Looking For History Of Big Dirty, Mark Raymond
#3
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 451
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I was good friends with Mark A/K/A BIG DIRTY he was a great guy and would do anything for anybody. Mark used to visit my shop in N. Miami when I had the Dry Martini, American Eagle and Benihana teams housed and where we rigged all the boats. Mark was always someone you didn`t mind sharing with, weather it was ideas or race statagies. I first met Mark when we were doing the first Bahama 500`s I think he was with Bill Wishnick when they ran the 32` Maritime " Big Broad Jumper", Mark I think was riding mechanic, I know he was always working cause he was always covered in oil, not sure if that`s how he got the name or not. He was a fierce competitor, and you wanted to be on his side if there was a bar room brawl he was a big strong guy with hands the size of oversize softballs. If I remember correctly I knew him from the mid 1960`s to the early 1980`s, I raced against him manny times. He was from the fire fighters of the time, as were most of the top guys in the sport, like Gene Lanham, Errol Lanier, Fred Miller etc etc. I miss him and he deserves a place in Offshore racing history for sure. Big Dirties friend Richie Powers



