By Hec Hancock
Reprinted from Tri-City Herald, August 4, 1974
SEATTLE - The format for today's Gold Cup race on Lake Washington will be essentially the same as it has been for most of the year, i.e., catch the Pride of Pay 'n Pak, and the latest driver to join the thunderboat fleet, Billy Schumacher, is confident he is up to the task.
"We needed a more experienced driver," Les Rosenberg, owner of the Valu-Mart, explained Saturday as he replaced first-year driver Ron Armstrong with the veteran Schumacher.
The winner of the national championship and the Gold Cup in 1967 and '68 responded by increasing Valu-Mart's qualifying speed from 115.017 m.p.h. to 119.051 m.p.h., good enough for fourth place and a spot in the five-best fastest heat.
"We'll take first or second if we can stay together," an optimistic Rosenberg predicted. A confident Schumacher didn't see any reason to disagree with his new boss. "I'm favorably impressed with the boat," he said. "I wouldn't be driving if I didn't think we could win. I didn't take much adjustment since it feels pretty much the same as the Pak did.
Schumacher was the driver of the Pay 'n Pak when he quit hydroplanes in 1972.
Catching the Pak, however, could prove to be something else. The winner of the World Championship at the Tri-Cities two weeks ago is running at top form and a smiling George Henley appeared unperturbed by the rough water off Sand Point as he sped to the top qualifying time of 122.531 m.p.h.
The defending national champion was trailed by Lincoln Thrift driven by Mickey Remund.
Remund, whose boat was plagued by troubles at Tri-Cities, expressed satisfaction with his craft's performance Saturday but voiced concern over the race course.
"It's almost as bad as Detroit," he said. "The water just misses coming over the bow, and that's when people get hurt. It looks like all right from the shore and it's fine in the morning, but later in the day there are swells that make it rough."
Stan Jones, driver of the Australian champion, Solo, concurred but added, "It's the type of course we're used to. In fact, it's just about the same as what we have at home except there are no flies, and needless to say, we don't miss that aspect."
After breaking two propellers including their best one at Tri-Cities, the Solo crew had a borrowed replacement flown up from Australia.
Jones was satisfied with the engine but pointed out that the attitude of the boat would have to be changed because of the greater amount of fuel needed for the longer course.
The turbine-powered U-95, which appeared ready to challenge the Pak at Tri-Cities before being crippled by a collision with a still-unidentified boat, qualified in the second heat along with the Atlas Van Lines, piloted by Bill Muncey.
The U-95 is running without a tail assembly and, in spite of a tendency to bounce around the course, posted a speed of 115 m.p.h. easy, but the ride could be much better.
As Borgersen pointed out, the boat is nearly 300 pounds lighter without the tail assembly, and air can now get under the stern causing the boat to rise up in the water.
And whether the U-95 as well as the rest of the roostertail crowd can make the needed adjustments to catch the front-running Pak remains to be seen. Heat 1-A of today's $52,500 Gold Cup starts at noon.
