Reprinted from the Detroit Free Press, June 28, 1974
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| Pride of Pay 'N Pak skims along Detroit River, turning in the best qualifying speed during Thursday's trials. |
The qualifying has just begun and already the Pride of Pay 'N Pak in its old familiar plane - No 1.
With George Henley at the controls, Pay 'N Pak took the top spot Thursday among the first five boats that qualified for Sunday's Gar Wood Trophy Race on the Detroit River.
Her speed was listed at 133.044 miles per hour but that was an exaggeration, as were there the speeds of the four qualifiers - Miss U.S., Miss Budweiser, Savair's Probe and CU-22.
The "three-mile" course was shortened considerable by chief referee Bill Newton "in the interest of safety" but the speeds were still calculated on a "three mile" speed chart.
Whatever the actual speed were, it was still Henley, navigating the Pay 'N Pak, that took the least time to tour the course. And that's the type of performance that has come to be expected of the national points champion boat, even though Henley is new to its cockpit this season.
"They're used to winning so they expect you to get out and go," admitted Henley, who replaced defending drivers' champion Mickey Remund after last season.
"I was thinking of that when they offered me the job but then I thought...if I couldn't do it, then what was I doing in racing?"