Lone Star Boat Racing Association

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 03-27-2008

I've supposed to have been working on the income tax stuff the last two days.

, but Debbie never looks on this site. Hope not, because I was already busted 3 days ago. She wanted to know how come everyone else's yard was starting to green up but ours. I had to fess up. When we went to Fredricksburg last spring I had our centrifugal pump on the beach at the foot of the pier. Since the environmentalists dump a lot of our water out and I use the pump to water from the lake rather than our water well, I had a long SO cable hooked up to our 3 phase pump so I could move it lower as the water went down. When the lake gets low, it doesn't take as much water to raise the level a foot or so. During that 3 day weekend, the lake came up and covered our pump. I planned to get enough alchohol and a vat to immerse it in, then dry it out and see if it would still work. Then we got real busy in the oilfield and week after week slipped by. It's still on the bottom of the lake. Two weeks ago I ordered a new pump, but it's not here yet. I had to tell Debbie what happened. One more week and I probably would have made it. Thing is......we had a very wet spring, summer and fall so I thought I could get away with it.

Debbie never even noticed I didn't have the sprinklers on last year.

So here's a few more Lone Star pics before I get back to the tax mess.

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 04-09-2008

That fuse delayed April fool bomb that knocked BRF off the air for several days had me worried. I was actually able to go till up the garden and get some tomatoes planted.

The following is a test...............

This is a start of probably D or F Runabout at the Joe Bowdler Memorial at Baytown in 1970. I took it with a Kodak Instamatic camera and was unable to get enough quality blown up to tell who the drivers are. I know Charlie Bailey is in the middle of the boats with an inside track. Here are the others that are probably out there, but can't tell which boats. Clayton Elmer, Roland Pruett, Bruce Nicholson, Artie Lund, Jim Mouton, P G Stepleton, maybe Phil Crown.

**Skoontz** · 04-09-2008

Wayne:

Just like I did, the forum being down gave you an excuse to do work that Americans won't do

I broke down and let the goats out on the lawn, that 2' deep grass was not making me any points with mama, and she is going to Parker with us.

This BRF forum ends up costing allot of money in services I no longer have time for LOL

**David Weaver** · 04-09-2008

[QUOTE=
The red and white hydro T- 711 with the MX 237 logo belongs to Steve Jones. He was from Corpus Christi and was my partner in publicity. We spent many hours working on race programs, going to TV stations and the newspaper in Corpus. His Dad became a Master Oil distributor early on, around 1968, and sold to many area hardware stores, machine shops and refineries.

These pics, also from the Baytown race, were taken by my sister Jan.[/QUOTE]

The 5th photo shows three runabouts. The closest is clearly number 77-T, often and today's Bruce Nicholsan's number. But the boat to 77-T's left has yellow paint and the driver appears to be Bruce. Any idea's or am I seeing things? Ms. Laurie has been yellow as far as I can remember.

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 04-09-2008

David...You got a good eye and I don't have a definite answer. This was 1970 and I don't have anything to really fall back on except the driver in the yellow boat not only looks like Bruce from what you can see, but mainly looks like him in the cockpit. The boat on the outside has 77T... probably taped on. It is a new Desilva and most likely was driven by Mike Anderson. The permanent numbers have yet to be painted on. I have pics of that same boat later on with Bruce's numbers painted on. Ray Yates should have the answer and I will ask him. Bruce ran Miss Laurie for a number of years, but I have seen him with boats such as the one in the foreground as well as one with baby blue and white trim. He also had A and B runabouts, but I will have to consult with Joe to remember what they looked like.

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 04-10-2008

The mystery deepens. Joe says in no uncertain terms that the yellow boat is Louis Williams and Joe is the go-to man on Louis. Bruce had a similar stance in a cockpit, but it is Louis and he is getting ready to set up for the turn. This heat is either a Free-For-All or Louis stepped up into CR. The outside boat is Bruce. The face and helmet kind of threw me off, but that's obscured by the M in Miss Pam. The way the life jacket is riding up is the way Bruce's did because he cut the leg straps off at a time when the leg strap rule was not enforced. So that's Bruce on the outside. Here's where the mystery deepens.

Joe thinks that Bruce drove Red Hamilton's runabout several times. Red was out of San Antonio and raced under the number T 145. That would explain why 77T was on the wood instead of the white part. Red would put his own number in the white part. But wait....I now found a pic of Bruce 4 years later with the numbers in the same place and the white part still blank. Then later on in 1974 the number 77T is painted on the white part. THEN I find a pic of Charlie Bailey getting out of the cockpit of that same boat in 1975. Joe is going to talk to Kenneth James to see what he can remember.

**BBaron** · 04-13-2008

Wayne the blue and white runabout in this picture was one I bought from Bill Martin
and Charlie Blackwood drove it that is why it had no # on it Benny Baron
The pic. is #111 it is in Benny

**BBaron** · 04-13-2008

This is Chris Polk and myself at Alex in 1969 or 70

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 04-13-2008

Is it Polk or Pope Benny? According to the date on the picture, it looks like July 72 and looks to me to be taken at Baytown. I see Ray Yates' "Bluebird" in the background. The hydro on the right looks like Alex.

In that photo with the blue and white runabout you bought, the No. 11 boat is N.E. "Fitz" Fitzgibbon. Thanks for the info and pics Benny>