Bruce,
Are you talking about Parker when Red's boat lost steering and ran through my DeSilva....??? (When Ted May was under the trtailer hooking up the tail lights???)...Or is this another accident???
Bruce,
Are you talking about Parker when Red's boat lost steering and ran through my DeSilva....??? (When Ted May was under the trtailer hooking up the tail lights???)...Or is this another accident???
Ron:Originally Posted by RonHill
That has to be the incident. I can't believe two accidents that similar. My memory is getting fuzzy but I do remember the boat hitting a trailer, the generater and another boat. Was your boat the last one it hit? It was Parker 67 or 68 as I remember.
Bruce
Hmmmm......I know all these guys especially the "guy" all the way to the right. He's my father Pete Alaniz. I have a lot of storys from those days.
I have a lot of storys about Red. This is just one that showed what kind of person he was.
We were test some different props in Clear Lake one evenning. The Parks and Wildlife officers wanted me but could not catch me. So, they waited at the dock. When I came back in they proceeded to write me a ticket for no TX numbers on the boat. I believe at that time they were not required on a registered race boat. They didn't want any part of that story.
Just so happens Red drove up in his red cady. He asked me what was going on so I explained. He told everyone to hold it a minute. He open the door of his car and starting dialing a number on his car phone. He said hello to John and made some small talk. He quickly explain what was happening. Before you know it he held the phone out to one of the officers and said "your boss wants to talk to you". All I heard the officer said is "yes sir...yes sir....yes sir...yes sir". He gave the phone back to Red and he said good by. The officer closed his pad and wished us a great day.
I asked Red who that was.....Red said it was John Connelly....The Governor of Texas. Now that is a great way to get out of a ticket!
LOL, great story there David..........Do you remember when he got hit by a mullet driving his red Fina (I think it was) & had that black eye for at least a week?
Hi Ron,
It has been a long time since we talked. I keep up with you through mutual friends and mutual enemies, too. And, of course the Internet. Enjoyed your article on Parker Enduro in Propeller. Your reference to Red Adair sure brought back some fond memories. Red and Richard Hatteberg drove the ROHO GRANDE, and Boots Hansen and I drove INFERNO. I think that is the year, Richard drove the ROHO GRANDE up on the beach when the steering cable broke and hit a couple of trailers in the pits. I think Boots and I were up to 4th about the 7th hour, blew a pan seal and had to pit every 4 or 5 laps for oil. We had visions of winning, and I think we could have except for the oil leak. I think we finished 8th or 9th. Red was running 8 Webers and we were running 2 X 4's. Also, that was when we used to do a true Lemans start. Line up at the fence, run down and walk the plank and jump in the boat, or have some big guy carry you and throw you in the boat, plug in the piece of copper wire we used as a kill switch, light it up, and leave with the other 100 plus boats. It was a really exciting start! Fun to drive and fun to watch. Was always fun watching Marion Beaver lead that first lap!
Hope our paths cross this year. Best wishes and give my regards to Chad!
Signed,
Duke Waldrup
Add:
Hi Ron,
Look forward to seeing you in Detroit. We all have some great memories. I will dig out some photos sometime. I could not remember the name of the boat Boots and I drove, INFERNO, had to pull out an old picture to look it up before I sent you the email. Mind is going! Mike Reagan was there too, driving TINY TIM with Bill Cooper. Lou Brummett with RAWHIDE. Just thought of that. Great sport!
Cheers,
Duke
Last edited by Ron Hill; 01-09-2008 at 02:29 PM.
Ron...tell Duke hello. Don't know if he remembers me, but I think I still have one of his hellraiser business cards.
And David....When I asked you a couple of weeks ago if you ran in the Houston Channel Derby you related to me how you won your class and who presented you the trophy...etc. I think this would be a good thread to make a few comments about that.
Here is one of Red's ads that appeared in Motorsport. Also one of his boats from the Houston Boat Show. The last ad---all of the advertisers were into boat racing except AJ Foyt.
David, do you have any copies of the publication Larry Muske did articles for? I forget the name of it and he later came over to Motorsport. I never got any copies of his mags.
Let's see....hmmmm......1969, yep, it was overcast, cold, miserable, rough and I was ill dressed to be running the channel derby. But what the heck, I won our class in a single engine checkmate. The big surprise came after it was over. I had to borrow Lee Ricther son's jacket to keep from freezing. (Never heard the last from of that since it was a letter jacket from a rival city school and the picture was in the paper).
Oh, back to the surprise. Since Red Adair was in the process of having the movie made he had two guests to present the trophies, the "Duke", John Wayne, and actress Kathern Ross. I was in awwwwe when he said, "congratulations David". I thought I said something but felt like it came out backwards. Then the "hand" of Ms Ross.....sweet. More mumbling.
The story is not over.........the race was long over and most were gone. Dad was heavily involved with the HGCMA so there were duties. I remember walking around the side of the club house looking at Red Adair's yacht. There he was big as ever. John Wayne stepping up and trying to walk the plank to board Red's yacht. I couldn't believe my eyes. With a drink in one hand he stepped up on the plank. I could see it coming. He was looped. Then it happened, a missed step and the "Duke" was gone. For the life of me, I never saw so many people trying to get him out. He was the "DUKE"! Finally, they managed to pull him up onto the yacht. And....I think he still had his drink in his hand! What a kodak moment. He will always be the "DUKE".
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