Hot Singles ! - Pictures

[Lake X Kid]

Basically there were two groups, employees and outside drivers. Stickle, Downard, Hering & Merten were employees,... I checked with one of the drivers and he said he started at just under 10K and kept any prize money he won.
The outside drivers received free equipment and their travel expenses. Initially they kept anything they won. As a rule they were not paid a salary. I'm sure there were special deals for some of the outside drivers, but I wasn't privy to those arrangements.
About mid 70 all drivers were told that they would be splitting the prize money equally. Some of them didn't like that change , but that's the way it was done from then on.

Wages can be a sensitive topic, when a guy asks another colleague how much you make. I remember when Cees vander Velden asked Roy Ridgell how much his Mercury salary was in the early 1970's. Roy was not forthcoming and left Cees to guessing.

In the spirit of dialogue, I post this salary estimation of current F1 team members. And in doing so, in comparison to F1 car teams, I also wonder what are the price range wages for race boat F1 drivers, chiefs and team members in 2020?

[GrewuponLakeX]

Happy Father's Day to all the single-seater racers, and the support team members.

Here are a few faces representing those race drivers.

Attachment 468095

Excuse me Lake X Kid but is there something you haven't told me?????? You put yourself in there with all these dads. Am I an uncle and didn't know it??????
Very nice collage...………..thanks for sharing.

[Lake X Kid]

Racing for 73 years, and he always arrived with a volunteer crew. “I never had a man on the payroll.” The crew members come because they want to be there. Red paid all their traveling expenses.

Red Farmer, 87 year old, is still racing at local race tracks. “In my blood, I want to go racing,’ enjoy working on the race cars, and like to go compete.” “I never raced with an illegible race car, and also never knocked out a competitor to win a race.”

Over 760 career wins, as a clean race driver.
56 years sponsored by Long – Lewis car dealership. Partnership started and continued on a handshake with no written contracts.
1966 T-Bird with 428 cu in motor is his pride and joy.
65 years married to his late wife.

HOF gentleman Red Farmer.

[Lake X Kid]

[Lake X Kid]

Eddie last drag boat race was a major accident, at over 200 mph in 1984.

“There was no explanation as why the boat flipped … the water conditions were fine and we found no mechanical issue.
“One reason we don’t race boats anymore, is because we never could find any reason for that crash.
So I don’t know how to prevent it.”

Texan Eddie Hill became the fastest quarter-mile boat racer when he clocked a speed of 229 mph, in 1982. In seven years, he won 55 of the 103 events in which he competed, including the prestigious NDBA Nationals 4 times.

Eddie won over 185 races in Motorcycles, Top Fuel Drag Cars & Boats.

Eddie was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame 2002 class.
Inductees include the late Dale Earnhardt,
two-time Indy 500 champion Gordon Johncock,
open-wheel pioneer Gaston Chevrolet,
race engine designer Fred Offenhauser,
sports car champion Brian Redman,
motorcycle road racing star Eddie Lawson,
and stunt pilot Paul Mantz.

[FUJIMO]

...hot singles...yes...

[FUJIMO]

[Lake X Kid]

[Lake X Kid]

Confiscated my trophies.

“Which team do you play for …are you crying …there’s no crying in baseball,”
Coach Tom Hanks said in the movie A League of Their Own.
In boat racing this might be a justified reason for crying foul. Confiscated my trophies.
What! My surprise went from flabbergasted approaching shocking disbelief.

William Michael Downard texted me this upsetting circumstances of events.That time in his racing career, Mike was a Mercury Factory race driver. And (appalling my word) one of his supervisor’s confiscates (Mike’s descriptive word) his podium trophies.

Mike does not want me to disclose the supervisor’s name. What puzzles me is this supervisor accomplished things on the race courses, and brought some trophies home too. I have a librarian friend, whom dislikes biography authors who psychoanalyze their subjects. But this human dynamic makes one wonder why —was he jealous of the kid.

I think Mike being the youngest, was taken advantage of because of his youth. Would that stunt have happen to Sirois, Hering, Stickleor others? I wonder who else at Mercury knew this was happening then.


My disclaimer — Gary G is not the unnamed supervisor.

A League of Their Own - flim clip of the above quote.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M8szlSa-8o

Mike Downard in action.

[FUJIMO]

...he's in one of these pictures, right?...

[Lake X Kid]

...he's in one of these pictures, right?...

Fujimo if you are referring to Mike Downard, in boat 251, yes.
Boat 32 is the winning Paris 6 Hour boat, that Mike and his co-pilot from the Como Italy area, Giovanni Pelliolio, won the race with in 1971.

The photos are from this site, courtesy of Willabee.

[FUJIMO]

no, i was asking if the superviser was in one of your above photo's...no biggy...

[RogerH]

In the bottom right picture is Mike running a T2 or T2x with the single pipe exhaust?

[moparbarn]

In the bottom right picture is Mike running a T2 or T2x with the single pipe exhaust?

Looks to be a single pipe from here.

[willabee]

In the bottom right picture is Mike running a T2 or T2x with the single pipe exhaust?

Neither ..... the photo you refer to is from Parker, 1971, before the TII & TIIX. The motor on the #251 is the C6.


Another photo of the C6 at Parker in 71. The #251 is pitted right behind the Zonkercraft which is also running the single pipe C6.