An Amazing Story

[Tim Chance]

Got my Super E powerhead to share the lower unit and a Pugh Hydro to run it on but I think it's too small for a 500 Sprint. But I think when I get to Raleigh I'll be looking at runabouts. Haven't built one in years, but I'm ready. Can't pound a nail straight anymore (must be the bifocuals) but I do have an air nailer. Still thinking about the 250 motor.

[Composite Specialties]

Hey Tim,

How about a brand new in the box, never raced, 2006 Rossi 250cc powerhead for that runabout your a thinking about? I can bring it to Raleigh for you to look at if interested.

[Tim Chance]

Hey Tim,

How about a brand new in the box, never raced, 2006 Rossi 250cc powerhead for that runabout your a thinking about? I can bring it to Raleigh for you to look at if interested.

Thanks Mark but, I'm just putting my foot back into the shallow end of this racing pool - I'm not ready to jump into the deep end yet. Sorry Wayne, I'm not trying to steal your thread; can't wait to hear the rest of the story.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

....but don't sweat it. This thread has taken several interesting sidetrips since it started.

We qualified the D for the PRO Nationals at the Western Divisionals at Lake Calaveras in San Antonio. It was the only mass migration from the pits I ever saw. It was clear early on that morning that wind was going to kill the races, so we decided to move the pits and race course around the corner to a more protected cove. We didn't even have time to stamp the grass down in the first pit area. Some guys drove their boats around the corner and some paddled.

[Tim Chance]

....but don't sweat it. This thread has taken several interesting sidetrips since it started.

We qualified the D for the PRO Nationals at the Western Divisionals at Lake Calaveras in San Antonio. It was the only mass migration from the pits I ever saw. It was clear early on that morning that wind was going to kill the races, so we decided to move the pits and race course around the corner to a more protected cove. We didn't even have time to stamp the grass down in the first pit area. Some guys drove their boats around the corner and some paddled.

I remember that floatillia. I also remember Lucky Lund telling me that all the snakes had been chased out of the original pit area. They weren't chased out of the alternate pits. Tom Berry found one and terrorized John Dortch II, and me with it.

[ProHydroRacer]

[QUOTE=Master Oil Racing Team]....but don't sweat it. This thread has taken several interesting sidetrips since it started.

We qualified the D for the PRO Nationals at the Western Divisionals at Lake Calaveras in San Antonio.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I remember that race. We drove within a mile or two of the Lake late at night and stopped at a bar to ask for directions. The local drunks didn't even know there was a lake there.

We found the pits after driving down some back road that was overgrown with trees and bushes. What a trip! Made that trip with Rod Walk and Barry Anderson.

The local racers where having a BBQ and treated us really nice.

To this day, I always look for snakes in my boat before I get in.

The good old days!!

ProHydroracer

[Master Oil Racing Team]

While the talk was going on about whether to move the race course or not, my Dad decided to go ahead and move our trailer to the alternate site. He knew we weren't going to race where we were and if we didn't move, we would not race at all, so he took our trailer to a good pit site.

I don't know why I stayed at the original pits....I guess to take pictures. Anyway while I was standing at our former pit site, Bill Van Steenwyk drove up. We talked a few minutes then he said "Hey...where's your trailer?" As we had a back and forth practical joke thing going with Bill Van, what popped into my head was "Somebody stole it!" "What?", he replied. And so I said "Yeah....we got here this morning and it was gone." "No", Bill Van said, "That couldn't have happened." When my Dad started to move the trailer he forgot the lid was up and dragged the pole about 10 feet through the dirt until I hollered to get him to stop. (See previous B & W pic) I remembered that and pointed to it saying "See where they dragged the pole when they started off with it." Up until then he thought maybe I was pulling something, but that pushed him over the edge. "I just can't believe anything like that could ever happen.", he said, then "Where's Baldy?" I told him he was down at the Sheriffs office giving a description of everything. To make it worse, I was able to explain the situation to my Dad before Bill saw him just a little later and he carried on with it. Bill was really bummed out, so we had to finally confess, but not without considerable laughing. We knew we would get something back in return. Was it worth it? Heck yeah!

Here are a few more pics from the 1976 PRO Western Divisionals at San Antonio.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Contact sheets were not in order when I labeled them (Wow-30 years ago ) and the grassy area I first mentioned was the new snake pits. The original pit area was mowed. And Tim Chance's hydro that looks a little askance didn't ride all the way to Texas that way. His and the Dortch's trailers were migrating to the new pit area. They just threw them on the trailer for a short haul. Right Tim???

[Master Oil Racing Team]

.....what a great time that was. The Midwest PowerBoat Association once again put on a fantastic nationals. It was the BiCentennial Celebration of America. The Tall Ships sailed into New York Harbor on July 4, 1976, past the Statue of Liberty, beneath the spray of the firefighting boats of New York. We raced the following month...August 17-22.

The Oly Pro Nationals was sponsored by Olympia beer. Never heard of it before, but it was a premium beer. After that I became an Olympia fan. They paid off with BiCentennial silver dollars in an Olympia beer tray. And we also got ornate Olympia beer mugs and wooden Olympia wooden beer crates with a lid.

I had won the UIM World Championships earlier that year with Marshall Grant's motor and we had seemingly corrected all motor problems when we changed out the stator plate. We won the Western Divisionals but we were having fuel problems with the larger bore motors. They were building up so much pressure in the fuel tank that the floats were popping loose, in spite of the spring loaded pressure relief ball valve on the Konig check valve. We switched to electric fuel pumps which we had unsuccessfully played with in 1967. They seemed to be more reliable and compatible with methanol now. But a month earlier in Valleyfield at the John Ward race, the fuel pump failed with a quarter of a lap to go and a big lead in the qualifying heat. That was with the 500cc motor on QUIEN SABE. I don't know whether that caused us to change something or what we did to prepare for the PRO Nationals, but looking back, I have a different outlook.

We had never gone to the Divisionals before to prequalify, but we started the year before when I was out of racing and we wanted to keep our equipment competitive. All we did at Winona was set the motor up, run a couple of tests on props and get ready for the finals. I think now, that without having to compete in a heated battle to make the finals, you don't get the feedback you need to get your boat/motor ready. In any case, we THOUGHT we were ready. This was the class I most wanted to win. To cement the World Championship with a National Championship and a competition record to boot , all in the same year....1976. It was a surveyed 1 1/4 mile course and Marshall Grant's D on SHADOWFAX was more than capable.

I can't find my notes from those days and I don't exactly remember what went wrong. I think it was fuel related, but I can't be sure. I finished 5th in heat one behind Jerry Kirts, Fred Hauenstein, Artie Lund and Howard Anderson. Maybe there were back to back heats. Forgot. In any case the following sequence tells the story. I don't know who took the photos. My sister Jan used to take pics, but she wasn't there. I can only suspect it must have been my wife Debbie, who for some reason picked up my camera to take a few shots. It doesn't matter. It shows why I raced boats.

When my motor wasn't right after I came out of the pits, I turned back just a little way down. The motor quit before I could get to the pits. It didn't matter that I was a competitor to these racing teams. They jumped through hoops to get me in the race. Bill Hosler went into the deep water to grab the bow handle. Bill Kurps grabbed Hosler to pull us in. Everyone hustled to get the boat turned around and fired up to clean it out. Bill Kurps was cranking on it, but, time ran out. The one minute gun fired. You can see the look on my mechanic Jack Chance's face as he headed back toward our pits. Of course I was extremely bummed out myself. But this was racing and in those pics you see compadres that make up what friendly competion is all about.

[ProHydroRacer]

I remember that time like it was yesterday. 30 years ago! The pictures really tells a story how intense we become to get a racer back on the water.

Bill