In 1998, I was invited to be the Chief Steward for CART’s Indy Lights Series.
My first event was at Long Beach and I remember well walking up the stairs to Race Control for my first session and seeing Wally Dallenbach walking down as he had finished running his Champcar session a few minutes earlier. My eyes went wide as I had expected him to stick around to make sure that the ‘New Guy’ did ok on his first shift. WD’s response was that he was totally confident that I would be OK but to call him if I needed anything. That confidence was just what I needed and I straightened up and walked into Race Control ready to take on the world! I told WD this story a couple of years ago and he smiled and nodded his head. What a terrific mentor to have on your side!
1998 was an amazing year. I had a full-time job at CTC; did 14 races with Indy Lights; and ran a Porsche GT3 Team full season from Daytona and Sebring, to the 24 Hours of Lemans, plus 4 more races. Yup, it was a bit of a busy year alright!
