An Amazing Story: Part 2

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 08-14-2008

The Pro 700 hydro Nationals were scheduled for August 9 & 10 at Dayton, Ohio at Eastwood Lake. We had been working solid for several months with Tom Bates of Lincoln Storage, Gene Whipp, Bill and Jo Ann Ellis, and Jack Waite. In this group were some of the top people in the U.S. involved in Inboard, OPC, and Modified Outboard racing, and Gene Whip was also dabbling in Offshore racing at this time. My Dad always found cream of the crop boat racers to work with us regardless of their primary racing interests.

Since Master Oil Racing Team also promoted the products wherever we raced, I had to keep track of expenses for IRS purposes. I had recorded some of these entries in my journal. We would be going directly from Dayton after the 700 hydro nationals to LaCrosse, Wisconsin the following weekend for the remaining Pro Nationals (except 1100 hydro and runabout which was held in California) where we would compete in the OD North American Championships.

I left out by myself on August 5 and had lunch with Joe at Al's Famous BBQ in Stafford. Debbie would fly in as well as my Dad. Jack Chance didn't go with me. I may have picked up pit man Johnny BZZZZ there, but I can't remember. Made it into West Memphis and spent the night. Had lunch at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Louisville, Kentucky and Pizza in Dayton, Ohio the night of August 6. I was making some good time and passed a highway patrol hiding behind a bridge in Ohio, but didn't get a ticket because I had a radar absorbing device my Dad made.

In those days the speed limit was 55 and I was doing close to 70.

**Bill Van Steenwyk** · 08-14-2008

Wayne:

I can tell you have your Dad's genes, and I am not talking about the kind you wear. That is one of the "all time" great Baldy stories.

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 08-15-2008

I guess you have a point Bill Van....but I think you misunderstand this particular story. It did not start out as a pratical joke. It has been told here before, but as this is the time period that it happened, I figured I could tell it again now.

My Dad was always a big fan of CB radios. He bought one after the speed limit was dropped to 55 mph and he used it a lot. I never did. I didn't like to chatter, and I didn't like the pressure of running with the convoys and having to be always on the alert. I just liked to listen to my music...not the CB. My Dad's handle was Agitator...imagine that!

My soon to be brother-in-law Lee Bannerman was stationed at Fort Benning. He was on the U.S. trap and skeet team and went to the olympics in Seoul. Lee's job with the army was shooting shotguns (including fully automatic 12 gauge with buckshot and tommy gun magazines). I don't remember if his "real" job was with a radar crew or he just hung out with some of those guys. In those days I considered Lee pretty much a doofus. He came to my Dad with a discovery from the unit of his radar guy friends. They found out that if you took a 24" GE flourescent light bulb and wrapped it with some bare copper wire about 8 or 10 gauge it would absorb signals from state highway troopers. You were supposed to tie a wire to one of the electrodes then wrap it around the tube and tie the other end off of the opposite electrode. My Dad didn't always pay attention to some of the details. He bought a brand other than GE and it was not quite as thick. Also he did a figure 8 around the electrodes on one end, wound the copper wire around the tube, then finished with a figure 8 on the opposite. (see illustration). I told him that was not what Lee said to do. He figured it would be better, so he took this contraption and duck taped it in the middle of the windshield behind the rear view mirror. That was correct with the instructions. Back then state troopers radars were being improved and instead of fixed systems, many of them were being outfitted with hand held units. In a battle against manufacturers of radar detectors, they started making some that would not constantly emit a signal. If you got stopped and had a radar detector, it was a ticket for sure. The flourescent bulb was not a known to be a radar signal absorber....just weird looking.

Since I was by myself, and I needed to make time because of Hydroplanes International pre race duties, I ran pretty hard. I ran close or pushed 70mph most of the day time, and I didn't use a CD and we had no radar detector. I figured I was very lucky because I came across just a few patrol cars, and those I saw in time. But one time was doing right at 70 when I exited a bridge in Kentucky and behind a bush in the median was a state trooper parked and facing the direction I was headed. I didn't hit the brake, but I immediately lifted the throttle. I kept waiting for him to throw on the lights and pull out after me, but he never did. I could not believe my luck. It had to be the radar absorber. The trooper could clearly see I was speeding, but with no numbers on his radar, he could not tell how fast I was going. He probably figured it was just a fluke, so rather than give up his great hiding position, he would wait for another speeder he could nail with some real numbers. I told this story when I got to Dayton and the word spread. A lot of my friends came by to take a look at the tube, but I cautioned them that it was supposed to be GE and how to properly wind the copper. (To be continued....)

John (Taylor) Gabrowski · 08-15-2008

Wayne: What a story for florencent light bulbs! These days you see backyard wrestlers buying and using them to bonk each other over head breaking them! Yours is what can be called a classical cleaver non distrucive use. You went green a long time ago! Bravo! lol!

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 08-16-2008

I was green before the "Watermelons" hijacked the environmentalist movement John.

Kind of funny that lead is attacked on being a part of almost everything except wine bottles and batteries (electric cars). I suspect the mercury in the little turd stacked flourescents will also be not spoken of. (Unless it is really a seed planted by the trial lawyers who mine for business. They'll wait until enough accumulate in dumps to make themselves 40 or 50 million bucks each).

Oops...a little sidetracked.

Now in Dayton, I tried calling Debbie the next morning. She was flying out to Dayton that day. Her and my Dad were flying in and would arrive in Dayton at 8:49 that evening. All circuits were busy and I never got through. Hurricane Allen was bearing down on the Texas coast and it first looked as though we would get a direct hit. At that particular time the weather satellites were first launched into space and got a good look at hurricanes. Hurricane Allen was one of the first to be viewed with the new technology and better cameras. The spinning clouds covered the whole of the Gulf of Mexico and it was called the greatest hurricane to ever enter the Gulf. There were endless predictions of the mass destruction. As it turned out it made an uncharacteristic turn to the south and went in around the Texas Mexican border and passed through Del Rio, Texas where some of our neighbors went to get away from it.

Mainly the press went wild looking at pics from the satellite, the likes of which they had never seen before, and it wasn't too bad.

Here is the program for that particular Hydroglobe race.

**Dave_E71** · 08-16-2008

A couple of the guys in the 1200cc class are listed as being from where I live,
anybody know if Joseph Jenkins or Bobby Isaac (Issac?) are still racing?

Wayne, you up for running 250 at the worlds? I'm sure one of your pards can distract Debbie long enough.....

Dave

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 08-16-2008

Debbie won't be there Dave...so she wouldn't know. And I wouldn't be bringing home a trophy....so that's a plus. But if I did drive a boat...how would I ever explain all the bruises?

That's not something you want to take a chance on.