Here is an interesting factoid about the two famous tails on the 1970 Pride of Pay 'n Pak —
— and the 1971-72 Pride of Pay 'n Pak hull.
The tail of the twin auto powered Pak was cut down and then the famous head rest was built into the tail fin and cowling design by David Smith.
David was quite the cockpit cowling artist as he did all of the Karelson unlimited cowlings before this.
Building a Thunderboat
Building a national champion unlimited hydroplane is a little like cooking up a good Irish stew. It takes a number of prime ingredients that must be prepared with tender loving care; it takes a chef to oversee the preparation and cooking of the ingredients and, finally, it takes time.
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| The first step in building an Unlimited Hydroplane sees the bottom laid out. After the bottom has been carefully laid out, the frames are attached to the bottom. Here Jim Lucero and John Walters confer during assembly of the boat. |
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| John Walters cuts a piece of honeycomb which will be used as a frame on the hull. The honeycomb material offers a great savings in weight while giving up no loss in strength. The hull is then turned over at which time the non-trip frames and the non-trip are attached to the hull. Next the sponson frames are attached and the sponsons are constructed. Here John Walters works on attaching the non-trip to the non-trip frames. The sponson frames have yet to be attached to the hull. |
Today there are only a handful of craftsmen in the world who can “cook up" a boat that large - a minimum of 28 feet long — and get it to “dance” across the water at a graceful 180 miles per hour.
The Pay ’n Pak team has campaigned hulls built by many of those builders, but the most success that the team has had was during 1973,1974 and 1975 seasons when the Pak virtually ruled the waters garnering consecutive national championships with a hull that was designed and built by crew chief and team manager Jim Lucero and the famous Jones family, Ron and father Ted.
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| Jim Lucero measures up a section of non-trip prior to fitting the final piece on to that section of the boat. |
Lucero has gone on to build the most successful unlimited hydroplane in the history of the sport, now campaigned as Bill Muncey's Atlas Van Lines.
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| When the boat is turned right-side up again it finally begins to look like a hydro is supposed to. At this time the battens are added to the top of the hull to make ready putting the deck down. Prior to the deck going on all internal hardware is installed and any "plumbing" that needs to be done is completed. |
In 1980 the Lucero team launched another unlimited hydroplane and perhaps another era with the turbine-powered Pay 'n Pak, a refinement of the Atlas Van Lines hull with an all new power plant. Lucero, owner Dave Heerensperger and driver John Walters hope the craft will get the Pak team back into the winner’s circle after a five year hiatus from the sport.
The turbine-powered boat also utilizes honeycomb aluminum as an integral part of its skeletal frame. The advantage of this material, which can be described as two thin sheets of aluminum bonded to and separated by a honeycomb aluminum core, is that of light weight and extremely high strength.
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| John Walters works in securing battens to the hull of the newest Pay 'N Pak. |
Actual construction of the hull was done at the Pak shop by the Pay 'n Pak crew. In fact, the Pay 'n Pak racing team is unique among unlimited racing teams at this time in that it can do virtually 95% of all work on the boat right in its own shop.
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| The skin, which is fiberglass, if then laid on the deck. After the deck is on the motor mounts are installed, the cowling for the boat is added and the boat is painted. |
Housed in the Pay 'n Pak shop are a complete machine shop, a fiberglass shop, a complete motor shop, and tools and floor space for the building maintenance of a hull. It is a great source of pride for both Lucero and the crew.
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| A most complete shop, members of the Pay 'n Pak crew can do virtually 95 percent of all work on the hull. Here we see a crew member working on some of the fiberglass parts of the boat. |
The newest Lucero design to be raced weighs an amazingly light 5200 pounds, thanks to the honeycomb aluminum used in the boat and other Lucero building techniques, which coupled with the Pak’s turbine that is lighter than a Rolls Royce or Allison aircraft engine, should give the “whoosh” machine an advantage in the power-to-weight department.
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| The final look, the Pay 'N Pak U-25 Unlimited Hydroplane on the trailer. |
While the new boat has all of the Lucero design concepts of previous boats, besides sporting a rear horizontal stabilizer the hull is designed to accept a pair of front stabilizers which will be used to help control the attitude of the boat at racing speed.
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| Ready to go racing. |
Currently Lucero’s last hull, which is being run by Bill Muncey and the Atlas Van Lines team, is the winningest hydro in the history of unlimited hydroplane racing. But records are made to be broken, and when it is Jim Lucero that is doing the cooking, you know that the results have to spell winner.
Reprinted from Facebook.
If there was ever a race that I would have wanted to attend back in my youth, it would have been the 1974 World Championship in the Tri. Unlike the disastrous Gold Cup two weeks later in Seattle, the race on the Columbia River was filled with many of the hulls in Seattle that never hit the water, burned up, blew up, sank, you name it! Seattle’s Gold Cup was only memorable for one particular heat 1C that became known as one of the greatest piston powered battles of all time between the Pak and the Bud. However, this is two weeks earlier now and we are in the Tri-Cities.
There were 12 boats that qualified for this race with George Henley in the Pay 'n Pak at the top with a speed of 119.681mph, but close behind was the new U-55 Lincoln Thrift at 118.421 mph driven by Mickey Remund. The new U-2 Miss U.S. with Tom D’Eath and the U-74 Valu-Mart with Ron Armstrong were tied for third with 116.883mph followed by Howie Benns in the U-12 Miss Budweiser at 115.681 mph.
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| Photo by Randy Hall |
The points structure had the slower boats in heats 1A and 2A, the faster boats were in heats 1B and 2B, and the fastest boats were in heats 1C and 2C with the winners in the fast heat getting 400 points while the winners in the middle heat getting only 300 points. The slow boat winners were given 225 points. The final heat point structure was even more bizarre in the final with the winner getting 600 points, 450 to 2nd, 338 to 3rd, 254 for 4th.
The consolation winner, the U-4 Kirby Classic received 200 points and the U-22 Sunny Jim getting 150 for 2nd place. Wow! OK, the winners in the fast heats were the Pak in 1C and the U-95 in 2C. The winners in the middle of the road heat were the Bud in 1B and the Atlas in 2B. And finally, the slow heat winner was the U-44 Pizza Pete in both 1C and 2C. Not bad for one of the three Schoenith river sleds in attendance, driven by Fearless Fred Alter.
So, it came down to the all-important final heat. The top six points getters were the Pak, the U-95, the Bud, the Valu-Mart, the Pizza Pete and the U-76 Miss Cott Beverages. Sadly, three major contenders, the Atlas Van Lines, the Lincoln Thrift and the Miss U.S. did not have enough points to qualify for the final based on not being able to finish one of their heats. So, when the Bud went down during the final heat, the door was wide open for Henley in the Pak to cruise to victory, followed by Freddy Alter in the Pizza Pete, Ron Armstrong in the Valu-Mart and coming in 4th place, the turbine powered U-95 with Leif Borgersen. Son after 12 boats qualifying for the race, there were only six finishers between the final and the consolation.
Hmmm maybe the disaster in Seattle was a bit better. Oh well. At least the fans got to see the Australian entry VS-41 Solo run a few laps during her failed qualifying attempt but I’m sure some of the sun-drenched fans cared very little about the boats on the water and paid more attention to the suntanned skin in the water and on the beach.
Reprinted from Facebook.
Dale Fugier - Speaking of the Pay 'n Pak, here is the only color photo I've seen of the what-would-have-been '83 hull in its traditional white and orange livery. If anyone else has images, feel free to share - thanks!
Brad Haskin - So John Walters can pipe in here to make any corrections because I don't recall the details being included in his book...but the story as I recall it was thus: The boat in question was complete and ready to go for the 1982 season, but Jim Lucero insisted that the 1st turbine hull be the one that they raced. As the season went on and (in spite of the victory at Syracuse) the first hull had lots of teething problems, the team was getting frustrated that the 'new' boat was sitting unused. When confronted/asked about why, Jim Lucero's response was that he wanted to get the first hull running right so they could make more money when they sold it. That information was taken to Mr. Heerensberger who was upset enough that the plan after the '82 Seattle race was to let Lucero go from the team and run the 'new' boat for the remainder of the '82 season with Dixon Smith as crew chief. That obviously never came to pass because of the accident, and the only public appearance of the 2nd turbine Pak was when it was pulled through the 1982 Seafair Torchlight Parade on Friday night of Seafair weekend.
John Walters - Yes, this is accurate Brad. Sad, but true.
The sport loses one of the great ones.
Reprinted from the Unlimited NewsJournal, June 2023
Only a small handful of people are among those who have had a transcendent influence on the sport of unlimited hydroplane racing. Gar Wood would certainly be a member of that elite group, as would Bill Muncey, Ted Jones, and Bernie Little. Another in that category is Jim Lucero, who not only served as the crew chief for many of the top race teams during the 1970s, ‘80s, and into the mid-’90s—Pay ‘n Pak, Atlas Van Lines, Miller American, Winston Eagle—but also was at the center of such innovations as wings, cabover hulls, enclosed cockpits, and turbine power.
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| Jim Lucero |
Jim Lucero passed away at a hospital in Federal Way, Washington, on April 29. Born in Bremerton, Washington, on May 29, 1945, he was a month shy of his 78th birthday. Though he is best known for his career in boat racing, he was so much more than that. He loved his family deeply and left behind his wife, Judy, and two daughters, Jennifer and Kristine.
But it was his involvement with the fastest of race boats that we now honor. During his career in unlimited hydroplane racing, Lucero was credited with 69 race victories, including 10 Gold Cups, and led his race teams to eight national championships. He was inducted into the Hydroplane Hall of Fame in 1980.
The Unlimited NewsJournal interviewed Lucero many times, both in a formal question-and-answer format and to get background for various purposes over the years. The first of those formal interviews came in 1974, when Lucero was only 27 years old. While much of his success in the sport had yet to happen, he was already standing at the pinnacle of success when he sat down with Dave Speer and Bill Osborne of the NewsJournal staff. This interview was first published in the November and December 1974 issues of this publication.
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| Jim Lucero’s first involvement with Unlimited racing came on the crew of Notre Dame. |
UNJ: What was your first Unlimited thing?
Lucero: It was strictly an accidental thing. I happened to be working nights and the Notre Dame crew needed part time help to wash engine parts. I thought it looked like a fun deal. I started working for them when Rex Manchester was driving.
Had you ever done any limited racing?
Never. Never even been to a limited race. I was an avid fan of the Unlimiteds for years, although I was beginning to lose a little interest by that time.
Was the Notre Dame camp typical of Notre Dame camps? A loose camp?
The first year I was with them was when Rex was driving, and it wasn’t. Rex was the boss, and it was very obvious he was the boss. He had all the say-so and everything and it showed in the way the boat ran. That boat probably ran as well as any Notre Dame ever did, I think, because we all knew where we stood.
When you look back on that first experience with the Notre Dame, what did you get out of it? Did ideas start formulating?
Yes. Very definitely. Particularly on the hulls. At that time we had crashed a few boats and it was clearly obvious that there was a lot of work to be done. My Notre Dame experience taught me more about engines and being careful about general maintenance than anything else. I really didn’t get into the design aspects of boats until I started working on the Smirnoff.
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| Tony Bugeja Collection |
So, that was your next stop? Working with Lee Schoenith on his radical new hull in 1968.
I worked on the boat for a year in all, and I guess I was the crew chief. At least that’s what I was called sometimes. Until it came to the decision-making part, and Lee made the decisions, which were usually wrong.
So, when you were with the Smirnoff, you started getting involved with the hull set-up?
I was hired primarily as an engine guy because they had just switched over to Merlins. But, I worked very closely with Dick Brantsner, who designed the Smirnoff, and learned a lot about just basic hull design. Brantsner is the guy who built the fuel-injected Allison for Gale the year before. He’s been involved in I don’t know how many things. Presently, he works as director of research and development for Lionel trains.
So, it was an entire new team?
Right. In fact that was the year Dean Chenoweth was a rookie. Freddy Dube did the constructing on it. Brantsner didn’t have too much to say about how the boat was constructed, which was unfortunate because the boat probably would’ve turned out a lot lighter if he had. But it was Dick’s design—no question about it.
Was it just overbuilt? Maybe it was in reaction to the new idea, the wind-tunnel shape, the pickle-fork, and all that?
Well, it was over reaction. See, the year before [actually in 1966] the old Smirnoff had dumped and Chuck Thompson was killed in it, and it had really worked over their heads. They felt the construction was too light and went way the other way until it was so heavy that you could drop it off the Empire State Building and it wouldn’t come unstuck.
What kind of things was Brantsner trying to do with the boat? What did it do?
He was trying to make the boat aerodynamically stable. Unfortunately, it was too stable. So stable it wouldn’t get free. It just wouldn’t break loose from the water and go fast. Mechanically the boat ran well, but whenever we ran into any slop, the boat would fall into the holes because it didn’t have enough aerodynamic support. After a while we decided to close off the aerodynamic venting and get the thing to cushion itself on the water. We got it to stabilize a bit. From there we tried other things.
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| Lucero’s next stop was with Bob Fendler’s race team and the U-19 Atlas Van Lines. |
That obviously took you one step further.
From there I went to work for Bob Fendler on the Atlas U-19. And that boat had some very definite handling problems. Fortunately, I got a chance to learn and try some of my ideas on the boat. The boat was horrendously bad on the straightaway. God, it was 13 years old or so. It could not run over 130 mph without being dangerous. We got the boat to run 165–170, maybe, in the straight. And do it very nicely.
How did you accomplish that?
We made sponson changes. We also made some propeller changes. We worked on that area quite hard.
Then you stuck it out with Fendler a while longer?
Yeah, I stayed with him during the winter. Then at the end of that season we decided to build a new boat and go to automotive power. Building the new boat was probably a smart idea, but going to the auto power was probably a horrible mistake. That was the U-29.
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| Fendler’s team introduced a new Atlas Van Lines in 1970
that was powered by twin Chrysler Hemi engines. |
A lot of people share the common conception that the hull was designed and built by Fred Wickens.
No. It definitely was not. Dick Brantsner and I designed it. Primarily, I did. In fact we designed it at the Lionel factory at Hillside, New Jersey. Actually, the crew, the U-29 crew, built the boat. Fred was down there every day, right in there with us, and he advised us on a lot of things because he had more experience than all of us putting together in building boats. So, he was invaluable in that respect.
What were the things you were trying to make happen that weren’t happening on the other boats?
We were trying to improve the turning capabilities of the boat. The name of the game in boat racing, as in any other kind of racing, is to make up the time in the slowest part of the course. And, it was obvious the boats were really pigs around the turns. And, I mean really pigs. The boats that were running fast—like the Bardahl or Miss Budweiser—were doing good in the turns. But the others were just horrible.
Technically, or design-wise, how did you try to execute this idea?
Basically, we tried to move the aerodynamic center of lift closer to the center of gravity, which meant moving the break in the bottom further back. And, we used wide sponsons. We didn’t move the center of gravity too far back, it was back about 25 inches or so, maybe 30. That proved to be too far back, although the boat turned well. The engines [twin Chrysler Hemis] were a disaster. I think we made three races before I quit.
Now, own up to this: Who decided to put the engines in?
Well, I was a good part of it. Myself and Keith Newton. They looked like they could cut the program, and we decided that was the thing to do. They looked like the wave of the future
The engines just couldn’t last.
Oh yeah. We couldn’t make an engine last more than a few laps. We were working on such a limited budget that we couldn’t do the right things. Chryslers are not cheap. That’s what bit us basically. And, we were trying to do everything ourselves. Heck, we built the boat, built the trailer, and did all the engine work ourselves. It was just too much. There was too much pressure. Towards the end we were working 24-hour shots, three or four times a week, and the whole thing dissolved.
In terms of the boat’s potential, you were not unhappy?
In fact, I was very pleased with it. It had some problems on the straightaway. It was pretty goosey, but I think that could’ve been cured pretty easily. But it turned excellently. It was probably the best turning boat on the circuit, I think. We couldn’t turn over 120 on the straights and we were still turning 95 to 100 laps.
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| When Lucero joined the Pay ‘n Pak crew in 1970, his first assignment
was to oversee the operation for Pay ’n Pak ‘Lil Buzzard. |
What was the next step?
I went to work with Pay ‘n Pak.
What first drew you to the team? Was it that you felt that maybe you were going to get another chance to express ideas? Was it that you felt Dave Heerensperger would be committed to spending the money to do the job?
OK. There were several things. One, was that there were several close friends of mine—Dwight Thorne, Dixon Smith, David Smith—working on the boat. People that I respected a lot. That was a great starting point. Also, it was obvious that Dave was willing to spend the money to make the boats right. That takes the financial pressure off of you, and I don’t care how you look at it, that’s a gigantic amount of pressure on a guy. If you’re conscientious at all you’re going to be looking at that to make sure you’re doing the right thing for the guy you’re working for. If he can’t afford to spend a thousand dollars for a particular thing, you’ll try to find some other way around it.
Would it be fair to say that was really the first time you didn’t feel that type of pressure?
Oh no. I didn’t feel the pressure with the Notre Dame. There was money to burn. But there was a distinct lack of talent and organization on that thing, too.
When you first went with Pak, what was your responsibility?
We were running both boats at that time. The Chrysler-powered boat and ‘Lil Buzzard. Dwight Thorne was kind of overall crew chief, and I was given the responsibility to sort of chief the Buzzard. It didn’t work out that way because we were all pretty much equals on the boat. Everybody had his area of responsibility.
Since it was a conventional-type hull, not innovative in any way, you were in sense taking a step backward?
Yes. Very definitely. It was obvious to me the Chrysler boat had, at least the hull had, considerably more potential than the ‘Lil Buzzard did. The ‘Lil Buzzard ran well, in fact it ran much better than it had any right to. In fact, that hull won one race that year and should’ve won a couple more. When Tommy [Fults] got killed in it, the boat was riding better than it had ever ridden before—but it was a very fluke deal.
Was the Buzzard pretty well set up when you got to it?
Oh no. No, it was a very bad-riding hull. We did a lot of things to it, and we talked a lot about it. I was working with very capable people, and I just couldn’t say “this and that” will work and we’d do it. We had to talk about it, and I had to prove myself right, or at least convince them that’s what should be done.
Try to give me an idea of the thought process involved in setting up a hull. Is it a matter of little steps? What is it?
You have to observe the boat. It’s really a trial and error deal. You set the boat up initially thinking that, well, these things should be right. But, it’s like test flying an airplane. There’s going to be little things that come up that you just don’t have any way of knowing about until you run. In boats it’s even worse because there is less science involved. Less known about what things really should be.
The people must play an important role, as well?
Very definitely. There’s a real problem in boat racing. Well, there’s a distinct lack of the kind of people in boat racing that have the capability to do what needs to be done to make the boats right. Just because it doesn’t pay well enough. It’s obvious that an aerodynamic or hydrodynamic engineer isn’t going to work for peanuts. I just happen to be lucky enough to have come up with, through trial and error, some things that will help the boat. But, that’s the only reason. It isn’t because I’m so much smarter than anyone else I’ve been reasonably successful.
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| Pride of Pay ‘n Pak appeared in 1970
as a cabover powered by twin Chrysler Hemi engines. |
While you worked on the ‘Lil Buzzard, did you have anything to do with the cabover hull?
I tried to stay completely away from that when I first went to work for Dave. I thought that I should stay away from it because it was Ron Jones’s thing. He did design it and I felt he wanted to work it out his way. He and I had some different ideas on things. Also, it was a Chrysler project—it was his design and he knew more about it than I did.
What did you feel he was trying to do with the boat? How did that work into your ideas for the boat?
Well, he and I were basically trying to achieve the same goals: Make the boat turn well. But we were going about it differently. We had different cures in mind. I like to work with the sponsons a lot because I feel there’s a lot to be improved there. They did a lot of work with props because Ron feels there’s a lot to be improved there. And he’s right. I felt there was too much weight on the propeller for the way the boat was reacting—there may have been, there may not have been. I don’t know.
With the cabover Pay ‘n Pak, was the center of balance back like the boats now, or had Ron gone that far?
It started out way back and then it moved forward. The longer we had the boat the farther the c.g. moved forward.
How did you become crew chief? And, how do you go about convincing somebody to turn their boat around so drastically?
Well, I was basically the only one left, kind of. But before that, David had offered me the job. After Seattle, we decided to give the Chryslers one more chance—which was San Diego. They did a good job for us, but they were horribly expensive and, for us, very maintenance high. Instead of spending time working out the boat, we were spending time trying to keep the engines running. So, at that time we decided, well we’ve got all these Merlins, we know they can run reliably, and we know they make a lot of horsepower. We decided to switch it to Merlin power at that point in time. And, the way the boat was set-up, we could not possibly put a Rolls in the boat and keep the engine in the front.
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| During the offseason, Lucero was
instrumental in converting the boat to Merlin power with the driver behind the engine. |
The engines dictated the change more than the change dictated the engine.
Yes. Although, that’s the way I wanted it, anyway. So, it was very fortunate that it worked out that way
You don’t care where the cockpit is as long as the boat goes?
Not really. I feel it is somewhat safer to be in the back than in the front. The driver takes more of a beating. But to me, I don’t care. It’s not worth it to end up losing a driver by having him sit in the front. If the boat noses in, he’ll be pitched out instead of going down with the boat. If he feels comfortable in the front, we’ll put him there. The visibility is great up there. But, then again, George [Henley] hasn’t complained about visibility in our boat.
After the ’73 Gold Cup, was there a feeling that you wished you hadn’t sold the boat to Budweiser?
Oh, no. There were three different ways to look at it. One, we got a very fair price for the old boat. In fact, a darn high price. Granted it was an excellent-running boat. And, we also felt we could build something faster, and I think we pretty well proved that. I think that Bernie Little would’ve quit the sport if he hadn’t gotten a competitive-running hull, and I don’t think the sport can afford to lose him. He’s a colorful guy.
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| Jim Lucero is perhaps best known for his role creating the “Winged Wonder” Pay ‘n Pak in 1973. Photo by Randy Hall. |
When it came time for the new boat, who was the person to say what it would look like? What was Heerensperger’s role in the design? What did you say?
I’d say Dixon and myself because that’s all there was then. We knew what we wanted—a boat that ran like the old one but was 800 pounds lighter. That’s where the honeycomb stuff came up. Dave gave us a very free hand.
Whose idea was that?
Dixon’s and myself. We did all the research, talked with the Hexcel people, came up with the design specs for what we needed—the whole works. Fortunately, it worked. Generally speaking, we all worked together enough to know that when we want to do something we’d better have a good reason for it.
What was Ron Jones’s reaction when you went to him with this idea?
Well, I’d say he was less than enthusiastic about it. Ron is an independent guy and he’s got a lot of pride. It was basically his own design—basically the same thing as the old boat. People don’t like other people coming into their field of expertise and telling them what to do.
The shell was his design, but did the sponsons bear any resemblance?
No. They were pretty different. We’ve got some different ideas about how a hull should be set up. The old boat was set up my way and it worked successfully. So I naturally thought justified in calling the shots on the new hull.
Did he try to talk you into full length air traps?
Oh, we talked about it. I think the discussion went something like, “Do you want full air traps?” I said, “No.” He said, “OK.”
What about the wing?
I think the wing is an excellent safety device, but I don’t think it is absolutely necessary to the performance of the boat. As is evidenced by the Budweiser, and that boat runs pretty well without one. We can make minor changes in its performance by tuning the wing some. In fact, Dave Heerensperger had as much to do with that as anybody. He insisted on having a wing on the boat.
Is that right?
David was thinking of it from a publicity standpoint.
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| Lucero with Pay ‘n Pak driver George Henley. |
Is there anything the present U-1 cannot do that you wish it could do?
I think that the boat isn’t quite as efficient in the straightaways as it should be. It’s pretty good in the turns, in fact probably better than anything else running right now. But I think we can improve the straightaway characteristics. By the way, on the wing, every time I turn around, I read some article that the Craig Breedlove Speed Team, whatever the heck that is, designed the wing. I’ve never met Craig Breedlove. He didn’t have an ounce of anything to do with this boat. I’d like to dispel that right now.
What are you doing to a Rolls now, that you weren’t doing in 1970?
Today we try to take it easier on the engine. We try to make the boat work better so that the engine doesn’t have to work so hard. That’s why we sold the old boat. We knew it took a lot of horsepower to push it. They’ll probably get upset with me saying it, but the boat has never gone as fast since we sold it. We can make the new boat go that fast and kind of stroke it.
Have you reached that point where it is harder to get more out of your engines? Now, is it going to be a further perfecting of the hull?
No. I think we can get more horsepower, and the way to do that is the way the Allison guys are doing it—take the load off the engine. It’s just a question of going about things in the right manner. This year we haven’t needed it but in the future we may.
If you were to go to turbocharging, would you go to an Allison?
If we were to, and right now we don’t have any plans to, we’d turbo a Merlin because it would be economically unfeasible for us to turbo an Allison. We’ve got a lot of Merlins left. We know what we can do with them. We feel we can make them competitive. To sell them wouldn’t make good business sense.
If you were given a free hand to design and build a new boat, what would you come up with?
About six months ago I had it pretty well formulated in my mind what I’d want to do. But after watching the new Jones boats, I’m not so sure. I think it would be somewhat along the lines of this boat. We’d make some structural changes because the honeycomb has worked out very well in some areas and in other areas it hasn’t worked out well at all.
Who selects your drivers?
David and I. The number one criterion is what kind of job they do out on the race course. But no matter how good a job they do on the course, if he presents a bad image for the company we can’t afford to hire him. We’ll sit down and talk about potential drivers, who’s available and who would do the best job for us.
You’ve often been critical of many drivers.
Well, one area where there is room for improvement is driving. I think there are too many drivers that are just seat-of-the-pants guys who don’t relate worth a damn to the crew. They come in and say the boat is “yacking,” or something like that. What the hell is a “yack”? Too many don’t approach their driving in a professional manner. To me, if a driver isn’t doing his thing on the course, he ought to be doing it on the beach—watching other drivers, mapping strategy, improving their skills. They feel that once they get the ride that all they need to do is jump in the boat and drive it. And that stinks. There’s too many of those guys around.
George is pretty good about this, isn’t he?
Yes. He thinks a lot about what’s going on out there. Early in the season George had some troubles with the boat. He’ll admit this. He was either going into the turn too fast, too slow, or in the wrong lane. We were able to help him by showing him video tape of what was going on. I don’t know of anyone else who does this. When everything is right, I want him to go out there and drive the hell out of it. He thinks a lot about what’s going on. What he’s going to do. Many camps seem totally, or at least borderline, disorganized and they never get the same combination twice while testing.
Do you feel a lot of that going around?
Oh yes. Most of that stems from inexperience. I was the same way when I started boat racing, and I hope I’m not that way now. People just don’t have the background to do the things they need to do—and I don’t know where they can get it readily. We try to come up with accurate data on what we’ve done in the past, and why, so that we can judge for the future.
What about the sport itself?
We need to work harder to put on a good show. I can remember, a ways back, thinking this sport had about a year and a half to go because there were only six or eight boats, but God, about three races this year we’ve had 15 boats. That’s not bad. I don’t know if we can handle any more. We need more competitive boats, but I think that’ll come. Next year I look for probably seven competitive boats, whereas this year there’s been basically four, off and on.
How many races a year is too many?
I think that 10 races is plenty. I’d like to see 10 races with a little more prize money. And be more selective about the places to run. I don’t think driving across country is a big deal. It’s a little hard on the crews, but we can bear it. The most important thing is to get quality race sites. Detroit has had boat races for years and years and years, but I still think it is a crappy place to race. I don’t care what they say about Sand Point, there’s no way Sand Point can even come close to Detroit. On a good day Detroit is horrible.
What about the people that run the sport?
I’d like to see improvement made as far as technical and safety committees go. I don’t feel that the people in those areas are qualified from a practical point of view—to do the job they are doing. I think the sport has made a good move in hiring professionals to promote the sport. I would like to see them work harder at promoting the race sites. Not just getting a site, but helping people at the race to put it on. Muncey did an excellent job at San Diego—at least I assume he had a lot to do with it. And Gene Whipp did a bitching job at Dayton. We need more of that. I think we also need better press relations.
Maybe we’ll see a change soon?
I doubt it. The owners are a pretty tough group. All those guys, Lee and Bernie, and David. It would be pretty hard for anybody to tell those three, hey, this is the way it is going to be. Period! I don’t know if there’s anybody who can do that. Personally, I would like to see the format so that the winner of the final heat was the winner of the race. That’s easy for the fans to understand. I don’t know of a single type of race that isn’t that way.
Yet the Fan Plan, the way it worked this year, has been less than ideal.
Right. But I think you’ll find that the top running boats, no matter who they are, go out to win. Perhaps the answer is an elapsed-time thing? Look at what some of the other sports are doing. And make the qualifying mean something. That used to be a big deal. Now it’s nothing.
What about next year? What about your future?
As far as I can see I’ll be working for Pay ‘n Pak for a good long time. They’re good people to work for. I don’t anticipate any changes. If we do build another hull, it isn’t going to be an over-the-winter project because I want ample time to test.
What motivates you? What makes Jim Lucero tick?
I dig boat racing. I like to compete. I think this is one reason David and I get along so well—because he loves to compete. The whole company is like that. I like the people, too. I’ve found that I can compete well and satisfy my desire. On the other hand, the way I look at it, I’m earning my living doing this stuff and if I come up with something that gives our operation an advantage, there’s no way I’m going to let it leak out. That’s not the name of the game. The name of the game is for Pay ‘n Pak to win—not Budweiser or somebody else.
Reposted from Facebook.
After two back-to-back titles for Dave Heerensperger's Winged Wonder Pay 'n Pak, one with Mickey Remund in 1973 and the other with George Henley in 1974, the Pak was looking to three-peat in 1975, but after Smilin’ George decided to retire, the seat was left open. Former Pak driver Mickey Remund already had a seat with the Miss Budweiser team, so Heerensperger had to go fishing for a new driver. He decided to go with veteran driver Jim McCormick who took the reins at the 1975 season opener in Miami. Unfortunately, the Pak underperformed and was not even able to make the final heat by scoring only 394 points. The following race at the Presidents Cup was also not good as McCormick finished in dead last during the first heat of the day.
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| Photo by John Woodward |
The two sub-par performances by the veteran McCormick did not sit well with Heerensperger so he coaxed Henley out of retirement who then went out and had one of his worst career races scoring zero points in the Pak at the Kentucky Governor’s Cup in Owensboro with a DNS and a DNF. Meanwhile, Billy Schumacher in the U-74 Weisfield’s was making plenty of waves by winning two of the first three races of the 1975 season. Well, you can only imagine that there was a team gathering after the Owensboro race on how to turn the season around. Henley righted the ship and picked up a 3rd place podium finish in Detroit and then proceeded to go on a rampage by winning the next four races and putting the Pak right back in the national title race.
Two other hulls had also found the winner’s circle; the Budweiser won on the Potomac River and would win again in Phoenix, and Tom D’Eath in the U-2 Miss U.S. picked up a big win on her home turf in Detroit. Other noteworthy hulls were the U-55 Lincoln Thrift with Milner Irvin, and the U-6 Miss Madison/Hamm’s Bear driven by Jerry Bangs for their consistency in making nearly every final heat of the season. Everyone’s nemesis seemed to be Bill Muncey in the U-71 Atlas Van Lines (7), the Staudacher built lemon that kept Muncey off the top step of the podium for the third consecutive year. Controversy swirled around Muncey’s interpretation of the rule book as he kept searching for a race win that continued to elude the Atlas camp.
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| Photo by John Woodward |
As the fleet headed into the last race of the 1975 season in sunny San Diego, the Weisfeld’s held a slight 249-point lead over the Pak. Schumacher had already wrapped up the driver’s title and was looking to add another national title to his already impressive resume. After the first heat, the lead had dwindled to 149 points after Henley narrowly defeated Schumacher to take the crucial 400 points away from the Weisfield’s. Then the wheels fell off as the Weisfield’s suffered engine failure and was unable to finish the second heat thus taking Schumacher out of the final and out of the national title race.
The Pak took the Lincoln Thrift to the finish line in heat 2B to barely squeak out the win by inches, and then in the final heat, the Pak had another amazing deck to deck battle, this time with Remund in the Budweiser. However, Henley in the Pak found a way to outduel the Budweiser to the finish line and win by a mere few seconds. The final two heats of the 1975 season at the San Diego Weisfield’s Trophy race gave the U-1 Pay 'n Pak enough points to leapfrog the U-74 Weisfield’s and claim their 3rd consecutive National Championship. Winning the driver’s title for Billy was nice but I’m sure that losing the team title had to sting a little. George Henley decided to hang it up for good after the season was over while Schumacher stayed on for one more year to drive the U-74 Olympia Beer.
The mighty Winged Wonder’s dominance rolled over to a 4th year as Bill Muncey would purchase the hull when Heerensperger decided to step away from the sport. This famous and innovative hydroplane designed and built by the master Ron Jones went on to win the 1976 title as the U-76 Atlas Van Lines and became the first hull in hydroplane history to win four straight titles on its way to 22 total career victories.
Atlas, Muncey may be upstaged by Pay 'n Pak today
By Gary Schultz, Courier-Journal & Times Staff Writer
June 17, 1973
OWENSBORO, Ky. — Atlas Van Lines was the bully of the unlimited hydroplane fleet in 1972, winning a phenomenal six of seven races and taking first in 18 of 21 heats.
That was last year.
This summer the Atlas is fast becoming just one of the boys, a troubled boat like many others, showing promise at times and then proving a disappointment when the big moment comes.
But if the Atlas and driver Bill Muncey are ever going to come alive again, it would seem today might be the day. That's because the Muncey-Atlas duo is back in what you might call friendly confines.
The Ohio River. The Kentucky Governor's Cup race. Muncey has owned 'em both for three straight years, winning aboard Myr's Sheet Metal in 1970 and then steering Atlas Van Lines to victory in both 1971 and '72.
So tradition is on Muncey's side . . . but what about the more necessary ingredients — what about the equipment?
"We're running pretty well," Lee Schoenith, the Atlas owner, said yesterday, "but it might not matter how well we're running because the Pay 'n Pak is running fantastic. We're fast enough to beat the others — but the Pay 'n Pak . . . well, it'll be so-o-o tough."
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| Photo by Hank Kosciuszko |
"After going through 21 heats last year and never breaking down even once, it's been pretty unbelievable what's happened this year," Schoenith said.
"At Miami, for instance, our nitrous oxide valve broke. That's the first time I've ever heard of one breaking. And then at Washington, the drive on the oil pump broke. It's been little things, nickel-and-dime stuff."
The little things, meanwhile, have been holding together just fine for the Pay 'n Pak and driver Mickey Remund.
It's almost a rule that a brand-new boat — like the Pay 'n Pak — does not meet with success in its first season. The inaugural campaign is supposed to be one of "working out the bugs."
Not so with the Pay 'n Pak. It collected a perfect score of 1,200 points with three consecutive heat victories in the season opener at Miami. Then, in the second race, on the Potomac River at Washington, D.C., the Pay 'n Pak tacked on two more heat wins before running forth in the finale and finishing third overall.
Today's competition, which begins at noon (CDT), is the third stop of the year on the hydro circuit. Pay 'n Pak leads the national championship standings with 2,169 points. Lincoln Thrift, the Washington winner, is second with 1,925 and Miss Budweiser third with 1,569. Atlas Van Lines is a distant fifth with 825.
Having trouble in the corners
Remund figures the Pay 'n Pak's stiffest challenge today will come from Dean Chenoweth and Miss Budweiser.
"If Muncey wasn't having a lot of minor problems," the Pay 'n Pak driver said, "I'd be most worried about him. As it stands, though, I'd have to say the Budweiser is the one to watch. They seem to be coming on nicely."
Bernie Little, the always-optimistic owner of Miss Bud, agrees with Remund's size-up.
"The favorite has to be the Pay 'n Pak," he says. "But we're ready to cause some trouble (the Bud finished fourth in Miami and second at Washington).
"Our boat's got 'em all beat down the chutes - we're getting 160 (m.p.h). Where we've been getting hurt is in the corners. Dean's been slowing down too much — but that's understandable, because he's only driven this boat in two races.
"But he's got the hang of it now - he's going to keep scooting all the way. We're going to be okay."
If two other boats — the Valu-Mart and Mr. Fabricator — meet the 95 m.p.h qualifying minimum before the course opens, the Owensboro Regatta will have 10 starts. Each boat will compete in two 15-mile preliminary heats with the five highest point-getters moving on to the final.
The new twin-Chrysler-powered Unlimited Hydroplane is out to revolutionize Gold Cup racing.
Reprinted from Hot Rod magazine, September 1970
With those big World War II Allison engines becoming scarcer than hen's teeth, Dave Heerensperger, Chairman of Pay 'n Pack Stores, decided to use a pair of Keith Black "elephants" to power his new unlimited hydroplane, "The Pride of Pay 'n Pak." Hull design is by the father and son team of Ted and Ron Jones of Costa Mesa and follows their new and revolutionary pickle-fork tunnel-hull configuration. The relatively new driver-ahead-of-engine design, known as cab-over, attains the desired effect of moving the center of gravity farther aft than in the conventional three-point hydro. Most three-pointers will average 150 to 160 in the chutes but slow to about 80 mph in the turns. The new low profile, combined with tunnel-hull lift, will produce about 150 in the chutes, and the relocated C/G will result in not under 110 in the corners. "Pay 'n Pak" is shorter (28'6" as opposed to most unlimiteds' 30-31'). It's also wider - 13', about a foot more than usual. Water pickup and pitot tube are in leading edge of rudder.
The unique tunnel hull is constructed of white oak, northern ash, mahogany and birch plywood, with the underside completely sheathed in aluminum. There is over two grand invested in aircraft stainless steel braid covered lines and fittings. The custom-made V-drive gearbox was built by Casale and has a ratio of 1.67:1. This super-light box has an integral oil pump for lubrication, plus a water-cooled jacket. The usual unlimited gearbox weighs about 300 to 400 pounds. Weight saving is a big factor in this boat's performance. The bare hull weighs only 1900 pounds; in racing trim she will weigh about 5000 pounds. Most unlimiteds weigh from 6500 to 8000 pounds. Special linear electric drive motors are used to actuate the engine couplers. The couplers can be operated from the cockpit, allowing on-the-beach runups without a spinning prop; or in case of engine failure, the boat can finish on one engine. Tommy "Tucker" Fults was the first driver but relinquished the helm to Ron Larsen when it seemed that some time-consuming debugging was going to have to be done.
A pair of these 473 Chrysler hemis on alky are rated at 1100 hp each. The GM blower utilizes a Cragar drive and manifold on the Chrysler block equipped with Forged true pistons and rings on Carrillo rods turning on a Moldex crank. Keith designed the cam and uses the new Spalding solid-state CD ignition. The Black dry-sump unit has two scavengers and delivers 105 psi at 185° through special oil coolers. With couplers at each end, engines are interchangeable and can be switched in 15 minutes. Fin holds boat in turns.
May, 1973
Multimillionaires David Heerensperger of Seattle and George Simon of Detroit are out to shake up the Old Guard when the 1973 unlimited hydroplane season opens May 18-20 with the $25,000 Champion Spark Plug Regatta at the City of Miami Marine Stadium.
Sparing no expense in the costly fight to rule the waves, both tycoons are gambling on a bold and innovative approach to Gold Cup warfare this year.
Heerensperger's Pay 'n Pak and Simon's Miss U.S. reflect the latest approach to the aerodynamics of high speed water racing. Utilizing lightweight construction materials such as titanium, magnesium and aluminum, both rigs are between 500 and 1,000 pounds lighter than most other boats on the circuit.
Improved cornering ability and acceleration off hairpin turns like those at the Marine Stadium are the primary goals rather than top straightaway speed.
Built by Ron Jones of La Habra, Calif., Pay 'n Pak utilizes Hexel honeycomb aluminum desk structure and and cowling designed by the Craig Breedlove speed team. The Seattle-based thunderboat also boosts a horizontal stabilizer bar, on the stern. The top wing is about 20 square feet in area and can be adjusted when the boat is in the pits.
Pay 'n Pak crew chief Jim Lucero explains, "The horizontal stabilizer wing is a safety device to trim the boat. If the nose is too high, the wing should correct the boat's attitude."
Heerensperger has named Mickey Remund, a record holding limited hydroplane driver, to drive the new Pay 'n Pak. Remund impressed a full house at Marine Stadium last summer by racking up a local speed record with his five litre hydro "Goin' Thing."
Remund's crash helmet is equipped with a two-way radio so that he's in constant touch with Lucero. Should the boat's 12-cylinder supercharged Roll Royce power plant quit during the race, Lucero can relay instant instructions to Remund.
Heerensperger isn't the only owner who's making waves with dramatic changes in 1973. On the Eastern front, U.S. Equipment Company magnate George Simon is unveiling the latest in a distinguished line of "Miss U.S." thunderboats. The new beauty is a Staudacher hull constructed of titanium and magnesium that tips the scale at just under 5,000 points and is expected to be the lightest rig on the tour this season.
Besides Pay 'n Pak and Miss U.S., the lineup of the Champion Spark Plug Unlimited Regatta includes defending champion Atlas Van Lines with Bill Muncey at the helm, Miss Budweiser drive by Dean Chenoweth, Red Man piloted by former Gold Cup winner Jim McCormick, Miss Madison with Miamian Charlie Dunn, Jr. at the control and Lincoln Thrift and Loan chauffeured by George Henley of Eatonville, Wash.
Official testing gets underway on May 17, with qualifying runs slated on May 18-19. Race action begins at noon on May 20, with a non-stop action program that alternates limited heats of hydroplanes and runabouts with the world's fastest unlimited Gold Cup thunderboats.
Weisfield's sets course record
Special to The Courier-Journal
DAYTON, Ohio — Can Weisfield's handle the tight comers on the Eastwood Park Lake course? And can it handle the Pay 'n Pak?
Those are the two biggest questions to be answered today when the city stages its second annual Hydroglobe Regatta for unlimited hydroplanes.
The Weisfield's hydro, driven by Billy Schumacher, leads the national championship standings after five races with 4,763 points to second-place Lincoln Thrift's 4,201.
But it was the Pay 'n Pak, with George Henley at the controls, that prevailed at last Saturday's Madison Regatta — and many think the snug Eastwood Park Lake course suits the Pak much better than Weisfield's.
The Pak, on the other hand, corners tighter than any other boat in the fleet, so it has to be ranked as the favorite on the two-mile Eastwood Park Lake course. (All other courses on the circuit measure 2 1/2 miles and thus have wider turns.)
Too, the Dayton layout proved to the Pak's liking last year when Henley piloted the hydro to a perfect winning score of 1,200 points.
However, Weisfield's set a new course record 109.091 miles per hour in yesterday's qualifying, bettering the Pak's 107.463 of last year. Pay 'n Pak qualified at 107.784 as did Lincoln Thrift. Other qualifiers:
Miss U.S 104.348; Miss Budweiser 104.348; Miss Madison 98.765; Atlas Van Lines 97.495; Miss Vernor's 95.491; Miss Boot Head 93.385; U-95 90.000.
By Bill Knight, Boating Editor, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Reprinted from Pipe Yard Gazette, January/February 1976
In 1964, Dave Heerensperger got out of unlimited hydroplane racing, vowing he’d be back.
The other day, the owner of the Pay ‘n Pak camp winner of the last three national championships, sold his boats and equipment and retired again, suggesting the challenges of the sport - at least for him - was gone.
Timing was critical on both occasions.
When he departed the first time, Heerensperger lacked the resources to campaign a competitive boat. “I couldn’t play their game,” he explained later.
More recently, it was a matter of bowing out while he was still at the pinnacle in a sport the Pak racing team has dominated to the point of his losing enthusiasm fo fit.
“I’ve had a lot of fun but the challenge is not there anymore,” he said candidly. “Besides, where to we go from here? What more can we do? We’ve won three straight national championships. After we got our act together last season we took everyone on head on and trounced ‘em.”
A couple of other factors played a part in the decision, which caught most of the boat racing world by surprise.
— Added responsibilities, demanding more of his time, in the management of his growing empire of building supplies, auto and sporting goods stores.
— Growing concern over the possibility of a backlash against the Pak camp because it has won so much in recent years. It’s the same undercurrent which prompts many to cheer against a big winner, regardless of the endeavor. Maybe it’s because more people identify psychologically with undergoes than champions. Heerensperger has been wary of this since the Pak hit the top and, in face, has often voiced concern over the lack of opposition.
— Billy Muncey’s offer - with the support of five-year financial backing by Atlas Van Lines - to buy all of Heerensperger’s boats, engines, props, gearboxes and the like.
Sport in Decline?
What Heerensperger didn’t say - he’s not the type to take a blast at the sport which has treated him well - is something that which could be even more critical in his decision. With the emergence of major league sports in the Seattle area, boat racing could decline to the point where the exposure it will get via press and TV won’t justify the rising cost of putting an unlimited on the circuit.
Highly regarded in the sport, Heerensperger’s departure is hardly a good omen. An innovative type, he will best be remembered for leading the sport into a new era of low profile, picklefork hulls which were faster and safer. The Pak hydro which finished its third season last year is the winningest hull in the sport’s history - 16 wins in 30 races.
He pioneered the use of honeycomb aluminum in hydros and the “wing” tail section and the rest of the fleet followed his example. Not all of this experiments worked. The “outrigger” was a dismal failure. His twin-automotive engine cab over was a flop at first. But Heerensperger didn’t flinch at trying new ideas and his innovations paid off.
Jim Lucero, the Pak crew chief Heerensperger credits with much of the team’s success, converted the twin-Chrysler hydro into Rolls power and rebuild the bottom and it became the hottest boat on the circuit.
Winningest Hydro
But the next Pak, new in ‘73, was even better and Heerensperger rates the boat - his 6th hull in 10 seasons - as his greatest contribution to the sport. The hull smashed records all across the country and won more races than any single boat, more than any of the legendary Slo-Mo’s, Thriftways, Gales, Tempo’s, or Bardahls. Before the next season, build Ron Jones was flooded with orders to duplicate the ‘73 Pak.
It brought Heerensperger his first national championship and his first Gold Cup.
Yet Heerensperger’s most emotional achievement goes back to 1968 when he was still campaigning the Eagle Electric out of Spokane.
“We went to Guntersville, Ala., in the first race of this season with Colonel Gardner driving and we won the Dixie Cup” he recalls. “When we came back to Spokane there was a crowd of 500 to 1,000 people at the airport to greet us and the Shadle Park High School band was playing. I’ll never forget that one.”
Heerensperger will devote more time to the business now and he’s in the process of building a new home. He plans to attend the hydro races in Tri-Cities and Seattle as a spectator. “I won’t be upset and nervous and as ugly to live with,” he chucked.
He said the Pak will continue to sponsor a softball team with is “a pitcher and one or two players away from a national championship.”
But Dave Heerensperger is bowing out of boat racing as a winner and the sport is the loser.
Reprinted from Pipe Yard Gazette, September/October 1975
It was a hectic season and as you’ll see by our point’s chart elsewhere in this issue. Pay ‘n Pak won by a mere 649 points when last year we won by a more comfortable 1,764 points.
George Henley, who came out of retirement after two races this year were lost, had to go down to the last race to win it all. However, George should be awarded the come-back of all times and broke a record by winning 12 races in less than 2 years and making it a record 16 races for one hull.
Pay ‘n Pak won the third straight title only by winning the last race, ironically the Weisfield’s Trophy Race, on Mission Bay in San Diego on Sunday, September 21, 1975.
May we quote from the San Diego Los Angeles and Seattle papers: From the Seattle Times, the lead line - “Billy Schumacher ran out of ‘Laughing Gas’ yesterday and George Henley and the Pay ‘n Pak crew ‘giggled’ all the way home.” The reference to laughing gas is the nitrous oxide that Schumacher had to use up all year just to run with the Pak.
Henley scored come-from-behind victories in all three heats on Mission Bay to win the Weisfield’s Cup Trophy and the National Championship.
Weisfield’s U-74 came into the race 249 points ahead. There were only two ways Pay ‘n Pak could win. (1) To draw Weisfield’s in every heat and finish first so the best Weisfield’s could do would be second. Then the Pak would pick up 1,200 points and Weisfield’s not more than 900. If that happened the Pak could have one with 51 points. (2) Weisfield’s would have go break in at least one heat while the Pak won at least 2 heats.
A little of both happened. George drew Weisfield’s for heat 1B and hung on Shumacher’s hip for the entire heat then passed the lead boat in the very final turn of the heat to take Weisfield’s in Heat 1B. “The nitrous tank just flat went dry”, Schumacher said about the lead change when the Pak shot forward as Weisfield’s ran out of power. The heat set a course record average speed of 116.099 miles per hour.
George Henley then did the same thing to Lincoln Thrift in Heat 2B and Miss Budweiser in the final heat.
Schumacher dropped out of Heat 2A, losing his spot in the final and losing the National Championship possibility when his boat lost its oil pressure. As he shut the engine down, it blew a rod.
The Pak now joins legendary Bardahl and Budweiser as the hydro racing world’s only three-time national Champion. Can we make it four-in-a-row?
Unlimited Hydroplane - National Points Standings - End of Season
| Position | Boat | 1975 | Last Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Pay ‘n Pak | 8,864 | 1st - 11,527 |
| 2nd | Weisfield’s | 8,213 | 7th - 3,087 |
| 3rd | Lincoln Thrift | 8,103 | Not in Top 10 |
| 4th | Miss Budweiser | 6,677 | 2nd - 9,763 |
| 5th | Madison/Hamms | 5,203 | 4th - 3,865 |
| 6th | Miss U.S. | 4,795 | 9th - 1,694 |
| 7th | Atlas Van Lines | 4,017 | 3rd - 6,030 |
| 8th | Miss Vernon’s | 3,384 | Not in 1974 |
| 9th | Vans P-X | 972 | Not in 1974 |
| 10th | Miss Valvoline | 844 | Not in 1974 |
By Hec Hancock
Reprinted from Tri-City Herald, June 28, 1980
After three days of qualifying that saw almost as many records broken as political promises after an election year, the fastest fleet of unlimited hydroplanes ever assembled is poised for today's Columbia Cup regatta.
Let by Dean Chenoweth in the Miss Budweiser, which set a world record on the two-and-a-half mile Columbia Cup course of 138.248 miles per hour, the 11 qualifiers averaged over 116 mph making it the fastest field ever assembled for a hydroplane race.
That average, incidentally, would be a mile faster — 117 mph— had the top speed of the new Pay 'n Pak turbine boat of 123.796 mph been allowed. That speed, however, was clocked before driver John Walters successfully passed his qualification test as an unlimited driver.
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| Saturday's unveiling of the Pay 'n Pak drew plenty of attention and ovations from the large crowd around the pit area. |
As it was, the long awaited arrival and performance of Dave Heerensperger's Pay 'n Pak was the highlight of Saturday's qualifying activities. A crowd that lined the bank of the Columbia River burst into applause as the Pay 'n Pak, sounding more like a departure of a Hughes Airwest flight than a boat, roared away from the dock.
The boat's performance, particularly in view that it had only one test run and that as last as Thursday, was impressive. Walters turned in laps of 109.091, 123.796 and 114.943.
"Absolutely unbelievable," a happy Heerensperger said. "We have a lot yet to learn about the boat but this was a big step."
"I only used about 50 percent of my horsepower," Walters reported after the run. "It handles very well."
The Miss Budweiser opened the onslaught on the record book by posting a speed of 134.128 mph on its first warmup run Thursday. That broke the old mark of 133.929 set by Bill Muncey at San Diego in 1979.
On Thursday, Muncey regained the record, if only briefly, by averaging 126.364 mph.
Exactly 14 minutes later, however, Miss Bud had the record back having toured the course at 138.248.
However, despite the predictions by Bernie Little, owner of the Miss Bud, that the boat would do 140 mph Chenoweth and the rest of the beer boat team were content Saturday to settle for testing in preparation for today's race.
Fastest lap of the day was the 132.159 mph turned in by Steve Reynolds shortly before the course closed for qualifying.
The Miss Budweiser and the Pay 'n Pak, the two glamour boats of the fleet, won't have to wait long before their paths cross. Both boats are included in Heat 1A. Rounding out the six-boat heat are the Squire Shop, Kawaguchi Travel Service, Miss Tempus, and the Barney Armstrong Machine.
In Heat 1B will be Dr. Toyota, Atlas Van Lines, Circus Circus, Oh Boy! Oberto and Don Campbells' Food Service.
Heat 1A will start at 12 noon and followed by Head 1B at 12:45 p.m.
There will then be a redraw with Heat 2A to start at 2 p.m. and Heat 2B at 2:45 p.m.
The six leading point earners will then meet in the winner take all championship at 4 p.m.
A crowd of more than 40,000 is expected to line the banks of the Columbia River for the 15th running of an unlimited hydroplane race in the Tri-Cities.