Posted By roy goodwiin on 17 Feb 2010 10:34 AM
Hey Duane, I was wondering if you've ever heard of a boat named THE CALIFORNIA HEAT WAVE driver owner Kenny Gibbs. He raced during the 70's. It was in unblown fuel hydro class. I think but I'm not sure, he held the world record when they retired the class. At one time he was beating everyone. He built his own boat. To make a long story short, he ran a gas station boatshope where he custom built and sold boats with his father-in-lawl. He had hard times and got out of the business. Just wondering.
Roy G.
You are partly right, Kenny Gibbs was the driver but he did not own that gas station, Clay Culp, his father in law did. He didnt get out of the business Clay threw him out. But I wont go into that story, to say he came upon hard times is being polite. Anyway there were two California Heat Waves the first being a flat bottom which they raced in the begining and then the pickle fork. Yes, they were fast and if I remember right they were hi-points champions 3 years in a row. If I remember correctly they were also the first to break 150 mph without a blower. How do I know, I worked there when I was in high school and spent many an hour polishing those boats. I am also looking for some pics especially the of the flat bottom I think it was a Cole, Clay and I had alot of fun running that one on the Kings River. He was like the King of the Hill out there, would just sit back on the shore and wait for some loud mouth that wanted to race and then take em out and show them who was the boss. He's the only guy I know that could smoke a cigarette and the ash would never fall off, even if he was going 90 mph down that river, laughing all the way. He was a great man in my eyes. RIP Clay, I miss our talks.
And if Kenny reads this, you know who I am, my dad owned the Little Brown Jug.
Anderson