Roostertail Talk

Episode 117: Steve David

• David Newton • Season 6 • Episode 5

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Join us on this episode of Roostertail Talk as we sit down with the legendary hydroplane racer Steve David, who takes us on a nostalgic journey through his storied career. From his early days in South Florida filled with limited resources but boundless passion, to his encounters with racing legends like Bill Muncy and Dean Chenoweth, Steve opens up about the life lessons racing imparted on him. Discover how the sport instilled a profound sense of focus and discipline in Steve, which propelled him to the Unlimited ranks in 1988 and beyond. His anecdotes offer a fascinating glimpse into the exhilarating world of hydroplane racing.

Steve also shares the emotional and strategic milestones of his career, including his retirement in 2013 and the meticulous process of finding a new driver to keep his team competitive. We delve into his role as chairman of H1, where he has worked tirelessly to stabilize the organization while balancing his responsibilities with his real estate company. From winning races in iconic locations like Seattle and Detroit to maintaining strong relationships with race sites and fans, Steve's insights highlight the importance of these connections for the sport's sustainability and growth. Don’t miss this episode filled with rich reflections and captivating stories from one of hydroplane racing's most beloved figures.

*Photo by Digital Roostertails

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Speaker 1:

Ruchetel Talk, the podcast dedicated to everything about the sport that we all love. Hi, drifblin Reese, I am your host, david Newton, and it's time once again. So sit back, relax and welcome to Rooster Tail Talk. Welcome back, listeners. It's episode 117, and I know we've taken a little bit of time off of the podcast since our last episode. Don't worry, I got some more content coming out. We'll be getting quite a few more episodes out this June because it's almost summer. Summer's almost here and I've been really busy in my own personal life with teaching, getting geared up to end the season of teaching and get ready for summer. But I've also been busy in my own personal life with racing, rc boats with my son and just everything in between. But we're back. It's episode 117.

Speaker 1:

And today's guest doesn't really need much of an introduction at all. You all know him, you all love him Steve David, legendary hydroclinic racer who's done so much for the sport, did so much for racing, did so much for the city of Madison, indiana, that he's really just a fan favorite still, even though he hasn't raced for a few years. But I had the chance to talk with Steve David via Zoom from his home in Florida. Unfortunately at the time I didn't quite hear the background noise. I think one of us was watering our lawns at the time, so please forgive any background noise you hear in the episode. It's still a great episode. He goes through his life and hydroplane racing and it was a fun opportunity.

Speaker 1:

I got some questions from you, the listeners, and I got some of those out to Steve and you'll hear him talk through his answers to those, because you asked some great questions. I really appreciate hearing from you, the fans, and getting some content that you want. It was a busy time for Steve as well. It's a little bit of time constraint so it's a shorter episode, but he still got through your questions and I hope you just enjoy my chat with Steve David joining us today on the podcast. I'm talking with Steve David Joining us today on the podcast. I'm talking with Steve David. Steve David, how are you doing today?

Speaker 2:

I am doing better than I deserve. Thank you.

Speaker 1:

All right. Well, it's good to see you. I'm good to talk with you. Thank you, Appreciate you coming on the show here with me. I'd like to talk about your Unlimited Days and Racing Days and Commissioner Days, if we have time and sure I always love to ask, when they join the the show, if they had any favorite teams or drivers that they followed growing up or following the sport um, you know, I was uh, raised in south florida, so unlimited is raised at the stadium, but they really weren't the um, they weren't that big.

Speaker 2:

in south florida it was the champions park play at La Mudra Gata, so it was more seven-liters and stuff like that. So I grew up starting in the 48 class in 1969, I think, and then worked my way up to seven-liters, so the Limiteds weren't anything big. That said, I needed a cowling for my Kelson 850. And I think it was 87. And the late Bill Muncy was kind enough to bring it in his truck from Seattle and they said, hey, when you get there, just go. And I didn't know who he was, quite frankly. So just go see Bill and ask him for your cowling.

Speaker 2:

So I got up to the truck and said, hi, bill, I'm Steve, I'm here for a cowling. And he was like you know, your brother, he's like here. Don kelson gave it to me. Um, you know he was a real guy and everybody said that was bill muncy. I said pretty cool guy. As far as I'm concerned he's just a real guy. So that was really my first. And then, uh, you know, dean chanoweth had spoken at a florida inboard racing club event back when I was common or that and dean was very personable, um, a fellow as well, and and then one of our former commoners at FIRC and now I'm going to lose the name, unfortunately drove the Renault when it won the world championship, and a real nice guy. He had been president of National Electrical Contractors Association. I wish I could remember his name now.

Speaker 1:

The E Miller Irvin.

Speaker 2:

Irvin Miller. Just fantastic, a great human being. So I got to race with a lot of those folks who moved into Unlimited. But really, bill was probably the first you know actual Unlimited driver, I think OK.

Speaker 1:

Well, a list of names there to follow.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they were very, very good people. It was a great time in the sport.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, all right. Well, how did you get started into racing?

Speaker 2:

We lived on the water in Fort Lauderdale and there were six kids in the family, so not extra money for boats. So mom and dad didn't mind me having boats, but I had to learn how to build them and work on them if we were going to have a boat and in retrospect I'm glad I did, because you learn how to make them go faster with the kids that had money. And then the Marine Stadium got built by Marine Stadium, so I started racing there in the late 60s. I guess that was an organized place and mom and dad never dissuaded me from it because they, I think, were conscious enough that if you're racing your money's gone to racing. You don't have time for drugs and alcohol and stuff like that, because it's all going to go into the race boat, you know. So that was my drug.

Speaker 1:

All right. Yeah, that's something I've heard others say as well.

Speaker 2:

Keeps you clean in a lot of ways. You learn about competition early. You learn about winning and losing and how to do one with grace and the other as well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah Well, you made the jump in 88 to the unlimited ranks. How did that start out for you? It's kind of limited seats to jump to that rank my seven liter.

Speaker 2:

They were coming to St Pete to see how I ran, to determine what they needed to do for me, and we set a record on Saturday and blew the engine. I used to build my own engines. On Sunday and I fell by the name of Bill Howell, and Dick Amaker, who was head of Chevrolet racing, and Herb Fishel, who's the number one guy at Chevrolet racing, happened to be there and, unbeknownst to me, jim McCormick had someone there that was checking out drivers. So Jim called me afterwards and said would you like to drive Unlimiteds? And I was probably a little arrogant because I said well, you know, I know the one you have on my seven liter can beat your boat, so it doesn't do a lot for me. Nonetheless, I thought you know, we'll give it a shot. So Jim and Bob Fendler were kind enough to give me that opportunity.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, he drove a couple boats. He drove for for jim and bob fendler, and then you, you went over to harvey's team.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I there. I got used to being a back marker and getting lapped at every race and that kind of sucked uh. So I continued to race the seven later where I was winning and then, uh, harvey called in in 91 when Mark Tate went to the Winston and asked if I would drive for him. Of course Jim had a good reputation as a crew chief not much funding but a dedicated team and that made a heck of a difference. Going to Harvey's program, it really ramped it up. I got to work with some great crew members and Jim certainly knew the sport you know very well. You know that culminated in 93 with the wins in Texas and the wins in Hawaii with the new T plus Howard Lennison and Bruce McCall. You know financially made that possible and we are close friends to this day.

Speaker 1:

Yeah Well, you had some great years there. What was it like racing for Harvey, like, what like, because he's the owner, but he also worked on the boats and I mean he's got a lot of ins and outs.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, I mean jim, jim boat, in and out our, our crew was, you know, awesome. I mean, uh, you know, kirk taverner and tim ramsey and, uh, the late bruce, uh, just, uh, really, really talented people. So it was cool and we had our ups and downs with the team. We had years where we didn't do real well but we were racing against some very well-funded competitors, well-sponsored boats, but it was a good experience.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, I'm thinking back to the days after you were still racing for jim but you lost a t-split sponsorship, so I think money was a little bit tight, but you still you. You drove everything you could out of the boat. I recall I can't remember if it was 97 98, but in colonna, oh yeah, you didn't win, but it felt like you won because I think you beat Vilwok and you beat some of the top guys that weekend with just your driving.

Speaker 2:

That was a fun weekend.

Speaker 2:

Vilwok and I were definitely on each other's case. I remember him walking over to the dock after I had blown off his mirrors and he was all huffy, puffy. And Bob Bird, who's still alive, I believe bless his soul, bob, yeah, yeah, bob grabbed the boat pole and he was ready to whack Bill Walken in the knees and I said it's going to be fine, bob. But Uncle Bob was a great crew member as well. But Dave and I certainly had a lot of battles together and I have the highest respect for his driving skills.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, oh yeah. Well, yeah, you had a lot of great battles then and into the 2000s, but you left Harvey's team, or I'm not sure if you left or if you were asked to leave.

Speaker 2:

I was fired.

Speaker 1:

You were fired.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, 99. My dad died in 99, and it was the race of my cities. Harvey picked up a sponsor called Freddy's Club. It was a little casino in Seattle and the owners of Freddy's Club didn't think I drove the boat hard enough and Harvey said hey, I hate to ask you to go, but the guy's paying the bills. So I got to get in a driver and they bought Mark Tate in a drive for him. I sat out a year and went to work with Reggie Fountain for Fountain Powerboats, an offshore race, and we won several races with reggie. Uh, ball went offshore and then, out of nowhere, charlie grooms gave me a call yeah, yeah, yeah you.

Speaker 1:

You jumped over to to madison with that and that was a big time racing for madison, because you were an ambassador for the city right owners for that and I think you were the perfect fit for it thank you.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, madison was. Uh, it's just one of those rare things in racing where everything comes together and you know they weren't well funded, they did not have a sponsor yet per se um, but it was the right team. My dad, although he passed away, he loved the madison people you know he was raised in ohio, just 100 miles up the river Loved him.

Speaker 2:

Charlie knew my dad, as did Bob Hughes I remember when Charlie called, he said hey, it's time for you to get back in the sport. And I said I'm not sure. And Charlie said I talked to your dad and it's time. I said Charlie, my dad's dead. He got done the matter. I talked to him and Bob, bob Hughes, really welcomed me aboard and it absolutely was the right fit. The town of Madison is still very close to me.

Speaker 1:

The people there. I think of all the friends on Facebook, probably 20% of them are all Madisonians. Yeah, it's incredible the impact. I'm not surprised, but it's incredible the impact you put on the, the sport and especially with madison. I think you asked a number of fans today and I still hear your name pop up as a favorite, uh, or a popular icon in the sport.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, that's kind of you know. They like brontosauruses and tyrannosaurus rex too. So it's part of being old and having been around All right.

Speaker 1:

Well, one thing I got to mention with your time there and early in your career with Madison, I believe it was 2001,. The 30th anniversary of Madison winning the Gold Cup. They didn't have the Gold Cup in Madison, but at at the race. Uh, you were racing their, their boat and Roberto sponsorship and and you won the event, kind of as a underdog.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Can you speak to that event? I just remember that being just a thrilling win.

Speaker 2:

It was a bud, jumped the gun and, um, we were in the right place. I think we nailed the start and was in the right place to keep him behind us. I knew he was coming on strong, but the boat ran well. That was the boat that had previously been the Frosted Flakes and they had converted to turbine power. It wasn't the fastest, but it was a consistent boat, and so we used the best of what we had to put it up front, and that was a very heartwarming win at the time. As I recall, the late Jim McCormick's wife was there at the race in fact as well, so it was kind of. She's since passed away, but it was neat that you know she could be there for that as well, and I think, uh, uh, his son, mike, was also there, which was a good thing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah yeah, big win, big win.

Speaker 2:

I recall listening to it live on the radio broadcast with jim hendricks announcing, and you could hear the crowd they were that day. They were going for jim hendrick. Jim was a great guy, but anytime you won with jim hendrick it was like the bud broke. So somebody else won, yeah, but he understood the money. That's where the money was coming from.

Speaker 1:

Right. Well, he had a lot of great wins, a lot of great years moving forward with Madison. They got a new hole. They got a little bit of money into the team and some national championships, driver high point championships but through that time you stepped down. When did you realize it was time to stop racing?

Speaker 2:

2013. I was going to be 60 that January and it was before San Diego and I thought I was about 99% as good as I was at my best and the team needed 100% to stay out front. I think it's like any boxer or any other sport you got to know when it's time and I knew we need a driver. From a marketing standpoint, I wasn't, uh, um, really a marketing tool anymore. They needed a new face. I think. If you think of mark martin and nascar, same thing, um. So when you're part of a team, the team comes first and everything else comes second. So, putting the team first. I talked to Charlie. I said I think we need me to go and they are wonderful. They said you stay as long as you want. I said no, so let's, let's find somebody young to put in the seat and continue to push you guys forward, and somebody that's also marketable, because we needed that help. You know sponsorship forever. So I was kind of thinking of you know how are we going to sponsor this thing going forward?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and did you have any play or say in the recruitment of the next driver?

Speaker 2:

No, no, I had my favorites, which did not get selected, but that's just how it was yeah.

Speaker 1:

Okay, do you want to share who that was?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it fell by the name of John Shaw, david Shaw's son, who's done a phenomenal job and everything that he drives. He's just an awesome driver, great personality I had raced with him in limited hydroplanes before. But obviously the decision they made was a good one. Jimmy didn't have a job for him. You know, one of the problems in racing is racing is you know a lot of people, um, and it's hard to pick right. So they made an excellent choice.

Speaker 1:

Yeah yeah, well, I think also unfortunately not enough seats for all the amazing drivers that are out there, right, because I think there's a lot of drivers that could be pretty um pretty high up there in limited ranks but just haven't gotten an opportunity.

Speaker 2:

There are. You think of the Jimmy Kings of the world and Wheeler Baker back in his days with the Vortimer Ford boat, larry Lauderback these are people who are outstanding in limited racers. Just the timing is wrong or the equipment was wrong Right after Larry left the Winston and they get the new boat, the old Circus, circus and the thing was a winner. I think Larry could have won a lot of races, wheeler could have as well. So you know, like they say, timing and luck right, it's the intersection of those two things. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Unfortunate. Well, you hung around the sport. You didn't leave after you exited the boat. You, you didn't leave after you exited the boat. You hung around, helped out H1, and actually stepped up to be chairman. How did that all come about? How did you make it from driver to chairman of the sport?

Speaker 2:

It was as it has been for a long time was going through transitions and I got a call from Shannon Rainey I think in 15, I believe, asking if I would help out in a commission position, and at the time I was chairman of a real estate company which was a large company. It was a billion-dollar-plus company. So I don't really have a lot of time to commit going forward, but I'll do what I can to get us over the hump, to clean up the books, get rid of any debt, which we did Then the end of 16,. Once the books were clean, we brought detroit back as a race course, san diego. Now this is a good time, you know, to step down and and let them find someone they can really dedicate the time to it yeah, so it's more of a time commitment issue than anything else why you didn't stay longer um, you know, the job itself was exciting.

Speaker 2:

The people were a pleasure to work with, the race sites were great to work with and we were making progress. But I really owed my shareholders and my company you know my total fiduciary relationship and I couldn't split that and honor that commitment to my company.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Well, I know the fans were really excited. You brought a lot of inspiration and hope to the series when you were chairman.

Speaker 2:

Thank you.

Speaker 1:

Great face for the sport, so I appreciate the time that you did dedicate and brought to that sport. But what challenges did you face?

Speaker 2:

You know, the sport still to this day, I think, has yet to understand the fact that their customers are the race sites and the fans are the race sites customers and the sport has yet to acknowledge that. And if you don't take care of the customer, which is the race sites, you're out of luck. You're going to have a lot of nice equipment sitting in warehouses. If they don't do that and I still don't know that they fully embrace that I think the new HydroTown group is more cognizant of that. They're business people, but the reality is that the depth of wealth in the sport is very shallow. You know, once you get done with the top two teams, you pretty much have a bunch of broke people that own equipment.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, and that's not a recipe for success. If you can't deepen that well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, how do you see this thing moving forward?

Speaker 2:

You know there's always two views. Right, you can be the pessimist and say well, it's done. I mean from a purely business standpoint. I think demographically, the public has moved on. You know we're not what we used to be. There was a time where motorsports was huge in public life, particularly in limiteds. They were big, they were bigger than life, loud. What have you? Young people aren't interested in that anymore.

Speaker 2:

I mean you can you don't see them at NASCAR unless mom or dad brought them the races. You don't see them in any car racing. So we have a much smaller market for what we have. So it is how do you address that market? I would say Myers Brothers, along with the video crew of H1, have done an awesome job with the video to bring that home and make it real, and I hope H1 doesn't screw up those relationships, because that stuff is awesome. I mean, when I watch it I'm pumped and I got a feeling that young people would be too. We're going to have to find a way to reach them Because, from a marketing standpoint, advertisers don't care about people over 50. We don't spend enough. They care about those young people that are spending money on a lot of stuff, and that's who you have to pay attention to and I think, to owners. It's all about what's my check going to be at the race, as opposed to what? Do we need to make sure there's a sport next year?

Speaker 1:

Yeah yeah, some interesting thoughts. Yeah, yeah, it's, it's been. They made a great product I think Myers brothers and Montgomery with the drone footage and kind of blended the two and it's fantastic to see, which. I wish we could get that out to to more viewers.

Speaker 2:

It's dollars. I mean, you know, charlie Grooms and the other people at HydroTown did spend some money last year with what used to be, I think, speed Sport News, which now owns a sports channel, and promoted it. In fact I was going to actually be at Seattle helping out announce that thing, and then I had a family situation where I couldn't. But they recognized that there is an audience for it and and hopefully they're able to put together this deal with the speed sport channel, uh, to get it to the right audience yeah, that'd be fantastic yeah, absolutely yeah and hopefully, yeah, and hopefully you can be an announcer on it moving forward as well.

Speaker 1:

That'd be great.

Speaker 2:

I thoroughly enjoy second-guessing the referees All right?

Speaker 1:

Well, I reached out to my listeners and got a flood of emails and questions from fans and I hope you don't mind to answer some of those from the people around the states and around the world. Yeah, me too Awesome.

Speaker 1:

Well, let's start off with John Osterberg from Redmond washington. He says steve, you were always an extraordinary spokesman for hydro teams and sponsors. Did you receive any media training at some point in your career, uh, or perhaps of your real estate career, or maybe from one of your hydro sponsors, and or did it just simply come naturally to you?

Speaker 2:

um. John, I think, wrote the uh was it the bartle book, I think, in the dragon days yeah, awesome book.

Speaker 2:

I've got it. In fact it's here in my, here in my home, um. But no, john I um, you know was in politics for a while. Back in the 70s I was a commissioner for our seaport and so I had to do a lot of public speaking, and I've taught for gone on 45 years now as well, so public speaking was part of what I did anyway, so it just was a natural, I think, going from there, we didn't really have any media training to speak of.

Speaker 1:

Okay, okay. Well, tim Carroll, from Eugene Oregon. He asks what was your favorite body of water to run on and why did you like it the most?

Speaker 2:

well, this sounds political, but it's. Whatever lake I was on at the time was my favorite, and that's actually the truth.

Speaker 1:

I was just grateful to be racing wherever I was, so it really didn't matter okay was there was a question for me did you, was there any race course or body of water that you may not have looked forward to going to because you know maybe too rough or there's some issue with with the course or whatnot?

Speaker 2:

I liked all of them, you know, probably, um, just a little upset addison friends, but seattle to me, you know, is like the course right, and so winning in seattle, particularly with oberto, really meant something, because seattle is rough, they've got the fans, you know, and we won there several times, and to me, that you win seattle, you've done something. Now, that said, obviously winning detroit, you know, would have been huge too, because that's, that's a challenge, but uh, to me seafair was, was the biggie okay, yeah, you did, you did well there.

Speaker 1:

You got some wins.

Speaker 2:

I think I played for three in a row and almost broke Bill Muncy's record. That kind of stopped me from winning the race.

Speaker 1:

All right. Well, michael Newton, from Detroit, michigan. He asks what was your favorite year as a driver?

Speaker 2:

Oh, every year, I mean literally. I know that that sounds political, but every year you pick and I think, man, I'm so fortunate to be doing what I'm doing. So, honestly, it was even the years I didn't win anything. I was still very, very fortunate to be doing what I was doing all right, uh.

Speaker 1:

Next question is from eddie canfouche, from grand island, new york. Uh, what was your favorite inboard hull that you ever drove?

Speaker 2:

Eddie. By the way, if you've not met him, he's an up-and-comer. I hope the sport lives long enough for Eddie to get a chance. Great guy. His daddy was a phenomenal one-liter driver. But, eddie, my favorite hull and limiteds was my seven-liter that ran a Steeler GNH 146. The boat did not make a mistake. Then again, the T boat that I ran T 22 for Frank and Ron Smith, which was now in Blythole. That was an awesome boat too. And you know the 72 hydroplanes I think I drove in my career those two out as just being phenomenal boats.

Speaker 1:

I mean you could have put anybody in them, and they would have done well. Didn't you just share some photos of the stealer on on a?

Speaker 2:

group in facebook recently. Hello from vermont I spoke to yesterday bought it and he's putting it back together to go race to, I guess, an hrl. Uh, but that was a, and hank langsinghamp was since passed away. I I worked for hank um at steel fab Marine when I was 14 years old and Hank owned this theater. He knew Port was racing and in 84, hank gave me a call. I lived in Fort Lauderdale and Hank said do you want to go seven-liter racing? I said, hank, that is pretty expensive. He said I didn't ask you that. I said do you want to go seven-liter racing? He said of course he goes. Well, come down to boat. And he literally gave me the steel.

Speaker 1:

Wow, yeah, I drove a suburban, the trailer, the boat and engine man. Uh well, doug beach from ocean shores, washington. He asks uh, which piston v12 engine did you prefer in the 88 season? Um, you got to drive the turbocharged allison, the u4, pocket savers plus. Uh, or did you prefer the Rolls Royce Merlin that was replacement.

Speaker 2:

Hands down the Merlin. It just and the Allison was probably just as fast, but the, the Rolls, the sound or the supercharger, I mean it was. And, being a pilot, the Rolls, Merlin, absolutely, yeah All right, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Next is Bill Stryhill from Miami, florida. What were you thinking about during your last lap in Dallas, when you were about to win your first unlimited race?

Speaker 2:

That was a real cool race. I was just hoping I wasn't going to blow over because the boat was riding pretty wild. That boat definitely had some habits to it. I thought if I can just finish the race, we're going to win this one. I had to stay in it. I just kept thinking to myself I hope it doesn't go over. I hope it doesn't go over.

Speaker 1:

So that was really it. When you got across the line, what was your thoughts changed to there?

Speaker 2:

First time I breezed in five laps.

Speaker 1:

Okay, All right. Well, Brendan Downey from West Richland, Washington, asks do you anticipate being involved with each one moving forward?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I've spoken to Charlie Grooms as well as the Hydrotown people, and I've offered to help in any manner possible. So if they need me, we'll say I'm an injured reserve. I'll be available to them.

Speaker 1:

All right Well hopefully they'll lean on you a little bit and might see you at some races. I hope so. Next is from Harley Gray from Madison, Indiana. If you're still involved with H1, how might things be a little bit differently than they are now?

Speaker 2:

I would really hope that the owners become more cognizant of the race sites as their customer and treat them as a good customer and then help the race site take care of their customers, which are the fans. And when all that becomes full circle, I think maybe we can do something to improve the sport. So trying to instill that and it's a challenge because everybody's got their own unique interest in the sport. So trying to instill that and it's a challenge because everybody's got their own unique interest in the thing. But we have to do that because the race sites have got to be successful.

Speaker 1:

Some good insight there. A couple more questions from the fans. Sorry to the fans out there listening if I didn't get your questions on here, but two more for you. Nelson Holmberg from Vancouver, washington, he says, says steve, thanks for being uh, spending your time on richard l talk. My question is you've had a distinguished career with lots of wins and a lot of highlights. Aside from the amazing years with miss madison racing, what's the most satisfying highlight of your career?

Speaker 2:

well meeting people like nelson holmberg. Quite, quite frankly, nelson had been an rc racer and it emailed me for years and and he had the opportunity to become a crew member on one of the teams and I, I think I, I said don't let the the sport get to you in a negative sense, because our sport is very much like sausage. You know, if you don't know how sausage is it made, it taste good. Once you know how it's made, it may not taste as good, and we didn't want to just sway good people like Nelson from doing that, because we need people. So, honestly, meeting people like Nelson to me was far more valuable than driving a race boat. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Well, one thing that's amazing, Steve, from where I hear people talk about you too is you should recall all these people's names.

Speaker 2:

Like you, have a photographic memory. It's very impressive.

Speaker 1:

It's 70. It's all that's left. Steve, you've had a lot of amazing accomplishments in your career or in your life your entire hydroplane racing career, 100 ton Coast Guard captain's license, pilot's license, successful real estate career, marrying a fabulous woman and having a fan base of loving, idolizing fans the thousands, if not tens of thousands. Which do you consider to be your crowning achievement?

Speaker 2:

which do you consider to be your crowning achievement? Uh, you know all of it combined because you know your life's kind of a painting. Everything you've done is in that painting and you look back and you can pull out segments of that painting and realize that was cool and that was cool and that was so cool. And, uh, I'm just blessed that I had so many special moments in my life, so many cool moments in my life, so many cool moments in my life, so many people In fact, I think I gave away all my trophies to various fans. It's the people that matter long term and that was, I think, the greatest part of my career was just meeting so many really cool people. A lot of it was significant challenges, whether it was learning challenges, familial challenges. They'd overcome drugs and alcohol. That's the greatest value is meeting those people and having a positive impact on their lives.

Speaker 1:

Well, I can just imagine in your mind a nice gallery of all these different aspects of your life, of different paintings and accomplishments. So it's fantastic.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, my wife that's for sure I hit a home run with Sabrina and she's been. It's funny because when I decided to retire, I remember I called her and she said baby, don't do it for me, she goes. Unless you make that decision, don't think it's me. She never put pressure on me to retire. I knew she was scared every time I went out but she never put pressure on me to retire. I knew she was scared every time I went out, but she never put pressure on me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, fantastic, yeah, yeah yeah. Finding the right person definitely makes your life better.

Speaker 2:

simply put, and being my two cats, that's it.

Speaker 1:

Well, I know you're pressed for time. I really appreciate you taking the time and talking with us and joining the podcast. Appreciate it.

Speaker 2:

My pleasure and thank you for what you're doing too, to communicate with the fans and to speak to people that are involved in the sport, and you're doing what you can to keep this thing going. It takes a lot of people to keep the sport alive and to give it a future. It's very easy to think, you know the last nail's been put in the coffin, but but I don't think it has. We can't give up. There's too much good to do and with HydroTown you know, get involved as they have. I still think we've got a shot to make it work. It may look different, it may sound different, but we've still got a chance. I hope everybody hangs in there and leans in as much as they can to help out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah Well, thank you, steve, and it's been fun to have this podcast and reach out to everyone and make some connections and kind of bridge some gaps.

Speaker 2:

To some fans we're still eating sausages Now and I noticed in the Zoom link it was somethingeducationary involved with the school system out there.

Speaker 1:

I am yes, I'm a middle school teacher. I teach reading intervention class for students who need help reading and also language.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh, You're doing the most important work there is, and particularly at an age when people really need the help, so I thank you for doing that. I don't know of a profession that's more honorable than what you're doing Well, thank you.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, it's a challenge, but I enjoy the challenge.

Speaker 2:

Well, you're up for it, and I certainly appreciate it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah Well, thank you, excellent, you're welcome. Well, that's all the time we had today. Thanks again to my guest, steve David, for taking some time and answering some questions from myself, but it was also from the viewers and listeners out there in Hydroland. Really appreciate getting those questions from the listeners I think there were some great questions asked and enjoyed hearing Steve talk about and reminisce through his years of racing. Hopefully he'll make an appearance or two with H1 and we'll see him around the shorelines again, because he is such a fan favorite and people just love having him at the Hydra races.

Speaker 1:

Some more episodes in mid-June. We've got Jerry Shaneth. He'll be on the show. We've got some other people on the line who want to talk about the upcoming racing season and going to be reaching out to some different people around the sport to hear from. Don't forget, we're on social media platforms. We're on Instagram, facebook. You can see us online at roostertailtalkcom. You can also sign up for a subscription list there on the website so you get all the news and updates as we continue this glorious journey in hydroplane racing together. But until next time, I hope to see you at the reef.