An Amazing Story: Part 2

[Danny Pigott]

I Knew Jim For Many Years,I Was At Lakeland When He Set The 98 mph Record. A Week Or So Before Larado At A Race In Jacksonville Fla,I Asked Him If He Was Going To Larado He Said I Can`t Miss That But Some Of Them Guys Drive Ruff For $ 50.00 Bucks I Hate To Race With Them For $ 3000.00. I Will Never Forget Him Telling Me This It Makes Me Wonder.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

But remember Danny...Jim was by himself on the course when the accident happened. I was saving this from my notes for later due to the chronological order I've been posting, but maybe now is the time. The week after the accident Elmer Grade called from Florida. He said that the family was dealing with Jim's death and doing O.K. in spite of everything. Elmer said there was no bitterness. We all took it very hard and I can't imagine how it was with Shirley and the kids. One thing Elmer said though made ME wonder and this is a direct quote from my notes..."(Elmer) Said Jim was driving like he was possessed last few races" . Did you notice any difference at Jacksonville? I don't recall anything different about him at Laredo, but then again, I tried to forget a lot of that race.

[F-12]

Wayne, thanks for bringing all the facts. I raced with Jim for many years in AOH and BOH. He was a great driver and wonderful guy. He had that smile loaded with freckles that made you feel like you were at home with your best friend. However...........on the race course he was out there to win. That's why Elmer chose him to drive for him. From all accounts it is hard for me to believe the conditions caused this because Jim was used to driving in all types of water. Had to be he was focussed on being #1. His wife Shirley is a perfect racer's wife..........she is almost as competative as Jim. I can remember a few races that she was ready to grab my throat before Jim was. I liked to be out front too.................

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I always remember Jim as an A & B hydro and runabout driver too Charley, but he had what it took to be competitive in any thing he ran.

The first two newspaper pics were taken by a photographer on the course when Jim has his accident. The first pic is probably the last racing photo taken of Jim. It was only seconds before his accident. I was able to scan these newspaper articles of the accident only because I never glued them in my scrapbook. They were in a loose pile between pages at the end. I read through them all before I got to this part of the story. It's a real bummer...but it's part of boat racing history.

[John (Taylor) Gabrowski]

Wayne: Was this a flying start event or LeMans starts? Your descriptions of conditions and driving them are unreal! You and the Butts Aerowing became as one that had trust in the other so you concentrated on driving against the conditions, secondary because of reliability was the hydro and engine. I still have 2 Butts Aerowings here. Your article had me go see them in their storage. Makes one shiver!

[John (Taylor) Gabrowski]

Elmer spoke to me at length about that tragic event when I was there in 2001. That crash really crushed Elmer Grade and the racing teams racing efforts and spirit and dampened Alky boat racing in general he told me. To racers, things like that just are not supposed to happen but did. I admired Elmer's Yale hydros with the classic 4 leaf clover routed into the transom outside buttresses. It was one tragedy too many for some.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

The actual racing was a flying start with a standard clock with a hand sweep John. The times trials themselves were a flying start with time beginning whenever the boat crossed the starting line after the warm up lap. They could skip the warm up if they wanted to and just come flying down for the start. The officials could tell when they were ready for the two hot laps.

The Butts Aerowings were indeed a pleasure to drive. When I was the first driver to have a full complement of Butts Aerowings from A through F in 1973 it was almost like cheating.

And you are right John. It really did crush Elmer. He was a big part of our program and was there to help it build, but you could really see it took very much out of him. He came down from Florida with us to Acapulco a few weeks later just to share time with some of his racing family.

[wboxell]

Wayne, Didn't Wilfried take off out of pits for first practice, go to the far end of the lake, and blowover? I recalled his blowover at Dayton and thought this guy really likes to fly. Happened, or O.M.D.(old man disease) thanks bill

[Master Oil Racing Team]

It happened Bill. I just haven't gotten to that yet.

I was talking with Joe yesterday and we recalled discussing Jim's set up at the time of the accident. As people who were familiar with Jim's driving style in a hydro will recall, he kind of wedged himself in at an angle and low. I don't know how he could drive like that, but he did successfully. It was like he had his right knee underneath and his left leg kind of stretched out or something like that.

The accident occured at the area past the start finish line that I mentioned was bumpy. When the front of the boat clipped the wave, it was enough to shoot Jim out. When I said the chute didn't deploy, Joe argued it did. It did come out, but I told Joe I meant to deploy like it does in a drag boat flip. Joe said it didn't do that, but it was partially open. He ought to know because he helped carry the basket from the rescue boat to the ambulance. The injuries very well could have happened like Jeff said but the broken neck was most likely due to hitting the water head first. The way he kind of laid in the boat meant he would shoot straight out and not tumble out.

What Joe, Tim Butts and myself discussed at the time was how the boat was set up. Jim had a 3 blade cleaver and the boat looked like it was running downhill. He didn't set it up for top speed. He wanted punch to come off the turns. So he was running somewhere between 90 and 100 mph when he clipped the wave. One newspaper article stated that the engine revved momentarily before it locked up as if it sheared a pin. I kind of remember something like that, but it may be Bill's OMD. We will never know, because there were too many factors, but here is a possible scenario. Jim was running a set up with that three blade cleaver that caused a lot of lift on the transom and the motor may have revved and locked up when he went through the bumpy section causing the bow to drop even lower catching the crest of a small wave. The way he was in the boat caused him to shoot out face first. He would have passed through the steering cables, and the whole front portion of the boat, including the bottom, except for the pickelforks broke off. That's why the boat kept going forward and didn't stuff. Just that small little crest of a wave was enough to set off that chain reaction. It is just my opinion, but I think if the boat would have been set up with the bow riding up instead of low or downhill looking, the accident might not have happened.

[David Weaver]

I won a 250 race once where we had the lower unit tucked under about 1/2 inch against a good field of boats. Never again would I drive like that and we won the race. Despite turing great, I was scared sh*tless down each straightway. I remember my dad congratulating me and I asked that we never do that we that again!! And I do not win many.