Hello Ron from Mississippi !!

[Jimmy Johnston]

Hey Ron,

Hope you remember me. We spoke earlier in the year. You called me looking for Bobby Kitchens' phone number. I think this site is great! Its
neat for us younger guys to look back and catch a glimpse of what it was like back in the earlier times.

Take care.. I'll tell Bobby about the site. :)

[Ron Hill]

I forget what my girl friend just told me... but no I didn't forget who you are...

I probably should tell some Bobby Kitchen Stories here...especially when he use to deal with me and Bahner Boats...

But one story I will tell...Bobby is a GOLFING NUT and a BOATING NUT....actually, except for golf, we have a lot in common....a lot of BS, but actually hard workers...just that we're A.D.D. our minds jump around a lot...(This site reflects my thinking patterns..I focus on one thing for five minutes, then something else...always been that way...My dad would say, "Finish one thing before you start the next." Why? I'd ask my dad, you'll finish them for me...and he did... Maybe, that is why we aren't racing now...My dad always said, "He payed all the bills, did all the work and took the blame when we lost." We were a good team...

Anyway, Bobby Kitchen was racing MOD VP with Second Effort and someone didn't hook the trim up right and when Bobby was making a "HOT" run in the early morning before Parker, when he backed off he blew over. I didn't see it, but I heard him back off, then I heard the RPM's coming up and up and up and all was quiet... I sent the patrol boat after him, but Freddy Hauenstein saw it from his house he's rented on the river, he'd been testing his D Stock Hydro, Freddy jumps in D Hydro and goes to see if Bobby is OK...

Bobby has some amazing one liners, but he answered Freddy with something like, "Im OK, I could drive to Kansas City and back with no problem." They put Bobby in the hospital...As they were putting him in the ambulance he handed a wet roll of money to Dr. Dean Puritzer from Mississippi, also (Dean's nephew plays on the PGA tour, but Dean has been mad at me for 20 years)...

Anyway, this roll of hundreds Bobby had in his pocket contained about $2,500. Dean couldn't believe Bobby would be carrying that kind of cash out in the boat...

I went and saw Bobby in the hospital, he seemed fine but they kept him for a day or two...he missed the race...

About five years later Bobby and I were talking about the blow over....He said, the darnest thing...I keep thinking I saw Fred Hauenstein in a D Stock Hydro right after I flipped. It just keeps bothering me....

I said, YOU DID SEE FRED HAUENSTEIN...he was there testing his Stock Stuff at the ENDURO...Bobby just kind of stared at me.... He said he was sure it was Fred but had never said anything because he couldn't imagine Fred out on the river at 7 A.M. in a hydro...(Freddy told me not long ago, he was testing the first 44XS motors for Mercury)...

Tell Bobby hello and I miss his visits...

Oh, one short one....Chad, my son, got married last summer, so they had a bachelor party it was a four day cruise.. I met a guy on the cruise that rented out old SEMI trailers for storage units, in Las Vegas... Seems he was making a lot of money easy...

I call Bobby to buy some trailer...EASY MONEY... Bobby says with that MISSISSIPPI accent WWWWhy would start a new business that YOU know nothing about??? How much money do you want to lose???? You're in the PROPELLERS BUSINESS MAN...I'm in trucking business and I wouldn't rent trailers for storage....

Well, that ended that...Bobby and I talked about 30 minutes... we both had some good laughs!!!

Get him to my Tour de Needles, we may have an AM-AM Golf Tourney!!!

[Ron Hill]

Awhile back someone mentioned Outlaws on Water...I can't find the post, but found the hat that Bobby Kitchens gave me...

I wished Jackson, Mississippi was closer. Everytime I'm with Bobby, I feel like I could spend a month with him....just listening to his way of wording things...he has 150 diesel trucks on the road, everyday hauling Colonel Sanders Chicken...and he's 81.....Plays golf like a MAD MAN and Drag races THEM ALLISONS....with 2.5 Merc EFI's....

If Bobby were ayounger man, maybe he'd be interested in NIGHT Boat Racing, as I think he "BANK ROLLED" Outlaws on Water.....That is still my dream....Racing under the lights...

[Dabull1919]

In fact, Bobby K owned Outlaws On Water. I raced in it from start to finnish missing only a few. I actually drove for Bobby K in one race in his 20ft Baker V bottom. He and Junior are a class act.

DB

[Ron Hill]

It will be two years this coming March since I've seen Bobby (Saw him on the way to the Winter Nationals in LA)...but wrote his number down wrong... I'd like to call him a shoot the breeze!

[Ron Hill]

RON!!!! BINGO! FOUND BOBBY ; And quite serendipitously I may ad
My ex and I had a small Searay “cruiser” to play with on the Reservior. Purchaser #1, was “one toke over the Bud line” and tore the outdrives off in a stump patch and sold it to Purchaser #2… who just happened to be “cruising” by our condo as I was decked out in a two piece with my Tim Chance Race Shirt on as a cover up. On his second “pass by” I noticed it was the old Emerald Wave (our boat)... He tried to back into our slip and, well couldn’t. So I said throw the throttles in neutral and I’ll jump on. He lit up like a Christmas tree… until I said move over, I’ll show you how to back this ol’ girl up. That is when he noticed the T SHIRT and asked do you boat race… the rest was history and he said do you know a guy named BOBBY KITCHENS…

Sis<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

[bill boyes]

It will be two years this coming March since I've seen Bobby (Saw him on the way to the Winter Nationals in LA)...but wrote his number down wrong... I'd like to call him a shoot the breeze! You and I had dinner with Bobby in Jackson. What a funny guy had Ron and I laughing all evening. Real easy to make friends with Bobby. And he bought dinner and drinks as well.

[Ron Hill]

Bill....When you, Dave Bryan and I go to the 2009 Winter Nationals...Let's schedule a DAY with Bobby.....if we give him enough notice, he might go with...

Great to hear he's still pushing 500 diesel trucks out a day...and not pushing daisies...

[Bunker Hill]

Just when are those winternationals?? Marlee should have her new boat by then!1

[Ron Hill]

Clyde Winter is dead...And George Nationals is in an Assisted Living Care Facilities....APBA now has a Winter Nationals, and some wanted to have it in May.....That would have been a Springnationals...But Arrowhead Spring didn't want to sponsor nothing with the economy as it is...and you know about George...Not Brother George from the CEMENT FACTORY...He's in Colorado...

The race is sometime in March, 2009...I'm guessing and we were going to maybe take Marlee's boat down on your new trailer....but you ain't got no new trailer...in fact...you ain't got an old trailer...How can you have four motors, 2 1/2 boats and no trailer???? 1,800 miles from here...2,300 for Bill Boyes...The way me and Bill travel, we'll be gone two weeks for the race...

Might run Dave Bryan's Tohatsu D..in D Mod!!! (NOT!)..