July 21, 1968: Eagle Electric/Dave Heerensperger win.
Reprinted from the Tri-City Herald
Dave Heerensperger brought unlimited hydroplane fans the Pay ‘N Pak during its glory years of the 1970s.
But before Pay ‘N Pak, there was Eagle Electric. And during the third running of the Atomic Cup, Heerensperger’s driver, Col. Warner Gardner, drove the Miss Eagle Electric to victory, knocking off Miss Bardahl.
Eagle Electric owner Heerensperger — who someday would lead the wave of turbine expansion — picked up his first victory on the Columbia River.
There were some interesting notes that week.
Water Follies officials warned people to stay out of Columbia Park between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. on race day Sunday. Any unauthorized cars would be towed at the owner’s expense. And for God’s sake, don’t throwing anything into the water when the boats are racing.
The Atlas Van Lines was the first boat out on the water ... on Tuesday. Back then, the boats could hit the water early in the week, and qualifying ran Thursday through Saturday.
Gardner was out on the course at midweek when he noticed two dead cows were floating down the river. Another one was found the next day.
Race officials named the consolation race — the second-fastest five — the Mira Slovak Trophy race for Sunday in honor of the driver of Harrah’s Club, who missed the race because he was recovering at home from a plane crash. ... It was the third one he had been involved in to that point.
And Bill Muncey, who was driving the Miss U.S., didn’t make the race because he hit a houseboat on the Ohio River during the Indiana Governor’s Cup in Madison, Ind.
Gardner had driven the Eagle Electric, based out of Spokane, to a win in the Dixie Cup in Guntersville, Ala., earlier in the season.
And on this day in the Tri-Cities, he outran the 12-boat field and swept all of his races toward the victory, marking the third straight time in the three years of the race that the winner had done so.
Gardner overtook Miss Budweiser driver Bill Sterett at the end of the first lap and was never threatened again. Race favorite Billy Schumacher in the Miss Bardahl, the defending Atomic Cup champion, broke down in the final and was never a factor.
“I was with them at the start,” Schumacher said. “but Warner and Bill had too much speed for me. I froze a cylinder in a new engine and just couldn’t run with them.”
Race officials estimated 60,000 people watched the race. The formula? They counted 13,569 cars going through the admission gates and estimated an average of 4 people in each vehicle.
