Modern Outboard 1971 Havasu Classic

[Miss BK]

Thanks for the info on the photo of 199! Great story - I can just imagine what his face looked like as he watched the boat fire up and scream away.

Im' sure you guys have some good stories about the days when drivers had to run to the boats when the gun went off...true Le Mans...

Now, I have this very vague memory about another funny pit scene - I was just a little girl, but can clearly remember watching the exciting "Le Mans" start, and seeing a guy come flying out of a portapotty, running as fast as he can toward his boat as the others were all taking off....

It was one of those memories you always seem to hold onto

Kind of like the "rice" soup story - you just don't forget being told a story like that .....which I first heard while at the annual APBA Meeting dinner in Biloxi MS. Yes, Ron told the story while we were all eating....LOL eww...

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Those are some good stories. Like photos in the pits....the stories behind the scenes of racing are great. Let's hear some more.

[Willabee]

Those are some good stories. Like photos in the pits....the stories behind the scenes of racing are great. Let's hear some more.

This photo is from the Miami 225, scheduled for February 1972. Unfortunately Miami had small craft #2 warnings that day and the race was cancelled, but there is a story about the photo just the same.

I don't want to bore you about my background at Mercury, so let me just say that this was the first major race that I was totally responsible for getting the Team ready. Garbrecht and Merten had some kind of schedule conflict so they told me who they wanted to enter at this race and I was to take it from there. This would be the first event that the entire Team would run the C6. It was a fickle thing to get running right, so I decided to do things a bit differently.

Our normal procedure was to get the drivers and equipment to the test site about a week before a major event. Thinking that this powerhead could present some problems, I sent our parts truck "Day Tripper" with all of the race powerheads and props to Lake X with Rick Lamore and another mechanic. I also sent Bob Hering and his Molinari. Bob Hetzel (our top prop guy) and I met those guys the weekend before the Miami race. The Lake X folks had installed a duplicate of the Miami course and we started testing.

We ran every powerhead across Hering's boat....like a floating dyno. Each one that didn't perform as required and sent into the engine shop where Lamore usually repaired or replaced carbs. We did this until they all performed almost identical. Then we ran all of the props using one powerhead and Hetzel banged and filed until they ran almost identical. In a couple of days we were ready for the rest of the drivers who had been given staggered arrival times.

We could pretty much just drop a powerhead on his boat, give him a prop and just add water. Each driver tried a few props, but that was all of the testing necessary. Several drivers commented that this had been a very smooth test session and felt that we were as ready as the Team had ever been. I can't remember exactly anymore, but there was only something like 5 or 6 seconds (maybe even less) difference between the fastest and slowest boats around the course. Hering was quickest, but set his time with minimal fuel on board. Dick Scherrer was slowest, but was the only one that tested with a full load.

I remembered a photo in Powerboat that showed several of our boats lined up at Parker. I wanted a photo of the whole Team because I really expected great results. We got up very early Sunday morning so we could get lined up on the ramp at the stadium. When we arrived it was chained shut We did the old hacksaw routine to the chain and went on in.....never did hear anything about doing that. I think Dick Klaywitter was Merc's PR guy at the time and he got up on the tower by the ramp to take the photos.

Like I said, Mother Nature refused to cooperate and we got blown out. I'll say this.....if that race had been run, OMC would have been the only thing that got blown out on that day

[David Alaniz]

Willabee,

Garbrecht told us to test like Team Mercury - in secret. This pic proves the point! Great to see you post, enjoy your history.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

That was another great story Willabee. What a tremendous way to prepare for a race. Especially setting up a duplicate course for testing. I like the little personal details you add and I could visualize you guys cutting the chain then getting everything set up like you wanted. A fine story to go with that great photo. I can tell you have more.

[Ron Hill]

http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...+Parker&page=5

Seems to me, OMC was ready for that race, too. AND to this day, I still feel had that race been run, I would have won it in that black and white Scotti. ***(And I'm still mad a Jimbo for "Snaking" that black and white Scotti away from me beteeen Miami and Parker....in two week and 2,500 miles Freddy and I go from a Scotti to a three year old Molinari!!!!)...

Seems, at Parker the next month, OMC ran 1,2 and 3. Team Mercury blew, 9-10 boats over......

I guess that is why we enjoyed racing against Mercury, as they ALWAYS figured they were going to win!!!

Anyway, Bill, seems ONE time, on a flight from Berlin to Frankfort, you had a big tool box with you...taking it back to Oshkosh.... but maybe it wasn't tools!!!

Bring on the stories, I'm ready!

[Willabee]

Willabee,Garbrecht told us to test like Team Mercury - in secret. This pic proves the point! Great to see you post, enjoy your history.

LOL.....That is a Great shot.....sure can't get blamed for letting any secrets out of the bag when you test like that. You need to send that to Jackie Wilson, tell him that when we were counting 16' sprints, he forgot to include the inboards.

[Willabee]

Seems to me, OMC was ready for that race, too. AND to this day, I still feel had that race been run, I would have won it in that black and white Scotti.....Seems, at Parker the next month, OMC ran 1,2 and 3. Team Mercury blew, 9-10 boats over......I guess that is why we enjoyed racing against Mercury, as they ALWAYS figured they were going to win!!!.....Anyway, Bill, seems ONE time, on a flight from Berlin to Frankfort, you had a big tool box with you...taking it back to Oshkosh.... but maybe it wasn't tools!!!.....Bring on the stories, I'm ready!

Ron, you better take a long look at that picture of the Mercury lineup at Miami again. I count ten.....seems to me that means the best you would have been able to accomplish is 11th Seriously, those boats were really ready, I believe you guys would have been amazed!

Mercury did not send the Racing Team to Parker in 72. They had some budget concerns and thought they could get the job done with just one boat. Seebold/Petty ran a 17' Molinari marathon with a new and very strong single pipe C6. It was fast, but broke. They limped back to the pits and changed powerheads and managed a 6th place finish. OMC did get the first three places with Jimbo/May taking the win in that black & white Scotti you mentioned (pictured below).

1971 was the year of the Mercury "Flying Circus". We had been blowing SSM lower units and the engineers didn't think they would run the nine hours. Our boats were fitted with MerCruiserI speedmasters. Obviously they behaved much differently because they were flying off of the water everywhere you looked. Sirois, Hering, Downard, Collinge and Seebold (twice!) flipped during the race. Three or four also flipped while testing, including Seebold! One guy that didn't flip was Billy Don Pruett.....that's because he fell off of one of the OMC trucks before the race and broke his arm . We didn't have a good trip that year.

I don't remember what was in the big tool box.....maybe the Team winnings from Paris?

[Ron Hill]

"scheduled for February 1972."

You are telling me that Mercury had 10 boats in Miami, two weeks before Parker, 1972, and Mercury didn't show at Parker... One word..WRONG!

Seebold blew over twice. Sirois was in the hospital in Phoenix......from a blow over...

Team Mercury was at Parker 1972, and they were handed their LUNCH!

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I'm going to dig out my Powerboat Magazine to see what it sez.