Eatonville’s Hero, George Henley

It was mid 70s and Eatonville, Washington had hydroplane fever. George Henley (aka Smiling George) was racking up wins and securing himself a position as one of the greatest unlimited hydroplane racers of all time.

George started racing boats on Silver Lake as a teenager and already he was becoming a true sportsman and a strong competitor. He built his reputation as the driver of the Record 7, but it wasn't until he started piloting the low-budget Burien Lady in 1970 and captured the second place Seafair trophy that the public started taking notice.

Seven Wins in 1974

George’s next hydroplane was Bob Fendler’s Lincoln Thrift, then later the Pay ‘N Pak in 1974. That year George Henley made his mark in the hydroplane world and put Eatonville on the map. Reaching speeds of 200 miles-per-hour in the Pay N’ Pak, he won seven titles, including the Gold Cup, which only Bill Muncey had achieved in a single year.

George Henley in the Pay 'N Pak.

George became the town hero and in August 1974 Eatonville held "George Henley Day". There was a parade down Mashell that ended in Glacier Park. There were speeches and trophies and George was presented with a Key to the City from acting Mayor Mike Jordon.

The Eatonville Lions Club donated the George Henley Congeniality and Citizenship Award trophy to the Eatonville High School. Starting with the class of 1975, it would honor the most deserving graduating student.

Back for more in 1975

After that incredible year, George retired and worked at his business — building and selling Hamilton Jet Boats in Tacoma. That didn't last long. The Pay ‘N Pak team was having a poor season and asked him to come back.

George Henley with wife Mary and son Georgie.

George said in a Dispatch article that is wasn't just about money, although it would offer some financial security for his family. First there was the challenge of rescuing Pay 'N Pak’s disastrous season. Second, there was the a loyalty to the old crew and owner Dave Heerensperger, and third Henley’s love of the sport.

Once George stepped up, things improved for the Pay N’ Pak team. He overcame a large point deficit and added five victories that year, including a second consecutive Gold Cup. In 1976 George Henley retired for good.

Gone But Never Forgotten

In 2009 George passed away and left behind his biggest fans, his wife Mary and his children Lori, George and Tom.

George Henley at Eatonville’s celebration.

The Seattle Times wrote, “From 1970 to ’75, the Eatonville resident won 12 of 34 races. In perhaps his best performance, the 1974 race at Sand Point for the Gold Cup, Henley battled side-by-side with the Miss Budweiser before winning on very rough water.

What they should have added was, “ . . . and the town of Eatonville held it’s breath, as George flew across the water, held down by what seemed like just force of will.”

Pak ‘Really Smokes’ In Record Run

By Del Danielson
Reprinted from The Seattle Times, July 22, 1972

TRI-CITIES — "He was really smokin’ out there, wasn’t he?"

Dave Heerensperger didn’t wait for an answer to his own question as he bounced down a catwalk to greet his driver, Bill Sterett, Jr., after a world-record run by the Pride of Pay ‘N Pak yesterday.

Sterett qualified for tomorrow’s Atomic Cup unlimited-hydroplane race with a sizzling average of 120.161 miles an hour for two laps on the Columbia River course.

The mark, which bettered the 116.636 m. p. h. clocking Bill Muncey turned in the Atlas Van Lines in Owensboro, Ky., earlier this year, is the top qualifying effort ever on a 2½-mile course.

Muncey had yesterday’s second fastest mark as five of the eight unlimiteds in the pits were put on the "in" list for this year’s Atomic Cup.

Muncey pushed the Atlas to 115.531 m. p. h. Terry Sterett, in the Budweiser, turned 110.294 m. p. h. George Henley, returning to the circuit after losing a sponson in the Detroit Gold Cup race last month, registered 109.093 m. p. h. in the Lincoln Thrift. Bob Gilliam qualified his Pizza Pete with a 100.560 m. p. h. clocking.

Making qualifying efforts today were Jim McCormick in the Timex, Bill Wurster in the Valu-Mart and Chuck Hickling in the Smoother Mover.

Heerensperger has predicted a 118 for either the Pay ‘N Pak or the Atlas. He was ecstatic when the public address announcer called out the lap speeds for his boat.

A photographer asked Heerensperger to pose near the Pay ‘N Pak.

The owner’s reply:

"You bet! You want me to stand on my hands?" Sterett was driving without the benefit of nitrous oxide. Most unlimiteds are fitted with a nitrous injection system to provide added acceleration off the turn.

"We blew a supercharger during a test run," Sterett explained. "When that popped, it cut the nitrous line. We didn’t hook it up for this run."

The young driver from Owensboro didn’t know how fast he was going.

"I didn’t look at the speedometer," he said. "I’ve got too many other things to do out there."

Heerensperger credited the improved speed to a change in the skid fin, moving it farther out on the sponson.

"Billy picked up one a half seconds in each corner," Heerensperger said. "Three seconds is five miles an hour."

Race sponsors are concerned about the small number of boats.

If all eight qualify, the Atomic Cup will go with two sections of four boats each. If any fail to start, there would be three-boat race in one or both sections.

The Valu-Mart and Smoother Mover camps were having their problems yesterday. A burned-out booster coil stalled the Valu-Mart. Bob Murphy, owner of the Mover, was shopping for a propeller.

"We can’t get any speed at all," Murphy said. "The Budweiser guys are loaning us a different prop to try, but we have to send to Seattle for it."

"We don’t have very many boats," said one race official. "The Pay ‘N Pak and Atlas will have to be mighty fast and mighty close to save the show for us."

Pay ‘n Pak wins Seneca hydro race

By Martin Toombs, Seneca Falls Bureau
Reprinted from The Citizen, Auburn, N.Y., Tuesday, June 15, 1982.

ROMULUS – The turbine-powered Pay ‘N Pak, driven by John Walters, won the first ever unlimited hydroplane race in the Northeast Monday on Seneca Lake.

Walters led five other boats at the start line and survived a challenge from Miss Budweiser to win.

Stan Hanauer (second from left), Jim Lucero (center), and John Walters (second from right)
celebrate their victory at Seneca Lake. Photo by Bill Osborne.

The race, Thunder in the Park, was run in perfect conditions before about half the 10,000 people who had been at Sampson State Park Sunday. Rough water had postponed the event.

The first lap determined the outcome of the final, which included six of the seven boats at the race.

The boats entered the water five minutes before the starting gun. It was Walters who hit the start line first, followed closely by Dean Chenoweth in Miss Budweiser and Chip Hanauer in Miss Atlas Van Lines.

Walters led into the first turn, with Pay ‘N Pak on the outside, Miss Atlas Van Lines the inside and Miss Budweiser in between.

As the boats roared into the turn, the rooster tail of water they threw up prevented the crowd from seeing all but the leader.

Behind the shield of water was determined the race’s outcome. Hanauer later said Chenoweth left him only five feet in which to pass his 15-foot wide boat traveling more than 100 mph.

He said he was forced to pull back and was hit by the rooster tails from the other boats. The force of the water tore at the cover on his engine and tore away a section of the rear wing. Disabled, he completed the lap and made his way to the pits, losing the engine covering on the way.

Officials gave Chenoweth a lap penalty.

Not knowing about the penalty, Chenoweth chased Walters across the back straightaway. Walters got the boat too high in the water, and had to ease off the throttle, letting Budweiser in front. At the same time, a system in Budweiser failed and the engine began losing oil.

On the front straight, Budweiser continue to hold the lead, but the turbine fired down the straight, the more than 6,500 pound boat dancing on the surface of the water.

A lap later, a slowing Budweiser pulled out. Miss Rock pulled out with engine problems, followed quickly by The Squire Shop.

A crew which had run the turbine boat all last year without a victory, and failed to complete this season’s opener, gave Walters an enthusiastic welcome when he reached the dock.

Hanauer got out of his boat, saw a piece of his engine cover sink several feet offshore, and then went to talk to Bernie Little, Miss Budweiser owner.

“He didn’t give me five feet” to make the turn, Hanauer said of Chenoweth.

“I’m alright,” he said, “just angry.”

J. Lee Schoenith, referee, told him they “penalized him (Chenoweth) a lap, it’s all we could do,” adding his regret Hanauer was knocked out of the race.

Chenoweth, who said he had never been penalized before, explained Walters of Pay ‘N Pak “came in on me. I just didn’t have a place to go.”

Walters “left a boat lane, and I just too the boat lane he left,” he said.

After receiving his trophy, Walters said it was his “strategy to try to get to the first turn first,” and it worked.

Someone from the crowd hollered “What’s Pay ‘N Pak?” Walters answered “the fastest boat in the world,” before telling them about the western chain of home improvement stores.

Then he took the public address microphone and said, “We’re really sorry we weren't able to go on and race yesterday. But I’m really thankful you came back and saw us today.”

“We’ll be back next year, without a doubt.”

Tom Sheehy aboard Miss Madison placed second, a crowd favorite after the community-owned boat had suffered a series of mechanical problem during the weekend.

Showing his oil-splattered helmet, Sheehy said the boat wasn't really ready for an all-out effort. So he “decided to keep my nose clean, stay out of trouble and see what happened.”

When he started to see the other boats drop out, he said he knew is approach would pay off.

Pay ‘N Pak turned the fastest lap of the day, 124.783 mph en route to its victory, averaging 120.887 over the course. Miss Madison averaged 88.106 mph.

The seventh boat, Miss KYYX driven by Brenda Jones, failed to start its head, and did not qualify for the finals. Robert Miller aboard Miss Rock was injured in his heat when a rooster tail hit his boat, breaking his windshield. The piece of plexiglass hit him in the face, causing him to lose two teeth and drop out of the heat.

With no windshield but with a full helmet, he went back out for the finals.

Bud ‘Rides’ Pak’s Broken Prop

Reprinted from The Seattle Times, July 23, 1973.

Tri-Cities — Dean Chenoweth, Gold Cup champion for a second time, will get his desired chance to prove yesterday’s victory on the Columbia River was no fluke.

Chenoweth piloted the Miss Budweiser to victory in the 65th running of the prestigious unlimited-hydroplane race by out-dueling Bill Muncey in what amounted to a winner-take-all final.

Chenoweth’s task was made much, much easier when Mickey Remund’s ride, Seattle’s Pride of Pay ‘n Pak, conked out early in the second lap of the final.

Chenoweth, a jockey-sized automobile dealer from Xenia, Ohio, said his second Gold Cup triumph in four years was an "honest one." And he looked upon the fleet’s net outing, the $50,000 World Championship race on Seattle’s Lake Washington August 5, as a chance to prove it.

Many among the thousands of sun-worshippers clinging to the Columbia’s banks along a three mile stretch might disagree with Chenoweth’s assessment of an "honest" win.

Remund cleanly defeated Chenoweth in a head-to-head match up during the day’s first preliminary heat, 1-A. And Remund broke on top in the final, shattering a Gold Cup record before a broken propeller stalled the craft early in lap two.

Remund’s first lap was 119.691 miles an hour, bettering by more than 8 m.p.h. the previous standard set by Chenoweth in 1969.

Remund truly was humming in the final. He shot the Pak ahead coming out of the first corner and had a remarkable 6-second lead after the first of six laps on the 2½-mile course.

When the prop broke off and the Pak drifted to a halt, the crowd’s attention turned to a Chenoweth-Muncey duel that lasted more than three laps in one of the better unlimited races ever staged here.

Chenoweth had the inside lane and a slight lead on Muncey and the Atlas Van Lines, when Remund’s boat went out of commission. Muncey wouldn’t let Dean ease up and stayed within one roostertail of the Budweiser for three more laps.

"I was just trying to get your attention," Muncey a five-time winner of the Gold Cup, told Chenoweth later during a congratulatory trip to the Budweiser trailer.

"I pushed him as hard as I could and tried to make his equipment break," Muncey. said. "Let’s face it. The Pak and Bud are faster than the Atlas. But strange things happen in Gold Cup races and you keep trying.

"You just go as hard as your equipment will stand and hope for a break. I happen to know they come along quite often. Today they didn’t."

Chenoweth’s winning average of 111.386 m.p h. in the final heat is a Gold Cup record. His 60-mile average (four heats) of 105.354 also was a new standard. Muncey averaged 107.100 in the final.

Muncey lost two duels to Chenoweth yesterday. By blind draw, the two were matched in preliminary 3-A. Chenoweth got the inside at the start and held his position. Muncey never did find room or enough power to pass and dropped off the pace in lap three. But the two veterans were running deck-by-deck through the first two trips around.

Remund’s only test in the early heats came from Chenoweth in 1-A and the rookie made the veteran look bad. Remund out-positioned Chenoweth at the start, led the five-boat field out of the first corner and had a 3-second lead after one lap. The quiet man from Garden Grove, Calif., kept Chenoweth on his hip and by the end of lap two there was open water and an eight-second spread.

"I was very embarrassed in that first heat," Chenoweth, winner of the 1970 Gold Cup, said. "He took my start away from me. I wasn’t really up for this race beforehand but getting beat there motivated me for the rest of the afternoon, believe me!"

Chenoweth thinks the Pak’s speed edge is in the corners, but "I think we can out-pull him in the straightaway.

"I’m looking forward to Seattle. That 3-mile course has longer chutes and I should be able to show you what I mean. That race is going to be a real humdinger."

The disappointing mishap shell-shocked the Pay ‘n Pak camp. It cost Dave Heerensperger’s boat its lead in the national point chase. The Bud now has a 100-point edge over the Pak, with three races to go in the 1973 season.

A blade broke off the Pak’s prop, bending the shaft, which ripped a hole in the bottom of the boat. As soon as the other boats passed the disabled craft, three patrol boats moved in to secure lines and prevented the Pak from sinking.

"It’s the identical thing that happened in Detroit," Heerensperger said. "I think we’re going to have to find a different source of metal for props. We’re just putting so much pressure on everything that it just shakes apart."

During qualifying for the Gar Wood Memorial race on the Detroit River last month, the Pay ‘n Pak was ripped open by a bent shaft, caused by a broken prop.

"That’s five wheels in two years," Heerensperger said. "The Lincoln Thrift went here. I know we’re going to have to look for better metal. We’re just going too fast for the kinds we’ve got now."

Heerensperger, who has been chasing the Gold Cup and national-championship trophies unsuccessfully for six years, was disappointed.

Heerensperger expressed some concern about getting the Pak repaired in time for the Seattle race. "We’re running short of honeycomb aluminum," he said. "We’ll be ready, but it’s a good thing we’ve got two weeks."

After the Detroit accident, ‘ the Pay ‘n Pak crew worked 58 straight hours and got the boat ready less than two hours before race time. Remund finished second in that one.

It truly was a record race. Four Gold Cup marks fell, two to Remund and two to Chenoweth. Remund picked off three course records and Chenoweth one. In fact, several lap and heat records were broken early in the day, then bettered a few hours later.

And the crowd was the largest in eight years of unlimited racing here.

Heat 1-A — Pride of Pay ‘n Pak (Mickey Remund) 110.905; Budweiser (Dean Chenoweth) 105.058; Lincoln Thrift (Danny Walls) 90.634; Miss U. S. (Tom D’Eath) 84439; Murphy Marine (Chuck Hickling) DNF.

Heat 1-B — Pizza Pete (Fred Alter) 102.118; Notre Dame (Ron Larsen) 100.222; Miss Madison (Tom Sheehy) 98.792; Mister Fabricator (Tom Kaufman) 93.750.

Heat 1-C — Atlas Van Lines (Bill Munrey) 105.757; Red Man (James McCormick) 91.837; Valu Mart I (Bob Gilliam) 89.315; Shakey’s Special (Tom Martin) 81.154.

Heat 2-A — Atlas Van Lines 109.766; Notre Dame 101.771; Red Man 96.982; Miss U. S. 93.328; Murphy Marine 85.361.

Heat 2-B — Budweiser 104.046; Pizza Pete 98.828; Mister Fabricator 96.947; Shakey’s Special 91.525.

Heat 2-C — Pride of Pay ‘n Pak 109.356; Lincoln Thrift 104.247; Madison 99.852; Valu Mart I 94.405.

Heat 3-A — Budweiser 110.929; Atlas Van Lines 109.090; Notre Dame 100.521; Miss U. S. 91.093; Lincoln Thrift, DNS; Red Man DNS.

Heat 3-B — Pride of Pay ‘n Pak 107.142; Pizza Pete 100.222; Miss Madison 98.324; Mister Fabricator 96.463; Valu Mart 190.210.

Consolation — Red Man 97.508; Mister Fabricator 94.703; Miss Madison 92.465; Miss U. S. 92.402; Valu Mart 191.805; Shakey’s Special DNF.

Gold Cup final — Budweiser 111.386; Atlas Van Lines 107.100; Pizza Pete 98.864; Notre Dame 95.710; Pride of Pay ‘n Pak DNF.

Final points, [national totals in parentheses] — Budweiser 1,500 (6,238); Atlas Van Lines 1,400 (3,900); Pizza Pete 1,225 (3,200); Pride of Pay ‘n Pak 1,200 (6,138); Notre Dame 994 (1,463); Miss Madison 675 (2,642); Mister Fabricator 563 (1,858); Red Man 525 (4,184); Lincoln Thrift 525 (3,421); Valu Mart 1521 (1579); Miss U. S. 507 (1,544); Shakey s Special 338 (338) Murphy’s Marina 127 (127).

Record Run Doesn't Pay Off

Reprinted from Sea and Pacific Motor Boat, July 1969

And in May Spokane's newest Pride of Pay 'N Pak, was pak'd off all the way to Guntersville, Alabama, and smooth water for an assault on the propeller-driven craft speed record of 200.419 mph. National sports T.V. was there, all the officials. The try went on for five days, but all of the effort wasn't pay’n off this time. But Dave Heerensperger, president of a chain of stores on the coast, is not through trying. This is his third hydro and he feels that it will have a strong year in unlimited-class racing. It is a revolutionary design as pointed out in previous issues of this column.

Pay 'N Pak Unlimited Hydroplane 1969 Mile Straightaway Run

There was one interesting tie-in note. Driver Tommy Fults, Rookie-of-the-Year in '68, wore the new life support system and reported it is comfortable, it did not hamper his action and it gave a feeling of confidence to the driver.