On one of my other posts, I mentioned my teenage years and outboard
racing. I had been racing in local events for almost three years, and
ran a good solid second all the time. I wanted to beat "Number One"
so bad I could taste it. The old man who sold me my motor, also raced
cars. He went into the back of the shop, and came out with a tin can
of "juice". He told me to add about two capfuls to a tank of gas for
the outboard, and it would put me into first place. Sure enough, I
won my first race. For the next race, I wanted to go even faster, so
I added about double of the juice. Man, that motor screamed. Sounded
like a Canadian chain saw on steroids. For the Labor Day finale, I
was going to set the world on fire. I mixed about 1/3 juice to 2/3
gas-oil mix. I cranked up the motor for the first heat and ran so far
out front it was unbelievable.
THEN. Have you ever heard a motor go from 10,000 RPM to zero in
1/100th of a second? I don't really know what the motor was turning,
but it was kinda like turning the television "mute" on in the middle
of a Formula One race. My motor stopped so fast, and with such force,
that it twisted right off the back of the boat, taking most of the
transom with it. The motor and the hydroplane are still at the bottom
of the lake in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. I had learned my first
lesson on how (not) to use fuel.
Ironically, I'm building my Dodge hemi to run on nitro/alky! But
hell, it's been fifty years, I have learned a little bit, and I can
afford to blow it up if I want to - - - as long as it's the last race
I ever want to run. hee hee hee
Dick J
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