An Amazing Story: Part 2

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I bet you're right Mark. He was at that race and I think that is where I first met him. If I remember correctly he was just starting out. I don't know exactly how we met, but I remember taking an instant liking to him. I was never around Larry much because my racing was starting to wind down and it wouldn't be long before I quit. So I was quite surprised when just a few years later Joe had told me how Larry cleaned up at the nationals. He had to have been very talented to have done so well so quickly.

[Jeff Lytle]

Looks like the tower is still there bolted to the transom, but the powerhead went GULP!

[Master Oil Racing Team]

...but the enlargement was too great for me to get a clear picture. I know YOUR eagle eye can pick out stuff the others can't see. But then there is still the question. How does a powerhead just pop off.

[Jeff Lytle]

A shortened tower (badly) welded at the top, and you'd lose the whole works, pipes and all. The only hope is that if that happened, the steering cables would hang onto it, but not prevent it from landing in the water and getting the snot bashed out of it till' the boat slowed down.

Scary thought!

[David Weaver]

...but the enlargement was too great for me to get a clear picture. I know YOUR eagle eye can pick out stuff the others can't see. But then there is still the question. How does a powerhead just pop off.

There is little run RB powerhead in the first turn of DePue. One team had too many mechanics and nobody tightened the nuts that held the powerhead on!! Ran about a lap, the nuts fell off and the powerhead fell off in the turn (breaking the throttle cable and fuel lines).

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I did read the post about that in the thread regarding stuff at the bottom ol Lake DePue David. I thought about that when I did my post, but figured a fluke like that was a one time deal. But maybe not. And what Jeff said is very plausible, but very scary. I couldn't race thinking a vital component could fall off during a race. After Clayton Elmers spill at Alex when an "S" hook broke, we were very careful about such stuff. We started using stainless steel cable and SS pulleys with ball bearings. The Leavendusky towers were built very well and much shorter than Konig. Really great for lowering the COG. Jack Chance taught me how to weld, but I never welded anything that could hurt anyone if it failed.

Then this reminded me of the FB we sold Steve Jones. It was our first "B" Konig and we had the exhaust manifold and "can" chromed. The first race Steve ran it was at Baytown, Texas. The lower unit was hanging on only by hand tightened bolts. My Dad told Steve that he had better tighten up those bolts. He was busy rigging up his boats and said not to worry, he would tighten them up. Over the next hour or so before racing started my Dad warned Steve a couple of other times, to which he replied that he would take care of it. After the first heat Steve came in with a big grin and was telling us it ran great for a couple of laps then started to slow down. I can still remember standing on the seawall looking down at Steve in his Marchetti and at the chrome on the can still bubbling. The tattle tale water hose in those days fed the cooling water into the can and went out a 30mm exhaust pipe in the front part of the can. When the can and manifold cooled down the chrome hardened back up, but with blue and yellow highlights. That FB konig never locked up. It was tough. Steve did have to change the rings though.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

In response to your post David, the wind did finally catch up to us. We had two days of mostly good weather but with four heat to run, a front came through between the five minute gun and the start of 350 hydro. I snapped a pic of it before it got there, then when Phil Howard and others were coming in to the pits. I still had a 350 hydro then, so I think this must have been a qualifying heat. In the third pic it looks like an Aerowing is hovering above the trailer. I looked briefly, but as the light changed so quickly and dramatically, I didn't adjust my exposures enough to pick up detail. Too washed out. Maybe "eagle eye and photo phorensic expert" Jeff Lytle can pick up some clues.

We could all see the cloud bank from the Northwest coming in and the Southeast breeze proceeding it had kicked up the water. The Formula 350 Hydro went out and had a tough time. But when the norther hit , it was a sudden whitecap, get off the water event.

When the cloud cover came over dust and whatever paper was on the ground started going up into the air. I looked up and didn't see any funnels coming down, but wind kept swirling around and debris kept being swept up so I kept waiting for a tornado. I wasn't taking pics, but was looking around while tying boats to the trailer. When we all saw the front coming through, everyone started rigging down knowing that there would be no more races. The final pics are after there was not enough fuel and violence for a twister to touch down.

[Jeff Lytle]

Looks to me like the boat is sitting either on top of an extremely high white trailer box, or on top of a white cube van.

[kenneth james]

The person that went over at the start was Kenneth James (yellow boat with last time on back corner) not Tony that was when my wife was there and had a fit. I blew over at the start what a ride.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Thanks for the clarification Kenneth. One of these days when I post more on the Lone Star thread I will put a pic of you as deck rider with Charlie Bailey and then I want you to tell us about it.