With 10 laps to go in the first feature, Stan Olson was leading when Jimmy caught him in dense traffic. With a nifty move on the outside Jimmy took the lead, and — what felt like — a couple of laps later the caution came out for a spin down in two.
As the field circled under caution the officials motioned for Olson to move back around Jimmy and back into the lead. Apparently, they ruled that a full lap hadn‘t been completed and would revert to the lineup prior to Jimmy‘s pass.
What??!! Jimmy fumed. They have lost their ever-lovin‘ minds!
Olson complied, but Jimmy quickly drove back around, refusing to yield. As they came around again the officials signaled Olson again, with the same result: Olson moved around, but Jimmy barged back by him.
On the next time around Mike Rydman had climbed down from the flagstand, glaring at Jimmy and pointing at him with a furled black flag. Jimmy was incensed, but he pulled slightly over to allow Olson by. As Olson moved back to the point the huge grandstand responded with such an enormous cheer that Jimmy was sure he felt the ground shake.
Along the inside rail Jimmy could see Harvey and USAC Chief Steward Al Petrov toe-to-toe in a shouting match. But the next time around they were gone, and Jimmy figured Harvey was forced to concede as well.
Rydman threw the green flag and Jimmy was all over Olson, applying intense pressure. Jimmy could see that Olson was overdriving the car, running on the ragged edge.
Jimmy knew the Ellison sprinter was the better car at this point, but he needed to force Olson to make a mistake.
With three laps to go they raced into turn one and Olson wiggled. He slid slightly wide, opening the door. Jimmy charged into the hole, hustling to claim the groove.
They were wheel-to-wheel when Olson moved down and the two cars banged wheels. Olson spun to the outside and a moment later Jimmy saw the yellow light blink on.
Jimmy caught his breath, wondering what was next. Olson restarted, and before taking his place at the tail drove up alongside Jimmy and shook his fist, then gave him the bird. Jimmy returned the gesture and Olson disappeared from view.
Three laps later Jimmy flashed under the checkered flag, scoring his third consecutive USAC sprint car win. But that statistical fact wasn‘t on anyone‘s mind at the moment.
The local fans really let Jimmy hear it when he climbed from the car, a roaring cascade of boos overwhelming the scene. Everybody was hot; Jimmy and Harvey were still steamed about being put back to begin with, and everybody else was mad about the outcome.
“They screwed us over,” Harvey barked, his eyes blazing with anger. “Anybody gives me any lip, I‘ll knock their block off.”
Jimmy tried to control his emotions as the PA announcer approached. But suddenly Stan Olson barged into the picture. Olson was a banty-rooster of a guy, five-foot-nothin‘ and 120 pounds. But he was raging with anger and surrounded by a crowd of supporters.
“You dirty snake!” Olson screamed at Jimmy. “You ran right over me!”
Harvey stepped between them, using his chest to bump Olson backward.
“Get out of here!” Harvey roared.
A swarthy guy in a blue T-shirt — they would later learn that it was Olson‘s mechanic — stepped close to Jimmy and screamed a barrage of profanities. Jimmy grabbed a handful of T-shirt with his left hand and leveraged his elbow against the man‘s chest, instinctively drawing back his right fist.
Someone pressed between them, and Jimmy instinctively shoved the guy until he realized it was a state trooper. A half-dozen cops and officials waded into the fray, running the crowd off and restoring order.
A minute later things had calmed down — a little — but Jimmy was still hovering at the boiling point. He saw the PA guy approaching, and they made eye contact.
The guy seemed hesitant, but Jimmy waved his hand.
“Come over here,” he yelled. “I‘m ready to talk.”