July 9, 1973, MADISON, Ind. (UPI) - The winged Pay 'n Pak dominated the field Sunday to win the Indiana Governor's Cup for unlimited hydroplanes. The $25,000 cup race is the main prize at the two-day Madison Regatta on the Ohio River.
An estimated 100,000 spectators lined the Indiana and Kentucky shorelines to watch the event in sunny, 90-degree weather.
Pay 'n Pak, driven by Mickey Remund, Palm Desert, Calif., roared to a record 104.106 miles per hour to finish one-half lap ahead of Miss Budweiser in second place.
The two "thunderboats" were tied entering the 15-mile finale after each picked up a pair of heat victories. Miss Budweiser was driven by Dean Chenoweth, Xenia, Ohio. Third in the five-boat final was Lincoln Thrift, followed in fourth by Redman and in fifth by Mr. Fabricator.
Pay 'n Pak accumulated 1,200 points for the afternoon with Budweiser getting 1,100. Lincoln Thrift had 675, Redman 525 and Mr. Fabricator 469.
At the start of the last race, it appeared the final heat would be a head-to-head showdown between Pay 'n Pak and Budweiser. Chenoweth took the lead at the gun but Remund brought his boat alongside as the two battled the entire first lap.
But Miss Budweiser stalled on the second lap and Pay 'n Pak shot into the lead for good. The Budweiser driver said after the race that his boat was having carburetor problems and the engine was getting too much fuel.
Remund also had a difficult time. In the final heat when two of the three spokes on his steering wheel broke. The first broke prior to the race and the second on the backstretch of the first lap.
"When we ran that first lap almost side by side, the steering thing was all I could think about," he said. "If I'd lost control, I would have crashed into him since he was right beside me."
Despite performing well in qualifications, Miss Madison had her problems, finishing fifth in the first heat and third in the second and did not make the final race of the day. Sentimental favorite and community-owned Miss Madison was sixth with 352 points earned in heat races.
Gale's Roostertail was seventh with 300. Valu-Mart and Atlas Van Lines competed, but failed to score.
Atlas was the defending Regatta champ and the No. 1 boat in the American Power Boat Association races last season. But driver Bill Muncey, San Diego, Calif., experienced mechanical problems all week and his craft went dead in the water while leading a preliminary heat.
Pay 'n Pak passed Muncey and Atlas en route to a record 106.888 winning average in that heat.
Mechanical problems plagued many of the other boats in the nine craft event, but there were no accidents or sinkings.
Earlier in the week Pay 'n Pak, the first "thunderboat" to utilize the stabilizer wing, roared to a qualifying record on the 2½-mile Ohio River course. Remund posted a 115.908 clocking Thursday.
