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1955 & the North-South Championship

 

1955 found David Christner participating in the North-South Division I Championships held on May 29th at Quincy, Illinois, on the Mississippi River in the Quincy Bay. The 1955 race, was sponsored by the Quincy Boat Club, which was celebrating its 25th anniversary as a sponsor of outboard racing regattas. Due to the large number of entrants, elimination heats were necessary in all classes except F. The "north" racked up the most points for the day and Rusty Scheckelhoff of Troy, Ohio, captured the title of "General Grant" for the year. David Christner did his part for the north by taking an overall 2nd place finish in A Hydroplane. David went on to take 2nd place in Class A Modified Runabout at the June 12th races in Mexico, Missouri.


1956

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At the races in Little Rock, Arkansas, on May 13th David Christner took an overall 2nd in Class A Hydroplane and an overall 1st in Class A Runabout. Dieter Konig, racing in the US for the first time, took a 2nd in B Hydroplane. David, at the Div III World Championships in 1956, took 1st place title in A Runabout.


1957

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The April 1957 issues of the (NOA) Rooster Tail proclaimed 1957 to be a banner year for racing with the biggest schedule in the history of outboard racing. It was also a banner year for winning races for David Christner. David started 1957 by taking a 2nd in B Hydro, a 3rd in B Runabout and a 2nd in A Runabout at the Division IV races at Freeport, Texas, on April 14th. At the Division I races held April 28th at Oil City, Louisiana, David Christner took a 3rd in A Hydro. At the Division IV races on May 12th in Austin, Texas, David won A Hydroplane and A Runabout for Quincy Welding. Freddie Goehl, also from Quincy, took a 3rd in B Hydro, 1st in D Hydro and 2nd in D Runabout at the same event. On May 26th, at the Canton, Illinois Division I & IV races, David Christner took 1st in A Hydro and 1st in A Runabout. At the Division I Pro World Outboard Championships at Mt. Carmel on the Wabash River, an estimated 25,000 spectators lined the banks to watch the racing. David would battle with Dieter Konig in A Hydro with David winning the 1st heat. Overall, Vern McQueen of Springfield, IL, took 1st, David Christner 2nd and Dieter Konig 3rd. They also competed together in B Hydro with Dieter taking the 1st heat and David taking 2nd in 2 heats. Overall, Dieter Konig was 1st, David 2nd and 3rd went to Bill Tenney. At the Division IV races at Waterville, Minnesota, David took 1st place in A Hydro, 1st in A Runabout and a 3rd in B Runabout. David kept up his winnning streak at the Divisions I & IV races at Helena, Arkansas on June 23rd by taking a 1st in A Hydro and 1st in A Runabout. On June 30th at the Divisions I & IV races held at Quincy, Illinois, David took a 1st in A Hydro, 3rd in B Hydro and 1st in A Runabout. 4th of July, at the Springfield, Illinois Division I & IV races, David celebrated the holiday by taking a 2nd place in A Hydro, 1st in B Hydro, 2nd in A Runabout and 2nd in B Runabout. Just 2 days later, on July 6th, at the Division IV races at Hudson, Wisconsin, David won 1st in A Hydro, 1st in B Hydro and 1st in A Runabout. Moving on to the Divisions I & IV races at Mattoon, Illinois, on July 7th, David Christner took 1st in B Runabout while Freddie Goehl came in 2nd. That's 3 major races in 4 days!


1957 Division IV World Championships

 

The 1957 Division IV World Championships were held October 5th-7th at Corpus Christi, Texas. It took 20 elimination heats to get 16 drivers qualified for the Championship runs. The eliminations started early Saturday morning and ran until 5:20pm that evening. In the Championships, David Christner took a 5th in A Hydro, 5th in A Runabout and a 3rd in B Runabout.


1958 North-South Championships

 

The 1958 North-South Championships were held May 25th at Old Hickory Lake, near Nashville, Tennessee. Before 20,000 spectators, 102 boats raced for their "teams," the Yankees and the Rebels. Motors competing were Mercurys, Champions, Konigs, Evinrudes, Johnsons and the new British Anzanis. David won the Class A Runabout for the North. Quoting from the June 1958 (NOA) Rooster Tail: "The day was filled with spills and excitement as the hard-driving shingle jockeys attempted to come out first in their class. Each and every spectator present had the best opportunity that could be had to observe spills aplenty and championship driving at its finest. One of the most spectacular spills of the day was in the big D Hydro event where Bookie Adams, Franklin, Tenn, was turned around in his hydro and thrown out over the transom. Another bad spill was experienced by Dave Christner, Quincy, Ill, in his A hydroplane which shook him up considerably. However, the entire day did not produce any injuries."


David wins 1958 Performance Award

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June 29th, at the Canton, IL Professional race event, David took a 1st place in B Hydro while Freddie Goehl of the Quincy team took a 1st in B Runabout. At the July 6th Division III races held in Quincy, IL David Christner took 1st places in A Hydro, B Hydro and B Runabout. On July 20th at the Louisiana, MO Professional & Div III event, David took home a 1st in A Runabout and a 2nd in B Hydro. One week later at the Minneapolis, MN Professional races, David took home 1st place in A Hydro and A Runabout, while Freddie Goehl of the Quincy team took home 1sts in B Runabout and D Runabout. David took home 2 1st place finishes at the LaGrange, MO Pro event on August 10th in A Hydro and A Runabout. In August at the New Harmony, IN Pro races, David took 1sts in A Hydro & A Runabout and 2nds in B Hydro and B Runabout. The January 1959 cover of the (NOA) Rooster Tail proclaimed "Christner Wins Trophy for 1958." David Christner won the Wishey-Vincent Best Performance Award for 1958. According to the NOA official records, the award is one of the most coveted in the outboard sport and is awarded on the basis of the best performance turned in for the year on the basis of number of races entered and finished.


1959 - David flips at Springfield, IL

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1959

 

David Christner was involved indirectly in a Quincy Welding dispute regarding his race win at the Lakeland Regatta on February 1st. David Christner, driving for Quincy Welding, set a new record in B class but the race officials questioned Christner's use of a new Mercury crankcase. O. F. Christner ran an ad for Quincy Welding in which he claimed that a Mercury B outboard motor had set a new record in Florida. Bill Tenney, the Anzani distributor, claimed the record. Per the Rooster Tail: "On page 7 of the July issue of Propeller, official organ of APBA, there appears the following paragraph: 'By majority vote of the Outboard Racing Commission, the appeal of David Christner's disqualification in B Outboard Hydro at Lakeland, Florida, February 1, 1959, has been disallowed.' The Rooster Tail goes on to say: The information in these letters have been passed on to O. F. Christner, Quincy Welding, Quincy, IL. Mr. Christner stated that the issue was not settled and there would be more word coming from him later." David did not let the controvery bother him as on May 30th at the Quincy, IL, Professional race event David took 1st place in A Hydro, B Hydro A Runabout.


1959 Awards

 

Quoting an article from the May 1960 issue of the Rooster Tail: "A Corsicana, Texas driver who needs no intriduction to the nation's outboard drivers was the winner of the Mishey Vincent Best Performance Award for 1959. Montgomery turned in a performance of 358%. This percentage beat out David Christner of Quincy, ILL who turned in a 353% record. In third place was Dicky Pond, Keokuk, Iowa who had a 343% record. Tied for 4th place was Dave Berg, Coon Rapids, Minnesota, and Freddie Goehl, Quincy, ILL with 327% records.


1959 Professional World Championship

 

The 1959 Pros World Championship was held in Springfield, Illinois September 18-21st. According to the November issue of the Rooster Tail, the Springfield event set a record. "Never in the history of boat racing has there been 512 entries for a single race." It took 39 elimination heats to pare the field down to the legal 16 entries per class. Only one class, the newly formed Class F Runabout, failed to enter enough boats to require elimination heats." David Christner took a 4th in A Runabout. Other Quincy Welding winners were Jim Schoch taking 2nd in D Hydro, Arlen Crouch taking 1st in F Hydro and Freddie Goehl taking a 1st in D Runabout & 2nd in F Runabout. Quincy Welding also made a good showing at the speed trials on Monday. Freddie Goehl also broke the D Runabout record by turning in a speed of 68.966 mph, breaking the old record of Dicky Pond established in 1957 at the Meyer, IL races. Arlen Crouch of the Quincy team, shattered the old speed record for F Hydro at a speed of 90.090 mph. The old record had been held by the late Jud Davis of St. Louis, MO, set at 79.646 mph in 1955. Arlen Courch was awarded the Wynn Oil diamond pin and a $100 check for his achievement. Special Note: The November Rooster Tail carried a short story regarding this event titled "Konig Could Not Make It." Dieter and Eleonore Konig sent a note that they could not make the World Championships in 1959 due to the fact that they were expecting a new addition to the family.


Racing in 1960

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1960 found David Christner still winning races. At the Cushing, Oklahoma Professional races on July 5th, David took a 1st in A Hydro, 2nd in B hydro and 2nd. in A Runabout. Other Quincy Welding drivers also did well. Freddie Goehl took a 1st in B Hydro, 1st in C Hydro, 1st in A Runabout, 1st in B Runabout, 2nd in C Runabout and a 1st in D Runabout. David's cousin, Rich weisenberger, took a 3rd in B Runabout.


1960 World Championships

 

The 1960 World Championships were held in McAlester, Oklahoma over the Labor Day weekend. There were 541 entries (slightly less than the record breaking 553 from the year before at Springfield, IL), with a record 58 C Hydro entries. David Christer, along with Mel Spencer, Billy Seebold and others experienced spills during the testing period, according to a Rooster Tail article about the event. Billy Seebold was knocked out of the final races by a hand injury during a spill on Thursday. In spite of his spill in testing, David Christner earned a 3rd in A Hydro. Jim Schoch, also racing for Quincy Welding, took a 3rd in C Hydro and a 1st in D Hydro.


David racing at Lake Calhoun

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Date photo was taken is not known. (photo courtesy of Karen Cadle).