Reprinted from Tri-City Herald, August 5, 1974
The 1974 Gold Cup race on Lake Washington Sunday must be one of the most expensive demolition derbies in the annals of sports.
It was a calamity atop disaster, blended with catastrophe and sprinkled with confusion.
When it was over, the race course made the aftermath of Omaha Beach in the Normandy landings of World War II look like a manicured putting green.
"The only thing that didn't happen today," Phil Cole, co-referee, observed, "was that the creek didn't go dry."
George Henley, driver of the Pride of Pay 'n Pak wasn't so much a winner as the sole survivor.
"Whew, it was sure a long day," Henley, never one to throw words around needlessly, commented after winning four straight heats and presenting boss Dave Heerensperger with the coveted Gold Cup as a wedding present.
But before Henley took the checkered flag in the championship heat eight and one half hours after racing got under way - havoc was widespread.
The smartest move of the day had to be that of the Lincoln Thrift, which withdrew before the racing started. After posting the second fastest qualifying time, owner Robert Fendler and driver Mickey Remund declared the boat unsafe and said "forget it fellas."
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| The U-95 sank in more than 150 feet of water during Heat 1-C of the Gold Cup hydroplane race Sunday on Lake Washington. Driver Leif Borgersen, in the water beside the boat, escaped without injury. (AP) |
If the U-95 which took the Lincoln Thrift's place in the fast heat had followed suit, it wouldn't be sitting at the bottom of Lake Washington with a two-foot hole in its hull caused by an explosion in its turbine engine.
"I heard a loud explosion," driver Leif Borgersen related, "and fragments started flying around. I grabbed the fire extinguisher to start putting out the fire, but saw we were sinking so fast that the water would take care of it. I waved that I was alright and wend over the side."
The U-95 crew was able to but had to get a line on it but had to cut it when it wasn't long enough for the 180 foot depths. An effort will be made Monday to raise the sunken boat.
The third fastest qualifier, the Miss U.S. burned nearly to the waterline when firemen failed to respond quickly enough to what was originally a harmless blaze. An enraged Tom D'Eath, driver of the Miss U.S., said he had gone out into the water per instructions when the fire broke out.
"It could have been put out with a fire extinguisher but they seemed frozen," he said of the firemen on the patrol boat. "They were afraid of an explosion, and alcohol fires don't explode."
Valu-Mart, which had assumed the dark horse role when Bill Schumacher was named to drive it, was the next victim, withdrawing after a sponson started leaking in the rough waters.
But whether anyone could have caught the smiling Henley in the smooth-running Pak is doubtful.
"It was beautiful," he said with a grin. "It was rough but all water gets rough when you race on it."
Henley reported he felt he had the big cup sewed up when he looked back and couldn't see the pursuing Miss Budweiser.
Just as it has been for the past two years the race was a two boat affair between the Pak and Miss Bud. However, on the first of four concentrations between the two boats was close. In heat 1-C the Pak rapped the bear boat on the final lap by scant seconds.
Following the race, Mary Henley, wife of the winning driver from Eatonville, summed things up pretty well when she greeted her spouse with a big hug and said "Great going, dear."
As Bernie Little, runner up today, but winner of three World Cups, put it, "It was Dave's turn. He deserved it."