Mr racer Jack of all trades

[R. C. Hawie]

On the PRO side of things. Steve Litzell. Good engine builder, can tune a rig with good advise if asked. Another in his day is Ed Thirby Sr., who knows the antique engines and Konig's too.
In years ago, Stan Levendusky, Harry Pasterzak, Walt Blankenstien, Deter Konig, Nick Birbarie, Walt Everett, Pep Hubbell, Frank Vincent, Dick Neal, Dean Drapper, Don Flowers, George Waller, The Quincy crew starting with O. F. Christner, Bill Tenney, Mully Schuly, H. G. Frerguson Fred, Emily and Pop Jacoby. Just to name a few.

[sutton99]

Rob Dixon
Ron France
John And Ross Webster

[Smitty]

In Region 10, years ago, we had Bill Rankin, Jim Hallum, and Ron Anderson as the first to come to mind. Someone else will have to cover the more recent members of this group, but Lee Tietze, with the outrigger 350 hydro has to be one; also J.W. Myers, whose dad was a machinist/racer.

[Aussie Steve]

Yes Lee came to mind for me to.

[Hydro doc]

Vic sold us one of his runabouts thirty five years ago. Yes he is Jack.

[Matt Dagostino]

Since we seem to be going way back in time, Stock Outboard had Satan himself.....Clark Maloof who built his own boats, motors and props! My first boat as a rookie was a ASR Clarkcraft. Back in the day of course. Clark Maloof, Dewald, Pop Smith, Kargas started building 3 blades around the same time in Stock. Not to get all 'retro' but it was Craig Dewald that 'told' (lobbied perhaps)the SORC that in Stock Outboard props would be limited to 3 blades to keep the cost down. He was very persuasive and was right!!

[Tim Weber]

Since we are going back years, I nominate Carl Stippich.

He and his sons Gary and Keith won numerous championships. They ran all the classes at some point and won in all of them. Carl did it all. He built props, boats, motors and even his own boat hardware.

Carl built hydros, runabouts and even tunnels. He was so good, Mercury hired him to build tunnels and the famous Team Mercury " Little Red " was Carl's.

His boats were like furniture!

Tim

[Matt Dagostino]

Tim...........Cal also made great home made trailers!! We bought the Stippich Factory trailer in 1971-72. it was heavy but what a piece of art!! It was super!!

[Chip Trampe]

I'd like to add the late Walter Menzies aka "The Judge". He built lots of boats and engines for his son, Hank, and others. (I still have a BU in the garage).
Although most of their props came from Pop Smith; I was witness to more than one being tweeked on a ball hitch!

[ctpdsr]

Tim, you stole my pick! I bought my 1961 Stippich CSR, trailer and 2 motors in 1984 and it was still competitive on a short course. The build quality and attention to detail are second to none. Serious inovations with the chine design were a big deal in the day and helped this boat win multiple national titles. I have continued to mess with motors over the years and have come to appreciate the build quality of those old 30H powerheads. Carl actually worked on some of the props we inheritted with the rig to help out the new kids.

[PittmanRacing]

Gary Pugh comes to mind as well as there are few that have left such a significant impact in all categories. I know he has built motors, but not sure how much he has ever done on props. There are others like Sam LaBanco, who has done all including the tower and gearcase design work on the OMC A, SST45, and SST100, Hot Rod, etc.

[dwhitford]

I think what separates the men from the boys on this thread is "WHO MADE THEIR OWN PROPS? This narrows the field substantially. While I did all my own engine work and have subsequently built and restored two boats, and routinely tweaked my own props, I can't ever say I bought a "blank" from Michigan or Mercury (Kaminc), for example, and BUILT MY OWN PROP. That's a whole 'nuther level of expertise.

[mrlou40]

I'll nominate my pops, Wayne Peeters; Props, Boats, Motors, Lower Units - he builds it. Up until his cancer battles, he raced, and won quite a bit. Last race he was in, he won the 45 Nationals. I sure hope I don't have to race against him ever again. Here's to you Dad.

John, Thanks for mentioning Wayne. For you newbies in R-10 and see this old guy as Johns dad your really missing something, you might want to stop by and say Hi. Over the years Wayne have had many late night phone calls and many pow wows at the race sites just discussing everything racing. I miss the days when you and Kyle were in the same heat and I would find Wayne parked on a park bench just outside the pits, we would sit together have a smoke and enjoy watching you two.