I Got Disqualified But I Wasn't Really Cheating

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

This thread brings to mind one of the most upsetting and STUPID things I ever did in my almost 40 years of competition. As Wayne's Dad "Baldy" would say, "Not only was that not very smart, that's about the biggest case of DUMB *** I ever saw."

To top it off I had some time and other driver congratulations to think I had really accomplished something before I was brought back to earth!

Sometime about the mid-80's (don't remember the exact date as I am still trying to put it out of my mind) I set a record at the annual Lakeland Florida record course on Lake Hollingsworth. They always presented a large traveling trophy that you kept for one year, that your name, class and speed was engraved on, and a smaller one to keep permanently, for the existing record that was broken by the most MPH. It went by the name "The Orange Cup Trophy", and was highly prized and competed for as an annual award for prestigious accomplishment.

My boat and engine was running very well at that time and I knew I had a good shot at the record if I didn't do anything stupid. Long story short, made a good legal start both heats, and broke the record both heats. We ran late in the day, probably because of weather or wind delays which was not unusual that time of year in Florida, so by the time I got done and back in the pits, we hurried to get the stuff packed up as I was racing off the same trailer with Phil Howard at the time, and if any that read this also know Phil, one thing he was very good about was getting on the road headed home ASAP after the last heat of the day he or anyone with him was completed. We put the engine in the box, boat on the trailer, and after a short celebration and good wishes/goodbyes from Phil and Jeannie, they pulled out and headed for Illinois where he had to be to open the doors at his Laundry/Dry Cleaners the next day.

Eileen and I were standing around (we flew down to the race and were flying back that evening) talking with some friends when whoever the inspector was came up to me and said "I'm ready to inspect to certify you are OK for the record". At that point I knew I had really screwed up 1st class, but there was nothing to say or do as Phil was probably 30 miles up the road by then, and cell phones did not exist at that time. No inspection, no record, no Orange Cup Trophy that year, and just as bad was the looks I was getting from my fellow racers, half feeling sorry for me, and half "What a case of DUMB ***"!

There is no excuse for not having your rig inspected, but it was done a little differently there than most of the places in the Midwest I was used to racing. The inspector had an area set aside for the Stock boats but to alleviate congestion in the area, and because PRO was basically bore and stroke, he just would come to the pit area of the PRO drivers involved and do the inspection there. There had been several records set that day, and that fact combined with Phil's need to get on the road and our excitement with setting the record just caused us to forget that the engine had not been inspected before he left.

Completely my (driver's) fault and responsibility as we all know and the rule book states, but it did not make it any easier to take that everything was legal, just an oversight and the additional problem with the inspector getting to my pit area after Phil left.

In the years to follow that case of "DUMB ***" I did manage to redeem myself somewhat, as I ended up winning the Orange Cup Trophy two more times, but I still have a space on there where my name should be, but isn't, because "I got disqualified, but I really wasn't cheating".

ADD: I had managed to somewhat forget this event until last spring while researching some information for Todd Brinkman Sr's obituary which appears on another thread here on BRF. I came across a newspaper article in the Lakeland newspaper about that race and the information in the story about how I had lost the record because of not being inspected before the rig left the course.

I really did not need to be reminded about it again, especially while trying to gather information about something I was already upset about. It just reminded me that some things that at the time seem really important when they are lost, are not so much compared to the loss of a good friend.

[Gene East]

Bill, your last paragraph sums up what truely is important if life.

I was prepared to add my slant to the theme of this thread, but now it seems unimportant.

Tomorrow marks the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. My Dad's cousin Milton was a crewmember of the U.S.S. West Virginia. Milton was reported KIA via a telegram from the War Department,( The Department of the Navy did not yet exist).

A few days later the family received a telegram from Adm. Nimitz stating Milton was alive and well and headed home on leave.

Of course I was only 8 months old at the time, so I don't remember anything about that day. I do remember the celebration when all the servicemen came home after the war. I didn't understand what was happening, but I knew all the grown-ups were happy and there sure was a lot of hugging and kissing going on.

Over the course of 70 years I have often wondered about the roller-coaster of emotions my family went through for those long sad days in December of 1941. My heart goes out to the families who received only the first telegram.

Each day we lose over 1000 of these brave men and women who defended the world against evil so long ago.

Last spring Norma and I were in Washington D.C. to attend a reunion of the shipmates of U.S.S.Moale (my ship).

All our people visited the WWII Memorial. There were several Honor Flights there at the time. It was a thrill to shake hands with these America Heros or just to render a salute of respect in passing. There is no way to describe the smiles on all their faces.

I urge everyone to the support the Honor Flight program in your community and to urge every WWII veteran to visit the Memorial a grateful nation has built in his/her honor.

Honor Flight provides free air transportation and meals for any WWII Veteran and an escourt who wishes to go. Please support this effort.

God Bless These Heroes!

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

but anything you have posted in the past has always been appropriate AND important, especially the the history of our sport from your unique perspective as having worked for one of the most important contributors to our sport in that time frame, and also your having been associated with some of the best drivers to ever kneel behind a wheel and throttle.

I for one would appreciate reading about anything you might have to post here.

Bill

P.S. You can owe me a beer till the next time we see each other!!

[hydroplay]

Going along with Bill Van's inspection issues...

Some years ago also around 1980, I drove out to run the record course at Yelm WA. I took some equipment along for John Puestow and he flew out so I picked him up at Seattle. He set a record in 35SS Runabout late in the day on Sunday and the inspector, John Laird as I remember, was really busy and tired. He finally came over and asked us what we were doing after the race. We said we were planning on a leisurely drive down the coast highway and stay a couple days at Wilkie's home in Piedmont and then go and race at Bakersfield the next weekend. He said great, how about I inspect the motor down in Bakersfield next Saturday? How could we argue? So we left without getting inspected but it did pass the next weekend and John got the record.

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

Sam:

I seem to remember just a couple of years ago there was a similar issue about an inspection that took place several days after a joint Stock and maybe Mod Winter Nationals in Alexandria, La.

Don't remember the specifics, but there was a lot of controversy because of the time that passed before inspection and also "Eddie the Chairman's" part (or lack of) in it, as he was either the Race Chairman or Referee.

I seem to remember the controversy generated quite a bit of conversation on either Hydroracer or here, or both.

[Gene East]

Thanks Bill.

You can have one of my Lone Stars the Texans owe me thanks to the Cardinals.

Now back to the topic of the thread.

We've had a couple of reports from drivers who unknowingly won using too big an engine.

Sorry Tim, but how did you think a KG4 could possibly beat a Konig A?

I'll buy the story about the restrictor plate.

I want to ask if it's cheating when you win knowing you're running a "SMALLER" engine?

One year at Alex we burned a piston in our "44" while testing. There wasn't time to repair the engine before qualifications. Yes, there used to be qualification heats for F-Hydro! Those were the good old days!

Jim (Schoch) and I decided to run the "D" engine instead, thinking Poppa Smith would set his mic for the max bore and as long as it cleared, he wouldn't get too nosey. We would qualify and then rebuild the "44" that night to run in the finals.

Wrong! Poppa cranked that mic right down on the guage and we were disqualified after finishing first in our heat.

Jim and I put on an act that was worthy of the Academy Award. Jim acted liked he was really p.o.'d at me. I made the most humble apology any one ever heard. I took full blame telling Poppa I put the wrong engine on the boat.

For some reason Jim failed to qualify for D-Hydro and here we sat with a D that had just waxed many of the best F's in the country, and no place to run it. What to do?

Dan Kirts was pre-qualified by virtue of being last year's champion. He was very willing to run our boat in the finals. He won the D-Hydro championship with our boat.

This was when a lot of guys were claiming 100 MPH in D-Hydro. That boat would only run 87, but it ran 87 all the way around the course.

It ain't who's fastest, it's who's firstest!

I am sorry that I lied to such an icon of our sport as Poppa Smith, but when I get to Lake Paradise, I'll ask him to forgive me.

I'm sure he knew I was lying any way. He and Momma probably had a chuckle over dinner that night.

It wasn't long after this incident the rules were changed to specify the flywheel color as a class indicator.

Do you think I may have been to blame for that??

[Master Oil Racing Team]

That's a funny and great story Gene. You remember that story I told earlier about Jack Chance mixing up the motors and restamping the Class? He stamped the motors once again to make the correction Jack had stamped the first D at an angle so that the straight side was deeper. He moved the stamp to the right, straightened it up and hit it harder. Three years later Jack's brother-in-law bored the block and Jack put in some sleeves to make it an F. Walt Blankkenstein tweaked it When I set a record Papa was inspector. He saw the two D stamps on the block and said it was a D motor. I showed him the two X's filed across the D's to show that it was no longer a D motor, but the stamps would have had to have been ground down 1/8th inch or more to erase them Papa was an icon, and as a kid I had no standing, so I ran back to the pits to tell my Dad, and he rounded up Walt. Papa had already determined the motor was an F, but it was stamped wrong, even though there was a small F stamped nearby. Papa and Walt got into a heated argument and even though the motor was a legal F Papa said it was stamped "D..D". Walt shouted "Hell...that could stand for Donald Duck!" I was just a scared kid listening to these two legends of boat racing butt heads, but I guess when Walt made that Donald Duck comment, it must have struck a funny chord with Poppa Smith because everything settled down then. I ended up getting the record,

Now as for you Bill Van. My Dad may have kidded you about that, but he would have understood how that came about. I set a record once at Lakeland, and was never inspected. We were always weighed up until the point that weighing was not required any more, but I can see exactly what happened to you. It just wasn't something we were used to doing in the Pro class. The most inspections I ever went through were racing UIM.

[hydroplay]

We went to a local PRO race in Land O Lakes Wisconsin, just up at the northern Mich border. I took one boat a 12 foot really light one that Kenny Endter build and my 44 gas burning deflector Merc. Bill and Ross flew in from Macomb IL with their A and B loopers and we decided to run every hydro class. A, B and F were obvious and the way the schedule worked out, we could keep the 44 on the boat and run C (step down one class for a deflector and another for gas, right?) but we had to run the B in D. Nobody complained about the 44 in C but when I beat Marty Stahl's D Konig with the little B looper, his dad, Ralph, got on the pipe and raised a stink about our motor being too small. As I remember we did get thrown out but it was pretty chicken s--t.

[Tim Chance]

Sorry Tim, but how did you think a KG4 could possibly beat a Konig A?

I

Because the Mercury would start on the first pull and come back into the pits on its own power, not at the end of a tow rope.

[russhill]

Well, I was cheating and didn't get DQd. It was about 1952, I was about 17 and even more obnoxious than I am now if you can believe that. I had a brand new Banjo Neal clone.

In those days, we had boat weight and boat and driver weight In C Alkie/pro it was 150 pound boat and 315 pound driver adnd boat--no engine weight (since we all ran the same.) A buddy of mine and I carried the new boat a couple blocks down the street from my home to his father's supermarket.

We stood the boat on its transoms handles on a huge produce scale with a three foot dial--149 pounds. In my usual cocky manner, I said perfect! It'll gain a pound of water and besides race scales are not that accurate.

I got two of my career best starts and won both heats--didn't take an ounce of spray. Marine Major "Red" Thomas was Weigh Master. He said the boat weighed 149 pounds. I said, "No way, I weighed this boat on a precision scale at the Greater Central Market with several dozen witnesses, which was true. He called the Chief Measurer, Henry Wagner (a long time friendly rival) over to weight the boat. It weighed 149 pounnds. I repeated my true but bullshiiit spiel until finally he said, Get out of here KID, we have boats to inspect."

You know, I still feel bad about my smartassedness 60 years later.