Jimbo McConnell--The Wizard of OZ

[MN1]

Jimbo in one of his Mod 50 boats.
Mark Nelson

[peterse90]

Jimbo in one of his Mod 50 boats.
Mark Nelson

Same boat, Welland, Ontario 1977.
Mark Rotharmel in background as Mod U's and Mod 50's ran together.
Pretty sure Jimbo's Mod 50 boat is a Seebold hull with 'Velden' styled cowls.

If I remember Jimbo showed up in Canada a few times with both a Mod 50 and Mod U boat on a trailer with the U boat below and the 50 boat on top.

[Ron Hill]

Jimbo was telling me, he was working for OMC and was basically their NUMBER ONE driver, but when he ran MOD 50 at LOCAL RACES, Jeff Brown would basically "KICK HIS BUTT"...

Jimbo was never a "BAD LOSER" or a "SORE LOSER", but he never took losing well...externally, maybe, but internally, he wanted to be NUMBER ONE.

Jimbo started replacing his steel bolts and nuts, on his Mod 50, with aluminum bolts and nuts. It was only after he'd won the MOD 50 World Championships (And I forgot all the details, but he said Tom Ireland and Jeff Brown is why he won the MOD 50 World Championships....)...Did JIMBO tell Jack Leek, his boss at OMC, that he'd replaced all the bolts and nuts with aluminum bolts...Leek got a little "SIDE WAYS"...and EXPLAINED TO JIMBO THAT OMC ENGINEERS DESIGNED THAT MOTOR and he was a PAID DRIVER...

Jimbo did say, that MOD 50 Racing taught him more about Boat Racing than any other class had taught him...

Jimbo has some great MOD 50 pictures, but he keeps TALKING ABOUT A BOOK.....I tell him BRF IS A BOOK!

[NERSTROM]

That's right, the black boat was one of the SE Seebolds built for the race of champions. As a MOD 50 it was a handfull, took someone with Jimbo's talent to drive it. I think the 313 boat is Jeff Brown. There was some really good racing between the two of them. The story about the aluminum nuts and bolts is true, I think Jimbo drove the MOD 50 without shoes as well.

During the early days of MOD 50 we had problems with the carbs going lean out of turns. I got into the back of the black/white boat and Jimbo took it around Fox Lake so I could watch the carbs. Here I am trying to stand on the stringers while holding to the gunnel and looking at the carbs with the cover removed. Jimbo thinks this is great fun and decides to show me just how hard he can turn! Can't write what I said to him, but we never did it again.

During the same time Terry Leatherby was driving for Lou Eppel and got a new Broughton. I kept getting nasty comments for giving the best stuff (motors) to Jimbo so we finally traded powerheads at one of the races. Turned out Terry's new boat was a dog. The rivalry between Evinrude and Johnson was as bad as Merc and OMC.

[Ron Hill]

Well, if Jimbo actually writes his book, many MOD 50 details will come up.

But, from what I understood Jimbo to say.....Jack Leek WAS HEAD OF RACING...everyone knew this. But some YOUNG Engineers, YOUNGER EMPLOYEES wanted to RACE....So, when some of these Engineers worked 8 hours a day, like TRUE BOAT RACERS, just because the factory closed at 5:00, they continued to work....

I don't know, if Fred Hauenstein Jr., was at Mercury, yet or still with OMC....But, Yes, Jeff Brown was getting some SERIOUS HORSE POWER out of the OMC FACTORY, not the back door, as they only had a side door....

At some point, Jim Nerstrom's engine abilities became apparent to Jack Leek...It may well have been because Jimbo was getting his lunch handed to him at every LOCAL RACE by Jeff Brown....

At some point Nerstrom got semi fired, but was promoted at the same time...Jim became the head of race engine building...or something. Maybe, Jim could enlighten us here, or maybe at the DePue reunion, I'll get his story and take notes...Jimbo told me exactly the whole story, but one beer, two beers, no notes, I forgot most of the story....

[peterse90]

Jimbo has some great MOD 50 pictures, but he keeps TALKING ABOUT A BOOK.....I tell him BRF IS A BOOK![/QUOTE]

If Jimbo ever writes a book I hope he includes a few stories of his racing exploits in Canada. I'm sure he enjoyed the racing here and we sure enjoyed both Jimbo the person and Jimbo the racer.

Here are some pictures (wish they were better quality) Of St. Louis 1980, Mod 50 m
Molinari...I think this the rig that Jimbo found ways to save every ounce of excess weight...including his shoes!

[Ron Hill]

Jimbo's Short Sponson Sid Craft was more than very fast. His mag arm dropped and he didn't finish either heat....He had the start, as this picture shows....I found this clipping on my garage floor this morning....if I don't post it now, it WILL BE HISTORY.


Jimbo's dad, Mac, the ex mayor of Needles, found this Mark 55-H in Utah, it was almost brand need. My dad took the Carter carbs off, and put on new Tillsons, he also installed solid rods and flat top pistons. This 55-H was one of the best in the country.

My dad later figured out how to maching the mag arms, install a set screw and to wnd cap o-rings and the mag arms never dropped after that.

Jimbo never won a STOCK Nationals, even though he had the equipment to do it...Winning ANY Championship takes all the right stuff and a LARGE PIECE of luck!!!!

The Sid-Craft with the dark shield is 8-W, Denis Berhauer, I think....next to Denis is 101-R, I also think, is Louis Wheeler, the winner of DSH!!!

[MN1]

Jimbo and Curt Todd 1981 Kankakee, IL.
Mark N

[Ted March]

Rockford, IL - 1981

[Ron Hill]

1968, Seattle, Washington: Jimbo managed to NOT qualify in SIX CLASSES. He was passing Clark Maloof in BU on the outside and spilled....I re designed our runabouts because of Jimbo's spill. In DU qualifying, Jimbo knocked a whole in the chine of his boat...My "OLD MAN" duct taped it back together, figuring if Jimbo could qualify, we could fix the boat in the parking lot...(Jimbo thought he'd hit something in the water...I always felt we'd built the boat too light on the outside chine....JIMBO was never one to blame anyone for HIS TROUBLES).

You should hear JIMBO, today 2008, tell about getting a PERFECT START IN BSH and figuring he'd win his qualifier...when FOUR HEDLUND HYDROS WENT BY HIM ON THE WAY TO THE FIRST TURN...

I ran a NEW DeSilva at Seattle, as they had given me two boats, and I was trying to promote DeSilva Boats...

I almost went to JAIL at Green Lake, that year....I was walking down the beach and saw a PERFECT SKIPPING ROCK...I picked it up and skipped it across the water , it skipped about four times and then hit a duck in the head, broke his neck on impact...then went on to skip about three more times...

I felt as bad as all get out...and the Rangers were going to give me a ticket. Old Sid Viera, Bobby Viera's dad told the Ranger..."Son, I saw it all, the kid (ME) was walking down the beach and actually passed the rock, then, went back and picked it up and skipped it...he had no intention of killing that duck."

The Ranger took a statement from Sid and that was the end of my duck killing. Ain't never killed another one....

I raced at Green Lake twice, once in 1959 and then in 1968, I thought what a BEAUTIFUL place to race...Green Lake, Seattle, Washington....