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Does Everyone Remember Bud Pinto?

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  • Does Everyone Remember Bud Pinto?

    I put this together this winter. Warbs thought you might enjoy remembering Bud for a few minutes. Enjoy!

    Steve

    Bud Pinto Never Sang Until Midnight

    He was a huge, strapping fellow with pot-marked cheeks and a big, lumpy nose. I always thought it was a cancer. He had a huge belly and a huger heart, warm and open to all. During the day, he lumbered about, his back bent, the labor of 40 years of hangin’ steel evident in every hobbled step. It took him three tried to get out of a chair most times. He used to lie that the first couple were for practice, just to get his knees ready to go to work. We all knew better.

    His suspenders were always bright and gaudy. He had a special pair for every season and holiday, too. He didn’t mind the suspenders and figured that they would offset his less than dashing visage. “I never grew cheeks, so belts don’t do nuthin,” Bud liked to say. He wore a baseball cap, too. But this steel worker from New Jersey couldn’t wear just any cap. His was a Goofy hat, with long droopy ears and a plastic dog snout for the bill. Nobody had the heart to tell him how stupid it looked, so he kept wearing it through all of the years that I knew him As it grew tattered and worn, nobody needed to tell him anymore. It just looked right on everybody’s Uncle Bud.

    During the day, Bud wandered around about the pits and told lies about all of his friends. That’s how you knew he liked you, when your name suddenly became involved in one of his grand stories. He had a good one for anyone that would listen, even if they weren’t listening. Bud was an old boat racer after all, and that’s just what old boat racers do. If they aren’t racing a boat, they’re telling tales. Bud sometimes told his lies when he was in his boat, too. Seemed like he was afraid of silence because when he was around, there never was any.

    I can’t say that I ever saw Bud win a boat race. He didn’t seem to care, either. His great size was a great handicap, but he was at the races every weekend. He raced boats because he didn’t know anything else. It’s just what he did. That’s the way boat racers are, after all.

    Bud never seemed to get mad. (Except maybe for that time when Glasses Neely threw him in the water and stole his case of Rolling Rock and drank it all, but he got over it pretty quick when Glasses bought him a 6-pack to make up for it.) He just seemed so jolly and care-free all of the time. He would let you know if he wasn’t happy with something, but always in a gentle, threatening manner. Most of the time, he would have a giant arm around your neck when he did.

    Around 7 pm, just when the boats were put away on Friday and Saturday evenings, Bud would be the first to appear with a cold one. Sometimes he got started a little early, maybe around noon or so. He would wash the first six-pack own with a few brats and go back for seconds. By 10, his cheeks would be glowing and his nose just about on fire. About then, somebody always started at him with something like, “Come on Bud, sing a little.” Bud wasn’t very courageous with his voice. At least not his singing voice. Mostly, it took a bunch of cajoling and a bunch more beer for him to find it. Maybe he was just shy; maybe he was another Mr. Tanner. It doesn’t really matter much because sooner or later, you would hear his pipes start loosening up a little; he just couldn’t help it. Then, with a little more arm-twisting and a bunch more beer, Bud would sing.

    From this great giant of a man, the sweetest sound would come. His hands were calloused mitts that outgrew the rest of his body many years before. His back was broken over and his knees were largely dysfunctional from 40 years of hanging steel and pounding across waves. But his voice was pure and steady, with the lilt of a teen. It might have been the only part of him that wasn’t worn out or broken somehow.

    The only song he knew was “Danny Boy.” And when you heard him, you realized that he didn’t need to sing anything else. His rendition was soft, but it glowed in the night and hushed everyone around the campfire. And allthe world seemed right and well.

    Bud Pinto never sang until midnight. And after he did, he lumbered off to bed.

  • #2
    CSR National Champ

    I am pretty sure Bud Pinto won CSR in 1986 at Wakefield, against a great field. 2 Frolichs, 2 Ross, and Pontius.

    CSH12M



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    • #3
      Super Bud Pinto!!

      Great Post Scarlett!!

      Rember when he won CSR at Wakefield, the many restarts and losing his pants!!


      Priceless!!

      Warbs

      64*W

      Comment


      • #4
        I remember Bud Pinto and famous skinnywood boats and motors with holes drilled everywhere in order to shave as much weight as possible (race secret)I knew his son Scott also a nice fellow. My dad and Bud were very good freinds and I am sure he has lots of storys about their antics over the years.I am sure my dad has a very special place in his heart for him as well as many other boat racers as for me I remember his loud laugh, big belly, and big heart
        PJ
        118-P
        If your not fast, your food
        TEAM TOWER
        RUNABOUT DIVISION
        Suck it up buddy its only three laps (John Runne)

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        • #5
          1974, fall Lockhaven, PA

          I was 9 years old and it was my first J race. We were pitted next to Bud and were setting up. I could not find my Dad to help me get the runabout off the trailer and I was certainly not gonna ask that very loud and huge man over there to help out.

          I guess he noticed I needed some help and just walked up, stuck one arm up under the deck and lifted my Jensen J runabout up onto his hip and asked where I wanted it. All I could do was point to the horses.

          To see a guy grab a boat off a trailer with one arm and set it on horses like it was made of paper made a huge impression on a 9 year old.

          It wasnt many years later I give him credit for giving me my first beer as well.

          He was always one of my mom's favorite people.

          BW
          302SSH.....Putting the Stock back in Stock Outboard

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          • #6
            Bud Pinto

            Truly one of the best people I ever knew. If you look around racing today, you’ll see Bud Pinto's signature, in the form of the wedge shaped runabouts that dominate in many classes. It was Bud and Bob Minton that designed and built the “Super Wedgie“ that carried Casey Minton to National championships, high points and speed records. When Bud’s knees gave out he still raced in Sports C so he could sit down. Bud would also show up at places like Whitney Point with his duck boat and be off for early morning fishing. Bud was also an avid Bow Hunter in New Jersey.
            If you stop by Rich Runne's trailer at the races, you'll see a memory wall dedicated to the One and Only Bud Pinto.
            Beyond “Danny Boy”, who could ever forget Bud’s rendition of “It’s a fine time to leave me Lucille”After years of “12-pack-a-day“ beer drinking Bud quit cold-turkey and never touched another beer. Also to his credit Bud, cold-turkey, quit smoking after watching his father die of cancer.
            Ray Hastings was with Bud the day he died. They were fishing out in Delaware Bay when Bud collapsed.
            I think of Bud every time I pass an Atomic power plant or cross a bridge with high iron. Bud was one tuff Dude.
            Thoughts of Bud still bring a smile and a tear from anyone that knew him.
            Phil Doerle (a Bud Pinto fan)
            !"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain."



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            • #7
              bud pinto

              for you pinto fans
              Attached Files

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              • #8
                Bud Number 1..................

                Originally posted by Steve Warnock View Post
                Great Post Scarlett!!

                Rember when he won CSR at Wakefield, the many restarts and losing his pants!!


                Priceless!!

                Warbs

                There's not a cheesehead alive that could outdrink Uncle Bud! He didn't get that bright red nose from drinking Pepsi!

                Bud always added a little fun to every race! The Wakefield shorts incident was the funniest thing i have ever seen at a race!



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                • #9
                  There is that hat! I am starting to remember the pants thing at Wakefield now. Seems like it took forever for Bud to realize that it was his turn to win a 1-US badge. The losing the pants part was just him showing off, I guess.

                  I know that there would be a lot of fond memories out there. He was an unforgettable man in so many ways.

                  Steve

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                  • #10
                    That is the quintessential picture of Bud Pinto.

                    It's all there. The hat, the shorts, the car, 2 boats on the car and the beer on the hood.

                    That pix is a rarity these days. No one shows up with boats on cars/vans anymore. Back in the day, that was the rule rather than the exception. A lost time for sure.

                    How the heck does that top boat even stay attached??



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                    • #11
                      I love that! I'm a car topper now with me ASR - it is easy but i always leave one boat at home! I wonder if todays cars can handle the weight of two A's on the roof?
                      ----
                      Graham18ce
                      Team Canada ThunderCat
                      Facebook - www.facebook.com\fralickracing
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                      • #12
                        bud said it realy helps on the toll roads no trailer

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                        • #13
                          That's some crazy throttle arrangement on the top boat...? The throttle is on outside of the hull? Must be a story there.
                          Last edited by Andrew 4CE; 05-25-2010, 10:03 AM.
                          Fralick Racing
                          Like our Facebook Team page "Here"

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                          • #14
                            Scarlett, your post, was so Bud Pinto, truly one of a kind.
                            I had the pleasure of knowing him in the '70s & "80s.
                            Things were always interesting if Bud was there.
                            Great piece, great memories.
                            Kegs



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                            • #15
                              Bud

                              30ish years ago at Millville back when we pitted on the hill a little north of the Club House, Bud would have the first pit spot next to the fence.well he rolled out the uglyist boat cart, hugh bike wheels ,tube steel frame wired together. We all roared then, now " The father of the boat cart"!!!!!!!!!!! Miss the BUD....Bill



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