Reprinted from The Seattle Times, September 22, 1975
SAN DIEGO — (Special) — Billy Schumacher ran out of "laughing gas" yesterday, and George Henley and the Pay 'n Pak giggled all the way home.
Henley scored come-from-behind victories in all three heats on Mission Bay to win the Weisfield's Cup trophy and the 1975 national championship.
The win was Henley's 12th in less than two seasons as the Pay 'n Pak pilot and a record 16th for Dave Heerensperger's boat, the national champion the past three seasons.
Heerensperger has announced plans to campaign a new hull in 1976.
Henley, lured out of retirement after two races this season, passed the lead boat in the final turn of each five-mile heat to overtake the Weisfield's in national point standings in the season's final race.
Pay 'n Pak wound up with 1,200 points here and a season total of 8,864. Weisfield's, unable to qualify for the final heat after blowing an engine in a preliminary face, finished the season with 8,213 points.
Henley and Schumacher waged a side-by-side duel for 4½ laps in Heat 1B before the Pak shot in front as Weisfield's lost acceleration coming out of the final turn.
"The nitrous tank just fat ran dry," Schumacher said later. The drivers used nitrous oxide, an exotic fuel also known as laughing gas, to boost acceleration.
Henley, of Eatonville, Wash., made similar last-lap charges to edge Lincoln Thrift in Heat 2B and Miss Budweiser in the final heat.
In the final, the Pay 'n Pak darted past Mickey Remund in the Miss Budweiser when Remund had to slow temporarily as his craft overtook another, slower-moving boat in the inside lane of the course.
Henley said he planned no come-from-behind strategy in his battle with Schumacher, which he won in a course-record average speed of 116.099 miles an hour around the 2½ mile circuit.
In other heats, "we wanted to make sure we would finish," Henley said, indicating he did not push the Pak quite as much.
Schumacher dropped out of Heat 2A, losing a shot in the final heat, when his boat lost oil pressure. He shut it down just as the engine threw a rod.
"I'm getting pretty tired of being passed in the last turn," said the Seattle driver, who finished on top in points standings for drives for the third time in his unlimited career.
Henley's win here successfully defended his title in the Mission Bay regatta. He earlier scored victories at Madison, Ind., Dayton, Ohio, Tri-cities, Wash., and Seattle — repeating 1974 wins at each of those sites.
