There's a lot to be said about Jim Stone. Those who knew him, raced with him, or hung out in the pits long enough knew he was one to be reckoned with on the water. I considered Jim a friend although I never hung out with him at the races. I look back now and think of all the people I met along the way and wonder why I didn't seem to find more time to sit down and talk. At Laredo, Texas in 1980 I shared a limo ride with Jim on the way to a press conference and he was clearly having a great time. We didn't talk boat racing. Jim was also thinking about the cheap price of gas just across the border in Nuevo Laredo. He planned to fill up before the long ride back to Florida after the races.
Here are two photos I took of Jim at Alexandria in 1973. He had a cast iron cylinder FA Konig on his DeSilva. Jim was at the scales to be weighed in. I didn't look at race results before I posted these pics, but Jim was very familiar with the inspection area. I took these photos about a year after I ernestly started taking racing pictures. Paul Simison had helped me greatly, and I made a bunch of prints to put in a photo album. These two photos were part of my first album.
I am looking forward to posts about Jim Stone, his racing career, and thoughts from those who knew him. I have more pics to put up later.
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