For Ron....

[BK]

I think this little girl is a Principal now!



Jessica and Jason.....

[BK]

Great looking jacket!


Ron and Russ Hill Jr


That's my brother's hydro on the left

[BK]

Team Hill Marine, Parker Enduro, 1986


driver: Bob Wartinger

[BK]

Ted May..... powered by a Mercury?

[BK]

A Seebold, ....powered by an OMC?


This was considered Taboo in those days.

Parker Enduro 1982
Driver - Don Johnston
Boat - Lil' Escargot
Owner - Lee Holden

Don later drove for "Arcadian" and was a top contender on the Champ circuit.

[BK]

Young Stokers....

Alan and John


Havasu Classic award ceremony 1977 or '78

[BK]

Ted May was always giving my mom presents ... Like this sombrero....

but only when my dad wasn't around ;)

We jokingly started calling him "Uncle" Ted.

Mom was never sure if Ted really liked her, or if he was just hoping to get one of her sandwiches. It worked - he always got a sandwich. lol :D

When my dad heard us kids calling Ted 'Uncle Ted", he started coming to more boat races with us!!! LOL

The boat in the background 33C, belonged to Georgia Hill, Ron's neice. She was one of the first SCOA stock outboarders to paint "flames" on her boat.

[BK]

Mike Nordskog's grandpa owned the LA Skyhawks soccer team. Mike was playing soccer with them in street shoes and sprained his ankle badly. The night before the race in Parker, we sawed off his cast so he could race the next day! (man, was he good looking!) :)

Here he is in Indio 1978-ish-- ankle still in bad shape, but he raced anyway!

Notice the helmets on both Mike and Erik Nordskog -- the close-fitting, anti-bucketing helmets that Ted May and Bob Nordskog invented. The three little hydros were built by Ted also -- the blue one was Erik's (Blue Angel), the yellow was Mike's (Yellow Fever) and the green one was Don Johnston's (Green Hornet).

That's my dad on the left - he worked Saturdays, so rarely got to come race with us. Our crew "Longwell Racing Team", was normally just Me, my mom, my brother and his girlfriend - so my brother had an "all-girl" pit crew. And we really worked too.

[BK]

we didnt have vinyl lettering back then, so sponsor and team names had to be hand-painted. I did this lettering on my brother's 3-boat stock outboard trailer when I was about 15.

[BK]

but the Nordskogs' rig always looked better.....

I'm sure Ron remembers this "Crazy striped truck"...lol

[BK]

This picture was taken immediately after the 5 hour mini enduro at Parker. I drove the last hour and by the time the checkered flag came out, both of my wrists were sprained....it took an hour before I could straighten my fingers out.

I had no idea why the boat had so much TORQUE! Or was I just weak?? For the last hour, I had to lay my body across the steering wheel just to keep it running in a straight line.

As soon as I got out, my co-driver Kristi, showed me that my skeg was bent upwards and a chunk of my prop was kinked!

We thought it was funny, but my prop guy (The late great Jeff Wilson) was not amused and that is why you see him walking off in disgust. ;)

But we were happy, Kristi was espeically happy, since we finished in 4th overall out of 64 entries - and ahead of her boyfriend -- Rick Hoffman. :D It was a great day!

But the next weekend, my clamp bracket broke off, my motor swung off the back, and I snap rolled at 65mph. Win some, crash some!

[gdfatha]

Hey BK,
Thanks for sharing that bit of history with us.
I have 2 comments:
1) The photo of your mom with the sombrero=I initially thought that was you after a year of working with Hydro-Prop.
2)When you came in 4th..was that white thing on your head a legal helmet??
Thanks again
marc:p

[BK]

Hi Marc ~

Before I ever took my helmet off, I made sure I had hat within arms reach first..... Because my hair was so full and long, I would end up with the WORST helmet hair you ever saw.

Especially after a five hour enduro :)

[Ron Hill]

Great pictures BK... 33-C was really Bunker and Georgie Hill's boat, it was called "Fire and Ice". Bunker was the "FIRE" with a 20 SS Yamato, Georgie was the "ICE" with a KG-4. My dad and I built the boat...Bobby Carlson, Art's son, now chief designer for Crownline Boats, painted the flames. Bobby also ran ASH, if you remember...

I forgot how pretty my Bezoat "D" hydro was and all......

On the TEAM HILL picture...I see Rod Zapf, and Bob Wartinger....is that me talking to Wartinger??

That little girl is 28 now...been in the education business 7 years... Jason, Dave Bryan's grandson, is a millionaire drywall contractor, in business with his grandpa in the Vegas area....

[Capt.Insane-o]

Tee Heee can't wait until the river roar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!;)

[BK]

Hiya Capt. -
The chick on the right won't be at the River Roar. Haven't seen her since about 1988. Kristi and Rick broke up after he moved to Florida to join Second Effort Racing Team. After that, I never saw Kristi again.

Rick is now married to Diane, racer Chuck Rear's daughter, and they have a son - Dustin Hoffman who is the same age as my oldest son. I have a feeling we'll be reading about Formula 1 driver Dustin in about 10 years! He's full of fire - just like his dad and grandpa. Dustin hangs out with Cody Foster ;) (Greg's son)

Diane also has two children from her previous marriage - We are very, very good friends, even before she and Rick married. She is a very special person - just a sweetheart. And her dad and mom Janet was too. Chuck got hurt really bad in a boat crash, and suffered a brain injury which lost all of his recent memory. He remembers everything from the 1960s and before, but forward of that he still has blanks. But he always remembers my name - Even my maiden name! He sometimes comes to the races but havent seen him since Laughlin 1999. I hope he's doing ok. Maybe Ron knows?

Here's both the Hoffman's and the Collin's kids playing together at the 98 St Louis Grand Prix -- learning how to race cardboard tunnel boats! What a crew!

(If you look closely at the crowd, you'll see Formula Two racer Johnny Fleming - before we knew him)

[Ron Hill]

Chuck Rear is actually doing really well. At the fall Bakersfield race, Chuck "HUNG" with us all weekend... We had some good laughs and some great conversations. He's come along way back and really for his age and all, he's really pretty sharp....I half assed offered him a job.....

Maybe, becasue we're old, but my wife abd I actually out loud several times from some of the funny things he said...

As I remember Kristi, and I have a fair memory, she was more than "DROP DEAD" beautiful.....I had her driving one of the Snappers, on Monday after the Mini Enduro......I told Rick to keep her away.....

I don't have a picture of Kristi in the Snapper...but here is Chad going out...He's 11...

[Ron Hill]

This is Craig Nelson, me and Chad....

[Ron Hill]

This is our "TEST BASE" in Mexico... I always planned a 24 Hour here.... My daughter, never learned that boats need gas...She drove, until they stopped... Then, DAD would go get her....

[Ron Hill]

Always liked going to Mexico... Kids never got "busted" for driving under age....Launch ramp wasn't the best, as you can see the mud on the tires....buit the house ain't from from the water...Never have troubles shoting off fire crackers.....Like Chad did in HIGH SCHOOL... I told John Stoker that Chad had gotten "KICKED OUT" of high school for shooting firecracker.....John said, "Hell, I shot firecrackers off in the bus...and didn't throw me out.." Times change!!!

[Ron Hill]

A little better picture of my wife's "SNAPPERS"...

[Ron Hill]

Sorry, that's me... One thing I liked about Mexico...$.25 Sol Beers, and no big lines...

Here's the "SNAPPERS"...

Damn women getting into a MALE SPORT...Paint their boats like a blouse or wall paper....

[BK]

Oh gosh, Ron,...now that you posted the pictures of the Easter Egg boats (Snappers) and the HM double stacked trailer --- I have to tell that famous Big Bear Lake story ;)

Ron lets his employee, John, take both of his "Snappers" and double stack trailer to the Big Bear race. Just John and one other friend head out to go racing. But on the highway before they are out of San Bernardino --- they experience a flat tire. The guys park it on the freeway and walk to look for help.

In the meantime, Castelli is heading to the same race and recognizes the boats and trailer in trouble, with no one around. He turns around and sees some guy pull behind the trailer, take the tool box out and take off with it! Castelli knows this is Ron's tool box, so he chases this thief into a nearby neighborhood - and as he pulls up to the house where the suspect car is, he sees the tool box sitting all alone in the driveway! Castelli simply loads up the "Ron Hill" tool box, and continues on to Big Bear.

at Big Bear, Castelli finds John & friend, and asks John if they are missing something....
and then proceeds to retrieve the tool box for them. They were stunned - and didn't even realize it was missing! Castelli sets the tool box down beside the Easter Egg boats and mildly scolds them.

After we are done testing, we talk about where to go eat dinner. One by one the trucks and boats start pulling out of the pits until the only boats left are me and Castelli and a couple others --- but lo and behold -- still sitting right where he put it on the ground, all alone -- was the TOOL BOX!

Showing some frustration, Castelli packs up the tool box once again, and brings it back in the morning...AGAIN telling John that he needed to be more careful with Ron's belongings....

When the races are about to start -- the officials tell us to be careful on the launch ramp - there is a big boulder slightly underwater, to the left of the ramp. Everyone seems to clear it -- everyone, EXCEPT John. He runs the Easter Egg boat right into it and tears up the Snapper's prop. The other Snapper has a dead battery, so they cant run either one.

Disappointed, they load up both Snapper boats and prepare to head back down the mountain.

But the guys nearly leave the tool box again -- and by this time Castelli is *very* perturbed!! After Castelli scolds them again, the guys apologize, and they toss the tool box into the back of the truck and pull out to head home.

But to our horror --- those of us near the ramp see that the top Snapper boat IS NOT strapped down!! We yell and yell ... but they dont hear us and they head down the hill. Castelli runs for his truck and a few minutes later is flying down the mountain in his "Vermont" hauler.

I was worried that we were going to hear a report that the Snapper had fallen off the top rack and was smashed to bits somewhere in the San Bernadino Mountains.....

But the next time I see Castelli, I ask him ..... He told me that as he was trying to catch up with John and flying down the mountain, out of the corner of his eye he saw the tool box -- all by itself -- just sitting on the side of the highway at a pull-out!!!

He stopped (yet once again) to get the tool box and then continued on trying to catch John and warn him about his straps being undone.

When Castelli got to Ron's shop with the tool box, John was already there --- and told Castelli that they *did* actually realize the boat wasn't tied down only about 5 minutes after leaving the pits --- so they pulled off the road to tie the boat down.

But the straps they needed were *UNDER* the big tool box -- so John had lifted the tool box out of the truck...to get to the straps....and forgot to put it back --- leaving the tool box behind AGAIN !!!

:D True Story!! LOL :D

[Ron Hill]

The way I look at this story, which is true, Ron is a DUMB ****... He always "Trusted" everyone with his stuff... Ron took care of his stuff and assumed that others would do the same...

I will say, John Castelli took better care of my stuff than I did...

You know, Barb loved those boats...

Here is a shot of Barb breaking the inflatable WORLD RECORD.. 48.352 as I recall.. Fastest Vee hull inflatable in the world...record still stands...

Everyone in my family has raced except my dog...

[BK]

Ron -- I hope I got the employee's name right...it was "John", wasn't it?

The first time I met him he was with Mike Hunter.

I had just started racing Mod-C and didn't know many of the drivers other than our immediate friends - the COBRA bunch. So at my first Havasu race, one of the ModVP drivers filled me in on the names of the best of the non-California ModC'ers - which included Mike and Pat Miller of Nevada. I was told to "keep an eye out" for these guys, as they were real strong competitors and didn't miss a lick.

I was staying at the Pioneer Hotel, and came outside to check on my boat around midnight because I couldn't sleep. But there were two guys messing around my boat and it scared me! When I approached them, I asked them who they were. They said "Mike" and "John". I immediately thought they were the Millers! LOL!

They said they were spectators from LA, and that Ron Hill had told them to come check out the races (They had never seen one before). When they heard I had no one to pit for me, they both volunteered! Nice guys! They had no idea that now they'd have to stand in hip deep water for 45 minutes, nor how cold it was going to be! LOL

6am in the morning in the pits, Mike Hunter was wearing very very heavy wet corduroys - and brought no dry clothes -- I just snickered. ;)

Mike Hunter eventually started racing Ron's boats...then onto SST45 and a few years later, won the OMC sst45 series!!!

Mike also played practical jokes on people.

I worked as a customer service person at a bank in AZ, and one extremely busy day, Mike called the bank and pretended to be an angry customer who had ordered checks and wanted to know where they were. I tried to stay calm while he got more and more beligerent with me. I had a customer at my desk at the time and had to take the call to another office to try and calm this "fake" customer down in private. Finally Mike laughed and told me it was a joke. grrr.....

When Mike won the OMC series, I called Mike and said I was "Pamela Barker", marketing manager with OMC -- I told him that we were so highly impressed with his performance on the OMC Tour, that OMC wanted to reward him with a 2 week Bahama Island vacation! He was thrilled and said "Thank you Thank you thank YOU!" But then I added that all he had to do was give me his credit card number so that we could reserve his flight to Miami from LA, the only part of the trip he'd have to pay for out of pocket.

He said ".....okayyyy.......?"

Then I told him he'd be staying at the Budget Inn on Grand Bahama Isle, but the hotel had no vacancy for the week he would be there, but not to worry - he was guaranteed a stand-by reservation....

He said "...ugh...o.. kay........?"

At that point, I couldnt keep back the laughter ...and he just started yelling "YOU S**K!!! YOU S**K !!!"

LOL!! Now was fun! ;)

I got him another time, when he was at John Beck's wedding as the best man. John's sister had made a ton of party decorations, including tiny champagne glasses filled with candy, and covered in tule material, with a ribbon tied around them, & painted with the groom and brides name. Tina really worked hard on those.

As the reception came to an end, Tina was dissapointed that many guests were leaving the party favors on the table instead of taking them as souveniers. Mike Hunter had left the wedding party table and his party favor was still there too.

I walked up to Mike and said "Well...who won the $100 bill?"

He said "What $100 bill?" I said "The mystery $100 that was put inside of one of the party favors! I guess nobody won it yet."

Mike nonchalantly went back to the table and opened up his favor to look inside. Then he started collecting all the favors around the room that people left behind ...and soon they were all collected and stuffed in his pockets.

I told Tina "See!? Everyone LOVED your party favors!" :)

Oh gosh it was funny, I was just dying laughing....... as soon as Mike saw me busting up, he knew he'd been had ;)

[Capt.Insane-o]

Do you remember a guy from Michigan by the name of Art Miller? He use to race kneel downs it the 50's-60's, maybe later. Boy he sure has a collection of old photos and 8mm film transferred to Vhs of races. He used to run with Bill Seebold in the day. A few years ago Art got to go into the Seebold transporter with Bill and have a look about. He and his son Steve do all of my 2 stroke stuff I can't handle. (Like, Hey steve, I need this block bored today because I blew up my other motor last night and I'm going up north tomorrow, oh yeah Take some more off the exhaust ports and swirl cut my heads, and I HAVE to have it by 2 so I can get it together and be on the road by 4. "Sure! bring 'em over, no prob!" I love those guys!:)

[Ron Hill]

BK,
You mention Mike Hunter.... I met Mike at the LA Boat Show. He wanted a nose cone for his 150. I told him it wouldn't help...He kept asking questions... I finally said, "Hey here's my card...come by any Saturday and we'll talk about your boat."

Well, he came many Saturdays. We became good friends...

He drove Barb's "Snapper" at the Winternationals at Puddingstone and won... Barb didn't want to go to the races on Friday...or something, so I had Mike drive..There were like 10 "CP'S".. Howard Pipkorn had like four...

At Havasu, the year we only ran like 10 minutes, as I recall, Mike wanted to drive, but I had Pam Kinon (Bob Wartinger's girl friend at the tiem), Mike Murphy, and John Castelli lined up to drive....

Mike decide he wanted to get a 45 and I told him Roger Johnson had a brand new one. He made a deal with Roger, but Roger wasn't sure about his check.. I told Roger, I'd guarantee the check...

I hated to see Mike quit 45, but his business has been growing like crazy and he is married and all,,, I had one of his guys fix my house (French ) doors about a year ago... I stop and see him about every six months... His shop is near Greg Foster's Crane Rental Company....And next to Mike Leach, the Cracker Box racer....


One Memorial Day a bunch of us went to Needles, on sunday I wanted to watch INDY and the wind was blowing, so everyone piled into my 36' motorhome, Mike Hunter wanted to drive....I told him if he "WRECKED US", he's kill about 20...

Anyway, we hit all the casinos in Laughlin that day....ended up at Topock for dinner... Mike stayed "DRY" all day, but the rest of us didn't.... When we got back to Jellystone Park in Needles, Mike gave me $50 for driving. I refused... but he made a "major stink", he said he's used $50 worth of gas....That's Mike.... great guy.....