Thread: Wayne Baldwin's Amazing Story: Baldy's Eual Eldred Baldwin

  1. #441
    Team Member Master Oil Racing Team's Avatar
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    I knew something was going on with Baldy and Wayne Hendrick's brother Joe returning, but I didn't know what. Just like with the aloe vera venture and MX-237, Baldy did not keep us kids informed. He was too busy, we didn't know about that kind of stuff, and besides.....I was tuned in to something else. Music...boat racing...and girls. I think the order of importance could be mixed up and around at anytime depending on what was going on.

    Marsha and I had continued our letter writing, and she sent me a couple of pictures. I desperately wanted to take her out on a date, but I was afraid too. I suspect Tommy and Betty Wetherbee might have said it was okay, but I never asked.
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    Team Member Master Oil Racing Team's Avatar
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    We weren't done with racing yet. 1967 was the longest of our racing years. Baldy organized a November race to be held at the State Park on Lake Corpus Christi. From our house, we could leave the cove and head straight out toward the main body of the lake and keep going to the other side to get to the state park. By our 75 horsepower MFG, we could get there in about five minutes. With a car and a trailer full of race boats, it takes about twenty minutes.

    In the meantime, the rotary valve C and D Konigs arrived, and the first thing Jack Chance did was to replace the Konig coils with another set that should help us keep the engines lit up. I do not remember what coils they were, or even who came up with the idea. Everything else was the same.

    The coils were shorter, but thicker than the ones that came with the Konigs, and Jack was unable to mount them on the exhaust side of the 4 cylinder blocks, so he fashioned a mounting plate, drilled into the boss on top of the block where the serial numbers and motor size were stamped and mounted them there.

    Jack didn't restamp the serial numbers, but he did stamp the motor size on the block in front of the boss. Nothing else was done to the motors. We did not get them in time for Jack to go through them like he normally would by changing out the seals, and other few modifications. Normally, we would break an engine in, then he would pull it down. We would break these in at the race with the new coils installed, then we would have the whole winter to go through all the equipment.



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    Team Member Danny Pigott's Avatar
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    Wayne it's odd but I have a Radio much like the one in your pic, It was my grandfathers. I have no idea how old it is .

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    I'll bet you could get the information off it and find out Danny. Mrs. Priestly told us, but that was thirty six years ago and I forgot. Seems like they were from the thirties.



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    Default When you write the book..................

    Wayne:

    Eileen and I look forward to each installment of the "Baldy" thread. You should write a book!! And of course on of the main reasons we look forward so much to each of your posts is the high affection we held for him, and you.

    So far there is everything that goes into the making of a blockbuster, starting with a family patriarch (Baldy of course) rising from a fairly standard early upbringing in Texas, through much hard work, competitiveness and brainpower, and being in the right place at the right time and taking full advantage of it, achieving the American dream with a beautiful home on a lake, wonderful family of two boys and two girls, and then being thrust into the role of both Mother and Father to the kids when the Mother passes away suddenly before the children are out of their teens. Add to this the teen angst of losing your first love (face to face version of a "Dear John" letter) another love (unrequited because of age difference) all just barely by the age of 20, and then more interesting things yet to come and be revealed in the competitive world of PRO Boat Racing, both with one of the sons as a World Champion driver, and the Father as a World Class Promoter, and I doubt you can miss.

    I have no doubt Hollywood will come calling in the near future offering a large contract for movie rights to the book.

    I think there already should be no doubt who plays Wayne's part. None other than Brad Pitt!!

    Perhaps a prize awarded for best casting suggestions for the other characters??? I would be most interested in Joe's thoughts on characters and who would play them.

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    Team Member F-12's Avatar
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    Bill Van has already started the screen play, Wayne. I would go to the theater to see this one. But Brad Pitt?????????? Not so much......both your roles would be hard to cast other than playing yourselves. The Lord broke the mold when He made you. There are no others to compare to.
    Charley Bradley


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    You guys are crazy. First....Ron is right. Nobody's going to sell enough books about boat racing to get rich. If you don't get rich selling a book, nobody in Hollywood would have a clue you existed. And even if such a thing were possible, I would not want Brad Pitt. I would want Sam Elliott...and he is way too tall to be me........but I do know where your thoughts are coming from and I appreciate it very much. I only wish Baldy were here to consult about the things I was never involved with to see how things came to play out and how he was able to accomplish those things. Baldy basically thrust himself into boat racing because after we got involved, he became emotionally tied up with a whole new group of people scattered across Texas that accepted us and helped us and he wanted to become a part of that. I don't know that there is any one expression or phrase to express it, but everyone that has been around boat racing for any length or time, no matter whether driver, owner, pit crew, inboard, outboard, official or whatever knows and has that special sense of belonging. Baldy never remarried, and I think boat racing and all the friends he made along the way just added to his family.

    I have worked to try to make it read like a book though (as much as I am capable). Two reasons. I love boat racing and my boat racing friends, and wanted to share experiences, and so many much more talented racers don't write. I thought a lot of what I went through was the same for a lot of others, and it would be fun to relive those experiences. The other reason is that if the internet is still around after I am gone, maybe my kids and grandkids might discover Boatracingfacts.com and read all this stuff about Baldy and my time with him.



  8. #448
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    You guy's Bill Van and Charley got me messed up. I had planned to write about Baldy's first ever venture into sponsoring a boat race. I had to take too much time to respond to your posts, but that's Okay. I will take the extra time to get some inside information from Clayton Elmer before I continue. And find some pics.



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    Default Just so there is no misunderstanding.........

    ............Brad Pitt was NOT my choice, it was Eileen's.

    You know how women are, suckers for a pretty face! And no, I can't figure out with that preference she married me!

    I would vote for someone more from our own time frame, say Steve McQueen, or maybe Robert Redford.

    And for Baldy, my choice would be William Conrad, who was the voice of Matt Dillon on the radio version of Gunsmoke, and also played Frank Cannon in the TV series "Cannon".
    If you don't recognize the name to put together with a face, just Google the Cannon TV series and refresh your memory as to his appearance.

    And Wayne, I think you may be very close to the truth when you bring up the reason you think he never married again. I would agree that Boat Racing and the characters in and around it filled a big void in his life after the death of your Mother and after you and your siblings were older and becoming involved in other things that did not involve his constant attention like you all did when younger., All of which, at least as far as I know about those things such as shooting, hunting, photography with both you and Jan, ect., he supported and encouraged you all in.

    Add to the time he spent supporting you and your siblings activities with the fact he was a natural born "people person" salesman and promoter (although he did not suffer fools gladly), and the time he spent (and it took) to promote the local races he did, plus National events he provided much help for, and of course the number of World Championship events he was the driving force behind both time spent and money wise at Dayton and other locations, growing Alice Specality and his other business interests during this time frame, and he had a very full plate.

    My recollections about this are based on my memory of many conversations between He and Eileen and I around the Kitchen bar the times we spent with him and enjoyed his friendship and hospitality. He certainly did not cover everything, but what he did talk about convinced us more than ever that he was VERY proud of you, and your siblings also.

  10. #450
    Team Member Gene East's Avatar
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    Wayne,

    I check BRF several times a day primarially to see if you have added anything to the Baldy's thread. When you DO write your book, I will be in line to buy a copy. And when the movie is made; I echo Bill Van, William Conrad would be perfect in the role of Baldy.

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