The Arcadian Star....James Findley Hauenstein

[Ron Hill]

I'm already in trouble with Fred Hauenstein....as I told him, I didn't think he qualified as a GENTLEMAN Boat Racer. Now, I'm going to be talking about his late brother as a GENTLEMAN BOAT RACER...

I will post more about "GENTLEMAN JIM HAUENSTEIN" later...

[Joe J]

Ron:

Believe it or not, that's me fueling the boat.

Actually, this picture shows another gentleman racer, Johnnie Sanders. I believe Don and Johnnie went on to win Parker the year of this picture.

Joe

[Ron Hill]

I knew it wasn't Jimmy, but it was the only picture I have that represented the ARCADIAN SPIRIT.... I have requested, from Fred Hauenstein, that he send a particular picture of Jim. He has told me the picture is at his mom and dad's house, but will get it for me...

I know Jim is in this Arcadian....

Also, glad to know that was you putting fuel in...can you name the rest of the crew??

That's me holding # 1, Chad Hill, with my back to you....by the motor...Pat Bowman, newest Nostalgia Endurance driver is next to Chad, holding the boat...

That is Randy Pierson of GPI, holding Jimmy's motor..

[Joe J]

All I remember is the crew cheif, Bill Chatfield. That was the only weekend I was ever around him, and he sure knew his stuff.


Then there was the guy who always carried the drivers, we all knew him as "Meat". I'm sure he had a real name, but I never knew it. You always knew when he was at Lake Ming, one of Jimmy's Arcadian trucks would be parked in the lot across from the pits.

Jimmy sold me my first big tunnel boat, it was an old hodges, back from the 6-pack days.

Joe

[Ron Hill]

After Overton's was sold, Bill's deal with Overton's went away. He ran has machine shop for awhile, but have heard that he and his wife are driving the Mercury truck to the races, have neot seen him, though, myself..
yes, he knew his stuff and knows his tuff...

[Fred Hauenstein]

His real name is Gary Paugh. He drove the Arcadian truck to the races, including the unlimited.

Bill Chatfield (he really knows his stuff!) sold his business and comfortably retired, spending time in Springfield, Ohio or on his fabulous house boat in Tennessee. When boredom set in, he contracted with Mercury Racing and he and Nancy are now taking the Mercury truck to the outboard races, selling and servicing all the teams (they know he knows his stuff!).

Ron: I'm trying to be a gentleman!

Fred

[Ron Hill]

Raining today, got to thinking about one Christmas Holiday week before Chad was boarn, Barb was pregnant, why I decided to go to see the Giant trees I don't know. Maybe, it was because my wife's folks were in town, but we took off in our Winnie and stopped at Lake Ming...It was foggy and cool....might add, it had been real nice in SoCal, but we headed for the big trees...

Of course, my wife is not feeling well and winding around to see the trees is killing her....We look at the General Sherman tree, then say, "Well!!!" I say, "Let's go see Jimmy." Down the hill to see Jimmy in Kingsburg we go.. Jimmy and Kathy are living in this big old house in the middle of a grape vineyard...cool!!!

I pull the motorhome up in basically their front lawn....Get out and Jimmy comes out and meets us, with his usual big smile...We stand and talk, we've been riding four hours...while we're talking we start picking up walnuts off the ground and start eating them...(He had like three old walnut trees)... We stand and BS for about two hours eating walnuts, they're really good off the ground...really..tree ripened..

We don't even drink any beers, which is very unusual for us...Jimmy and Kathy have plans for dinner....it is getting dark, so we head out...That was Jimmy...probably had enough work to do, to keep twenty people busy, but when Ronnie came by, he stopped BS'd and ate walnuts...

[Ron Hill]

In 1966 I graduated from college and a fraternity brother was getting married, so The Needles Playboy (With his new 1966 Corvette) and I headed for the wedding in Portland, Oregon...

Well, we stopped for gas in Kingsburg, at Fred's Cafe...where you always got the 2 cent per gallon trucker's discount...Jimmy was working the gas station...which was odd, as he always said he'd had a job once, but quit it in 1962...Anyway, he explained because school was out, they were short handed, so he was helping out...

It was like 2:00 P.M. and hot, like only Kingsburg can get...I knew Jimmy wasn't working without beer near...(In those days gas stations weren't like mini markets)....So, after we got gas and said good bye, instead of leaving, I pulled the Vette around back, and just "Snooped".. Sure enough, there was a cooler that A. Looked like it might fit in the Vette and B. I was sure it had beer in it...

I told the Needles Playboy to get out and check out the cooler...(That way, I could always say, "I didn't steal your beer). The Needles Playboy came back with the cooler almost full of beer... We stole it and headed for Portland...Laughing like hell...as I knew Jim would be hard pressed to find anyone he could trust to go get beer until he got off work!!!

I "DUCKED" Jim most of that summer, but at the September Bakersfield race we met up...Seems he was heading back to Law School and decided to race first... I looked in his truck, "Going back to law school I say?" He's got his motorcycle, his golf clubs, his bowling ball, his Hi-Fi, with big speakers...several small coolers...clothes..no books!!!! I say, "Well you've got plenty of coolers." He says, "Yea, but some sum bitch took my good one."

I didn't admit nothing and he didn't ask...but he knew I got it...

ADD:

My dad had a nice house in Garden Grove with a big patio and a 7 car garage...perfect for what my dad liked...He always kept beer in his patio refrigerator and anytime Jimmy was in Orange County he'd stop and see my dad...of course, my dad knew he came for the beer...Jimmy alwas said he liked it better when my dad wasn't home...that way he could drink all the beer...My dad never locked the refrig, but he'd be mad when he'd come home and someone had DRANK ALL THE BEER...a man's last beer he'd say...Jimmy must have been here!!!

[Ron Hill]

I had to ask Freddy when his brother died. I was there in Washington, NC but could not recall the date.

Seems that Jimmy Hauenstein, The Arcadian Star, and I had been friends for years....

I was e-mailing with Gina Fox this week. Her brother Stan was a great guy and one hell of a good car racer. He only had one goal in life an that was to drive race cars. His racing stopped on lap one of the Indy 500...

Racing Families have given a lot to be racing families...

Rod Zapf, whose son is a Navy Top Gun pilot told me the other day, "He didn't want to race a boat that woundn't kill him."

I think of Fred Hauenstein's crash at Parker. His capsule was in 6 inches of water and he was stuck in the capsule with a broken back...had he been in deep water, Fred would would not be with us today...

When I raced, I never thought that I was facing death...When speeds went up, I realized I could die in a race boat.

We had gone 11 years with not death, after the invention of capsules. Jimmy Haulenstein's death, was the first, in a capsule, in the USA, in 11 years...

Boat Racing is dangerous, capsules or no capsules...

Back to June 1, 1997: On May 31, 1979, Jimmy and I had a few beers. We'd decided that if Chad proved to be a Formula One driver, we'd find another young driver to be the number two driver. AND at the end of the year, Jimmy would stop driving.

So much for a plan...

As I told Freddy, this spring, Freddy and I have been friends for ever...But Jimmy and I were "BUDS"...

I'm sure Freddy misses his brother more than I, but I do miss "The Arcadian Star"....

When the world seemed "Screwed Up", I could call Jimmy and he'd explain what was really happening in the world...and I could sleep well knowing Jimmy said everything would be "OK"...

ADD:

Hey Jimmy...I ate some walnuts off the ground in Kingburg, not long ago...and even with a few beers, they didn't taste like they did when we ate walnuts and drank beers...

LAST ADD:

At DePue this summer, I won't worry about going to Quincy to get a piston....Where you are, you don't need no stinking pistons....

NOTE: Jimmy Hauenstien was killed at Washington, NC, June 1, 1997, driving a Formula One Tunnel boat...Ten years ago today!!!

PICTURES: Washington, North Carolina, May 31, 1997... Pat Bowman, Crew Chief...Chad Hill's Formula One boat...Arcadian's trailer....

Last add; Hey, Jimmy..It is YOUR turn to buy beers.....I miss you!!!

Last picture is the start of Jimmy's last race...