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.
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| 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.