By Stephen Sheppard
Reprinted from Facebook
This is more than a bit embarrassing. For some reason, the calendar on my computer showed John's birthday as being today. It appears that his "real" birthday is January 27 as indicated by Jim Labrie. Anyway, the sentiment is the same...and your comments will apply on his for "real" day.
It is time once again to observe a Hydro History Birthday. Today, we celebrate the 68th birthday of John Walters. John has been described as the quintessential "utility man" of boat racing, having been a boat racer, boat builder, engine specialist, crew chief, television color man, and race official.
John was born on January 22, 1953 at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane. His father was stationed at the Strategic Air Command Base with the Air Force at the time (and it was where his Dad met his Mother). In his early years, the family lived on the Spokane’s South Hill, where John attended Lincoln Heights Elementary.
John’s first exposure to boat racing came when he was seven or eight years old. The story goes that he had attended outboard races in the Spokane area and had become quite interested in the action. He saw his first unlimited race at the Diamond Cup in Coeur d’Alene at age 10 (1963) and on the way home, told his parents that driving one of the big boats was what he wanted to do when he grew up.
Rather than let that dream fade away, John became focused on meeting his goal. He immediately began to save his money from mowing lawns, washing dogs, and redeeming deposit pop bottles to go towards the cause. Seeing his effort, John’s father offered to match him dollar for dollar. He gradually put the money he earned towards racing equipment, and it wasn’t long before he was able to purchase a used A-Stock hydro. Since he wasn’t old enough to race in that class, they put a J-Stock engine on it.
By the time John got the boat (around age eleven), his Dad had left the Air Force and had gone to work as an electrician. He and the family were living in Lynwood north of Seattle. To practice racing, John and his Dad would take the boat to nearby Lake Stickney. They had made a deal that John would practice driving the boat for a year before actually racing it, so he used the time on Lake Stickney to learn the characteristics of the boat and how to drive in various conditions.
John’s first competition was in the aforementioned J-Stock. At the time, it seemed that there was a race nearly every week, so he had plenty of opportunities to improve his performance. He eventually moved up to A-Stock and then B-Stock with the same hull.
It was about that time that the family relocated to Ohio to be closer to John’s paternal grandparents near Columbus. He transitioned from Region 10 to Region 6, racing in Ohio Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Michigan. The increased cost of travel slowed down his participation, but he continued to gain valuable experience. In addition to the B-Stock class, he had the opportunity to try runabouts and flat bottom boats as well.
Eventually, John graduated to racing inboards, starting out in the 145 cu.in. class. His first was a Ron Jones copy that had been raced in the Cincinnati area and which had raced under the name Little Joe. It had been wrecked in competition, and John restored it to racing trim.
Jon raced the 145 and several classes of inboards well into the 1970s. During that time, he was mentored by unlimited great Bill Muncey, who gave him coaching points that would later prove invaluable when he began racing the big boats himself.
One afternoon in 1974, John called Ron Jones Marine Engineering in Costa Mesa, California and explained to Rod his need for frame drawings of the 145-Class boat design used in building the Little Joe. Jones was at first reluctant to share the drawings, but eventually relented and sent the designs. In the process, he offered John a job at his shop in California. At the time, the boat shop was overwhelmed with orders for new boats, and he needed help reducing the load.
John accepted the offer, and he, his wife Arlene, and two children (Katrina and Maciva) moved west in their 1962 Ford Econoline, towing the family’s ’67 Mustang GT behind them.
When John reported to work in California, he found that there were four Unlimiteds under construction -- the Walther family’s Country Boy, George Simon’s Miss U.S., Bob Fendler’s Lincoln Thrift, the Valu-Mart, and John Leach’s Buccaneer 7-liter.
After the accident that killed Skip Walther in Miami, John was given the assignment to put Jim McCormick’s U-81 Red Man back together. He did a creditable job, and following the rebuild he was hired by the Red Man Crew Chief Larry Crisp to be the hull specialist for the U-81, This required that John and the family relocate to Owensboro, Kentucky to be near the McCormick boat shop. He joined the team in time to be with them for the Sand Point APBA Gold Cup race.
Three races later at the San Diego Cup race, John got his first opportunity to drive an unlimited. He took the Red Man for a couple of laps of testing and officially met his goal of driving an unlimited, albeit not yet in competition.
After the 1974 season, McCormick was offered the job of driving the Pay ‘n Pak. For the most part, that put his involvement with the Red Man team on hold. John agreed to take on the job of re-configuring the U-81 with a rear cockpit. It was then that he moved his young family to Owensboro, since they had not come east with him for the ‘74 season.
John essentially worked on the hull modification without much help. It took time, but he was able to successfully able to finish the job prior to the ’75 season. The reconfigured hull emerged with a new look and and a new name -- Owensboro’s Own.
With the U-81 project complete, John loaded up his family again and this time headed back west. They eventually landed near Lake Mead where for a time, where John built and repaired boats. It was there that Bob Espland contacted him about helping construct and outfit a Staudacher kit boat for Detroit’s Jerry Kalen, which would bring John back to the Unlimiteds. He accepted the job, and boat owner Kalen arranged to move the family northwest to Seattle. John was eventually offered the job as crew chief of the boat, but turned it down when it required moving to Detroit.
The decision to stay put in Seattle resulted in a John taking a job working in Don Kelson’s boat shop building boats and testing them. That led to John first working part time and then moving to full-time in Jim Lucero’s shop where he acted as hull specialist for Bill Munceys “Blue Blaster” Atlas Van Lines. [Note: According to a recent interview in the Unlimited Newsjournal, John’s replacement at the Kelson shop turned out to be my good friend and former Kelson boat owner, Bob Bolam.] Because Muncey lived most of the year in San Diego, John was given the opportunity to drive the Atlas in test runs on Lake Washington when Muncey wasn’t available, thereby increasing his seat time.
In 1980, Lucero began the build of the Pay ‘n Pak turbine hull for David Heerensperger. Before starting, he approached John and asked him to be part of the project. John reportedly signed on without hesitation, thinking he was just being hired to help build the hull and prepare it for racing.
During that time, John continued to race in the limited ranks, including driving Mike Jones’ The Ragged Edge, a Ron Jones cabover 280-class hydro. The story goes that on one such occasion, he was racing on Green Lake when Dave Heerensperger was in attendance. That day, John drove boats in seven different classes, taking first place in five of them, and his efforts were said to have left an impression on Heerensperger. When the time came to announce the driver for the Turbine Pak, he chose John.
From what I could find, the christening and first testing of the Pak turbine came on Thursday, July 24, 1980 on Lake Washington, just a few days before the Columbia Cup in the Tri-Cities. The boat's performance was successful enough to warrant an attempt to race that weekend with the hull, so it was trucked east.
On Sunday morning, John was getting some last-minute practice time in the new boat, working on the timing marks for his starts before the race started. The team and boat had arrived late and John was anxious to get a feel for the boat before having to race. He had qualified the U-25 at 123.796 mph fresh off the trailer.
In the midst of the practice run, John was traveling an estimated 170 mph on the front stretch of the course when the bow of the boat bounced slightly on the wake of a patrol boat that had crossed from the tower to the infield. The bow then began to slowly lift off the water, sending the hull sky-ward and into a 2.5 revolution reverse somersault before landing nose first.
The sponson’s sudden contact with the water popped John loose from the cockpit, and the Pak reportedly flew right over the top of him, landing hard again on its transom, spinning the hull around and to a stop in a huge spray of water.
“I don’t remember hitting the water or coming out of the boat,” Walters later said. “But I do remember the water was cold, and I knew that I was supposed to raise my hands above my head if I was OK. When I did that, I remember a huge roar from the fans. I was hurting, but that made me feel great.”
John then tried to swim in the direction of a rapidly approaching rescue boat, but quickly realized that this was a serious mistake. He had suffered a fractured hip socket and had suffered sprains to his left knee, elbow, and shoulder. It took nearly a year for him to recover as he underwent a period of convalescence and physical therapy for his various injuries.
The damage to the turbine hull was extensive, and the accident proved to be season-ender for the team. John and the boat were reunited for testing in February, and the team tested the boat numerous times in an effort to have it running well enough for the first race of the season at Miami.
The team did not win a race in ’81, but John did score a second place in the opening race at Miami and ended the season with second and third place finishes. In between, the best the boat could muster was a fifth place at Madison. It wasn’t from lack of effort. To try to become more successful, each race resulted in small changes to the boat to improve its performance, but there still was not enough consistency to bring forth a win. At any rate, John did well enough to be named co-rookie of the year with Scotty Pierce for the season.
During the off season, further changes were made to the sponsons in an attempt to calm the boat’s handling characteristics. The team also made changes to propeller design that proved to further unruffle the ride. John also came into the new ’82 season with a better understanding of how to drive the boat in various conditions.
John and the U-25 tied with Dean Chenoweth and Miss Budweiser at the top of the qualifying ladder at the first race in Miami with an average speed of 126.050 mph, so there was reason for optimism that the new season would produce better results.
That optimism was further fed by the Pak’s performance in the first section of racing. The Bud had dropped out before the start with a broken rod, leaving John and Chip Hanauer in the Atlas to face off. The Pak grabbed the lead early and set a new course record with an average of 117.995 mph for the ten-mile heat, nearly 9.5 miles per hour faster than the previous mark.
The win was costly, however. The Pak suffered hull damage which could not be repaired in time to make the start for Heat 2, resulting in no points. As the boats were scoring up for the start, Hanauer and the Atlas crossed directly in front of the Pak as John began his charge to the start line, wetting down the turbine with salt water. The engine sputtered to a stop, but John was able to get it up and going again. It went dead a second time a short while later. The result was a DNF and a fifth-place finish overall out of six entries.
At the Syracuse “Thunder in the Park” race on Seneca Lake, John and the U-25 again qualified at the top of the ladder, covering the 2.5-mile course at blistering 132.964 mph. The race was delayed until Monday due to poor weather conditions, and rough water conditions were again an issue when racing got underway.
The race program was shortened so that there were technically two first heats. In the first First Heat, Chenoweth and the Bud grabbed a quick lead at the start and led wire-to-wire for the win. John and the Pak trailed until the late stages of Lap 3, when the U-25 seemed to find a new gear, making things a little more interesting by posting the fastest lap of the heat at 119.500 mph and closing the gap considerably.
The second First Heat resembled a modification one of rowing’s "repechage" contests. Since only seven boats had entered the Syracuse race, officials decided to determine who would be in the six-boat Third Heat by matching the two worst performers in the first First Heat against the two boats deemed ineligible to race race in the first section. Rich Plan Food Service, which failed to finish, and Squire Shop, which placed fourth, took on the bench warmers, Miss Rock and Miss KYYX. Both Miss Rock and KYYX then failed to finish. As it turned out, KYYX was the only boat not to make the Third Heat field.
Things got messy as the boats scored up for the final. The three hot boats, the Bud, the Pak, and the Atlas all circled around the first turn buoys and then crossed the infield several times trying to secure Lane 1. The three then broke that game of strategy off and moved up the backstretch and began circling again. Hanauer and the Atlas finally nailed down Lane 1 and John was forced out to Lane 3 for the start.
The Pak out accelerated the rest of the field across the start line and reached the first turn with a three-boat length advantage over the Bud. That allowed John to make a legal lane change, and he eased over one slot and into Lane 2. Chenoweth and the Bud, to escape getting wet, slid over into Lane 1, but Dean didn’t consider the fact that Hanauer and the Atlas were already there. The illegal lane change cost the Bud a one lap penalty.
Not aware of the penalty, Chenoweth gave chase after the John and Pak, catching them a little less than half-way up the back side. The Bud’s lead suddenly evaporated when it popped and blew white smoke out of its exhaust stacks. It kept on going, and the two would go deck-to-deck for three laps before the Pak began to pull away with a fast lap of 124.783. The Bud’s engine finally expired at the four and a half-lap mark, the Atlas had left the course with damage to its cowling and the left vertical support for the horizontal stabilizer, and the Squire went dead on its fourth lap. The only boat left to challenge John and the Pak was Miss Madison, which was slogging along at 88 mph in a distant second position.
History had been made, however. John Walters had driven the Pay ‘n Pak to its first victory, beginning what would be the the turbine era of Unlimited racing.
John and the Pak would struggle in the next two races they entered in Detroit and the Tri-Cities, finishing sixth and fifth respectively. There would be no successful rebound this time, however. The end of John’s driving career came in Heat 1-B of the Sea Galley Emerald Cup (Seafair) race on Lake Washington when he was involved in a collision with George Johnson and the Executone.
Johnson had slotted the Executone in the far outside after the start. As he started the slide through the south turn, Johnson hit a deep hole and then swerved hard left while rising up on the boat’s right sponson. [There was conjecture that the boat's rudder let go.]
With the sudden leftward whip action by the Executone, Tom D’Eath found himself suddenly heading broadside into the careening boat with the Squire Shop. He rapidly decelerated and simultaneously turned the Squire sharply to the left. Meanwhile, the Executone had settled back onto the water, but instead of slowing, the boat again hooked hard to the left towards the infield. D’Eath once again made an evasive move to his left with the Squire, but was unable to avoid colliding with the Executone this time.
Behind the two came a hard-charging John Walters and Pay 'n Pak. Walters had started late and was trailing the field into the turn. Perhaps blinded by the spray sent up by the dicing around and collision of the two boats, an unsuspecting Walters zoomed the Pak into the wreckage in front of him. Unable to avoid a collision with the Executone, John made his own hard left turn while running up onto and over the crippled boat’s left side. The Pak went airborne after contact, made a 360-degree spin in the air, and then slammed back down on the still moving Executone.
As the Pak violently bounced onto the water’s surface, John was tossed from the Pak’s cockpit, suffering serious injury. Pulled from the water, he was taken to Harbor View Hospital where the attending trauma team placed him on a ventilator when he struggled to breathe on his own because of the water that had invaded his lungs.
Emergency surgery was done to repair three spinal fractures. John also received treatment for a broken leg, a broken right elbow, a bruised lung, three broken bones in his cheek, a concussion (a diagnosis that was later amended to several severe frontal lobe contusions), and damage to his left eye. Following the surgery, he was placed in the intensive care unit in serious condition.
Johnson suffered a leg laceration as he was tossed up and partially over the windshield. D’Eath escaped the fracas uninjured.
John spent an extended period of time in and out of the hospital over the course of roughly seven months. He underwent extensive physical therapy and was supported through it all by Pak-owner Dave Heerensperger.
Considering the extent of his injuries, John could very well have easily chosen to walk away from the sport, but he did not. He was offered a management position with Heerensperger’s Pay ‘n Pak stores and tried it for a time, but realized that he wasn’t ready to leave boat racing behind. In 1983, he accepted an opportunity to provide color commentary for KIRO-TV’s coverage of the Seafair race, teaming with legendart sports caster Wayne Cody to share his knowledge of the sport.
In 1986, John resumed a more direct involvement with the unlimiteds when he took over Jim Lucero’s position as crew chief of Fran Muncey’s Miller American. He served in the same capacity or as a crew member with Bill Wurster’s Mr. Pringles and LLumar Window Filmboats, Bob Fendler and Jerry Rise’s Appian Jeronimo, Bill and Jane Schumacher’s Miss Beacon Plumbing, the Webster’s U-22, and Greg O’Farrell’s U-21 Go Fast Turn Left team. In each case, John brought strong leadership and a new level of success to each team.
During those years, John's career was quite "golden." He won an APBA Gold Cup as a crew member for Fran Muncey’s Miller American and two more as crew chief for her in 1986 and 1987. He had already been part of three Gold Cup wins with Bill Muncey’s Atlas Van Lines in 1977, 1978, and 1979, and would add another win as crew chief of Jane and Bill Schumacher’s Miss Beacon Plumbing in 2006.
In 2015, John was hired by Chairman Steve David as a tech inspector for the Tri-Cities Gold Cup for H1, adding race official to his long and distinguished boat racing resume. Ultimately, John has traveled well beyond his goal of driving an Unlimited, and has engaged fully in every aspect of the boat racing community. In my eyes, he is a true legend of the sport.
Happy 68th Birthday to my friend, John Walters. I hope I got your story at least partially right. I am honored to have met you and to be able to call you a friend.
