Reprinted from The Seattle Times, August 11, 1982
Unlimited-hydroplane racing received another jolt yesterday when Pay 'n Pak owner Dave Heerensperger announced he was pulling out of racing.
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| Driver John Walters sits dejectedly on the hull of the Pay 'n Pak after the boat went dead in the water during testing before crashing in Sunday's Emerald Cup on Lake Washington. Yesterday, Pak owner Dave Heerensperger decided to retire from unlimited racing. |
Heerensperger's decision came two days after his driver, John Walters, was injured in a three-boat crash during an early heat in the Sea Galley Emerald Cup on Lake Washington.
Walters was seriously injured when the Pak ran over Executone, which had gone out of control and struck The Squire Shop.
The 28-year-old Pak driver's condition is serious but has steadily improved, doctors at Harborview Medical Center said yesterday. Walters will remain on a ventilator until doctors can determine the extents of injuries to a lung.
Walters suffered a fractured right elbow, broken left knee, three broken bones in the cheek, all of which were set in surgery at Harborview Sunday night. He also had compression fractures of three vertebrae, but no paralysis.
"It was just the accident," said Heerensperger, explaining his decision. "It was an uncontrollable thing but the bad publicity and with John hurt and the boat wrecked ... and we'd lost Dean Chenoweth one weekend and one week later, I almost lost my own driver. When Muhammad Ali hits you in the face one or two times, you don't need the third. I'd had enough.
"If I hadn't won any national titles or any Gold Cups, that would be one thing. but I've done everything in this sport. I don't need anymore. Whenever you leave a sport that's been so good to you, sure you might have some regrets.
But I left in 1975, I left because we had just on three national championships. After winning the '75 title, (Pak driver) George Henley said, 'We've done everything. I think I want to get out.' I agreed. I sat on the beach for five years and it didn't bother me. I came back with the turbine to help the sport.
"The upside of racing is winning races. The downside is that I almost lost a driver and a friend. When I see the accident and get a queasy feeling in my stomach, it's time to get out."
With 25 victories spanning the period from 1968 to 1975 and 1980 to the present season, Heerensperger is the fifth winningest owner in the sport's history.
He captured national championships in 1973, '74, an '75 and Gold Cups in '74 and '75. Heerensperger won four races in Seattle and four in Pasco. The Pay 'n Pak Corp. sponsorship is fourth in career wins.
Heerensperger is chairman of the board of Pay 'n Pak, a Kent-based chain of plumbing and electrical stores. He had been one of the top innovators in the sport, credited with introducing stabilizer tail-fins, rear-mounted engines, trimaran hulls and the turbine power plant.
Heerensperger said he was also disturbed by the current trend of blowover-type accidents that claimed the lives of Chenoweth and Bill Muncey, two close friends.
"After what happened to Dean, I thought we should all meet in the winter and do something about safety," said Heerensperger. "Maybe shorten the courses, limit manifolds and maybe the sport would be called 'semi-limited." Something has to be done to make it safer. The sport has got to do some serious governing. It can't go on like it has. I think the sport itself will die if it does.
"I hope the sport can keep going. I'm sure it will, but without us. But this is a resilient bunch. Someone will step in and the sport will be back where it was."
According to Pak crew chief Jim Lucero, Heerensperger had hinted at the decision Sunday night.
"At the time, it was maybe yes, maybe no," Lucero said. "He probably didn't make the decision just because of the accident — though it was the biggest factor. Boat racing is an expensive thing to do. I don't think expenses was the major issue, however.
"I can understand the decision. We had two major accidents in the past two years. And there was nothing we could do about Sunday's. I felt we had reached the point where we were running better and safer than we had ever run.
"The Pay 'n Pak people feel real responsibility to Arlene (Walter's wife) and his two kids (Katrina and Marciva). I think they don't want to go through that again."
"We put together the best and safest equipment we could," Heerensperger said. "The accident wasn't related to going too fast or flying. It was an unfortunate accident — who knows what happened? If you noticed, John was behind everybody — exactly where we told him to be. We felt we could stay behind and that it would be no problem to pick off the rest one at a time, finished second because the Budweiser couldn't outrun us, and give a good show. If water conditions improved, which I understand they did, then give it a shot in the final."
Lucero, the all-time winningest crew chief in unlimited history with 45 victories, said he would continue in his advisory position with the Atlas Van Lines, which he designed and built.
"I have a commitment with them and I'll stick to it," he said. "But as for what I'll do on a full-time basis, I think I'll sit back and see what develops. Meanwhile, I'll do whatever I can to help the other teams — especially from the aspect of safety,
Heerensperger had left unlimited racing before. After campaigning Miss Eagle Electric, Pride of Pay 'n Pak and Pay 'n Pak 'Lil Buzzard for eight years, he sold his three boats and equipment in 1975 to Muncey. Racing under the Atlas sponsorship, Muncey won the national title in 1976.
The 45-year-old Pak owner returned to the sport in 1980 with the turbine-powered hydro that crashed at Seattle on Sunday.
In the boat's first race at Pasco that year, Walters flipped in spectacular fashion during a pre-race test lap. He was hospitalized for two weeks with a fractured hip socket and sprains to his left shoulder, elbow and knee.
Lucero and the Pak crew last year completed a new Pay 'n Pak hull that was the prototype for this year's version of the successful Atlas Van Lines. Heerensperger said he will sell all his equipment but has not yet talked to anyone about the sale.
It has been speculated that Squire Shop owner bob Steil is interested in the boat, but Steil could not be reached for comment.
Two drivers have died under Heerensperger's employ. Col. Warner Gardner died in the Miss Eagle Electric at the 1968 Gold Cup in Detroit. Tommy Fults was killed during testing in Pay 'n Pak's 'Lil Buzzard four days before a 1970 race in San Diego.
"I had a real low feeling then," said Heerensperger. "But those were different type accidents. I didn't feel they had to do with anything safety wise with the sport. With the colonel, it was driver error."
Pay 'n Pak Corp. was founded in Longview in 1953 by Stan Thurman. Heerensperger got into the business under Thurman when he established a chain of stores known as Eagle Electric in Spokane. Heerensperger and Thurman merged their operations with John M. Headley's Seattle-based Buzzard Electric in 1969 under the Pay 'n Pak name.