When Peyton Manning was inducted into the professional football Hall of Fame, part of his speed imagined what happened in the quiet halls of Canton overnight when everyone had gone home. He described a scene of retired hall of famers coming alive in their own pick-up game, with players of different eras transcending time to run plays together. It isn’t difficult to imagine race cars doing the same in the overnight darkness.
Perhaps the Porsches and Datsuns replay the Group 7 sessions earlier in the day. Maybe they slide across to the old timers across the paddock and ask them what life was like with skinnier tires and less horsepower. Maybe they head over to the McLaren garage and talk to the V-10 carbon fiber corner carvers. Maybe a pick up race circled the track in the darkness to see how they would do unburdened by their human pilots.
As early risers shuffle into the racetrack in the pre-dawn darkness, cars move back to their original positions and restore their covers to disguise their overnight exploits. The secret is safe as long as nobody can tell. Only the security guards would know...and they're not going to risk giving up their front row seat at a remarkable private show.
Read more from the Velocity Invitational at The Speed Journal -