Byrne/George Taylor Family Racing History -- 1948 to 1963

Wayne (Master Oils) suggested that I start a new thread here. So I have done so.
See the Kim Newcome thread in "videos" to see my earlier posts.

Please bear with me as I'm 71 years old now, and there is every possibility that I'm not always accurate with my dating of events, or even the total story.
But what I convey will be as accurate as I can make it from what I remember from all those years ago.
Please feel free to correct me if you detect any errors caused from my 71 year old memory! :)

So let's get started with my story ----- I hope you enjoy!

My dad, Byrne Taylor, was a Doctor and a Flight Surgeon in the Navy during WWII.
After the war we returned to our home town of Orlando, Fla. And my dad renewed his medical private practice as an eye surgeon.

One weekend in 1947 we went for a family outing and found ourselves in Lakeland, Fla. Just by accident we drove by lake Hollingsworth, where they were racing boats.
As you old times know, this racing venue was quit famous to
outboard racers as it had the perfect record setting one and 2/3rds mile course that filled the lake entirely.

We stopped and watched some of the races. And my dad was "hooked"! This was the beginning of the Taylor Family's boat racing adventures.

(Stay tuned - it's my bed time -- hey, I'm 71! Cut me some slack! :D)

I'll add more soon.

Regards,
George Taylor

Hi Everyone,
I'm back to add some more to the Taylor Family racing history.

At the time I had no idea how it had affected my Dad. Behind the scene he was "at work" making his "dream" come true. And as it turns out, mine too!

I guess he was a bit concerned about my mother finding out about his decision to go racing until the "last minute", after he has already made his decision not reversible.

I was in for a "suprise" too. But I already knew what was in store. But my dad didn't know I knew.
But I did! That's because, as a kid, you tend to be just a bit "nosy" about things. And a couple of months before Christmas, I discovered all these racing motors that my dad had purchased and then "hidden" in the loft in our boat house, down by the lake we lived on.

But my mother didn't have a clue! Until she got up Christmas morning in '47, to find three hydros parked
on our porch. And a racing trailer sitting out in front of our house.
Of course, I was "pumped". But for some reason, I don't recall my mom's reaction. I'm just assuming that I probably disappeared when mom started in on dad to
avoid all the "sparks" that I'm sure followed! ;)

To make a long story a bit shorter, my Dad had purchased Joe Swift's entire racing package, including the trailer.
I'm sure most of you old timers remember Joe Swift, the guy that built the "production" A/B stock hydro that made Stock Outboard Racing so popular.

The package included a custom "bubble hydro" that Joe had built himself, along with a Fillinger hydro and a Mishey "M" hydro for me.
And four engines. A Johnson PR, SR ,KR and an "M" motor for me.

I have a lot of photos to add. But I'll have to do that when I have the time to go through them and scan some into my computer.
Most of the photos I have, I've not looked at in probably 20 years or more. So it's gonna be a challenge to even find them! :D

Oh, by the way -- I'm a native of Fla. Grew up in Orlando and currently live in Lady Lake. About 25 miles from Mt. Dora, where Joe Swift had his boat building shop.
I visited his shop on numerous occasions during my youth.
And also owned three models of his hydros.
The original Swift A/B hydro he introduced for Stock Outboard Racing, I believe in 1951 or 52.
And also his "Atomic A" hydro and "Big Bee" hydro.

I still have the invoice for the Atomic A and Big Bee boats.

How many of you know that Joe Swift woodworking actually began by manufacturing the old wooden clothes pins that had no springs?

Gotta quit for tonight -- more later.

Regards,
George

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ezryder

How many of you know that Joe Swift woodworking actually began by manufacturing the old wooden clothes pins that had no springs?

---

Knew that ;) ... that's what the Swift logo is, a clothes pin

I can't wait to see some of this stuff ... you were right at one of boat racing's big turning points. A lot will be learned from you pictures and memories

Thank you for telling your story

........I figured you had some interesting parts of outboard history to plug in, but what a start.:cool: Can't wait for the pictures, but I can already tell...this is going to be one good thread.:D

George,

Good to see you here.

Quite a surprise to learn a few days ago that you are EZRYDER after all the e-mails we've exchanged

Keep the stories coming.

Gene

Attention BRF Guru's !!
HELP!!

I've got all sorts of cool stuff from my past that I think you guys would enjoy. But you have to be able to read it.
I ran a test today on an old Swift Brochure I had in my collection.
I scanned it into my computer.
Then checked it out with my XnView graphics program. And I could easily take it out to 100% size and easily read it.

Next I tried posting it to the bbs. Then downloading it back to
my computer. Then using my graphics program to enlarge it to a size where you could read it.

That proved to not come CLOSE to working. I guess, in the uploading process, the scan is reduced considerably in resolution. And when you try to blow it up, you just get useless images.

Is there any way that I can make my scans available to the members in a format where they can download them and then use a graphics program to allow them in the same
resolution that I scanned them into my computer?

EZ

George...a number of us have gone through that type of situation,although I don't know what bbs and some of the other things you mention are. Scroll down below where the encylopedia section is and you will find a section devoted to posting. Getting the right size is one of the biggest problems. I scan jpeg and I learned that negatives, transparencies, and prints will size up differently than if I do just a black & white scan where I want it to be clean and readable. On my scanner, if I go for black & white in order to adjust the contrast and get the background white, it will not let me do jpeg, so I have to size it much smaller. I can't tell you why...I just learned it from trial and error. BRF has done more to get me to learn a computer by 10X more than any other source. So try out some of the threads in that section and Sam or Jeff can help with technical stuff if you can't figure it out.

The best parameters for direct use are 1,000 X 1,000 pixels and 72dpi; if you have an option for "jpeg compression" use medium or low.

You can make prettier scans by scanning larger and reducing before uploading, but if you want quick and simple use the above settings.

Thanks Sam,
I'll see if I can figure that out tomorrow.

I've got a bunch of stuff to post -- If I can just figure out
how to do it where everyone can read it.

I have lots of newspaper clippings that will be of interest. But their not worth much if you can't read them. And the
ones I tried to scan just didn't work out.

I'm only used to sending pictures to my friends via e mail.
If I send them hi rez, they get hi rez. They can download them and do whatever they want with them in their graphics package.

It quickly became apparent to me that BBS's don't work that way.

EZ

Hi Sam -- and everyone else interested.

I spent the last three hours trying to figure out how to play games with what I want to post, so people could read my postings. Tried every trick I could think of. I manipulated my scans every which way I can imagine in my graphics program. But was never able to come up with anything that I could actually post as a test on the bbs, and be able to read it. Downloading and attempting to increase the size didn't work either.
At this point I'm just out of ideas and also kinda "burned out" trying to figure out a way to do it, quite frankly.

It's a shame too, as I have a lot of old clippings that I was hoping to be able to post. But if you can't read them, what's the point?

Anyway, I've posted the best results I was able to achieve in all the efforts I've made since noon today.
But they just are not quite large enough to actually read them.

I'm "all ears" if someone can guide me as how to make newspaper clippings readable.

This is a Swift Hydroplane Brochure from 1954.

Regards,
EZ

Some more memorabilia from EZ --

Leesburg Races from 1948.
My dad is listed in the C hydro entry list
at the bottom.
Some well known racers listed also. Like the Hagood Brothers and Joe Swift.

The Venetian Gardens race location is only about
8 miles from where we currently live.

Enjoy!
EZ

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ezryder

I'm "all ears" if someone can guide me as how to make newspaper clippings readable.
EZ

---

To start with, we would have to know what software you are trying to use. There are probably 500 different programs out there.

Hi Sam,
Here's what I have for software:

XnView -- which I am by far the most familiar with.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 -- don't really know much about how to use this program.

And my scanner is an HP PSC 1310 series printer/scanner
combo.
EZ

What software do you use while scanning?

The software that comes with the HP Printer/scanner.
ez

OK, good. Hopefully someone else using the same software can help you with the settings.

In the mean time, if you just scan stuff big, you can email it to me and I can size it to show up good here on BRF

email to me at Mark75H@verizon.net

Some more ramblings from EZ ---

My mom was none too happy when she was so rudely introduced to the world of boat racing on that Christmas day
back in '47!
Just imagine her shock when she realized that dad had just purchased a complete racing package.
Four Motors --- Evinrude "M" for me. And a KR, SR and PR for
him!
And three hydros, to boot! A Mishey for me. A Fillinger A/B Hydro and a Swift (one off) C hydro for his motors.
And a large custom trailer built by Joe Swift.

After a period of time passed (and dad recovered from his injurys! ;>) she finally came onboard and the Taylor Team was borne!

Upps, hit the wrong button and I wasn't finished yet! :eek:

Now I was only 8 years old so I had not yet become totally dedicated to the sport. I didn't really get to that point until I was around 12 years old. That's when I began to realize that I seemed to have a knack for the sport.

So I was not a "regular" at every race my dad went to. But I sure remember the first M Hydro race I ever went to. It was in
the early part of 1948. The race was held in Pensacola, Fla.

By some totally "blind luck", I guess, I won the first race I ever competed in! I don't recall the details, except remembering that it was quite rough that day. And It was a race in salt water.
My guess is I most likely "backed" into winning by surviving.:o
And I remember I was a big "hit" to all the kids that were watching. I remember a bunch of them following me up the
beach as Dad brought my boat back in.
My mom took 8mm movies of all this. I still have them. But have not viewed them in probably 30 years. They may not even be usable any longer, as it was color film.

Then I hit a LONG dry spell before my next win!!:rolleyes:

To be continued ****

I've attached some clippings of a race on Late Stark in Ocoee, FL back in 1948
These guys were all friends of my dad.
EZ

Here's the Program from that day in Lakeland back in '47 when the Taylor Racing Team was born in my dad's mind. Less than a year later it was a reality. This was the first race run on Lake Hollingsworth since the war was over.

In 1936 the first race was run on Lake Hollingsworth. Over the next 5 years 16 new records were set on the perfect 8 pin one and two thirds mile course.
There were no races run from 41 until 47 due to WWII.

EZ

Wow, can't believe all the kool old stuff I'm running into. Most of
this stuff I've not seen in probably 30 to 40 years ago!
I'm having "FUN"!
EZ

We are having fun too ... this is great!

I think you've got the scan and post thing down pretty well ... they look great now

I agree with Sam wholeheartedly.:cool: I've been doing some research in old magazines for info that Mike Ward needs regarding John Ward Trophy races from back in the 50's and while carefully thumbing through those crumbling mags I found a couple of articles mentioning your wins and one with a pic of you accepting a trophy. When I get the computer fixed I will post it here.

George, keep the posting coming as they are great, especially us old timers. :D

EZ here again -- with some more memory's of my "misspent" youth! :)

How about this really "old" program!
When I discovered it, I wondered "why would this be in my dad's collection" ?
Then I opened it up and realized why. My dad and others in our boat club organized a lot of races back in the day. And he used this program as a way to "block out" how they wanted to organize the ads for the program that they were preparing.

You can see some of his ink marks on the front.
I copied one of the inside pages (see below). You can see his handwriting all over it, blocking out the areas and sizes of the ads they had sold. It was marked like this on every page of the program.

Look at the page and note the name Ralph Hagood on the entry list.
Ralph is the guy that maintained my dad's racing Johnsons until Dad started using Walt Blankenstein, when he moved to
Florida.

Ralph Hagood was one of two of the three Hagood Brothers that were involved in racing.
Tommy Hagood was the B Stock Hydro champion in 1951, if my recall is correct.
The three brothers were named Ralph, Jerome and Tommy.
Their dad started the first Mercury Motor Dealership in Orlando, I believe in 1949 or 1950.

They rented a space from Bob Lester's Welding Shop. Bob is the guy that built up my Dad's short track stock car racers.
(Yes, my dad was a "racing" nut!)
He didn't drive them. My mom wouldn't let him. But he had a good friend, Phil Orr, who was a great driver, and won a lot of races for my dad.
I also raced the stock cars from time to time after I turned
14 -- but my mom never knew about that. Or my dad would have been "dead meat", believe me! :D

That's it for now -- enjoy,
EZ

I remember George an Doc. as most people called his Dad.They raced some SEBA races tn SC an Ga.they did very well at the races i saw. I hope George can tell more History of SEBA very few people seem to know much about it.

Hi Danny and everyone else following this thread.
A few more musings from EZ --

"I remember George an Doc. as most people called his Dad".

I laughed when I read your comment Danny! My dad HATED being called "Doc" at the races. But he was stuck with it! He never complained to anyone but my mom and I. He wanted to be known as Byrne when he was at the races. When he went racing he wanted to leave his MD badge behind. But he was never able to.

As I got older I understood why. He wanted to separate his being an MD during the week from his status as a boat racer on the weekends. Racing was his "safety valve".
A place where he could blow off all the steam that built up during the week.
And he was a totally different person at the races that what he was like as a doctor.
At the races his language was a lot like a "sailor" when things didn't go his way. At home that was a TOTAL "no/no". Decorum was the rule!

When I was a youngster I didn't understand this, as I was a racer "all" the time. That's all I did -- except go to school. My life consisted of going to school, coming home and dealing with preparing all our equipment for the next weekend of racing.
I was living in my "dream" world 24/7. But Dad was having to live in the "real" world - except on the weekends. Then he was able to slip into his "alternative universe" as a racer until he got back home on Monday morning.

I imagine everyone reading this thread understands the "alternative universe" you move into as soon as you pack everything up and head out for your next racing challenge.
I know I sure did!
As I reached adulthood, from the time I would leave for an event I was no longer George -- I was "Ezryder" -- and I was in the "Ezryder time warp".

You can't imagine how many friends I "pissed off" temporarily when it was getting time to go racing.
My concentration level was so high that I could be walking through the pits, have friends acknowledge me, and never even realize they were addressing me.

But the best part of all was after the race starts and you get into the "zone" where everything that's happening turns into "slow motion". When that happens, your in business!
You can do "no wrong". At least "most" of the time! However I do have numerous broken bones to prove your not always successful at reaching the "zone"! :D

Superstars get into the "zone" every time out. That's why their Superstars.
Mortals like me don't get there every time out -- but we DO
get to the "Emergency Room" more ofter!! :o

Enough musings for now ..

I've attached some more clipping from my youth--

For the life of me I can't remember what boat that was that I was driving with the Merc Hurricane w/ standard unit? "CRAFT" disease I guess!

The other clippings cover the only boat race ever ran on Lake Faraview. We lived on that lake. And I did a lot of "testing" there. But mostly stock outboard stuff. When we tried to test our alky's we usually attracted the Gendarmes and had to cease and desist! :D

Oh, by the way -- The clipping that has the headline "Orr Captures" is the results from the stock car races that weekend. Phil Orr drove my dad's stock car. That was one
"way kool" race car! It was a '34 Ford with a flat head Ford
V8 with Eddlebrock heads installed.
Enjoy!
EZ

You have a very good way with words in telling us of your youth George. All of us kids growing up at sometime yearn to drive a car, then when it comes....we get into the hot rod stage. But boats are different. There's something about the sensation of speed on the water, and I can tell that from your story...you felt it as a youngster. That drove you to become the racer that you were "all the time". I'll bet that most boat racers have felt the Zone you accurately describe. I have seen, and have photos of, the top drivers who shouldn't be too worried.....zoned out like they were trying to sleep before a heat. Once you get on a plane and start looking for which bouy you want to pass before milling ahead of the start, that zone you mention kicks in.

The thing about your Dad is most true. My Dad could get away, and did, but his name didn't bring up his occupation. It just goes to show the character of your Dad that even though he didn't like it...he never mentioned it to anyone other than you guys. Their generation was like that. For you to tell us makes for all the more interesting story George.

Hi Wayne,
Thanks for the kind words about my musings! I hope everyone is enjoying them. Lots of the details are coming from memory's reborn when I started reviewing all the notes, clippings, and photos that I have not reviewed in MANY years!

My Dad and I were always very close. I was never as close to my mother as I was with my Dad. As I progress with my story, everyone will come to understand why.

My Dad and I were very strong willed individuals. And this led to many confrontations between us at races.
Dad was "always right" and I thought I was "always right".
So we would have these heated exchanges at the races. And I'm sure a lot of our racing friends truly thought we hated each other. That was not the case!!!
Dad usually "was" right and I was wrong. But every once in a while I would be "right". It was sure cool when THAT happened -- cuz it didn't happen often! :cool:
Whatever the case, even though we would go head to toe, then turn around and just walk away, within five or ten minutes, all was forgotten, like it never happened, and things were "back to normal".

As a side note --- How many females do you know that can do that? --- But that's a story for another time:D
Humm !! Do I detect a "brickbat" headed my way?? :)

That's it for EZ's musings for tonight.
More later,
EZ

Hi to everyone from Ezryder.
Just wanted to let everyone know that for the next month I will not have time to post on a regular basis.

I'm currently spending a lot of time in my race shop getting my Yamaha GP bike all set up to race at Daytona on March the 1st and 2nd.
I've retired from riding myself, but will be sponsoring a young friend of mine that will be able to hold up the banner of 2Old Racing.
I'm looking forward to playing the roll of team manager rather than rider.

Stay tuned! After Daytona I'll get back on track with my musings.

For now, I'll write up some updates on my preparations for Daytona.
And I'll also post my annual "Daytona Reports" that I've been doing for the last 15 years during the course of "Bike Week".
Enjoy!
EZ

Hi Everyone,
Here's my first report, as promised earlier.
Boy, I've been in a Tizzy for the last week, for sure!

2010 Daytona Report #1

Hi Everyone!
Well, it's Daytona time again -- and I'm "pumped"!! As most of you know, this is my 51st year of racing at Daytona International Speedway.

I'm no longer riding -- I retired after my 50th year, but my trusty Yamaha TD3 250cc GP bike will still be in the F250 races come the first and second of March. My close friend, Chris Spargo, will be handling the riding duties.

This will be my first experience at being an "owner". I always said that if I wasn't capable of riding the bike, most likely I'd "quit" cold turkey! Didn't work! I still LOVE tuning the bike to go racing, even though I'm no longer riding!
Once a racer, ALWAYS a racer, even if your "over the hill" !! hehe

I've been busy getting the bike ready over the last couple of weeks. And all the work is just about finished. And it will
be finished by tomorrow!

Then on Saturday, Hooterville will "host" a bunch of my racing friends that are down to go racing at Daytona. Gonna "treat"
them to "George's Custom Chili". And it's a "Texas Chili" that will melt your gonads!! hehe
Hope they enjoy it.

Then on Sunday morning we head out for Daytona and Tech Inspection time. The Monday and Tuesday are RACE days!!
HALLALULIA !! I "LOVE" Daytona race time!
Been do'n it now for 51 of the 71 years I've been around!!!

Stay tuned -- more later.

The "Grey Fox" of Daytona

2010 Daytona Report #2

Hi Everyone!
Here’s my Daytona Update #2.

Saturday 2/27/10

Around 11AM my friends started showing up. First to arrive was my rider’s (Chris Spargo’s) mom and dad showed up.
Shortly thereafter Chris and Glen Christensen showed up
Next Joe Lachniet and Fleta showed up.
Then Marty Lunde arrived.

And the “FUN” began! First off, Joe announced that he thought his crank has gone south in his Yamaha TD1 GP bike.
So we made room for Joe’s bike in the “Hooterville” race shop.
In the meantime I put Chris to work getting my TD3 ready for tech tomorrow. There were a number of “issues” to be resolved, all of which Chris resolved over the next 8 hours.
Meantime Joe was busy disassembling his TD1 to install a new crankshaft. Luck was not with Joe for this years Daytona. After disassembly it was discovered that it was not a crankshaft problem, but rather a gearbox problem. And it was a problem that he did not have the parts to fix.
So Joe’s “Daytona Experience” for this year is over before it began – But for his girlfriend, Fleta, it’s a bonus! Now she can “chase” the Daytona Experience like females like to do – which means NOT being stuck in the paddock for two days while Joe plays with his “boyz toyz”! Fleta’s a “happy camper”!

The day was spend basically enjoying all the “tall tails” that racers tell along with a lot of last minute work. And all “warmed” with plenty of George’s “Texas Chili” for dinner, and of course lot’s ‘o beer and other “stiff” drinks! (Just ask Glen! Hehe).
Then the “BS” began and continued until we all ended up “crashing” around midnight.

A GREAT time was had by all!!!!!!!

Sunday 2/28/10

7AM --- Everyone is “up and at em” --- Kinda! As much as you can be when it’s 32 degrees in Hooterville.
All I heard from my Minnesota and Michigan friends was what is THIS all about. And I told ‘em --- this is the way it’s been ALL winter in Florida.
And believe me, I’m a native of Fla. And this year has had more freezing weather that I’ve ever experienced in my lifetime!

Next we finished loading up everything and off we headed for Tech inspection over in Deland, Fla – not far from the speedway.
On schedule for today was Tech inspection of the race bikes along with rider’s meetings for the following two days of racing.

After these formalities were complete Chris, Glen, and Marty continued to the speedway to unload our bikes and tools in our garage area so that we are set for tomorrow morning.
Chuck and I hit the road to return to Hooterville for the night. I have to be home on
Monday morning to hydrate my kitty cat (Myrtle). She’s 21 years old and requires special medical treatment.

Chuck and I will be heading back to Daytona tomorrow morning at 6am so we will be there for the first practice session. Racing starts after lunch.

That’s about it for now everyone!
I’ll be doing a final Daytona wrap up report next Wednesday. I’ll be spending the night at Daytona tomorrow so that we can all do our yearly “Brick House Grille” dinner get together.
Having LOTS of FUN!
Stay tuned for my wrap up report later in the week.

The “Grey Fox” of Daytona.

2010 Daytona Wrap Up Report.

Hi everyone,
Huge disaster occurred in my writing up this report a short while ago! Microsoft Word ate my complete report. Apparently “lost forever”. I am one “PO'd" writer about now!
So you will have to be happy with the “shortened” version as I’m not up to doing up another 2 hour plus write up. If I attempted that, most likely my brain would completely “melt down” !!!

So here’s the “short” version:

Monday:
Lots of “drama” went into today. And lots of work to make things happen. The weather for today was COLD but clear.
All sorts of “issues” arose during the morning practice sessions. The worse one was the fact that Chris forgot to take the carburetor covers off my TD3 and attempted to start it.
Two hours later we finally got it started again after draining out over a quart of raw gas out of the crankcases.
Then Chris made the second practice session. But, alas, our problems were not over.
He had to catch a ride back to the pits with the pick up truck when the motor quit.

After a lot of serious troubleshooting, we found that there was a lot of “krap” that ended up in the carburetors caused by the new fiberglass tank we had installed.
Anyway, we went to work and cured those problems just barely in time for the F250 race.
Chris finished second! HALLALULIA! All our work paid off in the end!

Next came the F500 race. Chris was riding Marty’s TR in this race. And things did not turn out like we hoped. Chris pulled in after a few laps complaining that it felt like it was trying to seize up.
Further investigation on our part proved that was not the case. The problem was with the ignition system.

So I made a note to bring along my Motoplat spare ignition to install on Marty’s TR on Tuesday morning. Then Chuck and I headed back to Hooterville for the night.


Tuesday:
Well, the predicted cold front arrived during the night! Lots of rain and really HIGH winds persisted for most of the morning. But as luck would have it, by race time the rain had stopped and all races were done on a dry track. And that’s something we didn’t believe could happen from the info we had received on the weather report on Monday night. The storm was traveling at over 50mph, so it blew over Daytona by around 11am, and the track dried out quickly due to the high winds that persisted all day.

I helped Marty install my spare ignition on his TR while Chris worked on adjusting the shifting drum on my TD. He was not happy with the way it shifted during the race on Monday, so he cured the problem.

Next we tested the new ignition on Marty’s TR and found that it had cured the problem. Great!

Next up was the F250 race and Chris grabbed another 2nd place!
Thanks, Chris!

Then it was F500 time again, with Marty’s TR. Things didn’t work out like we had hoped. Turns out that the ignition change had cured the ignition problem, but created another problem. Now the TR was experiencing detonation, so Chris pulled in rather than destroying the engine. Good choice!

So that was it for this years “Daytona Experience” . And we all had a great time!
Looking forward to next year, God willing!

Regards,
The “Grey Fox of Daytoan” – my 51st year!

Here are some photos taken during our adventure:

Pix # (17)
Marty's 1965 Ford Window Van. Marty bought this van back when it was new. But never sold it. In later years he shipped it to the UK where he did a total "restore" on it.
Now it's back in the states again. And he used it to transport his vintage Yamaha TR3 to Daytona for the races.
It was a HUGE hit! You would not believe all the people taking pictures of it and asking questions about it!

Pix # (09)
This is a photo of the garage area at Daytona. This picture only covers 20 garage spaces. The total garage spaces available were over a hundred. And they were all full of bikes.
Along with a lot of race bikes that did not pay for garage space and were set up in the paddock area.
Total entries for the races were 400 bikes.

Pix # 4982b
Yours truly sitting on Marty's restored TR3 along with his 1965 Ford Window Van mentioned above.

Pix # 4988b
Left to right -- Chris Spargo ( our rider). Ron (a friend from the UK). Marty Lunde (my racing friend from when I started racing in 72). And Glen Christensen ( A fellow vintage racer I've know for years)

Next I'm going to get back to documenting my boat racing history that I started a while back, before "Daytona Time" caught up with me.

Stay tuned,
George (The "Grey Fox" of Daytona)

George,

I know from our e-mail exchanges that # 637 is YOUR BIKE. Very nice!

Sounds like you guys had your share of problems but had some success and some fun as well. Kind of like boat racing, huh?

Congratulations!





P.S. I like the Ford!

I've been exactly where you've been while writing your report George and know the feeling well. You pour all you got into getting all that happened into a concise report and are happy to have finished only to find out it's gone forever.:mad: It just takes it all out of you, and you just cannot duplicate the effort to put it back together like it was. You did a marvelous job on the short version though.

Here's a hint you might find comes in handy sometime. When I start writing a story here on BRF that takes some time and I have to think about something during the writing, or if I have to take a call or whatever that takes time before I finish, I have found that when I go to submit the story I am logged out. I wrote several long stories a two or three times before I could do them without being logged out. One was "Billy Zimmatore" and it just took too long to get everything in and it was a year after I started before I finally got the thread on because I kept getting frustrated. It was then that I found the solution. If you have completed your story and get the screen that comes up showing you are logged out, don't go to the upper right to log in. Scroll down below the copy you have written and you will find another slot to log on just as you normally would. When you log in there, your stuff will be saved and will be properly posted.

Enjoyed your Daytona piece very much and look forward to you getting back to where you left off with the outboards.

Wayne, i thought the story you did about Billy Zimmatore, was one of the best i have ever read . He was the most Amazing person i have ever heard of. Sometime when things are going bad for me, i think about him an say why am i worried about this small problem . You should put it on a sticky or somewhere where everybody could read it, i know a lot of people here have never read it, but they should.

Thought everyone would enjoy a story about 2Old Racing that a European friend of mine posted on his vintage m/c racing page:
http://www.classicyams.com/personali...ld-racing.html

Ludy Beumer is the guy that made things happen in Europe, with regard to Yamaha GP racing back in "the days".

EZ

Hi Everyone,
It's been a while since I posted any more of my boat racing history. But I did keep you informed of my Motorcycle Racing "Daytona Adventure". Had a GREAT time with all my friends!

I'm going to head over to Ocoee for the stock nationals on Saturday and meet up with John Schubert. Really looking forward to meeting him!!
He started racing in my era, in the 50's, but we never met. He was mainly stock outboard at the time I was doing Alky. so our paths never crossed.

I've dug up some more stuff out of my past to post. Hope you enjoy it!

Pix: Geo & Byrne's APBA cards.jpg
Oh MY, Now you have an Idea of just how "old" I really am! hehe.

I've included some pictures that I took at Lake Alfred back in Jan of 1954.
Just right click on the image. Then left click on "save image as". You will now have a short comment on the photo to read.

You'll notice some pictures of Archie Golson's rig and a shot of him ready to head out for a race.

I met Archie in '53. He was a Master Sgt. in the air force and was stationed at our AFB in Orlando. Archie was a real "trip", believe me! He taught me the meaning of "WFO", big time!

We were at a race over in Cocoa Beach, Fl. It was a stock outboard race. And the race was held in the inland waterway.
Yea, salt water! And ROUGH as hell!!!
Any way, in the first heat of BSH Archie took off and won. I "pussy footed" around due to the rough water and finished way down field!
When I pulled in Archie started in on me. He said "your a pussy"!!! Get your "**** together"!!!!
He took a piece of wire and walked over to my Swift hydro and wired the throttle wide open. Then he said " that's the way to win", and walked away.
Well, I got the message! And when we went out for the second heat, I really hit the start perfectly, or so I thought!
Got to the first turn first, rolled out onto the back stretch WFO, head down -- and I was in the lead!!!! WOW!

Then I noticed a problem! The horizon was no longer horozontal, as I looked out the side of the cockpit. Why, you
ask? Because the nose of my Swift was pointing straight up!!

After they towed what was left of my hydro and motor back to the pits, I was informed that I also jumped the gun! So I was never even part of the race.
Well, what do you expect from a 14 year old with balls larger
than his brain!! hehe

My dad was really "pissed" since I still had the throttle WFO when the motor sucked in the first of the salt water.
Needless to say, a huge explosion followed. The motor --- AND my dad!!!

Of course, I profited from this experience. I didn't do another one of these types of mistakes for a couple of months!! :o

More later ---
EZ

Remember back a while ago when I posted some information on the fact that my Dad was involved in Stock Car Racing. And had a driver named Phil Orr that won a lot of races for my dad?

Well, here's a couple of photos of my Dad's stock car and me. These were taken in 1953. I was posing with Dad's car. But I also began racing it on dirt tracks the following year myself.
My Mother would have "killed" my Dad had she known!

Carter Frame and Wheel was a company in Orlando that did wheel alignments. They helped sponsor our driver, Phil Orr.
Their family members still own the company to this day.

These photos were taken in front of Bob Lester's Welding Shop on Pine Street. Notice that back then almost all the roads in Orlando were brick roads.

Bob Lester rented out a portion of his welding ship to the Hagood Brothers. They were just starting up their Mercury outboard motor dealership. This was in 1951.
It did not take long for them to move into their own facilities as Mercury outboards were starting to sell very well.

One of the Hagood Brothers, (Tommy) won the BSH championship I believe in 1952 or 1953.

I've also attached some photos of the races in Lake Wales in
1954. They were held 1/17/1954, and were part of the Citrus Circuit races held every winter. The week before the race was at Lake Alfred. That's where the pictures for my last posting were taken.

There's a picture of me and my boats on my trailer. The Hydro is a Swift. And the runabout is a Sid Craft.
I finished second to Archie Golsan in the BSH, and won the
BSR race using my Sid and my Merc KG7H.

The other pictures are of (first name escapes me) Webster. He came down from Ontario to escape the cold. I don't have a clue as to why I remembered his last name, but for some reason, I did.
Maybe because my middle name is Webster???
Who knows!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, he finished second to me with his Sid Craft and Merc
KG7H.

More later ---
EZ

I think the Webester that you are talking about is John .He still shows up at boat races and might be at Ocoee.
Leigh