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Anyone Remember the Airboat Round & Round Races Late 197

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Dave1

Active member
I was just curious if anyone here remembers the airboat races of the late 1970's and early 1980's when the races were run on an oval track? There was trick to getting one of those tiny high powered boats to go around a curve at high speed.

I remember Paul Dixon, Ivan Gibson, Bud Bell, Allan Gaffney, Raymond Wooten, David Ford, Barry Baldino, Gary Thurman, and others. There are many photos of those races around somewhere. The original Orange County Airboat club had many of those race photos at one time.

Dave1
 
Never saw them, but I DO remember the styrofoam dixie cup frog giggin championships on Sarno Marsh ! LOL

Gene Dinkins tore em up big time !

Scotty :lol:
 
Out at the stick marsh off CR 512 at the boat launch there is oval shaped canal, its real obvious from google earth, I was wondering if it was one a race track.
 
This is my dads old racer from back in the day. He sold it to some guys years ago and I now have it. I have some pictures of it in action I will have to scan. He said this thing was a handful with a hi compression 200 on it.


ebay_108.jpg
 
Hey Mike did you ever get back your Dads other straight line race boat from back in the day ? I think I remember something posted on this website that it was located and the guy might want to sell it ?

Rob
 
Hey Dave, Paul Dixon's got a lot of those pictures of those races and probably some videos somewhere if we could find them. Guess I am bragging on him but back in those days he was the king of roundy round. He was hard to beat,just his kind of race.He said to tell you he sure does miss those kind of races.Really had to put your thinking cap on when you ran those. A lot of them were raced up in Mascott at Don Pierce's place.Good ole days.!! Carol
 
I remember the Mascotte races when I was a kid. Also remember races in either Cocoa or Melbourne beside the road somewhere...just can't remember exactly where.

Carol, if Paul's coming to the swap meet this year, I'd be glad to bring a scanner with my laptop so we could get a bunch of them old racing pics posted.

Rick
 
Back in the old days there were quite a few round and round race tracks around. Round and round racing was very popular and very exciting for all involved. The wrecks were frequent, spectacular, and sometimes deadly.

I remember round and round race tracks at Mascotte, two tracks in Okeechobee (Buckhead Ridge and Brahman), one at West Palm (Boys Ranch I think), one at Holiday Park, one at Miami/Tamiami, one in Naples, one at a levee way out on the Tamiami Trail (41?), Bergeron's track, and one track at Orlando/Bithlo. Some of those races were filmed and appeared on national TV in the program "Thrill Seekers". The Saturday night parties were great, but crimson was spilled there also. Divorces were popular. Rivalries were alive and well. Boys will be boys.

Seems like only yesterday.

Dave
 
my uncle was probly the king of his class 0290 running a square nose panther. my dad has a race program from some of those round trac days ill try to upload some of the pics my uncle is DALE KRELL some of yall may know him.
 
Chad, Paul knows your uncle Dale VERY well.He used to be Paul's shop foreman at Panther Airboats when Paul was running Panther.Very fine man I might say.!! We keep in touch with him all the time.He took myself and my son's fishing last year and it was my first time deep sea fishing and I had a ball.He really knows how to put fish in the boat.Going again this April with him.Of course being a first timer at outside fishing I think I kept him in stiches the whole time.Had a great time.And he was as well a great racer.Paul said all you guys talking about this sure brings up some good memories.
 
Rick, Paul is coming to the swap meet and I will dig out some of those photos so he can bring them.He said howdy and thanks he will see you there.Carol
 
I too remember Dale and his yellow Panther race boat, and Allan Gaffney in another yellow Panther race boat. Both were very good racers as was Panther Airboat Co. owner then, Bud Bell.

Dave
 
Here's a few pics from Paul Dixon's archives.

Carol, tell Paul I said thanks and I'll get that old picture album back to him soon.

Operation_Airboat_III_017.jpg

Paul_Dixon.jpg

Paul_Dixon_013.jpg

Paul-Dixon-009-2.jpg


Rick
 
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