And more that took place in March of 1993. The Motorcraft 500 at Atlanta was snowed out!!
That week we pulled into the track on Wednesday and set up the motorhome for the duration. Weather was very nice and starting to warm so we did some sightseeing and went downtown Atlanta on Thursday with temperatures well above average for the time of year. It got pretty warm.
Local weather reports were for predicted storms from the southwest but few paid heed to the warnings. We were thinking temperatures in the 80s and snow?!? No way!! We figured the storm would go north of us and skirt Atlanta.
Friday was another nice day and the # 52 qualified 22nd with Rusty winning the pole.
Weather reports were still predicting snow so I put all the awnings back in place and lifted the patio awning, checked everything outside, "just in case."
Saturday we woke up to a snowstorm and high winds. Luckily we had retracted the window and the patio awnings before going to bed as the winds damaged many awning during the night. Having spent the winter in Mesa, AZ, and not returning to our NJ home yet, we didn't have many warm clothes to protect us from the freezing cold.
The temperature had dropped more than 40 degrees overnight and we were now below freezing. With wind howling at about 50 mph, tremendous damage was done to hospitality tents and awnings on vendors trailers. Portapotties were blown over and roads went unplowed. We drove our Jeep to a local grocery store and on the way there saw cars sitting by the roadside, overheated from lack of antifreeze in the cooling system. Others stuck in the center median where they slid off the highway, and most interesting was the occasional "cowboy" doing one of those, "Here! Hold my beer and watch this sh1t," moments as they deliberately tried to spin their pickup truck and slide/skid in the snow. Usually they ended up on the median and got stuck.
Many people tried to leave but others stayed until things began to clear up a bit. We drove to Florida and stayed with friends once the sun came out and cleared highways of snow. Unfortunately, while there, our welsh corgi, "Bear," got very sick and a visit to the local veterinarian revealed he had cancer and recommended a veterinary surgeon in Ft. Pierce to perform surgery in an effort to remove the cancer. We took that option and drove down to Ft. Pierce while the surgery was done.
We waited until "Bear" was well enough to travel and headed for our home in Warren County, northwest New Jersey.
It was on our way up I-75, about twenty miles south of Wytheville, VA, when we heard on our radio of the plane crash killing Alan Kulwicki.
What a tragic end to the reigning Winston Cup Champion.
Here are photos of how things looked that Saturday morning, the day of the storm. One is of Aman Kulwicki's souvenir trailer, one of the Winston Cup display tent, and several other units plus our motorhome, awnings retracted and waiting for things to clear up so we could hit the road.
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