July 29, 2025 • 27 mins
Legendary hydroplane racer Mark Tate takes us behind the scenes of one of racing's most thrilling eras in this final installment of our three-part interview series. With candid reflections and genuine emotion, Mark shares stories that showcase the deep personal connections formed in this high-octane sport.
Through Mark's stories, we experience the golden age of unlimited hydroplane racing through the eyes of someone who lived it, raced it, and helped define it. Listen now to complete this fascinating journey through hydroplane history with one of the sport's true gentlemen racers.
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Ruchetel Talk, the podcast dedicated to everything
about the sport that we all love, Hydroplane Racing.
I am your host, david Newton,and it's time once again, so sit
(00:50):
back, relax, welcome back tothe podcast.
Today is July 29th 2025, andthis is episode 155.
Today's episode is part threeof my interview with Mark Tate,
and if you didn't hear parts oneor two, please go back and
listen to those before today'sepisode.
(01:10):
I'll have a link below forepisodes 153 and 154 so you can
catch up.
Last week, we left off with measking Mark to share some
personal stories of some of theother drivers and racers that he
fought against during his timein the sport, and I'm going to
continue to ask him to sharesome more personal stories about
(01:30):
some other individuals intoday's episode, and then he'll
go on to talk more about hisfamily's legacy and his family's
racing as they continue tocarry the torch with his two
sons.
Now let's get back into myinterview with Andrew's dad, I
mean with Mark Tate.
How about Steve Woomer?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Steve was a great guy .
You know, when I first hired inthere, you know Steve had been
through the incident withReynolds and he was very honest
with me.
He just said I know you got afamily, a young family, and I
know you're family-oriented.
Your family goes to all theraces.
You race for your family allyour life but he goes.
I can't get close to you, Ican't get close to your family.
(02:16):
And I totally understood wherehe was coming from and I said
that's fine, I'll relateeverything to my family.
Over the years, as me and Stevebecame closer and friends, he,
he my boys.
He loved them.
He'd bring them in the coach hehad.
He'd bring in different candiesfor them and then when he found
(02:37):
out what candies they liked,what ones were gone out of the
dish.
Then he only had two dishesdish and andrew's dish of.
You know he knew exactly whatthey liked and you know, and
steve wanted to take up golf.
So me and him went to the golfstore one time.
We bought everything for him.
I'd go golfing with him and,you know, teach him things and
(02:58):
what he's doing wrong.
He never got good at it but hesure enjoyed.
We enjoyed the time togetherand telling jokes and talking
and we became great, greatfriends and I and um I was so
thankful to be able to drive forsteve again.
Steve had a different side tohim that the general public
(03:18):
might not have seen or theracing community might not have
seen, but what a tremendous,genuine person he truly was.
And then I was glad that Idrove my home nine years with
him.
You know that that, that I hadthat opportunity and he would
call me because back home I hada manufacturer's rep business at
(03:41):
the time and I was selling andwhen he would hear a good joke
he'd call me up and tell me thejoke, because he knew every
salesman needed a good joke youknow, and we talked a lot about
finances and investments and, uh, you know and and those types
of things.
So our relationship went waybeyond just boat racing, which
(04:02):
was phenomenal.
All right last name Jim Harvey,jim Harvey, I again.
When Jim brought me on board Iwas, you know, just totally
(04:24):
enthused and excited.
And Jim found out that I usedto make my own race propellers
for seven liter and five litersand stuff and he asked me if I
could make some props for theUnlimited.
So he gave me one of theBudweiser castings because
everybody ran castings back inthere and then they were just
getting into doing forgingsabout that era.
But we were still runningcasting.
(04:45):
So I made a mold off of it andI think we poured I don't know
if it was three or fivepropellers and then, um, thick
brinkman, we, uh, fair lane tooldid the boring on them.
And uh, thick brinkman in umgrass lake, michigan, who I have
a relationship with today inthe outboards, he had a
(05:06):
propeller business and he didthe finish work on them and we
ran those propellers for thefirst.
You know that that year that Iwas with harvey and they ran.
They ran really well andeverything was good.
But jim was unbelievably a hardworker.
You, he didn't have thesponsorship dollars, he couldn't
(05:26):
afford a lot of technicalpeople, but Jim worked for a lot
of people.
So in his own rights he was verytechnical and he knew things
and he worked so hard on his ownpersonal programs trying to get
everything right and make itthe best piece of equipment that
he could.
And a guy like that you you haveto admire and you have to
(05:48):
support, and I was grateful thathe gave me the opportunity to
drive.
And then when he, you know,there at the end, when he
decided to step, you know, moveaway from Steve David and he
called me, it put a big smile onmy face that he would call me
back up to help him, come in and, you know, be part of his
(06:09):
program again and, um, so we'vealways had a great relationship
and, um, and even this lastweekend he, you know, he, uh,
sue Weber was there in Madisonand uh, uh, two of them, you
know, were together and I askedhow Jim was doing.
And you know you lose dailycontact with people and I
(06:33):
haven't seen Jim in a long timebut I still inquire and ask
about him, of how he's doing.
Uh, great respect for thegentleman.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Well it's.
It's fun to hear you go intothat nostalgia lane about all
those names and revisit thosenames.
It's fun to hear youradmiration for those people.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
You know, in our sport I've came in contact with
a tremendous amount of peoplethrough sponsorship fans, the
racing community and I don'tknow of one bad person in the
sport really a bad person.
Everybody is genuine andthey're very you know.
(07:14):
They're in boat racing becausethey love it and they have a
passion for it.
And I still see that today,even though I only go to maybe
one race a year with my son.
But that one race a year youcan still see that love, that
passion, the emotion that itbrings for people and it's just
(07:35):
super cool.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, everyone I talk to aboutthe sport always say family,
it's just, it feels like anextended family, right, all the
people care for each other andtake care of each other yeah
well, the majority of yourcareer well, I guess all of your
career you're racing againstthe budweiser, but I always felt
like you were the big name,trying to duke it out with them
(07:59):
for those years in the 90s.
Do you have a favorite story ormemory racing against the
budweiser?
Is there one time you got theirnumber and it just stands out
above the rest?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
you know, when we beat them, we usually beat them
really good tri-cities.
One year we won every, everyheat.
We were the fastest qualifier.
You know it was super.
One year that you know sticksout when we almost won the
championship we had.
We were fast in Hawaii and wewere hoping to draw him, hoping
to draw him, and we only got todraw him on one elimination heat
(08:36):
and in the final we beat himboth times and um, and the one
heat me and Chip were having asuper race.
He was on the inside and I wason the outside and he got away
from me going into three andfour one time and then I creeped
back up on him and then, goingback into one and two, he lost
it going in and I actually movedright.
I saw the response come up andI moved right and when he came
(09:00):
down we almost hit and that'sdown enough.
That gave me enough edge to getthem and and beat them by maybe
three boat lengths or so at thefinish.
And you know, I think we lostthe championship that year by I
don't remember if it was 30 or40 points or something like that
.
Really really tight racing andum, um.
You know, even though we didn'twin the championship, that year
(09:24):
was a fun year.
It was almost like we won thechampionship internally because
we were always the underdog tothem.
They had the biggest budget,they had the name Bernie, always
had all the great drivers.
I loved my position.
I thrived on trying to beatthem and I loved my position.
(09:46):
I thrived on trying to beatthem and our team.
When we did beat them, it wasvery gratifying.
It was very rewarding to all ofus.
No-transcript.
I won a bunch of races, likeother people.
They'll walk and ship and stuff, yeah, sometimes.
(10:07):
But no, I'm pretty.
I'm really content with what Idid within the sport.
I think I was a good ambassador.
I drove hard, I respected myfellow racers, I had a
tremendous amount of fun and Ithink I came through the best
eras of unlimited racing.
I raced against Cropfield, theEath, hanauer, phil Walk, the
(10:30):
Evans brothers.
You know, steve, david.
I mean the fields back thenwere.
You know they were stacked,they were good drivers and you
know fairly good equipment.
Mike, hanson, mike doesn't getas much credit as a driver back
then but, Mike built the boat,worked on the boat crew, chiefed
the boat, drove the boat andand now Mike gets more
(10:54):
recognition as being a teammanager than anything but he's
he was a good driver.
You know.
I had great races with him attimes and um, just the people
back in the sport.
You know, I feel that that wasthe heyday of unlimited racing.
I would ever love to see it getback there again someday.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Well, as a fan and someone from a different
perspective I would totallyagree.
I was a kid growing up in thenineties and I just remember, uh
, all the boats that would showup to the events, how many
events there were, all themerchandising trucks that were
lighting the beaches.
It was a really fun era towatch.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
as a fan, I told Wilmer one time, when you talk
about the souvenirs and all thetrucks, well, back then when we
were smoking, joe and Winston,we had the 53-footer that races.
Okay, we had two trucks, twoboats, boats, we had two
concession vehicles.
And one time at an event orsomewhere, I said to woomer I
(11:57):
made the comment not to steve,but publicly.
I said well, we're like thecircus.
We come in with our six, sevenrigs just us, circus.
We come in with our six, sevenrigs, just us.
We set up our tents and and andput on our show, we pack it up
and go off to the next city.
And steve boomer said don'tever refer to my race program as
(12:18):
a goddamn circus.
He goes, he goes, he.
He kind of ripped me on thatone a little bit and I looked at
him.
I said yeah, you're right, I'msorry about that, steve.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
But when?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
you think about it.
You know all racing events arelike that, you know, but we
don't come in like car racing toa track.
You know we're coming into acity, we're coming into a, a an
event, that they have to makechanges for us to come in and
(12:54):
and be able to put a race on.
So a lot of great memories.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Oh, definitely, definitely.
Well, I would have to ask moreabout Andrew.
Come full circle Now.
You're the father, you'reseeing his racing career and
before we did this interview Iwas thinking back.
I thought about getting intooutboard racing 20-something
years ago and I remember goingto Moses Lake with my father,
(13:22):
roger, and you were there.
Andrew was racing outboard someclass there at the event and
you made the comment that watchout for this kid.
In a couple of years he's goingto make a name for himself, and
you were right.
He's a great racer.
What has this meant to you towatch Andrew have such success
(13:46):
over the years?
Speaker 2 (13:49):
You know it's gratifying, it's rewarding to me
and his mom and even hisbrother.
You know Andrew got anopportunity through the English
family from stock outboardracing.
He did very well.
I think someday he still wantsto win that sea hydro title.
(14:10):
We had five seconds in seahydro um when we were, when he
was racing outboards, um.
But uh, he got the inboard dealwith Englishes and kind of
proved himself, went into theGrand Prix and got opportunities
there and and um.
And then mike and laurie jonesI've known mike and laurie a
(14:31):
long long time and they showedup at mojus lake.
We were there for the nationalsand I think andrew won three
events there, maybe four umevents at that a year, but
anyhow, um, um.
But anyhow, joneses and JeffCampbell asked to talk to Andrew
and they asked me the questionand I said well, you're asking
(14:53):
the wrong guy.
I said he's the one you want totalk to.
I said you don't need mypermission to talk to him and I
out of respect Mike Jones, youknow, tremendous Thank you, you
know, for that respect.
But they talked to Andrew there, found out what his interest
would be and they said maybenext year we can get you in the
boat and get you qualified anddo this and do that.
(15:14):
And then all of a sudden, liddycoat, uh, decided not to race
and they hired andrew and um anduh, what a great way to come
into the sport.
A very good piece of equipment,the Campbell brothers with a
tremendous amount of knowledgeand Mike and Lori you know no
(15:35):
pressure situations and he camein, he adapted, he did extremely
well and couldn't be prouder ofhim and I think the same thing.
I think he got in there and helistened, he learned and I think
he still even today.
He's learned a lot from MikeHanson and you know he's
(15:57):
accepted all this stuff verygraciously.
He's got the right mindset, hetreats people tremendously.
We couldn't be prouder of himand it's very rewarding, you
know, down there in Madison youknow super rewarding sitting
there watching your son win anevent and pretty cool, and you
(16:18):
always want to see your childsucceed and do better in life
than you.
And I think that that's a goalof every parent to pass on your
knowledge to your children sothat they don't make the same
mistakes or fall in the wrongpit holes of life and that they
(16:39):
succeed and become better thanyou.
And Andrew's accomplished thatin life, and so was Brent.
You know, brent, brent, they'retwo different people.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
And um, but I'm proud of both of them and and in many
ways, yeah, it's just so fun tosee or watch Andrew's career
take off.
Uh, and he's.
He's always been so nice to myson when he sees him at the
races and says hello and takestime, uh, which is just great.
But one stat that I think ispretty cool and I went back to
the record books and I checkedyou're the only father and son
combo to have won the apva goldcup and you talk about winning
(17:18):
all these titles and stuff, butI just think that's got to be
such a great accomplishment toshare with your son you know it
is.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
But I I don't look at things like that.
You know that's anaccomplishment that I won the
gold cup.
He won the gold cup.
Yeah, we're the only father sonto do that.
We're the only father son torun over 170.
Those are good marketing toolsfor the sport maybe, but
personally it's it's it'ssomething I would never bring up
(17:49):
or talk about.
You know it's it's uh, uh.
You know I'd rather bring upthings about Andrew.
You know, this weekend, youknow he, he banged two great
starts and had a fuel controlissue in another one and and him
banging starts like that, thatthat that's really rewarding to
see that him and Jimmy arestarting to develop their
(18:10):
starting program and becomingbetter at it, those are the
rewarding things that make mesmile.
And and seeing him stillgrowing, still progressing,
still learning and you know it'sit's he's I feel he's very
(18:31):
deserving of everything, ofwhere he's at in life and any
any shows that appreciation youknow it's he's doesn't step out
of that window and very proud.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yeah Well, just thinking about my son watching
him do things, I get kind offearful sometimes.
My son watched him do things.
I get kind of fearful sometimes, and Andrew does such a great
job of floating the boat andgetting the most out of his
equipment.
I have to ask you this questionIs it scarier to watch him race
or was it scarier for you to be?
Speaker 2 (19:06):
in the seat and be doing that yourself.
I think there's nerves each way.
When I was racing you know nowwatching him race I guess at
first, when he first starteddriving Unlimiteds, I was more
nervous than I am today.
Today I have theself-confidence in him, the
(19:30):
personal confidence in him, thatwhen he's driving the boat he's
always in control.
Um, when he first started andwas flying the boat a little bit
, I I was a little nervous aboutit.
But you know, when you watchthat one 70 run down there in uh
Guntersville, he'd come off thepit turn and he kept the wing
(19:50):
down and as he was coming to thestart finish line, the sponsor
raised and it hung there for awhile but then all of a sudden
it started to take off again.
He got to the start finish lineand he backed off and dropped
her down.
I told him I said another 25yards, you'd have probably wore
that thing.
I said it was good that thestarting line was where it was
and he goes.
No, he goes, I'm bringing itdown.
(20:11):
And I said okay, okay, good,it's things like that as a
father, having that, you know,the knowledge and the feel for
the boats and driving them, thatwe can have that little bit of
conversation and when he comesback and gives you that type of
answer, that's a confidentbuilder that you don't have to
be nervous for him.
(20:33):
And yeah, he flies the boat.
I think he drives the same wayI do.
He drives hard but he gets themost out of the boat and he's
not overflying the boat.
I think that you can overflythe boats and the boats will run
slower because you're pushingair.
You're not pushing forward atthat point and we've gone over
(20:55):
that and talked about thosethings a lot of you know.
Yeah, you want to keep the boatoff the water, but yeah, you
want to keep it on the waterbecause the propeller's hooked
up at that point.
Pushing it, it's not trying topush it upward, you're not
pushing air.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Right, right.
Well, what?
What's been the biggest adviceor tip you've given Andrew,
either when he started or overthe years, like, is there one
thing that you think stood outof the rest?
No, or does he even listen toyour advice?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
You know, I think he listens but I'm not one to take
advice to him.
It's it's if he's got a questionor wants to ask something, you
know he'll call me.
You know, if I'm not at therace, he'll call me and he knows
I'm watching and I can seecertain things on the tv and I
give him my opinion.
And then it's his focus, hisdirection of of how to utilize
(21:49):
that information or not utilizethat information, focus, his
direction of of how to utilizethat information or not utilize
that information.
Um, I'm not one out there.
It's like this weekend.
I I saw Mike Hanson early in theweek and said hi and nice.
And Sunday I walked up to himand congratulate him before I
left and Mike apologized hey, wenever got together, we don't
talk and this and that.
(22:10):
And I said, mike, if you wantto talk, we can talk on the
phone.
I said you're here doing a job,andrew's here doing a job.
I stay away.
This is not my place.
It's my place to support it, myplace to watch it, my place to
give out the congratulationswhen in time being.
And I said, mike, we'll alwaysbe friends and we're always
(22:30):
there for each other.
And I said I don't need to bugyou at the races, I don't need
to bug Andrew.
And Mike says man, he goes, mark, he goes, you've always got it,
he goes, you've always gottenit and he goes.
And I appreciate that very,very much and I walked away.
Then I went and congratulatedAndrew and then from there I
went up to our motor home andpacked it up and we left town.
(22:50):
So Well fun.
Yeah, he knows we're very proudof him and he knows that I
would be there for support inany way, whatever he might need.
But it's far and few betweenyou know he's at the level now
(23:15):
where he really diagnosed thingswell and can communicate with
his team and I think they do agood job, you know, of setting
up the boat and communicatingand he drives it to the, I think
, to the best of what they haveto offer that given day or given
race.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Well, he's definitely made a big impact on the sport.
It's been fun to watch and Ihad a lot of fun watching you in
the 90s because you made a hugeimpact as well.
Thank you, but reallyappreciate your time, mark.
It's been fun walking down anostalgic lane with you and
talking through your career andhopefully we'll see you at a
(23:53):
race sometime soon.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Probably be next year .
Speaker 1 (23:57):
All right.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Back out West next year.
Things.
Andrew continues on and races,but I can't make Tri-Citizens in
Seattle this year.
It's a stock outboard nationalsthat weekend between them too,
and I'll be there with Brentsupporting him a hundred percent
.
But I'll be uh, I'll be lookingat the live streams and
following Andrew and and seeinghow the team is progressing and
(24:21):
how they're doing.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Excellent, excellent.
Well, love to hear that you'rethere supporting Brent in his
racing career as well.
And again, thank you for yourtime.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Appreciate it, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Well, once again, that's all the time we have for
this week, knuckleheads.
I really appreciate all thetime that Mark spent talking
with me about his career and hisfamily's legacy of racing.
It really shows how proud of afather he is of both Brent and
Andrew, and just what a greatfamily for racing.
Well, we just finished anotherColumbia Cup and Gold Cup.
(24:55):
I had a great time over inTri-Cities, as always, and
really looking forward to agreat race at Seattle.
We've got Unlimiteds back on thewater in Lake Washington.
We've got GPs back here atSeafair for the first time in a
number of years.
The Vintage Boats JimmyJohnson's going to make an
appearance.
Should be a fun weekend.
(25:16):
Hopefully I'll see you downthere and if you do see me,
please say hi and spend a minuteto talk about hydros.
But until then, don't forget tocheck us out online at our
website, rucheteltalkcom.
We're also on social mediaFacebook and Instagram and if
(25:39):
you're not a member of RuchetelTalk Plus, you can still become
a member today and you'reeligible to get the 10 card
trading card set that I made forthis year's racing, as well as
many other features on ourwebsite that are only for
Richard Tell Talk Plussubscribers and many other
features, including a monthlyraffle, drawing for a prize and
early access to all new episodes.
That's all I have for this week.
(26:01):
I'm looking forward to havinganother great interview out for
you next week and until then, Ihope to see you at the races.
Ruchetel Talk, the podcast dedicated to everything
about the sport that we all love, Hydroplane Racing.
I am your host, david Newton,and it's time once again, so sit
(00:50):
back, relax, welcome back tothe podcast.
Today is July 29th 2025, andthis is episode 155.
Today's episode is part threeof my interview with Mark Tate,
and if you didn't hear parts oneor two, please go back and
listen to those before today'sepisode.
(01:10):
I'll have a link below forepisodes 153 and 154 so you can
catch up.
Last week, we left off with measking Mark to share some
personal stories of some of theother drivers and racers that he
fought against during his timein the sport, and I'm going to
continue to ask him to sharesome more personal stories about
(01:30):
some other individuals intoday's episode, and then he'll
go on to talk more about hisfamily's legacy and his family's
racing as they continue tocarry the torch with his two
sons.
Now let's get back into myinterview with Andrew's dad, I
mean with Mark Tate.
How about Steve Woomer?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Steve was a great guy .
You know, when I first hired inthere, you know Steve had been
through the incident withReynolds and he was very honest
with me.
He just said I know you got afamily, a young family, and I
know you're family-oriented.
Your family goes to all theraces.
You race for your family allyour life but he goes.
I can't get close to you, Ican't get close to your family.
(02:16):
And I totally understood wherehe was coming from and I said
that's fine, I'll relateeverything to my family.
Over the years, as me and Stevebecame closer and friends, he,
he my boys.
He loved them.
He'd bring them in the coach hehad.
He'd bring in different candiesfor them and then when he found
(02:37):
out what candies they liked,what ones were gone out of the
dish.
Then he only had two dishesdish and andrew's dish of.
You know he knew exactly whatthey liked and you know, and
steve wanted to take up golf.
So me and him went to the golfstore one time.
We bought everything for him.
I'd go golfing with him and,you know, teach him things and
(02:58):
what he's doing wrong.
He never got good at it but hesure enjoyed.
We enjoyed the time togetherand telling jokes and talking
and we became great, greatfriends and I and um I was so
thankful to be able to drive forsteve again.
Steve had a different side tohim that the general public
(03:18):
might not have seen or theracing community might not have
seen, but what a tremendous,genuine person he truly was.
And then I was glad that Idrove my home nine years with
him.
You know that that, that I hadthat opportunity and he would
call me because back home I hada manufacturer's rep business at
(03:41):
the time and I was selling andwhen he would hear a good joke
he'd call me up and tell me thejoke, because he knew every
salesman needed a good joke youknow, and we talked a lot about
finances and investments and, uh, you know and and those types
of things.
So our relationship went waybeyond just boat racing, which
(04:02):
was phenomenal.
All right last name Jim Harvey,jim Harvey, I again.
When Jim brought me on board Iwas, you know, just totally
(04:24):
enthused and excited.
And Jim found out that I usedto make my own race propellers
for seven liter and five litersand stuff and he asked me if I
could make some props for theUnlimited.
So he gave me one of theBudweiser castings because
everybody ran castings back inthere and then they were just
getting into doing forgingsabout that era.
But we were still runningcasting.
(04:45):
So I made a mold off of it andI think we poured I don't know
if it was three or fivepropellers and then, um, thick
brinkman, we, uh, fair lane tooldid the boring on them.
And uh, thick brinkman in umgrass lake, michigan, who I have
a relationship with today inthe outboards, he had a
(05:06):
propeller business and he didthe finish work on them and we
ran those propellers for thefirst.
You know that that year that Iwas with harvey and they ran.
They ran really well andeverything was good.
But jim was unbelievably a hardworker.
You, he didn't have thesponsorship dollars, he couldn't
(05:26):
afford a lot of technicalpeople, but Jim worked for a lot
of people.
So in his own rights he was verytechnical and he knew things
and he worked so hard on his ownpersonal programs trying to get
everything right and make itthe best piece of equipment that
he could.
And a guy like that you you haveto admire and you have to
(05:48):
support, and I was grateful thathe gave me the opportunity to
drive.
And then when he, you know,there at the end, when he
decided to step, you know, moveaway from Steve David and he
called me, it put a big smile onmy face that he would call me
back up to help him, come in and, you know, be part of his
(06:09):
program again and, um, so we'vealways had a great relationship
and, um, and even this lastweekend he, you know, he, uh,
sue Weber was there in Madisonand uh, uh, two of them, you
know, were together and I askedhow Jim was doing.
And you know you lose dailycontact with people and I
(06:33):
haven't seen Jim in a long timebut I still inquire and ask
about him, of how he's doing.
Uh, great respect for thegentleman.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Well it's.
It's fun to hear you go intothat nostalgia lane about all
those names and revisit thosenames.
It's fun to hear youradmiration for those people.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
You know, in our sport I've came in contact with
a tremendous amount of peoplethrough sponsorship fans, the
racing community and I don'tknow of one bad person in the
sport really a bad person.
Everybody is genuine andthey're very you know.
(07:14):
They're in boat racing becausethey love it and they have a
passion for it.
And I still see that today,even though I only go to maybe
one race a year with my son.
But that one race a year youcan still see that love, that
passion, the emotion that itbrings for people and it's just
(07:35):
super cool.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, everyone I talk to aboutthe sport always say family,
it's just, it feels like anextended family, right, all the
people care for each other andtake care of each other yeah
well, the majority of yourcareer well, I guess all of your
career you're racing againstthe budweiser, but I always felt
like you were the big name,trying to duke it out with them
(07:59):
for those years in the 90s.
Do you have a favorite story ormemory racing against the
budweiser?
Is there one time you got theirnumber and it just stands out
above the rest?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
you know, when we beat them, we usually beat them
really good tri-cities.
One year we won every, everyheat.
We were the fastest qualifier.
You know it was super.
One year that you know sticksout when we almost won the
championship we had.
We were fast in Hawaii and wewere hoping to draw him, hoping
to draw him, and we only got todraw him on one elimination heat
(08:36):
and in the final we beat himboth times and um, and the one
heat me and Chip were having asuper race.
He was on the inside and I wason the outside and he got away
from me going into three andfour one time and then I creeped
back up on him and then, goingback into one and two, he lost
it going in and I actually movedright.
I saw the response come up andI moved right and when he came
(09:00):
down we almost hit and that'sdown enough.
That gave me enough edge to getthem and and beat them by maybe
three boat lengths or so at thefinish.
And you know, I think we lostthe championship that year by I
don't remember if it was 30 or40 points or something like that
.
Really really tight racing andum, um.
You know, even though we didn'twin the championship, that year
(09:24):
was a fun year.
It was almost like we won thechampionship internally because
we were always the underdog tothem.
They had the biggest budget,they had the name Bernie, always
had all the great drivers.
I loved my position.
I thrived on trying to beatthem and I loved my position.
(09:46):
I thrived on trying to beatthem and our team.
When we did beat them, it wasvery gratifying.
It was very rewarding to all ofus.
No-transcript.
I won a bunch of races, likeother people.
They'll walk and ship and stuff, yeah, sometimes.
(10:07):
But no, I'm pretty.
I'm really content with what Idid within the sport.
I think I was a good ambassador.
I drove hard, I respected myfellow racers, I had a
tremendous amount of fun and Ithink I came through the best
eras of unlimited racing.
I raced against Cropfield, theEath, hanauer, phil Walk, the
(10:30):
Evans brothers.
You know, steve, david.
I mean the fields back thenwere.
You know they were stacked,they were good drivers and you
know fairly good equipment.
Mike, hanson, mike doesn't getas much credit as a driver back
then but, Mike built the boat,worked on the boat crew, chiefed
the boat, drove the boat andand now Mike gets more
(10:54):
recognition as being a teammanager than anything but he's
he was a good driver.
You know.
I had great races with him attimes and um, just the people
back in the sport.
You know, I feel that that wasthe heyday of unlimited racing.
I would ever love to see it getback there again someday.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Well, as a fan and someone from a different
perspective I would totallyagree.
I was a kid growing up in thenineties and I just remember, uh
, all the boats that would showup to the events, how many
events there were, all themerchandising trucks that were
lighting the beaches.
It was a really fun era towatch.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
as a fan, I told Wilmer one time, when you talk
about the souvenirs and all thetrucks, well, back then when we
were smoking, joe and Winston,we had the 53-footer that races.
Okay, we had two trucks, twoboats, boats, we had two
concession vehicles.
And one time at an event orsomewhere, I said to woomer I
(11:57):
made the comment not to steve,but publicly.
I said well, we're like thecircus.
We come in with our six, sevenrigs just us, circus.
We come in with our six, sevenrigs, just us.
We set up our tents and and andput on our show, we pack it up
and go off to the next city.
And steve boomer said don'tever refer to my race program as
(12:18):
a goddamn circus.
He goes, he goes, he.
He kind of ripped me on thatone a little bit and I looked at
him.
I said yeah, you're right, I'msorry about that, steve.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
But when?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
you think about it.
You know all racing events arelike that, you know, but we
don't come in like car racing toa track.
You know we're coming into acity, we're coming into a, a an
event, that they have to makechanges for us to come in and
(12:54):
and be able to put a race on.
So a lot of great memories.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Oh, definitely, definitely.
Well, I would have to ask moreabout Andrew.
Come full circle Now.
You're the father, you'reseeing his racing career and
before we did this interview Iwas thinking back.
I thought about getting intooutboard racing 20-something
years ago and I remember goingto Moses Lake with my father,
(13:22):
roger, and you were there.
Andrew was racing outboard someclass there at the event and
you made the comment that watchout for this kid.
In a couple of years he's goingto make a name for himself, and
you were right.
He's a great racer.
What has this meant to you towatch Andrew have such success
(13:46):
over the years?
Speaker 2 (13:49):
You know it's gratifying, it's rewarding to me
and his mom and even hisbrother.
You know Andrew got anopportunity through the English
family from stock outboardracing.
He did very well.
I think someday he still wantsto win that sea hydro title.
(14:10):
We had five seconds in seahydro um when we were, when he
was racing outboards, um.
But uh, he got the inboard dealwith Englishes and kind of
proved himself, went into theGrand Prix and got opportunities
there and and um.
And then mike and laurie jonesI've known mike and laurie a
(14:31):
long long time and they showedup at mojus lake.
We were there for the nationalsand I think andrew won three
events there, maybe four umevents at that a year, but
anyhow, um, um.
But anyhow, joneses and JeffCampbell asked to talk to Andrew
and they asked me the questionand I said well, you're asking
(14:53):
the wrong guy.
I said he's the one you want totalk to.
I said you don't need mypermission to talk to him and I
out of respect Mike Jones, youknow, tremendous Thank you, you
know, for that respect.
But they talked to Andrew there, found out what his interest
would be and they said maybenext year we can get you in the
boat and get you qualified anddo this and do that.
(15:14):
And then all of a sudden, liddycoat, uh, decided not to race
and they hired andrew and um anduh, what a great way to come
into the sport.
A very good piece of equipment,the Campbell brothers with a
tremendous amount of knowledgeand Mike and Lori you know no
(15:35):
pressure situations and he camein, he adapted, he did extremely
well and couldn't be prouder ofhim and I think the same thing.
I think he got in there and helistened, he learned and I think
he still even today.
He's learned a lot from MikeHanson and you know he's
(15:57):
accepted all this stuff verygraciously.
He's got the right mindset, hetreats people tremendously.
We couldn't be prouder of himand it's very rewarding, you
know, down there in Madison youknow super rewarding sitting
there watching your son win anevent and pretty cool, and you
(16:18):
always want to see your childsucceed and do better in life
than you.
And I think that that's a goalof every parent to pass on your
knowledge to your children sothat they don't make the same
mistakes or fall in the wrongpit holes of life and that they
(16:39):
succeed and become better thanyou.
And Andrew's accomplished thatin life, and so was Brent.
You know, brent, brent, they'retwo different people.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
And um, but I'm proud of both of them and and in many
ways, yeah, it's just so fun tosee or watch Andrew's career
take off.
Uh, and he's.
He's always been so nice to myson when he sees him at the
races and says hello and takestime, uh, which is just great.
But one stat that I think ispretty cool and I went back to
the record books and I checkedyou're the only father and son
combo to have won the apva goldcup and you talk about winning
(17:18):
all these titles and stuff, butI just think that's got to be
such a great accomplishment toshare with your son you know it
is.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
But I I don't look at things like that.
You know that's anaccomplishment that I won the
gold cup.
He won the gold cup.
Yeah, we're the only father sonto do that.
We're the only father son torun over 170.
Those are good marketing toolsfor the sport maybe, but
personally it's it's it'ssomething I would never bring up
(17:49):
or talk about.
You know it's it's uh, uh.
You know I'd rather bring upthings about Andrew.
You know, this weekend, youknow he, he banged two great
starts and had a fuel controlissue in another one and and him
banging starts like that, thatthat that's really rewarding to
see that him and Jimmy arestarting to develop their
(18:10):
starting program and becomingbetter at it, those are the
rewarding things that make mesmile.
And and seeing him stillgrowing, still progressing,
still learning and you know it'sit's he's I feel he's very
(18:31):
deserving of everything, ofwhere he's at in life and any
any shows that appreciation youknow it's he's doesn't step out
of that window and very proud.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yeah Well, just thinking about my son watching
him do things, I get kind offearful sometimes.
My son watched him do things.
I get kind of fearful sometimes, and Andrew does such a great
job of floating the boat andgetting the most out of his
equipment.
I have to ask you this questionIs it scarier to watch him race
or was it scarier for you to be?
Speaker 2 (19:06):
in the seat and be doing that yourself.
I think there's nerves each way.
When I was racing you know nowwatching him race I guess at
first, when he first starteddriving Unlimiteds, I was more
nervous than I am today.
Today I have theself-confidence in him, the
(19:30):
personal confidence in him, thatwhen he's driving the boat he's
always in control.
Um, when he first started andwas flying the boat a little bit
, I I was a little nervous aboutit.
But you know, when you watchthat one 70 run down there in uh
Guntersville, he'd come off thepit turn and he kept the wing
(19:50):
down and as he was coming to thestart finish line, the sponsor
raised and it hung there for awhile but then all of a sudden
it started to take off again.
He got to the start finish lineand he backed off and dropped
her down.
I told him I said another 25yards, you'd have probably wore
that thing.
I said it was good that thestarting line was where it was
and he goes.
No, he goes, I'm bringing itdown.
(20:11):
And I said okay, okay, good,it's things like that as a
father, having that, you know,the knowledge and the feel for
the boats and driving them, thatwe can have that little bit of
conversation and when he comesback and gives you that type of
answer, that's a confidentbuilder that you don't have to
be nervous for him.
(20:33):
And yeah, he flies the boat.
I think he drives the same wayI do.
He drives hard but he gets themost out of the boat and he's
not overflying the boat.
I think that you can overflythe boats and the boats will run
slower because you're pushingair.
You're not pushing forward atthat point and we've gone over
(20:55):
that and talked about thosethings a lot of you know.
Yeah, you want to keep the boatoff the water, but yeah, you
want to keep it on the waterbecause the propeller's hooked
up at that point.
Pushing it, it's not trying topush it upward, you're not
pushing air.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Right, right.
Well, what?
What's been the biggest adviceor tip you've given Andrew,
either when he started or overthe years, like, is there one
thing that you think stood outof the rest?
No, or does he even listen toyour advice?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
You know, I think he listens but I'm not one to take
advice to him.
It's it's if he's got a questionor wants to ask something, you
know he'll call me.
You know, if I'm not at therace, he'll call me and he knows
I'm watching and I can seecertain things on the tv and I
give him my opinion.
And then it's his focus, hisdirection of of how to utilize
(21:49):
that information or not utilizethat information, focus, his
direction of of how to utilizethat information or not utilize
that information.
Um, I'm not one out there.
It's like this weekend.
I I saw Mike Hanson early in theweek and said hi and nice.
And Sunday I walked up to himand congratulate him before I
left and Mike apologized hey, wenever got together, we don't
talk and this and that.
(22:10):
And I said, mike, if you wantto talk, we can talk on the
phone.
I said you're here doing a job,andrew's here doing a job.
I stay away.
This is not my place.
It's my place to support it, myplace to watch it, my place to
give out the congratulationswhen in time being.
And I said, mike, we'll alwaysbe friends and we're always
(22:30):
there for each other.
And I said I don't need to bugyou at the races, I don't need
to bug Andrew.
And Mike says man, he goes, mark, he goes, you've always got it,
he goes, you've always gottenit and he goes.
And I appreciate that very,very much and I walked away.
Then I went and congratulatedAndrew and then from there I
went up to our motor home andpacked it up and we left town.
(22:50):
So Well fun.
Yeah, he knows we're very proudof him and he knows that I
would be there for support inany way, whatever he might need.
But it's far and few betweenyou know he's at the level now
(23:15):
where he really diagnosed thingswell and can communicate with
his team and I think they do agood job, you know, of setting
up the boat and communicatingand he drives it to the, I think
, to the best of what they haveto offer that given day or given
race.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Well, he's definitely made a big impact on the sport.
It's been fun to watch and Ihad a lot of fun watching you in
the 90s because you made a hugeimpact as well.
Thank you, but reallyappreciate your time, mark.
It's been fun walking down anostalgic lane with you and
talking through your career andhopefully we'll see you at a
(23:53):
race sometime soon.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Probably be next year .
Speaker 1 (23:57):
All right.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Back out West next year.
Things.
Andrew continues on and races,but I can't make Tri-Citizens in
Seattle this year.
It's a stock outboard nationalsthat weekend between them too,
and I'll be there with Brentsupporting him a hundred percent
.
But I'll be uh, I'll be lookingat the live streams and
following Andrew and and seeinghow the team is progressing and
(24:21):
how they're doing.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Excellent, excellent.
Well, love to hear that you'rethere supporting Brent in his
racing career as well.
And again, thank you for yourtime.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Appreciate it, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Well, once again, that's all the time we have for
this week, knuckleheads.
I really appreciate all thetime that Mark spent talking
with me about his career and hisfamily's legacy of racing.
It really shows how proud of afather he is of both Brent and
Andrew, and just what a greatfamily for racing.
Well, we just finished anotherColumbia Cup and Gold Cup.
(24:55):
I had a great time over inTri-Cities, as always, and
really looking forward to agreat race at Seattle.
We've got Unlimiteds back on thewater in Lake Washington.
We've got GPs back here atSeafair for the first time in a
number of years.
The Vintage Boats JimmyJohnson's going to make an
appearance.
Should be a fun weekend.
(25:16):
Hopefully I'll see you downthere and if you do see me,
please say hi and spend a minuteto talk about hydros.
But until then, don't forget tocheck us out online at our
website, rucheteltalkcom.
We're also on social mediaFacebook and Instagram and if
(25:39):
you're not a member of RuchetelTalk Plus, you can still become
a member today and you'reeligible to get the 10 card
trading card set that I made forthis year's racing, as well as
many other features on ourwebsite that are only for
Richard Tell Talk Plussubscribers and many other
features, including a monthlyraffle, drawing for a prize and
early access to all new episodes.
That's all I have for this week.
(26:01):
I'm looking forward to havinganother great interview out for
you next week and until then, Ihope to see you at the races.
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