I remember reading about him first in cc.com land... I loved this quote on PulpRacing...
So Mumford's phone conversation with his friend Brett went something like this right after the California Speedway track event:
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Brett: How's it going so far?
PMUM: It's hot as hell and everybody is taking a break after one hot lap.
Brett: That sucks. How did you do?
PMUM: Well, before anybody went out for a run this guy that is driving the Skyline comes over for a little chat about the Viper. He tells me he's an IMSA driver, or used to be, and they hired him to drive the car. I told him "That doesn't seem fair". He said, �you could have hired me to drive your car". I told him "nah, I've done a couple weekend events, lucked out and won a trophy or two and just like to drive my own car". He said, "Well, good luck", and walked away.
Brett: (laughing) I know where this is going.
PMUM: Oh yeah, game on! So the Supra and this IMSA guy in the Skyline are going at it pretty hard. They keep exchanging fastest lap times until the Skyline comes in with a time that's about a tenth of a second faster than the Supra at about a 1:22 flat or just a shade under, AND it was his last run. I swear Brett, it looked like they had just won the Indianapolis 500. They were high-fivin', jumping all around. Now keep in mind, I haven't even put a wheel on the track yet.
Brett: This is getting better by the minute, so what did you lay on them?
PMUM: Well if that guy put down a lap time really close to 1:22 flat, like 1:21.9 what do I need to run to make a point? So everybody says, "OK, that guy really gave us a beat down".
Brett: Uh.....well if the Skyline guy laid down a smidge under 1:22, I would say a good "Mumford beat down" would be about a 1:19.5. That's usually what you do to the next fastest guy, 2 to 2.5 seconds. That would be the "end of story, thanks for playing."
PMUM: Ya' know, that's exactly the number I had in mind. A high 1:19 would pretty much let them know who's boss.
Brett: OK Mumford, what did you lay on them?
PMUM: Try a 1:16 flat on for size.
Brett: You ran a 1:16 flat? Holy E36 M3! That's berkeleying hilarious! What was the mood in the Indy pit after that?
PMUM: OH, I'm not done, it gets better. I finish my ONE lap and I'm living the RV lifestyle, because it's so damn hot outside, and I hear a knock on the door. One of the USCC guys tells me that they think they have a timing issue.
Brett: What? That's jacked up!
PMUM: You'll like this. I asked him, "What was my lap time?" He told me they had two watches on me at a 1:16. I told "Them that sounds about right", knowing that is exactly what I ran. He said, "Paul, that's over 5 seconds faster than the second place guy, and he's no slouch."
Brett: He is now�
PMUM: Yeah right, but apparently they needed more than one lap and two watches. So I said to the guy, "Do you want me to go back out there and do it again, despite the fact that it's now 110 out there instead of 100?" He told me that I didn't have to if I didn't want to because it was so hot, and he didn't want me to have to beat-up my car any more. I told him, "No. I get the feeling you want me to run again". So I did. I told them to get the stop watches ready, and by this time everybody that owns a watch is waiting for me to run again.
Brett: (laughing) OK, I'm sitting down now.
PMUM: I laid the wood them with a little 1:15.6. Thank you very much.
Brett: That a boy! The import world knows who you are now, huh? Was that all the car had?
PMUM: Oh yeah, I could have run the rest of the day and probably not squeezed any more out of it, BUT as I pulled into the pit I told them I wanted to go once more because I thought I had another half second in there somewhere. They said, "That's enough Mumford. Park your car, it's over"
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Now THAT is a classic story, and just another reason why Mumford is our hero. He did a little sandbagging up front, and then ends up hitting them with a stick so hard and so big that they don't know what the hell happened to them!
