Master Oil Racing Team
01-08-2008, 09:19 AM
No boat racers out of Texas ever heard of Billy Zimmatore, and I doubt there are any others besides Steve Jones that remember him either, including Joe Rome. I woke up this morning and something told me I needed to put him in the encyclopedia. I wrote this twice more than a year ago, but it took so long both times that it timed me out and it was lost. That was before I figured out how to log back in to save it.
Billy Zimmatore was born and raised in Alice, Texas and lived on the same side, but the far end of our block. We lived on one end and he lived on the other. Billy was an outgoing natural leader, and an outstanding athelete. He competed in football, baseball, track and field. He was captain of the football team, the Alice Coyotes. In 1956 we went to state and lost, but Billy was a junior then. I believe he was the quarterback. In any case his family and the team was looking forward to his senior year. As was the case all across America in 1957, there was an epidemic of polio and Billy was struck down. Another friend that was much younger than Billy that I started school with in the 1st grade was hit too, but he just lost the use of his legs. Billy was paralyzed from the neck down.
At that time I didn't know Billy personally as I was a first grader and he was a high school senior. But, all us kids up and down the block whispered about the boy that had to live in an iron lung. We envisioned a big black cylinder all riveted together and only his head sticking out. It was a terrible thought of having to live in such a machine with never the hope of getting out of it.
Billy did finally progress to the point where he could spend his waking hours outside of it, but he had to sleep in it at night because breathing no longer came to him automatically. In order to breathe, he had to think to do it, and then command his lungs to pull in some air. When he would talk, he would frequently stop to take a breath and he would move his head and throat a lot like he was gulping down air. That never stopped him from doing what he wanted to do though.
Before I ever actually met Billy, he had a group of my friends hanging around his house. They were all the jocks of our high school. I was too small to play football and didn't have the speed or an arm for high school baseball so I didn't go in for the weight training. Billy always had between 10 and 20 young men that he would coach in weight training, boxing and just plain coaching advice for sports. He did it all from a stretcher type bed on wheels in his garage.
I started racing in 1966 and my best friend Kenneth Kattner (an All American college player) mentioned my boat racing. Billy, nor any of the others had ever heard of foreign outboards that smelled and sounded like model airplane motors (which they were into also). Kenneth came to my house and said that Billy Zimmatore wanted to meet me and find out about this "alky boat racing". So I went over to his house with Kenneth. I already knew who he was and I was uncomfortable about meeting him. I had hoped he never knew what kind of tales us kids had spread nearly a decade earlier. When I went to his house, I found a half dozen other friends over there and that Billy was very friendly and gregarious. He asked question after question and of course I had not been racing long, but I read every Roostertail cover to cover several times over, and I carried my copies of Boat News to school with me, so I could speak a little bit intelligently about boat racing. He asked if he could come over to our house to look at the boats and motors and I said he could. In 1959 we moved from the house down the street from Billy to a house in a new addition about three miles northwest from where Billy lived. At that time he met my Dad, who also knew about Billy previously, but never actually had met him. Billy was very enthused about racing boats. He was so interested that my Dad asked him if he wanted the little 9'6 Mishey hydro that we didn't need any longer, having replaced it with a 10'6 SidCraft. Billy immediately accepted the offer although he didn't know what he would do with it. But it would be something he would spend many hours studying.
My Dad recorded all of our early racing on 8mm film. He spliced it all together and in 1970 took it over to Billy's for him and his boys to watch. By then all my friends that hung out over there were in college and a new group of boys were working out. That's the way it was. A sophomore would never hang out with a Senior if they weren't related, but at Billy's everyone was one happy gang. And that's about the age group that was always there. The sophomore athelete's would get word that they needed to work out at Billy's and would continue until they graduated, and thus the group was always being renewed. Past members of the group would always come by for occassional visits until they moved off or started their own families, but not a one would ever forget the years they spent with Billy.
Billy loved hydros though, so my Dad and I would either go to his house to show him films, or he would come to ours. By then my Dad had sold the house in Alice and the one at a different addition on the lake and we both lived at his house at Barbon Estates. Back then they didn't have the specially rigged vans like they do now for handicapped people, but Billy directed his boys to fix it up so he could travel to the lake and watch us test. He could never travel to any races to watch us though because other than the one at our house, all other races were too far. He had to be back in his iron lung by a certain time. He did look forward to the races we held at Barbon, and never missed one.
I never remember them running the Mishey, but Billy studied enough that he finally decided he would have his boys build a hydro, which they did. I don't know where they came up with the deflector motor. It's been too long ago and I have forgotten. It's not unlikely that my Dad picked it up somewhere for them. After the boat was finished they brought it up to the lake to our place to test and give their driver experience. Most of the boys didn't like to go that fast and were happy to be pit crewmen. Chuck Carlisle and Kenny Tipps did like the speed and both went at it in earnest. They only entered one race and that was in 1971. Kenny drove one heat and Chuck drove the other. They were clearly outgunned running a Merc/Quincy deflector against Konigs and Merc Quincy loopers, but they finished the race. Billy was very happy about it. They put a team on the water with a boat they built themselves and managed to finish the race without breaking down or flipping.
Billy was so appreciative of the help we gave him that he gave my Dad one of his oil paintings. It was one of my Dad's most prized possessions. It survived Hurricane Celia which blew the house down, but he lost it in the fire in 1993. Now remember...Billy was paralyzed from the neck down. He couldn't mix any of his paints himself, he couldn't draw anything on the canvas prior to painting, and he couldn't even lift or clean his brushes. He had someone put the brush handle between his teeth and that's how he painted....with his lips and teeth. The paintings were professional. The one he gave my Dad looked like Colorado in the fall with aspens by a clear stream and mountains in the background. I don't know how many he painted over his lifetime, but all the ones I saw were musuem and art gallery quality.
Billy could do anything he put his mind to. I never saw him down or feeling sorry for himself. He always seemed to be happy and drawing life from the young men around him. He was very proud of the accomplishments of his boys. Whenever they would take on a project, Billy would supervise and he had to show them things they didn't know how to do by his direction. Billy was very articulate and he had to explain what he wanted someone to do very explicitly because he could not walk over, pick something up and say, "put this over here on this piece and tighten it like that" It all had to come from his brain and tongue. If you've never tried that, it is much harder than you think it would be.
Over the years leading merchants, oilmen and businessmen around town got to realizing that many of the young men that stayed in Alice and found work in town all had a common thread. They had at one time been a part of Billy Zimmatore's young atheletes. Many local Golden Glove champs came out of Billy's gym. They were all trustworthy and hardworking guys. Billy's gym was producing some solid citizens for Alice. I don't know whose idea it was, but this group of men got together and built Billy a gym around 1500 to 2000 square feet on the lot on the next block across from his house. That one lot had been vacant all the time I lived in Alice, and that was the only thing ever built on it. They called it Zimm's Gym and outfitted with all kinds of equipment.
Billy's Dad died sometime in the late 60's and I think his Mom passed away around 1980 or so. Billy didn't make it too much after that. He was an only child and his parents lives revolved around his and helping him live. I don't even know all the things Billy accomplished because he was active in some other things too. One thing I know though is that he was the most unselfish, caring, and giving person I have ever known. He never cussed, never talked bad about anyone, was very patient with people, handed out compliments and encouragement at every step of a person's learning, inspired confidence and was unequaled in an attitude of giving inspiration. A good movie could be made about the life of Billy Zimmatore. And although he fielded an entry in only one race, I felt I had to include him in the encylopedia. He would have seen ecstacy on the pages of BRF.
Billy Zimmatore was born and raised in Alice, Texas and lived on the same side, but the far end of our block. We lived on one end and he lived on the other. Billy was an outgoing natural leader, and an outstanding athelete. He competed in football, baseball, track and field. He was captain of the football team, the Alice Coyotes. In 1956 we went to state and lost, but Billy was a junior then. I believe he was the quarterback. In any case his family and the team was looking forward to his senior year. As was the case all across America in 1957, there was an epidemic of polio and Billy was struck down. Another friend that was much younger than Billy that I started school with in the 1st grade was hit too, but he just lost the use of his legs. Billy was paralyzed from the neck down.
At that time I didn't know Billy personally as I was a first grader and he was a high school senior. But, all us kids up and down the block whispered about the boy that had to live in an iron lung. We envisioned a big black cylinder all riveted together and only his head sticking out. It was a terrible thought of having to live in such a machine with never the hope of getting out of it.
Billy did finally progress to the point where he could spend his waking hours outside of it, but he had to sleep in it at night because breathing no longer came to him automatically. In order to breathe, he had to think to do it, and then command his lungs to pull in some air. When he would talk, he would frequently stop to take a breath and he would move his head and throat a lot like he was gulping down air. That never stopped him from doing what he wanted to do though.
Before I ever actually met Billy, he had a group of my friends hanging around his house. They were all the jocks of our high school. I was too small to play football and didn't have the speed or an arm for high school baseball so I didn't go in for the weight training. Billy always had between 10 and 20 young men that he would coach in weight training, boxing and just plain coaching advice for sports. He did it all from a stretcher type bed on wheels in his garage.
I started racing in 1966 and my best friend Kenneth Kattner (an All American college player) mentioned my boat racing. Billy, nor any of the others had ever heard of foreign outboards that smelled and sounded like model airplane motors (which they were into also). Kenneth came to my house and said that Billy Zimmatore wanted to meet me and find out about this "alky boat racing". So I went over to his house with Kenneth. I already knew who he was and I was uncomfortable about meeting him. I had hoped he never knew what kind of tales us kids had spread nearly a decade earlier. When I went to his house, I found a half dozen other friends over there and that Billy was very friendly and gregarious. He asked question after question and of course I had not been racing long, but I read every Roostertail cover to cover several times over, and I carried my copies of Boat News to school with me, so I could speak a little bit intelligently about boat racing. He asked if he could come over to our house to look at the boats and motors and I said he could. In 1959 we moved from the house down the street from Billy to a house in a new addition about three miles northwest from where Billy lived. At that time he met my Dad, who also knew about Billy previously, but never actually had met him. Billy was very enthused about racing boats. He was so interested that my Dad asked him if he wanted the little 9'6 Mishey hydro that we didn't need any longer, having replaced it with a 10'6 SidCraft. Billy immediately accepted the offer although he didn't know what he would do with it. But it would be something he would spend many hours studying.
My Dad recorded all of our early racing on 8mm film. He spliced it all together and in 1970 took it over to Billy's for him and his boys to watch. By then all my friends that hung out over there were in college and a new group of boys were working out. That's the way it was. A sophomore would never hang out with a Senior if they weren't related, but at Billy's everyone was one happy gang. And that's about the age group that was always there. The sophomore athelete's would get word that they needed to work out at Billy's and would continue until they graduated, and thus the group was always being renewed. Past members of the group would always come by for occassional visits until they moved off or started their own families, but not a one would ever forget the years they spent with Billy.
Billy loved hydros though, so my Dad and I would either go to his house to show him films, or he would come to ours. By then my Dad had sold the house in Alice and the one at a different addition on the lake and we both lived at his house at Barbon Estates. Back then they didn't have the specially rigged vans like they do now for handicapped people, but Billy directed his boys to fix it up so he could travel to the lake and watch us test. He could never travel to any races to watch us though because other than the one at our house, all other races were too far. He had to be back in his iron lung by a certain time. He did look forward to the races we held at Barbon, and never missed one.
I never remember them running the Mishey, but Billy studied enough that he finally decided he would have his boys build a hydro, which they did. I don't know where they came up with the deflector motor. It's been too long ago and I have forgotten. It's not unlikely that my Dad picked it up somewhere for them. After the boat was finished they brought it up to the lake to our place to test and give their driver experience. Most of the boys didn't like to go that fast and were happy to be pit crewmen. Chuck Carlisle and Kenny Tipps did like the speed and both went at it in earnest. They only entered one race and that was in 1971. Kenny drove one heat and Chuck drove the other. They were clearly outgunned running a Merc/Quincy deflector against Konigs and Merc Quincy loopers, but they finished the race. Billy was very happy about it. They put a team on the water with a boat they built themselves and managed to finish the race without breaking down or flipping.
Billy was so appreciative of the help we gave him that he gave my Dad one of his oil paintings. It was one of my Dad's most prized possessions. It survived Hurricane Celia which blew the house down, but he lost it in the fire in 1993. Now remember...Billy was paralyzed from the neck down. He couldn't mix any of his paints himself, he couldn't draw anything on the canvas prior to painting, and he couldn't even lift or clean his brushes. He had someone put the brush handle between his teeth and that's how he painted....with his lips and teeth. The paintings were professional. The one he gave my Dad looked like Colorado in the fall with aspens by a clear stream and mountains in the background. I don't know how many he painted over his lifetime, but all the ones I saw were musuem and art gallery quality.
Billy could do anything he put his mind to. I never saw him down or feeling sorry for himself. He always seemed to be happy and drawing life from the young men around him. He was very proud of the accomplishments of his boys. Whenever they would take on a project, Billy would supervise and he had to show them things they didn't know how to do by his direction. Billy was very articulate and he had to explain what he wanted someone to do very explicitly because he could not walk over, pick something up and say, "put this over here on this piece and tighten it like that" It all had to come from his brain and tongue. If you've never tried that, it is much harder than you think it would be.
Over the years leading merchants, oilmen and businessmen around town got to realizing that many of the young men that stayed in Alice and found work in town all had a common thread. They had at one time been a part of Billy Zimmatore's young atheletes. Many local Golden Glove champs came out of Billy's gym. They were all trustworthy and hardworking guys. Billy's gym was producing some solid citizens for Alice. I don't know whose idea it was, but this group of men got together and built Billy a gym around 1500 to 2000 square feet on the lot on the next block across from his house. That one lot had been vacant all the time I lived in Alice, and that was the only thing ever built on it. They called it Zimm's Gym and outfitted with all kinds of equipment.
Billy's Dad died sometime in the late 60's and I think his Mom passed away around 1980 or so. Billy didn't make it too much after that. He was an only child and his parents lives revolved around his and helping him live. I don't even know all the things Billy accomplished because he was active in some other things too. One thing I know though is that he was the most unselfish, caring, and giving person I have ever known. He never cussed, never talked bad about anyone, was very patient with people, handed out compliments and encouragement at every step of a person's learning, inspired confidence and was unequaled in an attitude of giving inspiration. A good movie could be made about the life of Billy Zimmatore. And although he fielded an entry in only one race, I felt I had to include him in the encylopedia. He would have seen ecstacy on the pages of BRF.