How cool is this!!!

[csh12M]

How cool is this!

The HotRod/Sidewinder El Camino, back in business with brand new motors and brand new parts!

While I was pitted right next to the Sidewinder Camino this weekend talking with Dave Little and Ed Runne it made me reflect a little on history. We all remember the days of the Mercury and OMC truck and Dave Little trying to support racing with the Hot Rod. I remember a lot of racers “scoffed” at the Hot Rod and criticized the motor and company in favor of the “big factory” supported classes. Well, where are those trucks now? The HotRod/Sidewinder is still supporting outboard racing! This is our future and it is looking good. Thank you Ron Selewach, Ed Runne, Hank Runne and Dave Little and thank you to Dudley and Gene for buying the first two.

Dudley picked up another 1.5 MPH and is up to 57MPH in the hydro and it looked good and performed well. I hope the SORC is already thinking about what they can do to support and encourage the Sidewinders. This is the motor we should be directing new people towards! My “rookie” neighbor is hooked on racing in JSH and now his dad is looking to race. He is 170lbs, what class should I be directing him towards? This is what we all need to be thinking about.

CSH12M

[Brian10s]

It was sweet seeing the El Camino back at in the Pits - glad someone got a couple of pic of it.

Dudley's SW was looking good and picking up mph hear and there as they work on it. Remember, they are still throwing props at it to see what size works best. It will only get better as the summer rolls on.

[14-H]

Chillin' Cool!

Or as we used to say in the 80's: really neat stuff. Hope you guys can get the bugs worked out of the performance, many people in the pits have been excited about this endeavor.

To Dave Little: What happened to the topper for the El Camino? - From Ed Hearn (a 1964 Elk owner).

[csh12M]

The bugs are worked out!

The bugs looked worked out. No bogging in the turn, no hesitiation in the motor. Spary shield adjustments and a tich smaller carb looks like it did the trick. It looked spot on, I watched intently all weekend! The rig works and is running very well. Dudley ran my Dads wheel that we know should GPS 59MPH with a B/B+ rated HotRod. Dudley is 2MPH back and the motor looks to be performing well? I am sure they will squeeze another 1MPH but we need to make sure we go into the National meeting with good data and a plan. My neighbor is interested, but it was hard for me to explain why he would drop $4,500 for a motor, $2,800 for a boat and finish last with no timeline of when the Sidewinder will run better.

Any other thoughts?

[swheeler]

Another memory from the past is Miss American Hot Rod. Will there be a Miss Sidewinder? Wait a minute, I think I dated Miss Sidewinder in college.

[dholt]

Dean,

I agree that by the next National Meeting, concrete plans and details for the motor/class need to be put in place.

I will urge the Steering Committee to meet at the Nationals to address the situation.


By the way....did young Mr. Wellings let go of his 1st place trophy at all on the drive home?

[Blackhawkguy]

Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice looking motor, good to see Dave Little out and about. It looks as if once again Stock will have new motors, now only if people will buy them, and the voting body will eliminate the old stuff to make room for the new.

Kerry

[Dudley13F]

my 2 cents

Dean,
Based on your neighbor's size there are really 3 potential options (A, B, or 20).

For the A, he is toward the upper weight limit. I know people who are competitive at higher weights,myself included, but it is a competitive disadvantage. It makes the starts and driving even more critical. I assume the current motor will be around for a reasonable while longer based on durability, availability of parts and other issues. Also I'm not sure how old Ryan is but potentially racing against his son may weigh in on this class as well.

For the B, he's probably close to the ideal weight. Here you have 2 motor options (Hot Rod & Sidewinder). The Hot Rod is the faster, more known entity, but also has durability issues. I don't know if parts are an issue since some of the Sidewinder parts can be used on the Hot Rod. The Sidewinder is still developing and isn't fully understood yet, but the durability seems to be greatly improved.

For the 20, weight probably isn't an issue either. The Yamato is a durable family of engines and I believe is probably cheaper than the Sidewinder (I don't know all the necessary steps/costs to make a Yamato competitive). It is a known entity on the race course, easy to call & order props, etc. What may happen rules-wise in the future for the 20 class I don't know. Also 20 seems to be one of the classes where the competition is fiercest (1st place boat one heat can easily be the last place boat next heat).

All that being said, I think the wisest course of action would be for him to hold off on buying anything specific for this season. Maybe you guys can hook him up with a loaner rig and let him get a taste of racing. If y'all come across a good boat that would work for B or 20 at good price, then that would probably be a reasonable investment. That way he wouldn't be locked in to one specific class before he's been racing and he could try both classes to see which he might prefer. If he'd like to try an A or the Sidewinder out, I'm more than willing to loan out my stuff. You'll know everything that's going on with the Sidewinder, because the stuff we figure out is going to be posted/published. Then after the Nat'l meeting you can help him assess what is the best fit.

Thanks for all the help this weekend. See you @ Whitney Point.

[csh12M]

Thanks Dudley

Thanks Dudley,

I was asking the question more to start a discussion and make a point. Doug can afford a Sidewinder and it is the class and motor I should encourage him to buy. However, I am a bit hesitant until I hear a concreate plan with a timeline for the class.

It has been a fun experience and a learning experience looking at boat racing through the eyes of someone new.

Thanks for the input, we will probably try and scrounge for an OMC for ASH for him. Although we will probably wait until the National meeting. If we see a real direction, then we will probably go Sidewinder.

CSH12M

[Dudley13F]

Dean,
I figured it was a point of discussion type thing but I think the points kind of apply to anyone that size. You kind of have to fill out the DA and weight the categories according to each individual.

I would hope that the folks that are planning on running for the SORC and the people on the steering committee have already been thinking about these types of questions. They should have good data as far as the current Sidewinder is concerned. I'll be running it the rest of the season and will get a test session in before the end of the season (hopefully sooner rather than later). I hope to be able to provide some nice comparison data from Whitney Point (try to borrow a Hot Rod for B and run the Sidewinder in 250cc Mod). Hopefully Racing Outboards will have some solid timelines available at the Nat'l meeting or before.