FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Adam Schaeff joked just before the opening practice session for the 19th annual Rumble in Fort Wayne that he’s not necessarily one for memorable moments, but that he was hoping to have one before the weekend was out, courtesy of a win at the sixth-mile.
20 minutes later, he was at the center of a memory, but it was one he’d sooner forget.
Driving the No. 36 H&H Performance non-winged 600cc micro, Schaeff had just taken the green flag for hot laps and was making his first laps at speed when the car burst into flames going down the frontstretch into turn one, trailing a line of sparks and fire all the way through the corner and back across the track as it limped through the backstretch infield.
Finally coming to a stop in the center of turns three and four, track workers quickly extinguished the flames as Schaeff climbed from his car to survey the damage before bolting back to his garage stall to begin repairs with his crew.
Asked what happened, the Eaton, Ohio native told Race Chaser Online that there wasn’t one specific culprit that sparked the spectacular blaze.
“It was a lot of little things that all added up to one big fire,” Schaeff said in the pit area. “I don’t know if I could tell you that this or that was what actually caused it, but we had some things that just weren’t right that led to it. It’s certainly a bummer … because this is never how you want to start your weekend off here, but we’re still holding our heads up.”
“I guess I’ll have to be the one to order pizza (for dinner),” he added with a laugh. “I’m already cooked anyways!”
After a two-hour, 115-mile drive from Eaton to the Coliseum floor, Schaeff emphasized that he wasn’t prepared — nor was he willing — to simply pack up and go home in light of the early misfortune.
“We don’t ever give up,” he said. “I don’t ever give up. I’ve got people here … we’re already looking at things and working on things to see how bad it is underneath the tail tank of the car. We’re gonna try to get it fixed, because we came to race and if we can race … we’re gonna race.”
“It’s the Rumble. We didn’t come all this way to give up, so we’re not about to just because of a fire. We’ll see what happens.”
Racing action at the 19th annual Rumble in Fort Wayne kicks off on Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. inside the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Expo Center with final practice.
Opening ceremonies and feature racing is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start time, headlined by the Rumble Racing Series national midgets.
For a full schedule of events and running order, click here.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: [email protected]
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