An Amazing Story: Part 2

[deanwilson]

That picture would be him. He tried to duck inside you'all konigs in the first turn and spun that tank out, think he was 3rd at the time. Some broken wiring (which we couldn't track down in time) prevented getting out for the 2nd heat. Must have had Jerry Peterson trying to crank that think during the entire 5 minute gun. Each crank was fire a few seconds then die.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Wow! Isn't that the way things seem to happen. I'll bet everything was working perfectly until then Dean. We took those 6 cylinder loopers for granted then. they were part of all the nationals for as long as I remember.

I've noticed Pete Nydahl checking out the action on this thread. Pete won the 125 hydro nationals here. These two pics are for you Pete. First is Formula 350 and the second is him in his championship rig--125 hydro.

[Pete Nydahl]

Great pics Wayne!That was a brand new Quincy Z 125 and new Pugh hydro my dad bought for me in the spring of 78'.That was my first national championship title.We won alot of races with that rig in 1978 and 79.I later destroyed it at Acworth,Ga.1980.The Formula 350 boat was an older 125 hydro built by Bill Hosler.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

You know what Pete? It makes my day to know that I captured a shot of you on one of the heats that carried you to your first national championship. There were a lot of youngsters at that race and it seems like most of my photos were of the formula 350 class. I was aiming to get a bunch of rookie pictures for upcoming champs. I missed Acworth in 1980 so I didn't see what you did to destroy it.

[john lawrence]

Wayne: I so enjoyed seeing some of those famous names some here and most gone from years ago, keep it up. John Lawrence

[epugh66]

I was aiming to get a bunch of rookie pictures for upcoming champs.

I might be a little biased, but nearly everyone that ran 125 in those days went on to win APBA or UIM championships in everything from 250(OA) to
F1(OZ).

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Well Eric, I have to admit I was biased too. Just think of many of the drivers in 125 hydro and formula 350 that came from racing families. I figured there was a high probability that with an upcoming crop like that, there would be champions and nobody would have pictures of them when they started out. Names like Pugh, Nydahl, Hellsten, Eldredge, Kurps, Kirts, Henderson, Wilson to name a few.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Here's a coupe of other views I didn't show before John. Sitting down by the tower housing of the Johnson on the rescue boat is Dub Parker. To his left is Jane Smith and behind her is Mal Harden. Behind the boat in front of the motor is Larry Latta.

In the second pic, the guy in the forground is Pec Christiansen, one of our rescue guys. To the front of him but further back is Dale Sellers and even further back is Bruce Nicholson. To the right of referee Jack Waite is Steve Jones and chief scorer Carolyn McBride is in the dark curly hair to the right and behind Steve.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

The first heat of 700 hydro I got a good start and came out of the turn first. In the pic you can't tell who it is, but Rex Hall is just on my hip outside. He chased me all the way, but I was able to get a comfortable lead. The front straight was so close Debbie never took any pictures near the pits. I never trained her to prefocus or how to follow the action and squeeze off a shot, so the pictures she took of my boat are usually very far away.

I was getting unusually bad starts this weekend. Since I got the Heuer stop watch with a 10 second sweep five years earlier, my starts were generally pretty good. I guess Dan Kirts and I were paying too much attention to each other rather than the clock. The first heat of 1100 hydro we both jumped. Same thing in the second heat of 500 hydro...Dan and I were over. You can't win ANYTHING that way no matter how fast your rig is.

Rex Hall finished second behind me that first heat in his Konig powered R&D hydro. He was followed by Don Nichols Konig/Butts and Jeff Hutchins Konig/Yale.

I played it safe in the second heat recalling how I had won the first heat last year only to blow it in the first turn trying to force my way past a bunch of boats in the crowded first turn. I was running third and good enough for the win when Dan Kirts stuffed and the race stopped with one lap remaining.

On the restart I was careful not to jump and got in behind Don Nichols. Rex Hall was behind me and as long as he couldn't get by me early on he wouldn't have a chance at getting past Don for the win. If he did get by me, my first and third would beat his two seconds, but I was able to keep him behind me all the way "with plenty of power left" according to my notes. The one thing I didn't need to do was push hard and take a chance of blowing the unit. Order of finish of the second heat was Don Nichols, Wayne Baldwin, Steve Jones Konig/Butts, and Artie Lund Konig/DeSilva

Overall results top three
1 Wayne Baldwin Denton,TX
2 Don Nichols Baton Rouge, LA
3 Rex Hall, Jr Liberty, MO

[deanwilson]

Well Eric, I have to admit I was biased too. Just think of many of the drivers in 125 hydro and formula 350 that came from racing families. I figured there was a high probability that with an upcoming crop like that, there would be champions and nobody would have pictures of them when they started out. Names like Pugh, Nydahl, Hellsten, Eldredge, Kurps, Kirts, Henderson, Wilson to name a few.

Wayne, you posted a great start to that thread on page 12 of "Where the action is", including this shot. Tremendous foresight on your part. This was also my first Nationals. This is a Bell Craft, originally a 125 boat. I got 2nd in one heat but don't remember overall.