usual couches, chairs, pallets etc…… It has calmed down some over the last few years though.

Brian.

I personally watched a fairly new Toyota Supra get the treatment in 1984 or 5.
You do indeed need a ticket to get onto the grounds. It's been that way since the very first race back in 1982. I should know, because I was there with my Brother in Law. We were amazed. I still have the souvenir jacket I bought at that race. I'll try and get a photo of it posted. The worst year was the 1987 race with the infamous wet Tee contest. A few guys went to jail over that one, and I'm told that the Track management was called on the carpet and told that if they wanted to keep the race, that sort of thing wasn't going to happen again. It was big news at the time around here.

As for people who're just there for the party, it's been that way since the first one. When the mud pit was still going, people were towing in vehicles they had built just for that purpose. I remember one truck, about a mid-sixties primered Chevy, with a big block and tractor tires and no bed. I seem to remember some folks from a "Donky Kong 4x4 club." Any old timers remember that one? Another guy had a '72 or '73 F-150 with a 429 shotgun on steroids. The activity would go on in the pit until the sun set. Often times when the teams were done with their work for the day, they'd drive down to the first turn to watch the goings on. There was another guy who had a custom Dodge 4x4 truck. It was black, with gold anodize trim and had a blown hemi with lots of chrome. Of course he never went NEAR that pit and was roundly castigated for it. He was getting pretty annoyed at people for giving him crap about it. I could see his point though. He had a lot of money invested into what was essentially a show truck. Another guy had a '71 mustang notchback with a 4x4 conversion. I think he used a jeep chassis to do it. A lot of people left parts behind in that pit. I wonder what you'd find if you started digging now? My favorite area to camp in was in the trees down by the first turn. These days I've turned into something of a lightweight, preferring to leave the camping and drinking to the kids. My idea of roughing it is a motel with no cable or internet access. .

 

[.]

David, I like how you put it….. “The Treatment” that sums it up.

You’re right about the wet tee contest….. I remember that!! I wasn’t at that race but EVERYBODY in town was talking about it.

Like you, I don’t camp at the track anymore either. Camping to me is when the bathroom is at the END of the hallway.



Brian.