Roger and Jo at Altamont
Michael
So when it comes to stock cars, the West Coast was still a minor league circuit in the 1970s. Sure, there was a strong tradition of California motor racing, but when it comes to NASCAR, of course, their traditional stronghold was the Southeast. The big regional circuit for NASCAR is the NASCAR Winston West Series which races twice at Altamont in '73: the opening race which happened back in April, and the closing race in September. So when it's not being used for the Winston West Series, which is its most major attendance event, it's used for a bunch of smaller events.
Lots of smaller regional circuits going on at that time—still affiliated to NASCAR—like the Super Modified series (cool pictures of cars here.)
Does Roger want to have his new Contact be someone in charge of the track at Altamont, someone from one of the racing circuits that uses Altamont, or someone closer to the pit crew types who hang out there?
Bill
Roger would like to find someone in the racing circuits who runs in legal and maybe less than legal racing. For dealing with officials at Altamont to get official access to the track, he'd use his SANDMAN links to get in. Seems like checking to see if he could get in the track itself officially is more about using SANDMAN Patron, since they have a viable need to keep an eye on it. But knowing a regular and someone who 'gets around' further would be more helpful. I see that a pit crew would be handy ("Oh Pit Crew..."), but knowing a racer who has his own pit crew, or knows folks, might cover that.
Michael
That's perfect. Given the fact that there are seemingly innumerable racing circuits running in Northern California at this time, I feel pretty good about making up both a circuit and a racing impresario from whole cloth. I will work on that this week.
Leonard
Jocasta is going to tag along to Roger's races but it's mostly just to wear kicky outfits:
Michael
So as Roger spends some time canvassing both street contacts and car nuts (including Pepe and Rico) upon his return from the UK, Roger finds out about Tony Boyce, who is the quixotic head of something called the Bay Area Street-Legal Racing League. Boyce is an old-school SoCal Kustom Kulture guy who left the scene and the area in the late '60s as it began to die out. He had grown up in San Jose and moved back up to the Bay in '69 to find a thriving motor sports scene. The idea here was to find a niche in between stock cars, funny cars, carts, and all the other myriad classifications to grab people interested in street-legal hot rods. He's found a community eager to participate in both sanctioned and unsanctioned racing, and Altamont, in dire need of financial support in these years after the disaster that made it a household name, has embraced Boyce's "circuit" and allowed him to use the track on off-nights for, again, unsanctioned races full of local good old boys, muscle car enthusiasts from the working-class neighborhoods of the Bay, and retired/disgraced sanctioned race league veterans.
All right. So one afternoon after hanging around the racetrack and talking to the full-time staff up there, the Altamont personnel hook Roger up with Tony Boyce. He's in his mid-30s, a pretty sharp dresser, the kind of guy you figure has to move in multiple milieus by the looks of his wardrobe: being able to chat with both corporate sponsors and street-level racers. (For the sake of ease, I'm going to say that Jo was with Roger during this first meeting.)
Michael
So Boyce shakes hands with both Roger and Jo and says, "So I assume the folks here have told you what I do here on Thursday nights. Races of street-legal vehicles. Lots of non-professionals from all over NorCal." He smiles at Jocasta, says, "Women drivers too." (Not as patronizing as he could have been, I suppose.) "We're getting the street racers off the streets and freeways where they can get bagged by CHP or local shitkicker cops and putting them on the track. But none of this.... none of this is sanctioned, of course. By either a racing authority or legally. So we're going to need a couple of things to go forward with this as an organized league. One, we'll need some protection from local law enforcement coming out to the raceway on Thursdays and shutting things down. Two, we'll need drivers, a rotating cast of drivers so that we can drive up interest. The problem with this, of course, is that we can't advertise but we also need the... kind of people who are willing to drop five or ten bucks on an exciting but essentially illegal race every few weeks. Charlie [Jessop, owner of Altamont] said you might be able to help with this. And I know you want to race," Boyce says to Roger. "If you can bring in trustworthy folks, we can also cut you in on some of the gate and profits."
Bill
“Man, you are right on when you say I want to race. That’s my main piece of any of this action. Behind the wheel! But I hear what you’re saying about needing’ to being willing to help. Charlie’s right— we can help. I can definitely spread the word, pull in some folks in love with speed and excitement and maybe a little something on the side. But I’m not gonna take a cut. I got some scrutiny on my finances, if you catch my drift; don’t worry, no parole officer on me, but kinda a second strike shouldn’t be so soon kind of thing. But if it will get me racing, I’ll do you one better. If you’re willing to play along with a little bit of an eccentric silent partner, I think I can hook you up with someone who can provide cover for your Thursdays. Not “protection”— no “family” involvement here. But cover. Kind of a hippie kook who’s got some pull, you dig? My guy puts up the front you gather and race under, and if the pigs show, which they won’t, it’s all, no police patrols necessary, my good officer. Can’t say it’ll work on the dirtiest cops with their hands out, but you gotta figure out that protection yourself somehow.
Michael
Boyce nods at this, "I'm willing to entertain anything that could smooth out and expedite the process of getting this league set up. But I'd like to get to know any other partner, silent or otherwise, that I'm gonna be involved with. Who's our front man?"
Bill
“Well, I gotta clear it with him before giving a name. You know how these flaky high fliers are. But I gotcha; we’ll arrange a meeting. What’s the risk here if we use our own vehicles? Or you thinking self-mods gotta be approved or some shit?”
(Gotta buy a little time to consult with Archie on how this would work with SANDMAN’s interest in the track, if they want to put funny memetic stuff into play. )
(“Sure, but only if they run the track widdershins on full moons.”)
Michael
Boyce says, "I'm gonna be pretty liberal when it comes to people doing modifications. Drivers will know what the boundaries of 'street legal' are, I think; I'm not expecting anyone to be trying to slip some kind of borderline European supercar on us here. As far as the legalities are concerned, people are gonna have to assume some base level of risk, but mainly I just don't want any hot cars being used on this track, you dig? Everyone's gotta have some kind of papers but I don't care whose name is on them. This is strictly a "everyone come as you are" kind of thing, no insurance pools, everyone's going to sign a waiver on safety, and I and whoever you're proposing go in on this have absolute last discretion on who's allowed to play. If any one of us has a bad feeling about someone, they're out of here, permanently. I want there to be a circle of trust here. And who knows, maybe the best drivers can get onto one of my more legit circuits." It's not that Roger is thinking that Boyce considers this a high-liability minor league, but that's definitely part of the appeal for Boyce. Mostly Roger thinks he's the kind of guy who can't get enough action, legal or illegal.
Leonard
(Jocasta is just smoking and eating Carnation Breakfast bars in the stands. She'd kinda like to show up Boyce, but she drives for style and not speed, and is a little concerned that they're now engaged in a criminal conspiracy. She'll just cheer on Roger and offer any support for his plans for the track, as well as generally observing, making sketches, and keeping her eyes out for anything that trips her occult sensibility triggers.)
Michael
Give me an Observation check.
(I mean, basically the way I look at Roger's "op" here at Altamont is that it gives URIEL serious leverage over both Charlie Jessop, who bought Altamont at pennies on the dollar from the disgraced previous owner Dick Carter, and Boyce, who seems like the kind of person that a conspiracy like SANDMAN/URIEL could easily use... AND it allows us to basically have constant eyes on a subduction zone. The illegal races keep this place from becoming a memetic graveyard building up the death of Meredith Hunter and the dark energies of 1969.)
(But Bill can correct me if I'm wrong. I also know Roger just wants to race, dammit.)
>>> SUCCESS by 5
Michael
(This isn't occult observation, for the record.) So I think what Jocasta notes most clearly in doing an assessment of the grounds now that the races are back on again is that yeah, there's only one entrance to the facility for paying customers and a side entrance to the garages/pits where trailers can off-load cars, etc. But all that open hillside space around the race track is a serious tactical deficiency. If local PD or CHiPs wanted to, they could just drive vehicles cross country and emerge from over a hill and be on us before you know it. None of the owners of Altamont have ever bothered to seriously fence off the property but it would be advisable during a "grey area" race to have a lookout with walkie-talking on one of the hilltops keeping an eye on the approaches. (Probably more of a Tactics roll, really, but whatever.)
While she's doing this assessment, Jocasta doesn't get any Weird vibes or anything.
The areas that are redolent with energies—the grave that Frank planned for the school bus and the area where the Stones' stage was—don't reveal anything under Observation.
Leonard
Boss. Okay, she'll sketch up a quick sniper triangulation (but with cameras/binocs instead of rifles) and share it with Roger when she gets a chance.
Bill
Roger will be definitely passing that on with a “my compatriot here has noticed... a little advice...” to score our team some immediate points. Go Jo!
Roger is planning to pull on his Patron to help run a little interference with the cops as well, but knows everyone involved will be happier with a cover story, so the cops won’t get embarrassed or the racers or track get in trouble if someone stumbles into this abs makes noise ... and long as everyone’s got their cut.
I think the Fourth Estate is the biggest problem here. Illegal racing at Altamont is too juicy to silence for long.
Michael
Ah, but what if underground press found out about it and hyped it pseudonymously.
Bill
Well of course! But again, we gotta give them the safe word/high sign/hush hush story or they’ll blow it, too.
My first thought is to pull on Marshall to front a “private classes for the rich” day at the track. Like, putting a “Private Party” sign out. But Roger will want to hear what Archie and the “cleaning crew” want memetically first.
Michael
Let's table that to a quiet moment during Mission 4 (in-between sessions) or intermission 4. But I like how we're developing Altamont here quite a bit.
I think Archie's got a bit on his plate at the moment memetically but we can queue it up. Poor Archie with all his Corruption-collecting memetics.
Bill
Marshall could try some of this on. Roger will try to entice him into this with a chance to drive at the track himself. Not in Roger’s car, mind you...