I got given a 2nd in a race (solo break won). The race was held on the Limerock race course and the officials were on some bridge type thing looking down at the track. The guy that led out the sprint went way too early (car tracks seem way shorter than they actually are), I think down the right side (the "inside" if you will). As we approached the line I went to pass him (to the left, if my memory isn't too bad). He veered across most of the course, which, if you've seen Limerock, is about 3-4 lanes worth of pavement. He did that in about 100 meters.

I banged my fist on my bars after the line because, well, because I was young and all that. I wasn't going to beat him in the sprint so I was upset that I couldn't get around him, not that he took me across the road.

However the officials decided to take things in their own hands. They approached me and told me that they'd relegated the other rider to 3rd and that I'd get 2nd. I didn't think that was right and said so - I pointed out that I wouldn't have been able to pass him. They told me that wasn't the point, that the fact he took me across the road was enough to relegate him. I relented because that's the way I was brought up. The other rider was there and he didn't protest that much. I talked to the rider after and offered to split the prize money or even switch but it wasn't an issue, I think it was like $15 or $20.

(At that point I wasn't a promoter or anything so it wasn't like I knew all the officials/riders/etc. Nowadays there'd be the possibility of the element of that, but back then I was just a scrawny kid on the bike. On the other hand I think he might have had some run-ins with the officials, hence they were quick to relegate him. At one race he intentionally crashed in the last turn while sitting second wheel so that his teammate in front of him would win - the teammate won by about 50 meters and I was on the deck because I was sitting maybe 5th wheel as we flew into that last turn. He upgraded to 2 shortly after.)

The kicker is that he raced on the team that the shop I worked for sponsored. He was good friends with a few of my friends, he was at all the races, etc. I almost never raced against him because he'd do the 1-2 or 1-2-3 races and I'd do the 3 or 3-4 races, but at that race there was just the 1-2-3 race. He took it in stride, we talked after, he gave me advice on training and such, but I still think he should have gotten 2nd.

I just Googled it. It's a wide course. In the old days the bridge was intact on the other side of the main straight (north of the track) and I think there was a thing that stuck out across part/most of the track. Now it's just a tower type thing to the side.