SHELL THUET BIOGRAPHY
Click Picture (taken at Del Mar in 2002 with Tom Horton) 1.1 MB PDF file
Maggie Thuet, loving wife of Shell Thuet, passed away at home
in Victorville, CA on Sunday, 18 March
2007. Maggie was famous for her Flat-Track Tuna
Sandwiches. She had been bed-ridden for several years
and never lost her love for life or her sense of
humor. Shell had been her primary care-giver and
missed her vivacious and very spirited company.
|
A Tribute to Shell (and Maggie) Thuet and Shell Racing Specialties
On this web site, you will find the official biography of one of America's greatest motorcycle tuners of all time.
The riders get the glory but the tuners make it happen. Shell was responsible for Yamaha's
first and only American Motorcycle Association National Championship, by modifying the XS-650 street
bike into a 750cc dirtracker, with renowned rider Kenny Roberts in the saddle.
Shell's biography was published in 2000 in the AHMRA Vintage Views and in the VDTRA Vintage
Dirttrack News and is now in the AMA museum archives. This biography, contributed to by Shell's friends and riders, precipitated in getting Shell Thuet
inducted into the
2001 AMA Dirt Track Hall of Fame. The following pictures (left to right) are from 1946, 1953, and 1963.
Shell retired in 2008 one year after Maggie's death. He passed away 13 years later in
Victorville July 8, 2011 at age 98 and was survived by his daughters;
Ina Rae (Thuet) Ginos, of Vista CA and Ellen (Thuet) Bryant of Eureka CA.
A funeral was held (against Shell's wishes) in Hesperia, CA and attended by
many of the racer fraternity that loved Shell and Maggied. Larry Lawrence created this
Shell Thuet Memorial
web page of his funeral found on the Vintage Flat Track website.
|
88R - Don Hawley and 5X - Chuck Cove. 1956 Gardena, CA
|
38X - Blackie Bruce and 27 Elliot Schultz. Ascot, Los Angeles, CA
|
Shell Thuet (back to camera) Don Castro Cutting Kenny Roberts front tire. Sante Fe Speedway, Hindsdale, IL
|
1 - Hank Scott, Shell Thuet and 14- Gary Scott 88R. 1975 Astrodome, Houston, TX
|
62 - Corky Keener applauds Kenny Roberts winning 2nd GNC Championship
Dave Aldana (Norton Jacket) looks on. Shell stands behind Kenny in Yamaha Jacket. 1974 Terra Haute, IN
|
Keith Mashburn winner of Yamaha Silver Cup. 1972 Boston Gardens
|
1977 Astrodome Program, Houston, TX
|
1977 Yamaha Gold Cup, Houston, TX
|
Tom Horton discuss the tuning on his Shell Yamahas with Shell and Maggie Thuet at Del Mar in 2002
|
Hank Scott in the winner's Circle. 1976 Oklahoma City
|
14 - Hank Scott Looking Back
|
14 - HankScott on a Shell Two Stroke Short tracker
|
14 - Hank Scott and 3- Carl Romero
|
14 - Hank Scott Sliding
|
14 - Hank Scott at Ascot Half Mile National
|
14 - Hank Scott at Ascot TT National
|
14 - Hank Scott, Reading, PA 1977
|
Hank Scott with Shell (very rare photo of Shell having a drink. He was estatic from
winning the national at Oklahoma City, without Yamaha's support. This was to be the
last time that a Yamaha beat the Harley-Davidsons at a GNC.
|
14 - Hank Scott
|
55 - Tom Horton
|
Art Fredenburgh, Tom Horton, Shell and Maggie Thuet. Sacramento Mile, 1998
|
40 - Art Fredenburgh in 2000 - He died in a crash at an AHRMA event
|
55 - Tom Horton (top AHRMA Rider) battles 24 - Mark Gibson (top VDTRA rider) at the
1998 AHRMA Indy Mile
|
Art Fredenburgh battles #76 at the Sacramento Mile, 1998
|
VDTRA #1 Amateur - Mike Konshak, Ruidoso Mile, NM. 2001. 6 national class championships
(2000-2001) on a Shell Powered Champion Yamaha 750. Thanks Shell!
|
Shell's Aristo 970 and.Pickett 803 Log Log Slide Rules, gifted to the museum
|
HOME
