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

[Master Oil Racing Team]

One thing I remembered from the race, but could not reconcile was Jerry Waldman locking up his motor in D hydro and Lucien Marioneaux flipping to avoid him. After reading the newspaper account, it all came back. I remembered it because I saw it happen from a good view.

It was the first heat of D hydro and we were on the back straight of the first lap. More than halfway down the back straight and almost at the point where a lot of boats flip, Jerry Waldman's flathead locked up tight. You could instantly see the roostertail change from a prop pumping water to the spray off a locked up prop. Jerry had a good lead and about fifty yards directly (and I mean directly), behind Jerry was Lucien Marioneaux I was running third and about fifty yards behind and to the right of Lucien. Anyone who saw Lucien race would remember his knees were kneeling down, but he sat straight upright. No teacher would ever correct him for slouching. His back was straight as a Marine's at attention. I don't know how he could drive like that. Anyway I was curious as to why he was driving right in the middle of Jerry's propwash, but he was. Lucien and I saw instantly that Jerry's motor had locked up solid and his speed was coming off fast. In fact, Lucien only had a spit second to act before running up Waldman's pipes and transom.

Lucien jerked his wheel to the right and it changed direction enough that Lucien and his boat didn't pile into Waldman. I had immediately dumped my throttle when I saw what was going to happen and had enough clearance that I could get by the wreck safely. As it turned out, Lucien either didn't have a kill switch tied to himself, or it had somehow malfuntioned, and the boat remained upright after giving Lucien a brutal series of tumbles in the water. The race had to be stopped to get the errant hydro shut down. While all this went on Jerry was able to get a tow back to the pits, and between Waldman and Simison's crew, they were able to get one of Jerry Simison's Quincy Loopers hooked up on Waldman's hydro before the next heat. It was about three years or so before the rule was enacted that if you are the cause of a race being stopped then you would be ineligible for the restart. Lucien was even able to get back in the race and finish second in the next two heats behind Waldman's firsts. I do not recall if he ran in Jerry's wake the next two heats, but I bet not.

The ironic thing is that Simison and Waldman were each adding points to their totals as each one went out in his respective runabout or hydro heats. They were neck in neck for the high point total, and the loan of Simison's motor to Waldman put Waldman over the top. That's sportsmanship.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Referring to the Alexandria Town Talk, the points help me remember better.

This was the first time I remember racing with Bobby Olsen. It was three years later that he was the man to beat with a single pipe Konig that tested 80 plus on the keller. At Alex in 1968, he was tearing the course up.

Jerry Waldman won both heats of A hydro. I don't remember which heat either of us finished second, but Bobby Olsen and I each finished second behind Jerry. Bob Hering finished third both heats and thus ended up second overall. Bobby and I might have jumped the gun....can't remember, but his second place finish was faster than mine so I finished fourth.

This was the race that Baldy and Bobby Olsen first got together. We had not been racing any APBA yet, and it might have been Bobby's first venture down to Alex. I don't know that for sure though. In any case, Baldy and Bobby became instant friends. They enjoyed each other's company very much. I think Bobby quit racing in the very early 70's, but he showed up at the DePue Reunion in 2007. He recognized me first. I was so glad to see him. Of course he asked about Baldy and I told him, but he was very complimentary about the times he spent with Baldy, even though it was a few years. He had come to see us in the pits at DePue I think in 1972, or 1974.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Here is a photo of Freddie Goehl at the start just outside and behind Jerry Waldman who won X Hydro. Freddie was driving for Ed Holstein out of Kansas in his Y048 hydro.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I had originally wanted to post a picture of us with Bobby Olsen at the start on the earlier post, but I scanned the wrong one. Here is one though of Clayton Elmer on the inside, Jerry Waldman in the middle and me on the outside. If you look at the wakes you can see that there are a bunch ahead of us. This is a heat of the A hydro finals. Look closely and you can see some clues. I started late many times because I didn't like jumping the gun. I know my position in the boat, and so I was all out. To the left of me was Jerry Waldman, and he was committed too, and all out. To the left of Jerry is Clayton Elmer, not quite down in racing position. You can see in his roostertail that he had backed off momentarily and was probably just about to drop the hammer. The kid in the forefront is looking at the early starters that were about to jump the gun, or were really slowing down. The other guy seems like he is taking the whole picture in. I do not specifically remember this heat, but I am sure it is the one where Jerry Waldman won and I finished second.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Jeff Lytle...Mr. Eagle Eye....cast your excellent vision and decipher mind on the exhaust of Clayton Elmer's motor. I will call Clayton tommorrow to see if he remembers anything about this.

Jerry Waldman and I were clearly running A hydro as evidenced by the length of the boats and the Konig motor configuration with the size and pipe arrangement. Clayton's exhaust looks like a can with the frontal exhaust. The picture is not clear enough to see what type of exhaust system he has, but it definitely is a start of a race. So anybody got better eyes....or a better idea of what's in the picture? It was 1968. The converging elbows and single sliding pipe was the next year in 1969. Maybe I just can't look at the picture and visualize it correctly. What do you think Jeff?
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ADD: I had originally written 1968 on the photo, then changed it to 1969, but I can remember running a single sliding pipe in 1969. Still, I don't recall a sliding can on an A Konig.

ADD: I went back to the original scan and kept enlarging it until it appears that both exhausts come from the right side of the motor and is not a can sliding on a manifold from converging elbows, but two separate megaphone exhausts. I may be totally wrong, but it looks like the top cylinder is further aft and the bottom cylinder is shorter and looks like the can exhaust. Maybe the manifold went wide coming out of the exhaust. Don't remember any of this right now. After I talk with Clayton, maybe he might give some insight.

[Jeff Lytle]

Call me blind Wayne, but it looks like a looper to me

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I know Jeff. It does to me too except when it's enlarged. Doesn't have the symmetry that Jerry's does. That's why I asked you, and I still don't know. Thickness and length of the trailing pipe are wrong and the short downspout of the front is wrong. A good mystery to clear up. I just don't remember Clayton running any loopers then, but who knows.

[Mark75H]

I agree with Jeff

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I'm going to rescan the photo with a higher resolution and see if I can bring out any more details of my motor and Clayton's. Here is what I found out today from Clayton and Joe, and it still does not clear it up, but really just muddies the water a little more. Clayton did have two B loopers that he sometimes ran. One was built by Bruce Nicholson which he sold to Possum McGinnis, a sidekick and pit man for Bruce and Bruce's boat owner Doc Watson of the runabout "Miss Riverside" that Bruce drove. When Possum asked Clayton to drive it, it made Bruce mad and he had a falling out with Possum. Then Clayton would also occasionally race a B looper that belonged to James Zuchua while James did his four years for the army. Joe added to the pot stating that sometimes Clayton ran a two cylinder B Konig owned and built by famous motorcycle and outboard builder Ray Cother from Beaumount. That B had two short megaphone pipes. The only trouble with all this is that they are all B motors. My Konig looks like an A with a long expansion chamber on each side of the motor. In 1968 Clayton and I both ran 4 cylinder B Konigs with external rotary valves. And looking at the boat lengths, our B Marchetti was longer than our A Marchetti, So in my opinion this has to be A hydro, and Clayton did not drive any A loopers.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I could get better resolution scanning in grayscale, but even then, this is the best I could do. First pic, me and Jerry cropped. Then Clayton.wayne and Jerry.jpgclayton.jpg