PASCO, Wash. (AP) — Jim Lucero, crew chief of the Pay 'N Pak unlimited hydroplane, stood a few feet away from the partially mangled boat and said, "There is only so much time in the life of a propeller. This one's time came faster than most."
With the record-shattering Gold Cup regatta just completed and the Miss Budweiser crew and driver Dean Chenoweth of a few yards away celebrating their victory, Lucero delivered what may have been the understatement of the day:
"When a hydro propeller is turned 12,000 revolutions per minute and a blade snaps off, it is severely out of balance."
As Lucero talked, one blade of the Pay 'N Pak's $1,500 hand-forged propeller was lying on the bottom of Columbia River. Lucero said it had been used in just one previous race.
The mishap to the Seattle-based hydroplane occurred in the first turn on the second lap of the championship heat Sunday. With Mickey Remund driving, the propeller blade sheared off—and the propeller shaft immediately wound around itself like a pretzel, tearing up the underside of the Pay 'N Pak hull.
If that wasn't already enough, the half-inch thick metal gear box near the engine immediately broke apart, leaving Remund and the boat that had been the national point leader dead in the water.
Chenoweth, who had been six seconds behind the Pak, and the Atlas Van Lines driven by Bill Muncey, both shot past the disappointed Remund.
Then, in the liveliest extended competition of the day, Muncey chased close behind the beer wagon for 2 1/2 laps at speeds around 160 miles per hour before the Bud finally pulled away to win the heat, the Gold Cup and the lion's share of $41,150 in prize money.
The Bud also collected 1,500 points over four heats of thunderboat racing, making the Lakeland, Fla.-based hydroplane the new national leader with two regattas left this year. The Pak collected 1,200 for the day and dropped to second in national standings. The Bud has 6,283 points, and the Pak 6,138.
Second Sunday was Muncey in the Detroit-based Atlas with 1,400.