My Favorite Summer - 1973 KT Racing

[willabee]

During my years with Mercury, I went on numerous trips where I met great people and had a fun time...working and playing. But when I think about those days gone by, one extended period of time really stands out, the summer I spent helping to develope the KT package. That entire time period was just a BLAST! I suppose I enjoyed it so much because the project itself was interesting, I had tremendous freedom to do things within the project and all of the people connected to it were fun to be around. Gary Peacock was hired to drive, Jim Schuenke was the head tech, George Leigten handled the carb work and a few engineers from Fond du Lac had stern drive responsibilitys.

Here's a couple of shots of the boat in action at the Provo 250.....The 1st one shows one of the inboards he just passed in the background - the 2nd one shows Gary turning on the inside of Bobby Hering's new kilo record holding ( around 118 mph ) pickle fork and he does make the pass....

[willabee]

KT Racing


We had Gary come up to Oshkosh to do all of the setup work. We would work hard all day, and when we had to wrap it up, I would meet Gary and some of the guys at a bar called " My Brothers Place ". By the time I would get there, Gary would know the first name of everyone in the joint and the bar would have about 100 screwdrivers ( he's a Florida boy ), all ready for consumption, just sitting there for anyone that wanted to wander down and BS with him.

Here's a couple more shots of the boat.....the 1st one shows the boat at speed and the 2nd is just an overhead shot showing his name - " Flying Fowl "

[willabee]

KT Racing


When we first put the boat in the water, it ran just short of 80. Gary mumbled something about the project not needing a race boat driver, but really needing a dump truck driver. When he and Jim pulled out of the lot in Oshkosh heading for our first race in Redwood City, Ca., we had a boat that came out of a turn with alot of strength, ran well over sloppy water and peaked at 109 with a load of fuel.
We had smooth sailing in Redwood City, absolutely no problems. Gary led from the start and lapped most of the field ( inboards, outboards and KT's ). Those guys took off for Walker Lake and I went back home to pick up some equipment for the elevation change.
Our first pass at Walker was made using the Redwood setup. We were about 20/25 mph short and didn't come out of a turn worth a darn. We changed heads, did some carb work and put on some cut down props. We got all but about 5 mph back and had good acceleration. Once again, no problems during the race. Lapped the field and won going away. Then we partied....can't explain it here because this is a family program, but..... man, did we party.
It was time to take the boat back home and do some internal checks before returning for Provo and Elsinore. As you will see, the project almost ended on their way back.

Here's a shot of the boat in traffic and the one showing what happened on the way home......the boat ended up with a blistered nose, the truck was totaled.....

[willabee]

Don't know for sure... It was 2/3 years old, had a 396 w/dual exhaust and had wooden slats between the metal supports on the bed floor. The popular theory was that enough oil and stuff had soaked into the wooden slats over the years, that the exhaust system got hot enough to ignite the boards. I never bought that theory, but every time I asked Jim or Gary about it, they just got smiley quiet. The only other guy that knows for sure what happened is Tom Stickle, but you know what they say about honor among thieves......He won't tell me either :)


howd the truck catch on fire?

[willabee]

Kt Racing


The Provo 250 was next, and this one was going to be different because both factory teams were going to be there. I didn't know how we'd stack up against the big guns. When we arrived, I got two surprises......there are no bars in Provo :eek: and my old crew at Merc was treating us like the enemy :mad: That caused me to decide to approach this race like it was a sprint, not a marathon. I didn't know if we had anything for the OMC rotarys, but we were going to put on a show and run ahead of the black motor team, even if we didn't finish, we were going to scare them :D

I knew that Hering was going to be their top gun, so I found a place to stand on shore that wasn't so obvious to them, and got his times through a couple of areas on the course. Then we put Gary in and I timed him through those same sections. Then we would do more work on the engine to try to get closer to what Hering was running. We didn't get all the way to his times, but we got close and I figured that Gary could get over more water than Bobby could, so we went into final inspection and waited for the race.

Gary didn't get a good start, and when the boats came past the pits on the first lap the order was something like...rotary, rotary, rotary, Hering, rotary, 3 or 4 team Mercs and Peacock. That order changed quickly, by the 3rd lap Gary had passed some Team Merc boats and a rotary - the 1st time something other than a rotary had passed a rotary!! The next lap he got Hering and then picked off all of the lead rotarys, passing the last one right in front of the pits (he told me after the race he had picked that spot just to show off). Charley Strang and several of the OMC guys were standing near us and after Peacock made the pass for the lead, one of their guys said to me " that boat do run-run ". We led for awhile, did break, but didn't care.....we had accomplished more than we thought was possible.

The last race for us was the Elsinore 250. Another one of those picture perfect days....no problems at all, I think he finished 3 laps in front of the 2nd place boat.

Here's a shot of the boat coming in for fuel at Elsinore and a shot of what a Elsinore 250 winner looks like:

[willabee]

After KT Racing

Just thought I'd share with you what a professional boat racer does when he's not racing.....he takes his friend for a very scary ride in..what else, a fast boat.

Went down to relax for a day with Gary and he tosses a hunters jacket at me and says let's go. We pull this airboat down to the glades to go deer hunting. Gary explains that he'll do the driving ( what did you expect ) and I'll sit behind him with the shotgun. When he flushes a deer out, he'll race along side of it and I am to take the shot. I say fine, let's go. He didn't know that I just clicked the safety on and left it that way, I had no intention of firing that thing from a bouncing, speeding boat with his head about a foot in front of me. Turns out it didn't matter because we didn't see a deer all afternoon.

So Gary gets bored and he decides to go fast and start mowing down trees ( all for my pleasure I'm sure ). As he continues to tear through the glades he is heading for a tree that looks a little bit too big to me. I try to tell him my thoughts, but he just laughs. Sure enough, that tree bends, but it doesn't break. It stalls the boat and then snaps back. Garys got nothing to hang onto and goes flying out of the boat... I had already dropped the shotgun and was hanging on to the back of his seat. I manage to stay in and reach up to start hitting toggle switches until finally hitting the one that kills the engine ( naturally, none of them were marked ).

I start looking around and can't see Peacock. Finally, he surfaces and I swear to God he was laughing ! All this sh-t was coming out of his mouth and amazingly, his sunglasses were still in place. He gets back in and we decide to just sit there and have a beer. After a lot of laughing, he fires the boat back up but it won't move.....we're stuck. I say "what now" and he says "we get out and push". I told him no way, I know what is in that water, I just don't know where it is.

Gary gets out to push and I rev the engine, it still won't budge. I will guarantee you that is the first time I ever went into the water and didn't get wet..... you want to talk about high stepping, that was me. It finally breaks free and we catch back up to it as it's idling around. I said let's go back and take the KT for a speed run up the intercoastal, it would be a lot safer.

Here's a couple of shots of the airboat....the 1st one shows you some of the stuff that was in Gary's mouth when he surfaced....look closely at the 2nd one and you will see a tire next to the boat, it turns out that it was part of the landing gear from Flight 101 ( I think that was the number ) ...New York to Miami that, sadly, crashed in the glades

[blkmtrfan]

Thanks for sharing willabee :cool:


Just wanted you to know that a bunch of us are reading all of your stories :)

[willabee]

Thank you.......hope you enjoyed ;)




Thanks for sharing willabee :cool:


Just wanted you to know that a bunch of us are reading all of your stories :)

[T2x]

Thank you.......hope you enjoyed ;)

More than that..........This stuff is priceless to some people.....myself included.

Thanks and keep writing.

T2x

[blkmtrfan]

More than that..........This stuff is priceless to some people.....myself included.

Thanks and keep writing.

T2x

What Rich said, thanks and keep writing :cool:

[willabee]

After KT Racing


I found 2 more pictures you might enjoy. Peacock must have taken the 1st one while we were having that beer after he had been thrown out.....I can see his beer can and those sunglasses in front of his seat.


The 2nd one tells me that Tom Stickle was also treated to an airboat ride. He's holding one of those things that I knew was in that water.

[Watermark]

For those who may not recognize Tom Stickle with his shades on, here's how he looked as member of Mercury's factory team in his early 30's. He was one of the greats, a team driver in the true sense of the word. FJ fans will be interested in knowing that before he joined Team Mercury's unlimited ranks, he held 7 world titles in Family J. A super person and ambassador for the sport.

[willabee]

Man, what a monster you just created! I bet that once Tom reads your post, there won't be a hat in his house that will fit his swelled head ;)

P.S. I agree with you, well stated.

7 world titles in Family J. A super person and ambassador for the sport.

[lilabner]

Before Gary started racing, his brother Pete ran a Powercat..In the West Palm to Ft Pierce race, a mullet hit Pete in the face and knocked him out..he got the boat stopped somehow though...Pete was a great guy, everybody liked him..he left us way too young...Around 1961, Gary had a 57 Chevy..283 with a 2 bbl..he said he bought it in Naples..It was one of the fastest around, even against a power pack version..he ran it at the drags and on the street and won constantly..he comes from one of the oldest pioneer familys in Miami..but he was definately the wild one..ask his wives..

[jeffbare]

Thanks for the great stories, they are always appreciated.

[willabee]

Peacock

Don't have to ask......... I learned that through personal experience :) I don't think I've met anyone any wilder, but we sure had fun.

..but he was definately the wild one..ask his wives..

[Mr.T]

WATERMARK-Thanks for the great compliants. I didn't realize anyone had that picture but me.I've got it hanging on the wall in the office. it makes me think I'm still young:) It was taken by Joe Swift in 1971 at Long Beach 225 Bill Seebold and I were co-driversin what became his Old Blue 1. WILLABEE--My hats still fit they are all large to match the body you had to use the shoe horn on. It was only an ankle cast. I broke at fisheree on a snowmobile

[Mr.T]

[QUOTE=willabee]KT Racing MY BROTHERS PLACE

We had alot of good times at My Brothers Place. The mod squad (shots of snapps ) The bizzare chase through Oshkosh (more shots) looking for a person under the tables after closing (more shots) and lets have a screwdriver. Istill don't know why the truck burnt up but maybe I just forgot. It was 33 yrs. ago. (Alzhiemers) I do remember some things about that truck bent roof rack, front end damage and overheating. Sorry I can't tell you about it because you were THE BOSS :) :) :)

[Bob V]

I thought that I would bring this thread back to the top since there was some recent interest in KT boats. Willabee, as usaul, has some priceless information about the beginning of the KT's at Mercury.

[BrianSmith]

Was that KT originally Bill Petty's Dual?

[ssmith007]

Great stories. I think all of us long just a bit for the old days. I know I sure do. Mr. T spill your guts about the truck. Keep them coming guys. P.S. how about a PG-13 version of those wild stories (I understant no one would condone those actions now and it was a different time back then). Being in the Aviation business all my life I sure miss the old days and especially the characters that went with them. Some time I'll tell one on myself if you guys want to hear it. Keep them coming. What happened to the boat? Cut up, sold? Smitty

[willabee]

Was that KT originally Bill Petty's Dual?

No, it's maiden voyage was at Havasu in 1970.....it was the engines over sponsons twin that Renato drove. Mercury loaned it to Petty in 1971, he painted it black.....then it became the KT that Pruett ran at Parker.....then our project boat and finally was sold to someone in San Paulo and Peacock raced it in South America for the new owner in 1974. I think the owner (who wasn't a real experienced driver) tried to race it himself, blew it over and destroyed the boat. There is more about it on the "Hot Multi's" thread - Posts #23 & 24.

[BrianSmith]

I recall Bill in Quebec with a similar boat in 1972 likely; running stackers. An awesome sound! We still had our old Glastron twin then. I seem to recall that it was white although the years ( and many other things have "dulled" my memory).

[willabee]

I recall Bill in Quebec with a similar boat in 1972 likely; running stackers. An awesome sound! We still had our old Glastron twin then. I seem to recall that it was white although the years ( and many other things have "dulled" my memory).
You are probably right about what you remember except for the year, he must have raced in Quebec in 1971. In 1970 the boat was white at Havasu and in 1971, the last year for multi's at Havasu, it was black. The Quebec race had to be before the 71 Havasu race and the paint job. If you look at the photo of it when Pruett drove it as a KT at Parker in 1973, it is not only black, but still has the two APBA shield decals on it that Petty got for being high point in T class for a couple of years (I think that was what they were from).

I'm not sure what prompted the company to put the KT package that Pruett ran at Parker together at that time. I just remember Jimmy Kubasta and a couple of others working on it for that race. When Hi-Performance Products was started, we were given that boat to use to develope the KTpackage. Before we went racing with it, we had it painted white again.

What is kind of interesting is that all the testing and race work we did was done with a 327. We had a lot of success and the decision was made to go ahead and make the package available to the public, but it was built using a 350 block. Peacock's race number was 22 and I even changed that to 327 to help promote what we were running....had no idea they were going to make that change.

The APBA shields and the number change........

[SCT]

Willabee,

What type of drive was on that KT boat?

[willabee]

What type of drive was on that KT boat?

A #2 TRS with a speedmaster......in the Hi-Performance catalog it was just called a II-SSM. I think that was part of the rationale behind building the KT package, the TRS drive was new then and this gave it some positive exposure.

[BrianSmith]

Yes.I guess you are right.......We sold the Glastron to Paul Fingold in Toronto when we received our new style duel that we ran in '72, and I suppose late '71.
It was the Glastron that was driven by Pauls' guy (the name escapes me) that was photgraphed going airborne with Don Pruet at Havasu. A great pic!

[Dave S]

Here is a pix of a KT that died a bad death of neglect.:( Tell me about it and I will tell ya the rest of the story.;)

[Dave S]

Sorry I forggggggot to load the pix.:o

[Dave S]

But You were not Sposed to runne the party.:p But ya let the kitty out of the bag...:D I gotta show summm pix of My bro's KT boat...... Bay racer special. Did 110 mph on the nos in the bay. Tripps is a dammm Fool.:D Chevy lover and such.:p

[Bruce Washburn]

Looks like a 19 ft Ron jones with a II speedmaster.
Was it a pickle fork or flat nose.
I know Ron Jones made a copy of a 19 Moli flat nose that Sirois had. I thought it ended up in El Salvadore.

[Dave S]

A pickle fork with a BBC and real early #2...........REAL EARLY. The upper drive had a shiffter and you could turn the drive upsidedown to get it out of the water. Kiekhaefer kinda crazy stuff like a DR motor.:rolleyes:

[willabee]

Looks like a 19 ft Ron jones with a II speedmaster.
Was it a pickle fork or flat nose.
I know Ron Jones made a copy of a 19 Moli flat nose that Sirois had. I thought it ended up in El Salvadore.

You wouldn't happen to have a picture of the Jones "flat nose Moly copy" would you.......I don't remember him building a 19'er. I do recall twin 18' - twin 20' - triple 22' and single 17'.....all pickle forks. The 18' and 22' were good boats, the 20' was always trying to hurt it's driver (I'd bet that at least 70% of them flipped) and with the exception of one, the 17' were slow and still wanted to go over. Mercury hired Joe Habay and relocated him in California (La Habra?) to rig and test new designs by Ron Jones. He brought a very radical looking twin 21'er (it was simply beautiful) back to Oshkosh to install new engines and test. That thing really ran, but Joe couldn't keep it right side up. If memory serves, the 2nd time he took it over it was destroyed.

Dave S, what is the rest of the story on the Jones in your photo? I think that is the 20' that Jim Merten raced once or twice and then went into storage. It wasn't a good boat as a twin outboard..... maybe it was better as a KT.

[T2x]

I believe that is Dick Odea's......

He never ran it as a KT... He ran it as a 7 litre Hydro in Inboard races..

It flipped in Valleyfield and was and still is the highest and longest airborne back flip I ever saw.............

P.S. It was supposed to out turn the hydros and hold its own in straightaways speed..... unfortunately it had the worst lope I've ever seen for most of each straightaway...and scrubbed speed badly in turns. Not a good idea...... maybe with more HP?


T2x

[willabee]

I believe that is Dick Odea's......

He never ran it as a KT... He ran it as a 7 litre Hydro in Inboard races..

It flipped in Valleyfield and was and still is the highest and longest airborne back flip I ever saw.............

P.S. It was supposed to out turn the hydros and hold its own in straightaways speed..... unfortunately it had the worst lope I've ever seen for most of each straightaway...and scrubbed speed badly in turns. Not a good idea...... maybe with more HP? T2x

T2x, do you remember Merten crow-hopping around in a twin Jones at Smith Mountain Lake.....with what you just said, I am almost certain that this is the same boat. Like I said before, those 20'ers were always trying to hurt you.

[willabee]

Found some stuff in Powerboat from October, 1973 that backs up what I have said about the performance of the Merc KT development Molinari. The first picture is from Redwood City, Ca., our first race. I suppose they called it's 1st win "stunning" because no one had seen the boat before. They say it was a tight race between Peacock and Bob Nordskog until Nordskog threw a blade, but that was not the way it really was...... Peacock went out front and never looked back.They go on to say that it ran with a 327/#2TRS SSM and that it was the first rig to pass a rotary OMC. That boat was the dominate force on the circuit in 1973, inboard and outboard, or as Powerboat put it in their article, it was "the boss" :cool:. The 3rd picture is from the Provo 250.....I did tell you that we had decided to put on a show at that race, but I didn't tell you that we broke something in the engine. Normally, when something like that happens, the engineering people would have been all over me asking just what we had done to the engine in preparation for this race. However, since this thing went past those rotarys, and got great press in doing so, not one person asked me anything about why it may have failed. Must have been a good move afterall :).

[Bruce Washburn]

I will try to find a photo this weekend. The boat was a flat nose 19 with a number II speedmaster. When Sirois ran it the boat had a small block cross ram like the old trans am 302's. This was the first tunnel boat that I ever got a chance to drive (not race) I was still in the 10th grade at the time. We bought the boat from Sirois and put a stock 350 in it to terrorize the local rivers.(not a real good idea) After about the second or third time out one of Lauderdales finest told me that as much as he liked to see the boat run if he ever saw me running the boat again he would give me a ticket for numerous violations. We ended up selling the boat shortly after to a guy in El Salvavdor via Janish and Sirois. Doug and Bill also sold a couple of 22 ft Jones KT to El Salvadore. They had some sort of big race down there each year.

I then got serious about swimming but I was still hooked on tunnels. I did not get another tunnel (old SJ Boat) until a couple years after College but the rides in the Jones got me hooked.

[willabee]

This was a twin outboard before this change over. If it was the Merten boat??????

Yes, I think it was a twin 20' outboard before the change and I'm pretty darn sure it is the same one that Merten raced once or twice before going into storage.....maybe I don't understand your question.

[willabee]

:cool:
I have no question other than I was not sure if it was the Merten boat.

Just figured you Evinrude guys had a lot of questions :rolleyes:.

[Dave S]

Years and Beers ago. I am not sure if it had been an outboard boat first. It looked like a inbord boat had different transome, higher maybe? The boat was trimed with yellow. My brother had picked it up from Conn. and was after the 427 with goodies. Then the boat sat and he sold it to a guy in northport that let it DIE. Too bad people let them die.:( I picked up the #2 for one of my boats and it's been kept in a cool dry place for 20 years.:cool: The story of Dick Odea's boat as told was the person driving it got killed. Don't know if true, lots of storys get larger than life. Sorry I can't help more than that and I will try to get some more Pixs of it. Maybe that will help.

[willabee]

Here are a few shots of another Ron Jones KT. It is Bob Nordskog, publisher of Powerboat magazine. A 9' x 22', I think this is another conversion from triple outboard to KT, but not positive. It ran a 482 just like the 1st one we ran at Lake Elsinore back in 69. Bill Cooper blew one over at Parker in 69 and I don't recall where it went from there....maybe this is it. Anyway, he set a kilo record of about 112 mph with it in 73 in very bad conditions, it was probably a 120/125 mph boat.

The pictures are from Powerboat, at races in Redwood City and Provo. It's nice when you own the magazine, you get to be on the cover ;).

[willabee]

Found some more stuff in Powerboat about that race that I think is kind of interesting. They ran time trials on Saturday and Peacock, in the Merc KT was fastest. On an egg-shaped 2 1/2 mile course, he averaged almost 86 mph....12 mph faster than the quickest KM inboard and 6 mph faster than any outboard! In 1967, the outboards couldn't crack the top ten in a race against inboards. By 1970, the outboards were the top ten and in 1973 it had come full circle......the inboard was back on top. Of course it took a completely different hull design and drive combination than they had been running, but they were back on top.

I don't recall giving Peacock any special instructions before the race other than to "keep it right side up". He took the lead coming down the backstretch on the 1st lap and was never challenged. The article says our pit stops were super fast (they were pretty quick), but, by design, one of them was qiute long. About mid-race, I told our guys that since Gary had such a big lead, when he came in for fuel we are going to check everything that can be checked. I said just take your time and do it right. As you might know, everything that was used to check fluid levels was safety wired. We took the time to remove the wire, check levels and replace the wire. I always put the fuel in, and after refilling, I sat on the deck next to Gary. Surprised, he asked what the heck was going on and I told him we were just showing off.....something he always enjoyed :). As I explained what we were doing, he got that big toothless grin on his face and we just chatted until they were ready to send him back out. I had stated earlier that I thought he lapped the field three times.....the picture in the article said it was four.

A fuel stop and the article picture.......to be continued.......

[mike schmidt]

Driver in question was John R Yale. Got busted up bad, but recovered. John drove for Dick for many years in Alky Outboards. Great driver and great boat builder. Raced stock cars at Stafford Springs well into his 60's.

Michael D-1

[willabee]

A few other unusual things I remember about that race.....Rodger Hanks, form the offshore ranks had entered his big Molinari in the KT class. That boat was either a 27' or a 32' and was built for offshore racing. Well, it didn't work as an offshore boat (not big enough) so Hanks bought it and ran a 482 with a #3 SSM in KT. It was too big for KT and under powered for it's size, but he liked it and named it Blonde like his big boats. Soon after the race started, he had a mechanical problem and brought it back to his trailer (they were in the pit next to us). That was the first time I watched a driver have a martini while his guys were trying to repair the problem.....just sat there with his helmet off and sipped while soaking up some sun. Those offshore guys are a different breed :).

Bob Nordskog was running his big KT Jones boat and sort of stuffed it in a corner, tossing him into the lake. He broke some of the cockpit with his body on the way out, but got back in and continued the race. He finished 3rd overall.....can't be very many people that age that could have done that :cool:.

After the time trials on Saturday, we took the boat back to the hotel. I told the guys that we were going to do a final inspection which was to include checking the bellows for cracks. They grumbled a little, saying we had just installed a new one before Elsinore and it was a very nice day to just enjoy. We checked it anyway and, sure enough, it was cracked. Sometimes it is just the smallest thing that separates a win from a loss.

From Powerboat, December, 1973, a picture of Nordskog (the man on the left) and Ted May and a shot of three guys that just wasted a good bottle of champagne on their hair :D.

[T2x]

A few other unusual things I remember about that race.....Rodger Hanks, form the offshore ranks had entered his big Molinari in the KT class. That boat was either a 27' or a 32' and was built for offshore racing. Well, it didn't work as an offshore boat (not big enough) so Hanks bought it and ran a 482 with a #3 SSM in KT. It was too big for KT and under powered for it's size, but he liked it and named it Blonde like his big boats. Soon after the race started, he had a mechanical problem and brought it back to his trailer (they were in the pit next to us). That was the first time I watched a driver have a martini while his guys were trying to repair the problem.....just sat there with his helmet off and sipped while soaking up some sun. Those offshore guys are a different breed :).

Bob Nordskog was running his big KT Jones boat and sort of stuffed it in a corner, tossing him into the lake. He broke some of the cockpit with his body on the way out, but got back in and continued the race. He finished 3rd overall.....can't be very many people that age that could have done that :cool:.

After the time trials on Saturday, we took the boat back to the hotel. I told the guys that we were going to do a final inspection which was to include checking the bellows for cracks. They grumbled a little, saying we had just installed a new one before Elsinore and it was a very nice day to just enjoy. We checked it anyway and, sure enough, it was cracked. Sometimes it is just the smallest thing that seperates a win from a loss.

From Powerboat, a picture of Nordskog and Ted May and a shot of three guys that just wasted a good bottle of champange on their hair :D.

I wonder what Charlene looks like these days????

T2x

[willabee]

:D :D :D
I wonder what Charlene looks like these days????T2x

.......the guys used to ask "what's this presented the trophy later stuff" :) :) :)