Reprinted from Turbine Racing in Seattle
No one person deserves more credit for introducing turbine power plants to unlimited racing than Jim Lucero. Lucero grew up in Seattle watching hydroplane racing. While he was still a young engineering student, he took a part-time job working as a parking attendant at a building that was owned by C. A. Lyford Il. Soon Jim met C. A.'s son, Chuck Lyford III, who owned and piloted the Bardahl Special, a modified P-51 pylon racer. Jim was invited to work on Chuck's plane, where he met the legendary Merlin motor wizard Dwight Thorn.
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| Stan Hanauer (left) with Jim Lucero (center) in Detroit in 1981. Photo by Larry Wilson. |
In late 1965, Jim went to work for the Notre Dame Unlimited team. After the disastrous 1966 season, Jim was hired by Lee Schoenith and worked on a couple of boats, including the innovative "bat winged" Smirnoff. In 1970, Jim took a stab at boat designing and drew up plans for a radical twin automotive-powered "cabover" Atlas Van Lines for Bob Fendler. In the middle of the 1970 season, Jim landed with Dave Heerensperger and the Pay 'n Pak.
In Heerensperger, Lucero found a team owner who shared his total commitment for excellence and had the resources to back up his vision. Together Heerensperger and Lucero became a force to be reckoned with, winning the National Championship three years in a row: 1973, 1974, and 1975.
At the end of the 1975 season, Heerensperger surprised everybody (including Lucero) by retiring from unlimited racing and selling his entire team to Bill Muncey.
Muncey and Lucero picked right up where Heerensperger and Lucero left off, winning three more national championships in 1976, 1978, and 1979.
By the end of the 1979 season, Lucero had won six out of the last seven national championships. The challenge of running a successful Merlin-powered race team was becoming routine. Jim wanted something new; he wanted to run a turbine. He offered the chance to Muncey, but Muncey elected to stick with the tried-and-true Merlins
Dave Heerensperger was intrigued by Lucero's ideas and agreed to reenter the sport with a new Lucero-designed hull powered by a Lycoming T-55 L-7 turbine. Jim's close friend and talented inboard racer John Walters was asked to drive.
The T-55 seemed a perfect fit for an unlimited hydro, weighing only 600 pounds but putting out an incredible 2,850 horsepower.
The new turbine Pay 'n Pak debuted at Tri-Cites in July 1980 and looked incredibly fast, but a horrific blow-over accident during pre-race testing put the Pak out of the race.
The following year, a repaired and redesigned Pay 'n Pak took second place in the opening race of the season. The Pak struggled through the rest of 1981, qualifying fast but never cracking the winner's circle.
The last race of 1981 ended in tragedy, when Bill Muncey was killed in a blow-over accident while driving the Atlas Van Lines in Acapulco, Mexico. In the second race of 1982—Thunder in the Park in Geneva, New York-Walters and the Pak qualified fastest and went on to win the race, claiming the honor of being the first turbine boat to win a race. One month later, the sport suffered a devastating loss when Miss Budweiser driver Dean Chenoweth was killed while attempting to qualify for the Columbia Cup in Tri-Cities, Washington.
In Seattle that year, the Pay 'n Pak collided with the old U-95 (renamed Executone) in heat 1-B. The frightening accident severely injured John Walters. This accident, coming so close on the heels of Bill Muncey's fatal crash in Acapulco and Dean Chenoweth's death the previous week in Tri-Cities, prompted Heerensperger to retire again.
With Heerensperger's retirement, there would be no turbine teams in 1983. But Lucero didn't give up on racing. He became a partner in Muncey Enterprises and worked with Bill Muncey's widow, Fran, to campaign the Atlas Van Lines for the 1983 season. With Chip Hanauer driving, the Atlas won both the Gold Cup and the National Championship. Lucero, always an innovator, installed a reinforced "crash cockpit" on the 1983 Atlas that allowed Chip to wear a shoulder harness that would keep him in the boat in case of an accident.
In 1984, Lucero was incredibly busy. He built a Merlin-powered boat for Bill Wurster and Executone, and he built a turbine-powered boat for Bob Taylor, sponsored by Miller Brewing, named the Lite All Star. The Lite All Star was powered by a GE T-64 turbine. Lucero also built a brand-new turbine boat for Atlas Van Lines and Muncey Enterprises.
The new Atlas was very fast, earning top qualifier marks in seven out of eight races and winning the 1984 Gold Cup in Tri-Cities as well as the Governor's Cup in Madison, Indiana. But the boat suffered "new boat blues" and failed to finish a number of heats, dropping her to fourth in National High Points. It was Atlas's last year in the sport.
Another Lucero turbine, the former Pay 'n Pak backup boat, was renamed Miss Tosti Asti and won the 1984 World Championship Race in Houston, Texas.
At the end of 1984, Bob Taylor retired from unlimited racing and Muncey Enterprises picked up the Miller sponsorship. Miss Budweiser owner Bernie Little bought the Lite All Star hull and began to tinker with his own turbine team.
In 1985, the combination of Muncey, Lucero, Hanauer, and Miller was awesome, winning five of nine races and capturing both the Gold Cup and National High Points Championship. Along the way, Hanauer and Miller set half a dozen world records, including a one lap of 153.061 miles per hour at Tri-Cities.
A new, lighter Lucero-designed Miller was ordered for 1986, and construction began during the off-season. From the outside, it looked like Muncey and Lucero had the world by the tail, but appearances can be deceiving. Behind closed doors, there was tremendous friction between Jim and Fran, and it all came to a head just six weeks before the start of the 1986 season.