Autograph Collection

[Mr Pete]

Hey Mr. Pete.....it happens to us all. That was a long time ago, and I can see where someone "new to the scene" around legends like Bill Muncey and Chip Hanauer and Fran Muncey can kind of blend things together over time. I'm liking the stories you are telling and don't want you to quit, and I am guessing all the others are waiting to hear more as well.

Saw Bill Muncey in person at Dayton, Ohio in 1977 when the Unlimited and UIM OD (outbard) hydros traded heats during a day and a half program. During testing Chip Hanauer came down and sat in our pits to watch what we were doing. I was in the water working on stuff and wanted to go meet him, but I was too shy.

Four of us guys from South Texas went to Acapulco for an exhibition race the year before Muncey was killed. The course we raced on was smaller, and was about half a mile south of where Muncey blew over. All those waterways were connected. The Pacific Ocean was just west of the road where the lakes were. You could see it. The road to the pits separated the Pacific from where the race courses were, so we were all racing at sea level. Then why did our outboard motors not run well? Charlie Blackwood and Artie Lund from San Antonio were running D Quincy loopers, and Steve Jones and I were both running D Konigs. I was the only one that had CD ignition. No one could keep their engines lit during testing. We hall had to downgrade prop pitch significantly to keep the revs up and the engines from fouling. My motor was the only one not to have trouble fouling. Do not know why to this day what the problem was, but it affected all of us. I have since wondered if atmospheric conditions at sea level closer to the equator might have had some aerodynamic affect on Muncey's boat where it responded differently.

Please Mr. Pete, keep up with your stories. You were in places to tell us some interesting inside stories.

From what I have heard from NHRA fuel guys, "Air conditions is everything"........ I wonder if the salt in the air caused something to tweak the fuel burn? Have you raced near salt air before?

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Once before. Actually raced IN salt water, but don't remember anything unusual other than salt spray can really kill the spark quick. Lots of boat racing goes on around salt water like at Miami and San Diego, but I think it had to do with being so much closer to the equator. Many of those guys in your fantastic Powerboat edition raced at Clear Lake and Offats Bayou in Texas without anything unusual going on that I could see. Salt air was all around.

[Mr Pete]

Once before. Actually raced IN salt water, but don't remember anything unusual other than salt spray can really kill the spark quick. Lots of boat racing goes on around salt water like at Miami and San Diego, but I think it had to do with being so much closer to the equator. Many of those guys in your fantastic Powerboat edition raced at Clear Lake and Offats Bayou in Texas without anything unusual going on that I could see. Salt air was all around.

That makes sense...... It's just so odd that most of your competitors were suffering similar symptoms...( you were racing 2=stroke outboards, correct?)... ( bad gas delivered to the race site?)

Hmmm....

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Correct. Two cycle outboards with 20:1 methanol /casor oil medical grade. Fuel might have been the problem, but we brought our own fuel in on the trailer. Learned in 1969 not to trust anyone supplying the fuel for you on site. The problem seemed to be air/fule ratio. It was like all the engines were running too rich including mine, and the only way to keep them from loading up (we didn't have any jets to change out because we never had to do that anywhere in the U.S. we raced) was to go to smaller diameter and/or smaller pitch props. I think we probably all went with accelerating wheels for the 500cc motors. I was only able to perform better I think because my CD ignition was giving me a better burn on the fuel, but I had to use a much smaller prop also. This was the only time that all the drivers had the same problem, and the only time we raced that far south.

The local inboard flatbottom and OPC boats were set up to run in the conditions because that was where they lived and raced. We were invited to the Acapulco Cup as a demonstration to show the people how fast small outboards could run. We were sorry that we could not put on much of a show. We were down probably twenty to thirty miles per hour. Where we would normally float our sponsons down the straight, they were just skimming the surface and pounding the water. An FMM (Federacion Mexicana Motonautica representative invited us down after delivering Mexican Licenses to us at the UIM OD World Championships at Laredo, Texas earlier that year. He was amazed at our boats and wanted us to participate in the festival which included the Copa de Acapulco. We had a great time, and all the officials and people were great. We just didn't perform because of reasons we still don't know about.

ADD: The prettiest pits we ever were in

[Ron Hill]

I don't know where the Tri Cities are but I was wondering, if you saw a "Blow Over" maybe it was.

While piloting Miss Budweiser in 1982, Chenoweth was killed on the Columbia River in Washington on July 31.^[14] During Saturday morning qualifying for the next day's Columbia Cup at the Tri-Cities, the boat was traveling at about 175 mph (280 km/h) when it blew over and impacted inverted.^[3] He suffered massive head, neck, and chest injuries; when pulled from the water, he was unconscious and did not have a pulse. Chenoweth was taken to Kennewick General Hospital, and was pronounced dead 45 minutes after the accident.^[3][4]
Less than ten months earlier, hydroplane racing legend Bill Muncey was killed during the last race of the 1981 season at Acapulco, Mexico.^[3][15]

[Mr Pete]

Thank you Ron...... That is what I witnessed on the water.....
( So, it was Dean I spoke to after his jog in the hot weather, at the host hotel that morning.......

It was all new to me then, and my memory is 'slight' from then....

I do remember... hauling the newly-rigged Aronow from San Francisco to Tri Cities..... I discovered the east-half of Oregon is nearly a desert !!
And the little towns, we stopped for food/gas...... The residents could not make out what the hell we were hauling..... Some thought it was a fighter jet.....

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Kinda look like this Pete? Even the Columbia River didn't have many trees growing on the banks.

How old were you back then? I always have fond memories of driving to Washington and Oregon.

[Mr Pete]

Wow, yea...... I barely remember what the landscape was, around the river.... My attention and focus was nearby ( My 1st day with a Hydroplane environment & the boat I just hauled )....
But I remember the east Oregon landscape, driving there...... I recall, there was about 6 miles of highway, cut to dirt.... For a repave..... THAT was dusty & slow !!

Showed up to the event site and washed everything !!

(( 1982 ?? )) I was 27 years old.

The second photo, shows the Aronow parked in front of my Dad's house ( north of the Golden Gate Bridge) in Marin County, California ( I slept over night / The neighbors didn't know what to think!! )..... Coming from Seattle, headed 20 minutes south to Howard Arneson's shop,...... Then continued south to Los Angeles, to Keith Black's shop to refresh the Hemi's....

Rear view ( 1st photo) was from the front yard of of Gary Garbrecht's "Second Effort Racing" facility in Lake Hamilton, Florida..... After our Clear Lake, Tx race..... Finishing the season.

Imagine the length of the rig....... 80 + feet long!!! The fun part was the trailer..... A converted mobile home trailer !! ( Yikes !!! ) I needed 2 football fields to make a u-turn, since I was hooked to a ball hitch !!

[Mr Pete]

1st photo is team member, the great Keith Black (The hat Keith is wearing is a gift we got from Red Adair. I parked the boat at the Houston pits. Then went to the restaurant for dinner with Gary Garbrecht., Keith B & Red Adair...... Gary asked me how the new pits were and I said, "Great"!! The design was fabulous for the teams. I was informed, the gentleman sitting with us is Red Adair. Red invested in the pit area.
( Red had a smile) and was happy to hear how nice the pits were! Red pulled out some 'Red Adair Oil Well Fire" hats and gave them to us.
( I still have the hat)
Next photo is Don Aronow with us in San Diego
The 2 photos of Chip..... Not really clear which site this was......

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Mr. Pete why don't you start your own thread. I'm sure you have a lot more stories to tell and pictures to post. I'm afraid some of us might forget where your stuff is posted this deep in the autograph collection. I would like to be able to go straight to your stuff when I want to see your posts.

Regarding Red Adair, Yes he did invest a lot in Clear Lake and was responsible for all the races there as far as I know. The races he put on attracted drivers from coast to coast. You could see all the top names there.

Richard Hatteberg raced with Red and also fought wild wells with him. Richard told me to give him a call if any well blew out in South Texas. Our company and Halliburton always worked with Red on blowouts in our area. One day a well blew out between our shop in Alice and the Mexican border. I called for Richard, but the secretary told me he was in Indonesia fighting a wild well. She patched me in to Red, and when he answered I told him I couldn't hear him. He told me "Just a minute" and he slowed his boat down. He told me was was in the middle of Clear Lake and the wind noise was killing the call.

My cap is long gone, but I still have this belt buckle.