I Got Disqualified But I Wasn't Really Cheating

[John Schubert T*A*R*T]

Does anyone still have one of the AC spark plug wrenches that Gerry Waldman used to hand out? They were preset to "brake over" at the proper torque setting. There was no thread stripping with them

Sure wish I still had mine!

Gene,

I had asked him for one & he responded that they were NLA, so I guess that I was too late.

[Ron Hill]

When they built the 8 carb Super Strangler and the Johnson (Stinger), there we specs filed with APBA. November's APBA meeting, the new "S" Specs were filed and Jack Leek sent Jimmy Hausenstein a new motor. After I got DQ'd at Parker, Jimmy took his Bell Craft to Modesto, in February of '74, but the kilos were Saturday and the circles were Sunday. At the time, there was no mention of breaking a record on Saturday and then placing 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the previous calendar year.

So, Jimmy had Pat Murphy drive his boat through the kilos. Pat drove the Bell Craft called Kathern P. Herzig (Jimmy's future wife's name) to a "U" and an "S" Class kilo record. Both records were with the same boat, motor and propeller, and the speed was around 122 MPH about what I'd run at Parker.

By February, the motor was legal under APBA rules.

Jimmy later named the boat Orange Blossom Special, I think....I'm going to ask Freddy...

ADD:

Try me, my dad knew the rules and if he'd have thought Glen Schiad was wrong, everyone would have known about it...My dad agreed with Glen...The irony, had I applied for the "S" Class record in my Scotti, I would have been granted the record. Even though Pat Murphy would have broken it in February!

[John Schubert T*A*R*T]

When they built the 8 carb Super Strangler and the Johnson (Stinger), there we specs filed with APBA. November's APBA meeting, the new "S" Specs were filed and Jack Leek sent Jimmy Hausenstein a new motor. After I got DQ'd at Parker, Jimmy took his Bell Craft to Modesto, in February of '74, but the kilos were Saturday and the circles were Sunday. At the time, there was no mention of breaking a record on Saturday and then placing 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the previous calendar year.

So, Jimmy had Pat Murphy drive his boat through the kilos. Pat drove the Bell Craft called Kathern P. Herzig (Jimmy's future wife's name) to a "U" and an "S" Class kilo record. Both records were with the same boat, motor and propeller, and the speed was around 122 MPH about what I'd run at Parker.

By February, the motor was legal under APBA rules.

Jimmy later named the boat Orange Blossom Special, I think....I'm going to ask Freddy...

ADD:

Try me, my dad knew the rules and if he'd have thought Glen Schiad was wrong, everyone would have known about it...My dad agreed with Glen...The irony, had I applied for the "S" Class record in my Scotti, I would have been granted the record. Even though Pat Murphy would have broken it in February!

Ron,
I'm not disputing anything that you & your dad may have been witness to or part of, but when they introduced the 8 barrel carbs, they were produced in quantities at the Kenosha facility where Gibbs worked. They were introduced as "U" class motors so that anyone could purchase one through a dealer. Us that worked OMC factory essentially used the same motor but had to run "S" class, the only real difference was at the 225's, Havasu, Parker or any other factory entered race, motors came off of the truck from Leeks group & assigned by Jack. I never was aware that there was a separate "S" class spec as no "S" class motor existed for the general regular racer.

[Ron Hill]

Maybe Murphy will remember the details. Maybe, had I entered "U" I'd have been legal.

[Ron Hill]

Hi Ron:
FYI: I asked Freddy if he thought what I posted was anywhere near the "TRUTH", here is part of his anwer.


Mostly right. It was a couple years after the development of the 8-carb. I was the one who sent Jim the engines. Then when I was in California for Christmas 1973, we went to Millerton lake and set up the boat for the kilos. Pat broke the records at Modesto in 1974 with the same boat/prop/etc. The boat was named "Kathleen P. Herzig" for the S record (120.268)and "Bill" for the U record (119.624)! (not OBS) {My Mod 50/OE record boat (107.629) in 1975 was the Orange Blossom Special.} These records were in the book as "S" and "U" and then renamed MOD 120 (from S) in 1978 while the U record disappeared.

Jim also made runs at the kilos, but Pat's were fastest - I think Jim got to run afterwards and the power heads were on their way to junk by then???

Interesting that the S record was faster than the U record - a result of the power heads running out of water at top speed and starting to self-destruct - more with each pass.

Fred

[Ron Hill]

Re: "U" and "S" Kilo Record

Show Details

---- Ron Hill wrote:
> Well, if you tested at Christmas 1973, this is after I'm saying I got DQ'd driving Jimmy's boat at Parker....I drove for a two way average of 122 MPH, the same weekend I went 108 MPH in my Scotti for Evinrude's 100 MPH club...


Hi Ron:

Yes. The engines went back and forth between the two events. Running a bit trimmed under, the water pickup came out of the water at top speed and the engines started to melt. We learned that after the Modesto kilos. Probably accounts for the loss of speed from Parker???

Fred


ADD:

Fred seems to "FORGET" that I always got more speed out of boats than others...LOL!

LAST ADD:



---- Ron Hill wrote:
> Well, I can tell you this. The motor was tucked as far as it would go...and I know the *** end was off the water about as much as the sponson depth (2 1/4 inches).
I forgot you were working for OMC then...

Do you recall if there were engine specs for "S" in the fall of '73?

Hi Ron:

I'm not, but there should have been. If I remember, I'll see in the old files at Mercury the next time I get there.

Fred

Last, Last ADD:

I called Pat Murphy this morning, not answer, but asked him to call back.

[Ron Hill]

Pat is a funny guy, he's always fun to talk to, he doesn't "BULL **** " you, he just talks. No "BIG STORIES" but always full of information.

Well, he recalls the kilos, he said he went 120.268 MPH. (37 years ago and he can recall the exact MPH). He and I disagreed about "U" Class and "S" Class. He said, "That "S" class was the open class and "U" was the "Stock" class." I told him he had it backward, but he disagreed. I think I'm right, BECAUSE I go DQ'd in "S".....

Anyway, he thought they blew three motors that weekend. (Freddy didn't mention the number three...) He said Jimmy drove both "S" and "U" through the kilos, but was slower than Pat (Had Jimmy been fastest, qualifying at Sunday's race would have been legal).

Pat added, "But Donny Hauenstein (Youngest of the three Hauenstein boys) drove through the fastest, but was not qualified for the record. For the record, Donny was probably the best driver in the Hauenstein family, but getting Donny to wake up and go to driver's meetings and things like that were difficult. Donny was a free spirit.

Pat said, "Henry Wagner and Bud David (Motor inspectors at the kilos) didn't like the grinding in the ports, so they impounded the motor for two weeks." Henry and Bud both agreed grinding was OK, but NOT THAT MUCH.....It took two weeks but Pat got both records approved.

[Beale Tilton]

S class was a max of 100 CI built in the USA running on gasoline. Otherwise unrestricted. Nothing inside the block meeting these specs would be cause for DQ.

[John Schubert T*A*R*T]

[QUOTE=Ron Hill;113713]Pat is a funny guy, he's always fun to talk to, he doesn't "BULL **** " you, he just talks. No "BIG STORIES" but always full of information.

Well, he recalls the kilos, he said he went 120.268 MPH. (37 years ago and he can recall the exact MPH). He and I disagreed about "U" Class and "S" Class. He said, "That "S" class was the open class and "U" was the "Stock" class." I told him he had it backward, but he disagreed. I think I'm right, BECAUSE I go DQ'd in "S".....

Anyway, he thought they blew three motors that weekend. (Freddy didn't mention the number three...) He said Jimmy drove both "S" and "U" through the kilos, but was slower than Pat (Had Jimmy been fastest, qualifying at Sunday's race would have been legal).

Pat added, "But Donny Hauenstein (Youngest of the three Hauenstein boys) drove through the fastest, but was not qualified for the record. For the record, Donny was probably the best driver in the Hauenstein family, but getting Donny to wake up and go to driver's meetings and things like that were difficult. Donny was a free spirit.

Pat's correct, "U" was the stock class where everyone racing could purchase the respective motors from Merc or OMC. S was the unlimited class & where I stated previously employees of the companies had to run "S". And, as mentioned by Beale, the S class was basically unlimited . The S engines are what the OMC truck brought to the races where we raced head to head with Mercury.

[Ron Hill]

If "U" was the stock class, I never ran "U", I always ran the "OPEN" Class. So, what you guys are saying is I got disqualified for having a LEGAL motor???

All I remember was that I thought it was "S" Class.

Coolest part..The Thanksgiving Kilos were pretty much all inboard in those days. I was anxious to show the inboarders more speed. I had just run 108 MPH in my Scotti. So, when Jim asked me to drive his boat, I just jumped in, hooked up the kill switch. Jim pushed me off the trailer and I was floating looking for a stater switch or key switch...I yelled back and said, "Hey, how do you start this damn thing?" Jim said, just touch those two wires together.....I did, and bang, she started....

I started to make a pass and the bow was way too high, so, I balked and trimmed it way down. I got on the throttle and she just flew through the kilo, I kept trimming it down all through the kilo....I turned it around and got down and back to get some speed, then climbed forward and hung on.

I put that mother on the trailer and they announced 122 MPH, fastest pass of the weekend.

All these inboards with chromed everything....Jimmy Hauenstein's little outboard that didn't even have a starter switch just posted fast time. I've always been an outboarder, still am.

When I got DQ'd I didn't care...I figured those inboarders had just seen real smoke on the water!!!!