A couple more of Lee Sutter. The first was at Alex (Fort Buhlow Lake) in 1973. Motor trouble.
The second was at the Grain Belt Pro Nationals at Winona in 1975. This photo appeared in Powerboat and Lee won the 350 runabout title.
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A couple more of Lee Sutter. The first was at Alex (Fort Buhlow Lake) in 1973. Motor trouble.
The second was at the Grain Belt Pro Nationals at Winona in 1975. This photo appeared in Powerboat and Lee won the 350 runabout title.
My best friend in this era was Jack Woodruff. Jack was four years older than I was. He had raced boats for four years but quit when he entered college in '58.
Jack never beat me, his parents could have bought my parents out with their pocket change, but that never kept us from being the best of friends. Jack's dad loved race horses and racing. Their boat trailer was made from a horse trailer.
Jack was a sheltered kid, and had never spent a night away from home until he was 16, when stayed at my parent's house with me. His mom called four times the first night he stayed with us.
Jack could drive, I wasn't old enough. So with my brains and his car, we had adventures. We surfed about every other day, we water skiied, stayed at their trailer at the beach, went camping....drank orange freezes everyday! (52 cents with tax).
Anyway, when the Seattle Nationals came along Jack and his mom drove up to watch, as Jack had said he'd get back in racing after college. Jack and his mom got to Seattle early and was finding their way around town and some how met up with Lee Sutter.
I don't recall if Lee raced the Divisionals at Long Beach that year or not. But by the time we got to Seattle all Jack could talk about, for four days was "B" Sutter. "B" Sutter could do this. "B" Sutter could do that. "B" could drive a runabout.
I always thought I was the "STAR" but Jack had decided "B" Sutter was "THE STAR".
It wasn't until I was at the Beloit Nationals, 1960 that I found out "B" Sutter was really Lee Sutter. From that moment on, I have always enjoyed Lee's friendship and always been impressed with his ablilites.
Jack graduated from college in June of 1962, we went water skiing that first Saturday after graduation with his financee and four BEAUTIFUL college grads young women....I was a high school grad.
Jack was killed a in a car accident the following Wednesday.
I never see "B" Sutter without thinking of Jack!!!!!
Wayne, thanks for posting these pictures!!!!!
The thanks goes to you Ron. If not for your forum...the original collection would still be filed away, and the additions would not have happened.:cool: Looking forward to more autographs at DePue now that I have gotten some new pics.
Ron has spoken a number of times on different threads about Dr. Phil Wagner, who traveled and pitted with Jerry Waldman. Note the number and colors of his runabout. I always liked the name too. HYDROPHOBIA. I never asked if he didn't like to drive hydros, or he was pulling the "string" of the King of hydros.:D I'll ask next time I see him.
The first time I met Phil was at Alexandria in 1978. It was a Friday or Saturday night after the races. My brother Mark was pitting for me then and he wanted me to cross the highway with him from the Holiday Inn where we were staying to the Ramada Inn where Jerry Waldman was staying. He had met up with Anne Finkl earlier and wanted me to accompany him as he was not known among racers out of Texas, and he wanted to hang out with Anne. Anne was the sister of Phil's wife Joanie.
I'm not sure whose room we were in, but Jerry's gang was all there. I can't remember all the people in the room at the time, but I remember there were Crown Royal bottles and bags. What stands out in my memory was that Johnny Carson was on the tube and people were talking, laughing and catching the interesting parts of Carson. Phil Wagner called me "Doc." He was the real doctor, but he called me Doc, because he said I looked like Doc Severeson who was the band leader for the Johnny Carson Show and played trumpet (for those who didn't know). Of course I didn't look like Doc , but in those days only Artie Lund, and a very few others had mustaches, and mine closely resembled that of Doc Severson. We had some good times together for several years.:)
This pic was taken at Alexandria, Louisiana in 1973.
This photo was taken also at Alex in 1973. Jerry Simison was driving for Marshall Grant at that race. I am not sure why he is in Dick Hoppenwrath's runabout. Dick was pitting for Jerry here also. So this is kind of a one-of-a-kind picture. Dick almost drowned after flipping in B hydro in the first turn at Alex and his wedding band was hung up in the throttle cable while he and the boat were upside down. To me, it happened before this race, and I think Dick was just pitting for Jerry now, but for some reason Jerry was in Dick's runabout. Jerry is coming to Midland, Texas this year for a shooting event and asked how far it was from my place. I told Joe Rome that if we can swing it we both need to go out there a visit with Jerry and watch him shoot. I'll ask about the pic then. Don't know why I didn't when he signed it. Guess I was so excited to see him again. For those who don't know...he has Parkinson's but has done real well in the last couple of years. It's a little hard to read, but he wrote that this is Dick Hoppenwrath's boat. This is another of my priceless autographs.
Got a new bunch of autographs today. The first is Ken Scoville and Darrel Beaulier. I've know Darrel for a long time, but I just first met Ken yesterday. I knew of him, but had not previously had the pleasure to meet him. We had some good long talks about some west coast drivers we knew. BTW Alan....he says to tell you high.
This one I took of Darrel Beaulier at La Port Texas in October 1974.
Another one of Darrel.
One of the things I always admired about Darrel is he seems to take things in stride. He did admit though that this wasn't the best way to get your picture taken.;):D
Last one of Darrel. I printed this one in 1975. Like most of the original photos I got autographed, they came out of the reject box. Too light...too dark...or not the right one to send to Powerboat. I never really planned ahead to set up the darkroom to get really good quality photos for my autographed pics....so the one I dug out for Darrel to sign fits the bill. Darrel said who the other guy in the pic was, but I was talking to Mike Tilton at the time and forgot.:confused: