Welcome Craig Peterson

Danny · #6 (**permalink**) 2007-09-13

I'm happy to see you here, Craig. Welcome aboard!

Danny

steagall1000 · #7 (**permalink**) 2007-09-13

Welcome Craig.

Craig · #8 (**permalink**) 2007-09-13

Thanks, guys. Nice crowd.

Mike, if you'd have read that first book you'd know why my editor at Automobile magazine did me a favor when she advised me to sell the last copies and forget about printing a third edition. I realized she was right and took her advice. The next book has fewer, uh, revealing stories about my driving history, that race included.

After scoring a DNF in that race one year earlier, I spent a year building a car that I felt would give us a big advantage: a two-year-old ex-Texas Highway Patrol Ford, complete with lights, siren and a 96-gallon aux. tank. I was so intent on winning that we pre-ran the course nine months prior to the event, at race speed, to shake down the car and extra equipment.

In the event, we led the race from the Mass/NY state line (we started 9th; the first 8 cars were parked there along I-90; their crews were heading for jail) and were four hours ahead of the second-place car when I we lost a cylinder, broke the starter, fried the transmission in Arizona and got a speeding ticket in California.

After three hours spent sitting in the desert, letting the car cool off. I managed to get locked it into third gear and we limped across the finish line at the Hyatt Islandia in San Diego. At the awards dinner that night, my revolving rear license plates seemed the most dazzling to the few entrants who'd finished the race. (Starting to get the gist of why a smart editor advised me to bury the book?) The second-place finisher beat us by two hours.

Craig

Veil Guy · #9 (**permalink**) 2007-09-13

Craig,

If any editor would be willing to publish such a book...I can only imaging the stories you could tell from that experience.

For me, of all the Cannonball Run movie series, my favorite still was the Gumball Rally. Those characters were unforgettable and remains one of my favorite car guy movies.

Had to love that Shelby 427 and RJ's Ferrari.

Perhaps I should take a lot of white bandannas with me on my upcoming cross country race, although I don't think my wife would take too kindly to that!

Too bad I don't know how fix a broken-down 911 on the road.

I think, just to be on the safe side that I have a

secret weapon standing close to the finish line in LA.

Veil Guy

Veil Guy · #10 (**permalink**) 2007-09-14

Michael B,

I have some pleasant news to share with you.

Even though Craig's first book: Fast Driving (Without Tickets) has been out of publication, since has been a collector's item, I have managed to dig one up from our "cellar" and arrange to have it shipped to you so you can share the same enjoying reading that I did years ago. Granted, its a little dated in terms of technology used (at the time of original publication) by his stories and tactics are as relevant today as they were then.

His next boot should essentially take his last book to the next level.

Even so, I can't wait to read his next (next) book!

Enjoy!

Veil Guy