1983 St. Louis

[Ted March]

Champ Boats

[Ted March]

The Start

[Ted March]

#84, Gene Thibideaux (sp) and #7, Billy Seebold

[Ted March]

Mr. Bill

[Ted March]

#11 Mike Seebold

[Ted March]

#82, Lee Sutter

[Ted March]

#57 Benny Robertson

[Ted March]

#9 Help

[Ted March]

#82, Lee Sutter running third

[Ted March]

#84, Gene Thibedeaux (sp) running second

[Ted March]

And the winner is, #7 Mr. Bill.

[Ron Hill]

84 might have been Lee Sutter
82 Was Wil Pergande's boat, with Buck Thornton up...I think
9 was not Ron Hill, thought 9 was my APBA number.

Great pictures..Is Benny in a Velden??

[John Howe]

That is a cool pic with the score board in the background. One of the the 1st GN, then called KM, races I went to was at the new Miami Marine Stadium. I had to be about 10 or 11 years young then, and they had the Orange Bowl 250 Speed Classic going and they had a similar score board set up at that race. The OB 250 was 100 laps on the 2.5 mile course. They lined up 40 inboards on the beach between turns 1 & 2. A Coast Gaurd helicopter came in, hovered for a few moments, and then dropped a bag of flour, and then the drivers hit the go button. What a sight and sound! :eek: I was "hooked" then and there on racing. (Curse the *%@# CG!) I well remember 2 boats flipping on the start, but the racing continued. It was easy to keep track of who was leading with the score board. In latter marathon racing, the score board disappeared. It was tough for spectators to keep track of who`s in first, what`s in second, and who`s in third. The announcer couldn`t out shout the motors.

Score boards are still used in all major sporting events. I do recall reading on this board about revitalizing marathon racing. I think it might be helpful on keeping the fans/customers informed on whats going on during the show via a score board.

[David Pergande]

Ron...Excellent site....this is what So Cal weather this past week has turned me too!

82 Lee Sutter, my dad's boat
84 Gene Thibideaux (SP?)

[Ron Hill]

Thanks for the corrections....

Hey, get your dad on here... Love to see some of his pictures...and your family's story in the encyclopedia..

Is your dad apt to move to SoCal???

Yea, if this weather keeps up...I'm moving to California...

[Ted March]

Thanks, I'll edit the post and Welcome

Ted

[jimsummers]

it was a Broughton.

[peterse90]

#9 Help

Pretty sure #9 was Buck Thornton.
The "Fight Cancer" on the boat leads me to believe its Buck because 1983 was the year he had cancer surgery, plus the boat looks like a Lee Craft.

[bridges]

Great shots! I've got a lot of photos from the late 70's - early 80's St. Louis Grand Prix Races. Many of them are on slides, so they have to be converted, but I'll post what i can.

[Roy Hodges]

where does Benny Hill fit in here ? (can you forgive me for this ? - the DEVIL made me do it )

[Mark Poole]

The Lee Craft with "fight cancer" on the cowl is Web Maples (not sure on that spelling). The last time I saw him race was at Augusta in 1985 in that same boat. I think he lost his fight with cancer not long after that.

[OLEGATORXX]

Did Not Lose His Life To Cancer. He Lost His Life In A Testing Accident In Late September Or Early October Of '85.