Reprinted by The New York Times, June 3, 1973
With at least eight of the 200-mile-an-hour thunderboats convening on the Potomac River in Washington this weekend for the President's Cup regatta, the new hero, so far, is Mickey Remund. He won the Champion Spark Plug regatta in Miami and set a course record doing so, 119.363 miles an hour for one lap and 119.048 for a five-lap average.
Remund has the helm of Pride of Pay 'n Pak, the new Ron Jones‐design. Also in the race are the two hydros that gave Remund his toughest competition before succumbing to engine trouble: Miss Budweiser (last year's Pride of Pay 'n Pak) and Lincoln Thrift, now with a new driver, Gene Whipp of Dayton, Ohio.
Others running are Gale's Roostertail, Red Man, Notre Dame (new driver, Ronnie Larson), Miss Madison and Atlas, with Muncey reportedly recovered from his wounds. Not entered are Miss U.S. and Valu-Mart.
For a new boat on the seven-race circuit, victory in the first regatta is a surprise, while a record is shocking. There were even a few snickers in the pits when the Pay 'n Pak crew announced that the low-profile pickle hull had been clocked unofficially at 119 miles an hour-plus on her first practice run.
“Don't you think that's exaggerating just a little bit?” replied one of the other drivers. This is a pretty tight course. Are you trying to tell me Remund broke Muncey's record by an honest 6 miles an hour?”
Mickey answered his critics later, of course, when he made the record official. Although Muncey drove despite his aching body, Pay 'n Pak's most serious challenger turned out to be Dean Chenoweth, the former national champion, in Budweiser.
In the second heat at Miami, Remund and Chenoweth tangled in a thrilling three-lap duel, which ended when the Bud's engine blew in a sheet of flames on the back stretch.
In the Atlas Van lines camp, there were signs that all was not well beside Muncey. The new fuel-injection system developed by Jim Kerth and Lee Schoenith, the owner, was one source of problems.
“With the cold weather we've been having up in Detroit,” Schoenith said, “we have not had a chance to do enough testing. I would say that we're 90-percent home free, and I'm sure we'll have it worked out as the season goes on.”
Another new boat that has caught spectators' attention is Lincoln Thrift, a turbocharged cabover design. Although it had its problems trying not to spin out on the tight Miami Stadium turns, it is tremendously fast. If Lincoln can straighten out and Budweiser's engine holds up and Pay 'N Pak continues hot and Muncey gets back in the winning groove, the Potomac could be boiling before the day is over.