“My racing days hold many fond memories for me. Being part of the Mercury Racing Team made it possible for a young country boy from South Carolina to go places, do things, and meet people from all over the world that would have otherwise never happened.” wrote Earl Bentz, regarding his time driving for Team Mercury.

Earl credits his uncle, D.F. Jenkins [Jenkin Outboard, Charleston, SC]. for getting him into racing. He ran his first race at age 16 on Lake Murray, South Carolina. “Blue Goose” was the name of the boat, a 100 h.p. Mercury-powered deep-vee.“My uncle bought me my first tunnel boat over the Winter of 1968-69. It was a Galaxie tunnel boat powered by a stock V-4 Johnson that qualified me for Sport J class. One of my all-time favorites was the ‘Wild Geechee’. It was a kneel-down tunnel with a “crash throttle. We probably won 80% of the races we entered. One year in particular, we won 20 consecutive races in classes from Sport J all the way to U and S class (unlimited single engine outboard),” said Earl.

“I first met Reggie [Fountain] racing at local races. I could beat him with the single engine. I couldn’t touch his twin engine Glastron,” said Earl. Earl’s success with competitive power was getting noticed by Mercury. His racing career came to an abrupt stop in 1973 when he endured a near fatal crash at the Outboard Performance Craft Championships in Eufaula, Alabama.

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