from J.S.
"My first trip to the Snakepit in the infield occurred in 1974 - the
Year of the Streaker. During rain delays that year, streakers took to
the track to air all their hair. One man - an obvious drunkard - climbed
a fence, descended to the track pavement, dropped his drawers, and
with the advent of a first stymied step quickly found his nose snuffing
the greasy asphalt.
"But that was nothing compared to the Snakepit, somewhere between
Turns One and Two. My first venture there brought me to a mob
gathered three and four people deep, all chanting. Once a sightline was
gained, the discovery was somewhere between Joni Mitchell's
Woodstock poolside garden and the smudgepot fires that marked the
rolling, hellish mayhem of Altamont. There was a partially dressed man
and a nude woman screwing in a mud pit. Others were lining up. To my
knowledge, there were no arrests.
"Twenty years later, I would have observed that this was not safe
sex. In '74, my jaw simply dropped.
"My friend Dan recalled a rainy day in the Snakepit back in the 80's
when a lack of action on the track found the gathered race vipers
diving into mud pits, some leaving with massive cuts and contusions,
thanks to submerged brick and glass. Beer spilled into the collected
brainpans and a fight broke out. At first it was a fist fight. 'Then I
saw a guy take an ax and throw it at the other guy. The second guy
picked up the ax and threw it back. I knew it was time to leave when I
saw an ax fight.'
The craziest thing we saw on Pole Day '97 occurred at the beginning of
our journey...As we passed 16th Street Speedway all six of us jerked
our heads to the left at an amazing sight: A sheriff cop was standing on
the seat of his motorcycle, gunning his machine to the tune of at least
40 mph. He nearly picked off another officer on the sidewalk, who had
to arch his back during a quick skip to miss this official projectile. The
motorcycle cop then spread his legs, his butt hitting the leather of his
seat just in time to stop the bike from streaking out onto 16th
Street."
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