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Jimbo McConnell--The Wizard of OZ
I only had the priviledge of meeting him a few times when he came to race (Dominate!) in Canada. He always took the time to speak to me, and never seemed rushed to finish our long conversations. I was in my teens, and am ever impressed by this man, and his racing ability.
I took this picture in Picton, Ontario, Canada after Jimbo had single handedly whipped Team Mercury's best by a full straightaway. He had the race clearly won, but never lifted untill the checkered, and when it did, he pulled out an American flag from his boot and flew it proudly in front of the croud, judges stand and pits upon his return.
I had a pic of that--It was so good I sent it to Propeller and they printed it. Wish I could find it now!!
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I could write a book about Jimbo....
I could write a 500 page book and never cover half of the things people would be interested in about Jimbo McConnell.
Few would know that we were having a race in Needles, my brother's late wife, Judy, was Chief Scorer. This kid came up to her and said, "He's just sold his motorcycle for $25 and he thought he'd try boat racing."
Well, Judy was a school teacher, and taught me a lot about many things, besides how to be a good teacher....She looked at Jimbo and said, "You're in luck because it will cost you $25.00 to race." (Which even in those days wasn't that cheap...but Judy knew a smile when she saw one and figured this kid Jim might like to race)..
Jimbo had an AU, a Kean Craft (No relationship to McKean in Texas, Ray McKean in fact was the builder...)..lime green same as his El Camino. Jimbo wasn't called JIMBO by anyone, in fact, he was called Jim...His brother's name was Bubba, and still is...called Bubba by everyone...
Jimbo ran last I think, but was determined to run the Colorado River Marathon that October...
Jimbo's mom was full blooded Cherokee Indian and his dad was full blooded Irish... Sue McConnell and Mac McConnell....How they ever got together, I don't know, but they had been divorced for many years, when I met Jimbo in '59.
Mac had had several drinks the night before the Marathon and was going to paint something like Jim's boat on the side...But he didn't plan ahead...and only got JIMBO on the side, big red letters with big drips...Lime '59 Chevy green boat, red letters is how I remember it...it wasn't pretty and didn't run fast...but eveyone loved JIMBO and he's been JIMBO ever since...
I spent a lot of time at Jimbo's house on Route 66. His brother, Bubba "Pete", had a "T" Roadster which was loud and fast, we seemed to always have girl friends when we drove that Roadster...
Mac owned a couple of MOTELS in town and people would leave cars there....Jimbo and me, well, were figured that someone left them because something was wrong with them...
Usually, we'd figure out what was wrong the hard way...like we'd jump the battery, and get one started only to find out she didn't have any brakes...
Jimbo's mom owned the Shamrock Cafe and she had a new Cadillac Eldorado, and Jimbo had the El Camino, but wasn't supposed to drive it much...so our favorite car was a '52 Chevy with Powerglide...because we could get her stopped by throwing her in reverse.....and the emergency brake worked GREAT!!!
Jimbo had this Indian Motorcycle, why I decided to paint it white, I have no clue, but I did, tires and all...I was only 16 and didn't drink or do drugs...just seemed like I should paint it...didn't run anyway...Jimbo was mad at me for painting his motorcycle. I told him, "Hell it don't run anyway." He said, "It'll run." Well, for the next two or three days we tried to get it running.
Finally, (Jimbo and me could have been BRAIN SURGEONS, if we didn't race boats)...we decided, it has gas, it has compression and it has fire, the SOB HAS to run. We decide to pull it with the '52 Chevy. We take Bubba's ski rope out of his boat...(We didn't ask because he'd have said NO!!!)...
So, Jimbo gets on the INDIAN and ties a knot that only kneel down boat racers could understand...(One that is huge and takes 15 minutes to untie...)...I pull Jimbo about block and all of a sudden that MOTHER lets out a huge BANG and a cloud of smoke that covered Jimbo and the sky....I see Jimbo coming for the car, so I floor it, it is clear to me we are in real trouble, because he is going a lot faster than the Chevy and the ski rope ain't THAT LONG, he passes me like Jack the Bear and he's trying to untie the rope while he'd driving. I'm gaining speed but he coming to the end of the rope fast....I figure, when he gets to the end of the rope he's going down, I'm trying to figure how I'll miss him...All of a sudden the rope goes slack and Jimbo disappears down the street, the smoke is still coming out of the exhaust....
I lose him, so I go back to the house...The motorcycle is there, not running, not sure if it ever ran again....Jimbo just said, "See I told you it would run." Both of us knew, we were about as lucky as anyone can get, without getting killed...
We got in the Chevy to go get an A and W Root Beer, Jimbo asked if we're still dragging the Bubba's ski rope, rope...I say I don't think so...Jimbo stops the car and gets out to see, the car starts rolling (no brakes remember)...Jimbo had left the door open, he starts running for the car, I don't see him running, I pull the emergency brake and Jimbo is running with his head down trying to catch the car and his head goes through the closed window...we still laugh about the day Jimbo rode his motorcycle...glass went everywhere.
In '65 when Jimbo went into the Army and was heading for Vietnam, the weekend before he left, we rode motorcycles all day Saturday and Sunday with just our bathing suits on, we went almost to Havasu on the old dirt road... we drove like crazy guys, racing by laying down and pointing our toes...Jimbo and I figured if he got killed here, at least he wouldn't die in Vietnam... Monday, he on the bus...it was a sad day for me...I wondered if we were doing right in Vietnam... and was it fair that COLLEGE students, like me didn't have to got...
Jimbo enjoyed Vietnam, actually..he drove trucks loaded with bombs... He turned a truck over once, said he "Dug a sponson" another time some Viet Cong were shooting at him, so he hid behind some bombs...all in all it wasn't that bad, he did want to get back to the USA to race!!!
JIMBO's 1959 ElCamino, and a Armstrong BSH, with full length aluminum air traps, my trailer and 1-C Morehouse, A-B Sid on top!!!
Jimbo told me this is the only picture he has of his mother's house in Needles....Christmas, 1960.
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Jimbo had a lot of boats...
Jimbo bought my brother's Big Bee Swift...He bought the Pearly Gates, a BU. When he was living at my parent's house, Jimbo won the Needles Marathon in BU and I won in DU, 1962, that was...
This is a picture I always like of Jimbo, I'm pretty sure I took it myself. This is a Ted May, May Craft boat, and the last race we ran this cowling on our Evinrudes... We had a HYDRO marathon this weekend...I had just gotten back from the Hudson River Marathon where I'd spend about three days with the Berghauer Boys (Denny and Dewey)...They told me what they did to their Sid Crafts to make them fast....didn't believe them, but went home and did it to my Sid, didn't test it, just put a six gallon tank in the boat and raced. I won the D Hydro marathon... Jimmy Dawe was second, Jimbo or Ted was third...only D hydro race I ran with that boat after I changed it to what the Berghauers told me...
This picture was of Jimbo after he won the OPC part, 1968. Pretty sure this was the race I promoted, where Ed Lane got his arm hurt driving Jim Johnson's Carlson..
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Jimbo - a true boatracing gentleman
I too, had the wonderful opportunity to meet Jimbo on several of his many visits to race with us in Canada. I can honestly say, that I have never met a man that is more of a gentleman than Jimbo. He certainly did what ever was necessary to win on the race course - but always had time to spend with anyone and everyone on the shore. He is a legitimate hero. Here is a pic that Massimo Scotti (Cesare's son) gave me of Jimbo driving the Scotti with the Rotary in Paris 1974.
Jimbo was Born and Raised in Needles...
Jimbo's only brother, that I know of, is named Pete...but everyone still calls him "Bubba"...The name Jimbo gave him when he, Jimbo, was about three...
Pete would be 84 years old, and had worked on the Santa Fe Railroad for 46 years. He races blown jets on the IHBA Drag Boat Series...He raced kneel downs for awhile until he was hurt. He got a broken pelvis from a D Hydro accident...After that, he seemed to favor Jet Boats. He has a Classic twin engine jet Sleek Craft and about 14 other boats at his shop in Needles...Pete also collects cars, he has a 1938 Ford Roadster, and about 5 Classic Pontiacs.
I'm not postive Jimbo was born in Needles, but I know he was there when he was three....
Spent two enjoyable evenings over the Thanksgiving Holidays with Cathy and Jimbo...Claims he is working on a book, as he doesn't want me taking pictures of his pictures, but........we'll see!!!
Can't even begin to retell the stories we told, as they took two days to tell...I could tell how Jimbo got arrested in Illinois for not having Illinois plates or and Illinois driver's license.....but it ain't that good of a story!!!
The judge let him go!!!! (But Jimbo was late for work that day)...
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Jimbo, Jimmy Dawe and Glen Chambers
I was looking at this picture, that is Jimbo next to Jimmy Dawe...But that is Glen Chambers, behind them...All three were Needles Boat Racers...
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Marathon of Champions: Long Beach 1971
Ted May and Jimbo ran second to Mike Wallace.
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Mark Spencer: 1978 Racing
I guess I'd forgotten much of this...
Jimbo Talks About the U-19
Jimbo said, the steering was EARLY hydralic, and to make the corners, it took 24 turns from lock to lock. He said, at about two thirds of the way down the straightaway, you'd have to start backing down and start turning the wheel. The boat would still be gaining speed but he'd have to "SET Up" for the corner...if it started to "HOOK" you'd have to spinning the wheel to the right like a WILDMAN... AS a RESULT, JIMBO had to BABY it through the corners. With today's steering, he could corner like a Formula One tunnel...
The main problem with outboards running against the inboards, as the inboard didn't want them....and they (Inboards) made the rules....
I, myself, always felt a four engine HYDROPLANE would have kicked Miss Budweiser's BUTT and still have half the throttle left...
I was running my Scotti on Modesto's (Turlock Reservoir),I could run 107 on the straights, Jim Hauenstein had a Marcel hydro, same motor AS I had...and in a three lap heat, Jimmy could make three laps, while I made two.....That's how fast a hydro is on good water compared to a tunnel...
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Yesterday, March 17, 2007 at Jimbo and Cathy's House
I called Jimbo and told him I wanted to come over, Saturday morning, and talk about Jack Leek....We started at 9 A.M. and talked until 9 P.M. John Stoker stopped by and we talked other stuff besides Jack for awhile, but Jimbo and I decides we'd leave Thursday and drive up and go to Jack Leeks's Memorial Services...
Here are some pictures I took at Jimbo and Cathy's house...Cathy didn't yell at me this time...Jimbo did get a briefcase or two out and showed me some pictures I'd die to post, but he's still holding out...
Jimbo's wall. John Stoker... and some pictures of Jimbo...
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Jimbo McConnell Talks About Jack Leek....
Jimbo and I spent last Saturday talking about Jack Leek (March 17, 2007)...Jimbo is half Irish and half Cherokee Indian...We came close to missing one of the Irish's favorite day... Lucky for us, we could talk and celebrate St. Patrick's Day...at the same time!
Jimbo's voice isn't as strong as it used to be, he speaks in a loud whisper..he is able to breath pretty well...something the doctors worried about for many years after his accident...in 1985.
Jimbo would start a story about Jack, then get to laughing so hard, and before he finished the first story, like Ronnie Hill, he was off to the next story....I will try to tell his stories as he told them to me...as I laughed all day...
1967: (fourty years ago, this November)...Unlike me, where Jack Leek was a house hold word....of which was held in high esteem. Jimbo had never heard the word "Jack Leek" and when he was told to go to Havasu, to find Mr. Leek, he didn't know Jack's first name, as he'd forgotten what it was...
Jimbo said he showed up at Havasu on Wednesday before Thanksgiving Thursday, and saw what looked like some race boats... Jimbo was driving a milk truck in those days, and had had to make a milk delivery to Claypools in Havasu, so he figured he could meet Mr. Leek, test the boat and get back to work...
Jimbo said he left the diesel milk truck running as to not let the milk spoil, he was wearing cowboy boots, Levi's with milker's chaps (Leather things that keep milk off your Levi's)..flannel shirt (It was November, and the desert can get cold)...a cowboy hat, with a big Indian feather sticking out of the band...
He walks up with his Mrs. Hill blue and white life jacket, Bell helmet with his "BUBBLE" shield in his hand and says, "Is there a Mr. Leek here?" Everyone looked at each other trying to figure where this "COWBOY came from...and who did he want to see??? Jack Leek???
Mr. Leek said, "I'm Jack Leek." Jimbo says, "I'm here to drive your boat." Jimbo says Jacks looked him, like ONLY JACK LEEK could and he didn't say anything, but it was like, as Jimbo said, "What the hell did Russ Hill send me??"
Anyway, Jimbo starts to get the boat, and Leek won't let him in with cowboy boots...They argue, Jack finally said, "Just don't step on the decks with them, or you'll fall through"... Jack says, "Now go out and get use to the boat, take it easy, drive as long as you want....but don't put too much time on the motor"A line Jimbo will hear many times in the next 18 years...
Jimbo came back and said he'd gotten almost 70 MPH, which he figured later, Ray Nydahl had gotten and told Jack...They changed gearcase and prop. The rig would only go 67, but Jimbo told Jack he really liked that gearcase and prop and the way it handled...(The boat was a Schultz, and Dieter had raced it in Paris, and had actully pulled out of Paris because he said the water was too rough)....... Jack then explained that in four hours, 3 MPH would be 12 miles or three laps.....Jimbo explained he still liked the 67 mph set up best...Jack said, "Well I respect the driver's opinion...but ARE you sure you want to give up 3 MPH?"
118 boats started the race...Twins and triples started ahead of the singles....Jimbo said he never saw 55 MPH the first day and was leading Single Engine...Jimbo nose dived this boat later on Sunday and Ted May finished off the driving....But Jimbo had won the 1967 Single Engine World Championships...Single Engine... Jack Leek figured, Jimbo could drive....cowboy boots, Indian feather and all!!!!
ADD; Jack had come up with the idea of using a left foot gas pedal, thinking that when you went around the corner you could brace yourself in the boat and use your left foot as a gas pedal.... This Schultz had a left foot gas pedal.....
As Jimbo is getting out of the boat, after the first test run...He says, "Who was the dumb S%^T would put the gas pedal on the left?" Jack says, "Well that was my idea." Jimbo said, he learned right then and there to keep his mouth shut until he knew more details...
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Beloit World Championships...
Jimbo said this is about his favorite Jack Leek story, though he got side tracked about four times before he finished it...
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Jimbo Talks About My Dad....
When you live day to day, you never really think about things being funny, or cool or historic....When Jimbo and I went to Jack Leek's memorial, we got to laughing about my dad.
My dad was a natural teacher, but Jimbo and I weren't natural learners...The Old Man seldom got mad at us...when we did stupid things, which was all the time....
If you notice, my dad is changing spark plugs in my 55-H. The wrench is very short. My dad got mad at Jimbo and me for striping plugs. Jimbo and I would always tighten plugs tell they got loose, then back them off a half turn.
My dad, just sawed the plug wrench off and said, "Go ahead and tighten them as much as you guys want to..." We never striped another plug...
I was and still am a THRASHER with tools...I guess that is why I liked working on props becasue the bigger the hammer the easier the job...But my dad (And now Chad) really loved their tools and took great pride and respect in keeping their tools good...
Jimbo and I were halping my dad cut a door between a kitchen and a garage....My dad said, "Now you guys, be careful with my hollowground blade....when you cut the hole.....I started sawing with Jimb's help...I hit an electrical wire and I kept sawing melted all the teeth off the Old Man's saw blade.
My dad took one look at that blade and just got that look that my Old Man could get....Jimbo and I knew we'd screwed up for sure...That was the last job we worked for my dad!!!
Pictures are from Green Lake, Washington, 1968 Nationals. 19-C on the trailer is my new DeSilva CRR/DRR boat, the hydros next to me is Jimbo's trailer. Jimbo had three new Hill Runabouts, (B-C-D) and Three Sid-Hydros...
The kid in the Golden Shores Winternationals shirt is a YOUNG RICK MINER..(Roy's son)...