DOVER, Del. - A steady rain Friday night and early Saturday created a small puddle in the garage area of the Dover International Speedway. A small hole in the roof between cars driven by David Ragan and Reed Sorenson allowed the water to drip all night.

For Dale Inman, the crew chief who helped take Richard Petty to most of his 200 victories and seven championship, it was a reminder of a time when practical jokes ruled the sport.

"Harry Hyde wanted to get everyone's attention one day in the garage, so he pulled out a pistol and shot a hole in the roof," Inman said. "Everyone jumped 10 feet. And the hole's still there."

As the sport became more mainstream, pranks have become little more than old stories.

"It was good stuff," said Rusty Wallace, a driver who used to be one of the biggest pranksters in the garage. "It was a great way to have fun."

Wallace and Dale Earnhardt used to play jokes on each other. Earnhardt once dumped a can of sardines under Wallace's seat before the Southern 500 in Darlington, S.C. - a day with 95-degree temperatures.

"I got in the car and it stunk so bad," Wallace said. "I had to drive with those sardines under my seat all day. To get even with him, I stole his steering wheel the next week. He high-fived everyone before he got in the car, then he freaked out. I was holding his steering wheel outside the window.

"We had a blast with each other."

The NASCAR community not only works together on weekends, they practically live together most of the week. To break the monotony, some often play jokes to break the routine.

"I think if you go through the garage and ask if I have been known to play practical jokes on people, I think you are going to get a pretty unanimous yes," Tony Stewart said. "That is something that you have to. What we do here every weekend for three days is a stressful situation. There are 43 of us trying to win the race knowing that only one of us is going to do it. You have to make it fun and lighten up while we are doing it so that is why we do that."

Stewart and Greg Biffle know that Carl Edwards likes to ride his mountain bicycle at night after the crowds are gone. They used zip-ties to lock his bike to a light pole at Texas one year - lots of zip-ties.

"We took a fistful of zip-ties and stuck the bike to that pole," Biffle said. "It was hilarious to watch him try to get that bike off the pole."

Joe Weatherly was known for being a practical joker. He had spring-loaded traps that scared people with a squirrel tail, and he once got NASCAR president Bill France Jr. to blow into a can to see how hard he could move a propeller.

"The problem was, all it did was blow back a bunch of snuff on his face," Inman said.

Hyde, the legendary crew chief who took Tim Richmond to prominence, is still remembered for pulling a gun in the garage area at Dover.

Neil Bonnet once had a child hug David Pearson as he left a restaurant and chant, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" Wallace said his team used to use zip-wraps in restaurant bathrooms to tie up rolls of toilet paper while other race teams ate. They also used zip-wraps on the driveshafts of rental cars to make others think they were breaking down on the way back to the airport.

"It has to be both ways," said Wallace, who now serves as an analysis for ESPN's coverage of the NASCAR circuit. "You have to be able to give and take."

Wallace knew Earnhardt was very afraid of $50 bills. It's one of the oldest superstitions in racing, a lot like the fear of shelled peanuts and green cars.

Before one race, Wallace's team taped a $50 bill to the roof of Earnhardt's car. Seconds after he got in, he hurried out "like he saw a snake."

Wallace's team also had a man stand in front of Earnhardt's car before a race at North Wilkesboro, N.C., and chant as if he was jinxing the car. That also frightened the man known as "The Intimidator."

Brian Vickers picked up the nickname "The Sheriff" in the garage area for his passion for fun. According to Jimmie Johnson, he also tried to convince him to invest in an outer space project, saying there soon would be an elevator into space.

Vickers' best prank came at a local short track when he drilled out the headlights on a friends' race car and filled them with a flammable chemical. When his friend started the engine, it sent the front bumper and hood flying in an explosion.

Vickers also showed up with a large caliber "Dirty Harry-like" gun in Texas for an afternoon of shooting cans on a fence, Johnson said.

"Earned the nickname 'Sheriff' that day," Johnson said.

Along with the reputation for continuing a long racing tradition of practical jokes.