Lone Star Boat Racing Association

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Joe Rome told me this story today, that I had never heard before. It occurred at Dumas, Arkansas. Wasn't there & don't know the year, but it brought tears to my eyes I was laughing so hard.

Ray Hardy came to Texas from Chicago around 1974 and we adopted him as an Honorary Texan. For those of you who never met him he was a mechanical genius and inventor, and he talked out of the side of his mouth in gangster fashion. Not meaning that he lied, but sounded like someone from the mob.

He got to Dumas late. Too late to test, and he was warned if he didn't check into the only motel soon, he might not have a room. So he and Bill Van Steenwyk decided that he would check in and leave the women with one car to get to the course the next morning. They would leave together at 6 am to get some testing in. Ray had a pretty good time checking out the hospitality of Dumas that night.

Bill Van was in the parking lot waiting for Ray at 6 am. After 15 minutes Bill Van called the room and Ray said he would be right down. Another 15 minutes passed and he called again. Ray said he was going to take a shower and be right down. Bill Van said he would give him a little more time, but if Ray wasn't there, he was going to leave. Bill Van got tired of waiting and was starting to drive off when Ray came limping up. He was beet red with a mouse over his eye that was swelling and he walked with a limp, and obviously with a bad headache.

Bill Van asked, "What happened to you?" Ray said after the last time he called he got into the shower and turned the cold on full blast to bring him around. "YEEEOOOOW!", Ray screamed. The hot and cold faucets had been reversed. Being scalded, Ray grabbed the shower curtain to block the steaming blast and got tangled up in the shower curtain. He lost his balance and started falling out of the tub. He put his free arm out to arrest his fall, which he did on the rim of the toilet. But, being wrapped up in the shower curtain, it was jerked from its mooring and slammed down on the back of his head, then knocked the toilet lid* down. The toilet lid slammed shut and smashed Ray's fingers causing Ray to fall head first to the floor, still partway in the tub. Hearing the commotion, Ray's wife jumped out of bed and ran toward the bathroom. "What is it Ray? Are you alright?" she hollered. Tangled up and trying to recover, Ray yelled "DON'T COME....SMASH!" The corner of the door caught Ray squarely on his eye. Joe says Ray wasn't worth nothin the rest of the weekend.

*It appears the moral of this story is..........don't leave the toilet lid up!

[jrome]

Bill Van actually should get the credit for this story instead of me, because he was an eye witness to this story. Wayne did a great job of telling the story as told to him, but Bill Van knows it play by play. Maybe Bill will tell us some more Ray Hardy stories, I know he must have a few good ones.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

....Joe Rome called. We got off the subject and ended up with the story about Ray Hardy. As we dubbed him an honorary Texan, and he lived out the rest of his life here in Texas, I put the story on LSBRA.

Now the photos of Calaveras Lake in San Antonio 1974. You may note a big power transmission line, or the towers. They went over the race course to a big generating plant that derived its cooling source from Calaveras. There was something I had happened on the back straight going under the power lines. It only happened in 250 hydro, only on the back straight. As I came close to the power lines, the motor started to cut out and the tail end of the hydro was a little squirrely. We weren't close to the water discharge so I never did understand what was going on, but something was. It happened to me every lap, but I don't think any other driver noticed anything.

[rbengines]

Neches River Festival located in Beaumont, TX during the late sixties.

I always hate that dog leg on the back stretch.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Is that cypress stump still there? It stuck up and inch or two above the water, depending on the rise of the river. It was a couple of feet across, and if the water conditions were good and the river not being squirrely, you could straighten out that dogleg a little by airing your hydro out before you get to the stump.

[rbengines]

The last time I was there I didn't see it but it had been years since I had been there.
If you weren't the inside boat in the first turn you would have to break back right and I alway was thinking I hope the waves aren't as high as my turning fin.
When I saw the old pic's of the little cove south of the launch I had forget about it being there. Here about 6 or 7 years ago the city took over the boat club and made it a city park(Very nice place now) and they filled in the little cove. Its is now a straight shoreline. It was always muddy in that little cove. Usually had a big yacht park there.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Yes rbengines. There was a private pier down there, and a lot of the yacht owners would watch the races from their boats. If you dig deeper into one of these threads, you will find a photo of one yacht that got too close and was speared by Ray Hardy in his Butts Aerowing. There were a lot of funny stories that came out of the Beaumont races.

[paul jillings]

.....try telling that to the UIM!

Over here we have raced on some quite severe right handers, with both prop riders and hydrocats - several times drivers have found themselves stuck in trees!

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Ray Yates is organizing a reunion most likely in February. More info later.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Ron Hill had mentioned on an earlier thread that he wished he had known about the Lone Star Boat Racing Association. I myself didn't know the beginnings of its history so I called Joe Rome. Joe tells me this so far via Louis Williams.

In 1952 there was an argument at a race in Beaumont. Back then the clubs all were members of APBA. It may have been an argument between the inboards and the outboards. They used to have a lot of joint races in the Golden Triangle of Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange. Lone Star Boat Racing Association was formed in Columbus, Texas. They published their own rule book, had member clubs and there were so many races per year, that the members did not venture out of the LSBRA much. There were still some drivers, however, that did still go to the APBA Nationals. When the NOA was formed in 1956, drivers attended some of those races too, but LSBRA was self supporting.

The clubs were mostly in Texas and there were some in Louisiana also. I don't remember the full list. I was driving down the road today and didn't write them down. Joe can list those along with whatever else I forget. There was no insurance. People weren't sue happy in those days like they are now. More to come.