JIMBO McCONNELL.....

[Ron Hill]

Jimbo tell me this is the only picture of his mom's house that he knows of, anyway. They tore the house down and built a Bank of America where his has was....Jimbo's 1959 El Camino...Gilmore B Hydro...

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Ron, You sure seem to have a lot of friends with personal connections to Playboy. BTW I've been wondering. How come all of your boats are made out of wood or fiberglass and your wife's is made out of rubber?

[Ron Hill]

This is Ted, my dad, Russ Hill and Vito Adragna at Vito's house in Belflower, California where Miss Carrot Top was built. Nothing but a BIG SID-CRAFT...

This is a picture I took from a slide I was showing on the wall...Intersed to see how it posts.

Ted's shirt says, "Galveston Island 250."

It was at the Needles Marathon that Jimbo and I almost casued Ted to have a heart attack. If you notice, the white Ford Ranchero behind the boat, well that was Ted's "Transporter."

Jimbo ran Miss Carrot Top at Needles, 1970....On the way hoem from the Beloit 1970 Stock Nationals my 1968 Chevy wagon did like Jake's car did, only trouble was I was in Winslow, Arizona. (In case you forgot or never knew, Jake Plachek's car took a Sh&t, that is why he didn't go to DePue, 1968...)...

I was towling a 20 foot Jones, I had a D Runabout on top, inside I had my wife's sewing machine, her encyclopedias and my D motor...I was going 90 MPH up a hill into Winslow when I dropped a valve....I pulled the dip stick and water and oil came out...I thought I'd STRUCK oil but I knew better.

I got a tow to the Chevy agency, and one of my fraternity brothers wife's dad owned the agency...He said, "Son, we can fix your car in a week or two." I said, "My wife has been off work a month and if she isn't to work on Tuesday her *** is fired."

He said, "I've got a nice little El Camino on the show room floor I could make you deal on....Long story, but we rolled out of there, same day, in a NEW, 1970 Gray, El Camino...D Runabout stacked up on top, 20 Jones on the back, encyclopedias and sewing machine.....The El Camino had so much torque, that even at a mile high with that load, I smoked the tires as was lift the Chevy agency...

This is 1970, so Jimbo, me and Ted have been "Hanging" with OMC since 1966...

Jimbo is working for the Needles's Playboy dad selling "Soda Pop" in Victorville. Jimbo had had a nice '58 Impala, but he decided to buy a new El Camino to take to Needles to the marathon... I never talked t o him and he couldn't have known, but Jimbo bought a new GRAY El Camino.

We get to Needles, Ted has had to haul Miss Carrot Top out and get someone else to bring his Stock stuff...Ted ain't in the best mood. He's hauling his boat out so Jimbo can WIN....

Anyway, he pulls in and I've got my brand new El Camino, GRAY, and Jimbo has his brand new El Camino, GRAY. Jimbo says to Ted, "Where's your El Camino?" I look at Jimbo and say, "Jesus Jimbo, be quiet, can't you see Jack Leek didn't buy Ted one." Ted was a little hard hearing but I said it loud enough that Ted could hear...

Ted got this "Bull SHIP" look and didn't say much all weekend...Monday, after school I get a call from the operator that Jack Leek has a conference call with me and Jimbo....I start laughing like a maniac. Jack comes on the line and gives Jimbo and me hell. He says something like God Damn it guys, I have enough trouble trying to run this team without you causing Ted to go crazy...

Some how, Ted never really believed that we JUST HAPPENED TO BUY GRAY EL CAMIINOS at the same time!!!!! Of course, we'd always say things like, "Jimbo, did your pink slip ever come in the mail?" Or Jimbo would say, "Are you paying for your insurance?" Ted would mumble something under his breath!!!

This is my '68 wagon on the way to Beloit...2 years old, 89,000 miles, fourth clutch, thanks to boat racing...Actually it was only 20 months old...4,400 miles a month, average, for a full time school teacher????? A little "Traveling"...

[Ron Hill]

Here is Jimbo, 1967. 1958 Impala, three Hill Runabouts, two Sid-Craft hydros...top hydro on the back is a May-Craft by Ted May. Jimbo, did have three Sid Craft Hydros, later.

Cathy McConnell hates this picture of Jimbo! She says, "Look at those pants Jimbo is wearing!!!"

[Miss BK]

Back in 2003 I helped Brett Bayne at Hot Boat put this article together. It was a real pleasure to transcribe the tape and hear Jimbo tell his life story...


Memories of a Champion
Racing legend Jimbo McConnell, whose career ended in a violent crash nearly 20 years ago, talks to HOT BOAT about victory on and off the racecourse.

[Miss BK]

That article is 10 pages long, but for some reason the text on page 10 is invisible. Here is what that last page says...



....And all those years, I still had that belt.
When I crashed, I had Billy's belt on. Of all the
things I had in the crash, I still have that belt.
HOT BOAT:Jim, how has your outlook on
life changed since then?
JM: I m not a religious person, but the
way that I feel now, and the way I appreciate
things, is much closer to the Hopi Indians and
that type of culture. Im more spiritual, where
you appreciate the rain that makes the crops
grow, that nourishes your body. If you re
feeding your body with an animal that you ve
just killed, you give thanks to that animal,
because that animal made you live. So you
appreciate that animal. You appreciate what
makes you live and breathe.
And it s made a better person out of me.
I m not bitter about the accident; I m pissed
off at some of the circumstances that caused
it that I had no control over. It was the only
way that I could have ever quit. I d still be
racing today somehow, somewhere.
My first accident was the blessing. It
prepared me for not being able to ever
race again. After that, I didn t race for a
whole year. But I knew I would be back. In
that year, I started branching out a little bit,
and that s how I got into model airplanes.
I tried to fly them before and couldn t do
it my ego got in the way. I thought, I m
Jimbo McConnell, I m a world champion,
I don t need anybody s help, I can fly toy
airplanes all by myself! But after destroying
about four airplanes, I gave up. So
after the big accident after I realized I
would never physically be able to drive
again I thought, What am I going to do
to keep me occupied physically and mentally?
So the old airplanes started coming
back. Now I don t have an ego problem. I
did it correctly; I joined the club and found
an instructor. I couldn t hold the transmitter,
and I was going to give up again, but
then Cathy found a tray that I could put my
transmitter in. Even though I can t feel
the stick, at least I could fly with my left
hand. If it weren t for Cathy, I would never
be flying today.
HO T BOAT:It s nice to see how much
you enjoy life these days. You truly have
been through hell.
JM: That s in the past. You can t dwell
on it or live in the past. In some ways I
feel like I m an old man. But I m just a little
kid at heart.
HOT BOAT gives special thanks to Valerie
Longwell-Collins in the preparation of this
article.
More Edit TK
106 HOT BOAT JULY 2003

[Ron Hill]

I stopeed to see Pete McConnell in Needles, yesterday...Pete had this pictures of his dad's Indain Motorcycle...I think this is the one I painted white...I never knew that Jimbo's dad was once Mayor of Needles...

[Ron Hill]

Jimbo is back flying airplanes again...

He's built this twin with an outboard K&B on one side and a regular K & B on the other, so it is balanced...

I told Jimbo that my new Sport C had his number on it...You know 191.... He looked at it and said, I knew you were Deslexic..."

[Ron Hill]

They let me take a few more pictures...

Top, 99-C is Jimbo's D Runabout...Hill Boat,

Bottom two are of his DSH Short Sponson Sid Craft...These pictures had to be 1967, as we built the DU after his return from Vietnam. The bottom picture is at Parker...It is Jimbo's FAVORITE Boat Racing picture.

[Ron Hill]

Well, let's see....The top one is Me (Big arms and shoulders, and Ted may in the spray. This is Lake Wiest in Brawley, California...fall of 1964.... or spring of 1965)...

The other two are Jimbo driving his Morehouse D Runabout...Jimbo told me he usually didn't have all his lead in...especially when he beat me....