Konig vs. Quincy Flatheads

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

Thanks for the clarification on the heats between you and Freddy. I evidently misunderstood you when we discussed this orginally, as I thought you said the Championship was decided on time.

I hope more folks with this type information make a contribution to this discussion, as our history of time gone past is not as complete as it should be.

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

info shown is from NOA Rooster Tail publication and an individual who kindly copied information out of the APBA Propeller after the Nationals.

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

Results by class and high point champions 1970

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

National and World Champs and High Point champs

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

APBA National Championship Results and Speed Records for '72 and '73.

PLEASE NOTE:
I have been unable to locate NOA World Championship results for these years. These were the start of the winding down years for the Alky classes with NOA and I am not sure the annual Alexandria events were held these years. If anyone has results for these two years please contact me for inclusion, or feel free to post them yourself.

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

Thanks to those who made these results available for posting on this thread, especially the 1973 results. 1973 was the year the sanction changed from NOA to APBA and UIM.

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

In a post by "Original Looper 1" on 7-19-09 it was stated that "peoples memories fade over time, that's why it's always good to have the written history to document the facts". That, and the comments contained in the post, were made by him to contest my comments in an earlier post on the "Konig History" thread BY ME, that the "Flatheads had reached a plateau in development a couple of years before, and were not much of a threat to win". The memories he was speaking about were of course mine. In the start of this thread I listed my reasons for doing the research I have done over the last several months, and I will not bore the readers of this thread further with the details. If interested you may go back and read the "preamble" to this thread again.

He also stated the Konig "never owned it" (meaning being dominant on the race course Konig vs. Flathead) until after Waldman's death in a race at Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1972.

I will let the results/won/loss record during the time frame shown in the documentation above lead the individual reader to their own conclusions regards who "owned it" one way or the other.

The record is as follows:

1967: Konig Rotary Valve motors legal in NOA but not APBA

NOA World Championships Konig 6 out of 8 possible wins
APBA National Championships Konig 3 out of 8 possible wins
John Ward Race (UIM C Hydro World Championship)

1968

NOA World Championships Konig 5 out of 8 possible wins
APBA National Championships Konig 3 out of 8 possible wins
This first year Rotary Valve motor legal in APBA

1969

NOA World Championships Konig 5 out of 8 wins
APBA National Championships Konig 5 out of 8 wins

1970

NOA World Championships Konig 5 out of 8 wins
APBA National Championships Konig 2 out of 7 wins (1 not sure)

1971

NOA World Championships Konig 8 out of 8 wins
APBA National Championships Konig 4 out of 7 wins (1 not sure)

1972

NOA World Championships Konig 8 out of 8 wins
APBA National Championships Konig 8 out of 8 wins

1973

Alexandria Worlds(APBA Sanction) Konig 8 out of 8 wins
APBA National Championships Konig 8 out of 8 wins

TOTAL KONIG WINS FROM 1967 TO 1973 NATIONAL AND WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 80

TOTAL FLATHEAD WINS FROM 67 TO 73 NATIONAL AND WORLD 32

If the total wins by Waldman during this period of time is taken into account, it only makes more clear his setup and driving ability, as a goodly number of Flathead wins in this time frame are attributable to that fact alone. Take away his wins for the Flathead brand and the total would be even less. The fact that he (Waldman) alone was about the only regular threat to win in this time frame using the Quincy Flathead engine, except for several wins by the Quincy Team and Jim Schoch at the venues illustrated in this narrative, only make his exploits in Alky boat racing more unforgettable.

Unfortunately I do not have Hi Point totals for all these years from NOA and none from APBA, but what I do have is as follows:

68 NOA Hi Points

5 won by Konig 3 won by Flatheads

69 NOA Hi Points

6 won by Konig 2 won by Flatheads

70 NOA High Points

5 won by Konig 3 won by Flatheads

71 NOA Hi Points

6 won by Konig 2 won by Flatheads

APBA National Championships held at DePue, Il., had a record course, and records were able to be established each year. Competition records established at that race course starting in 69 began to fall to Konig and by 71 all but one were held by Konig. The final record was set by Konig in 72, making a clean sweep of those competition records.

The above synopsis should lay to rest once and for all the "conventional wisdom" that the Quincy Flathead "owned it" until Waldmans death, and that event opened the door to Konig domination. The DOCUMENTED record simply does not support that conclusion, no matter the universal regard Waldman is held in by many, INCLUDING THIS WRITER.



I hope, as previously stated, that the research done for this thread has been found interesting and helpful. Quincy Flatheads were certainly very successful for a number of years, but after looking closely at the ACTUAL record, in the time frame specified in my original post, nobody has to depend solely on my "memories that have faded over time", as they were represented in "Looper's" post.

This whole episode and the reasons behind it kind of remind me of the story about not screwing around and picking a fight with an "old fart" They usually won't strut around and try to fight, they will just shoot you. Guess it's a good thing I stocked up on ammo after the last election. This is BOAT RACING FACTS after all.