Will Pak's cornering be enough?

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.

Hydro Driver Fined For Remarks

Schumacher Out $500

By Chuck Ashmun
Reprinted from The Seattle Times, July 28, 1975

TRI-CITIES — Billy Schumacher today was fined $500 by the unlimited racing commissioner, George (Buddy) Byers, Jr., for remarks the Seattle driver made following yesterday’s Gold Cup race.

A threat of suspension, tossed out by the race referee, Bill Newton, was not carried out.

"I’m not going to let him off all that easy," Newton said after Byers decision was announced.

But it appears that the fine will stand by itself.

"I have the greatest respect for Billy . . . on the water," Newton added. "He doesn’t seem to know when to shut off his mouth."

Schumacher, driver of the Weisfield’s, said: "I think a man should be able to speak his mind when he’s in the right. And I was in the right. We should have freedom of speech. Without it, we’re in trouble."

Byers’ ruling followed a post-race interview in which Schumacher said:

"I was cheated. In my mind, it was a poor decision on the part of the referee; and he’ll probably suspend me for saying it."

Newton, the race referee, at the time unaware of the reaction from the Weisfield’s driver, said:

"I don’t care what Billy says, but if what I see in the newspaper . . . is contradictory, I may take drastic action.

"By drastic, I mean really drastic. One year."

What Schumacher also said was:

‘He’s supposed to be God. I’d sure like to see him walk across the river, though."

Schumacher was nodding toward the mighty Columbia.

Schumacher’s anger surfaced after Newton had ruled that the Seattle driver would be fined $100 for a racing infraction, then changed his mind.

Newton said he rescinded the fine "out of good sportsmanship," but Schumacher insisted he had broken no rules to begin with.

"This whole thing is ridiculous," fumed Schumacher. "I should get the points." When Newton rescinded the fine, he did not restore the 169 points which Schumacher felt he should have received for finishing fourth in yesterday’s first heat.

With those points, the Weisfield’s today would be the national point leader in unlimited-hydroplane standings. Without them, Weisfield’s ranks second behind the Pay 'n Pak.

The ruling came about after Schumacher, leading the first-heat field lost engine power because of a blown supercharger. He continued to drive around the course, however, at a much slower pace.

Newton, after consulting with his assistant referees, ruled that a black flag should be flown, signaling to Schumacher that he was creating a hazardous wake and that he should pull off the course.

"I didn’t even see a black flag until I was headed down the straightaway on the last lap," said the driver.

"The race (for the top spots) was over. I was not endangering anybody with my wake."

The rule in question has to do with what the hydro people call "planing." Boats are required to maintain a plane — skim over the surface — rather than drop down to the extent that the craft is traveling through the water instead of over it.

Schumacher says he maintained a plane. Newton said: "Billy may think he was, but . . . no way."

"I’m humiliated after today, and I think the crew is, too," Schumacher said after the race.

Of the Pay 'n Pak win, he said, "It was not their performance. It was our lack of performance."

The Pay 'n Pak owner, Dave Heerensperger, said: "You have to think that way in boat racing. You have to be optimistic."

Schumacher said he received some repercussions after the Weisfield’s camp elected not to try for the course qualifying record here and added:

"The way today went, we should have gone for it. In Seattle we probably will. I don’t know."

Newton said, "The rule is automatic. A boat must automatically pull off the course when it’s not in a plane, even without a black flag.

"This rule was put in at our meeting in Detroit. Ironically, it was proposed by Les Rosenberg."

Rosenberg owns the Weisfield’s.

Schumacher Tops Qualifiers

By Chuck Ashmun
Reprinted from The Seattle Times, August 1, 1975

Billy Schumacher powers Wesfield's to the top qualifying spot for Sunday's Seafair Trophy race on Lake Washington.

Billy Schumacher, trying harder now that his boat is No. 2, today took over the qualifying lead for Sunday’s Seafair trophy race on Lake Washington.

Schumacher steered his unlimited hydroplane, Weisfield’s, to a speed of 122.615 miles an hour.

The clocking barely beat George Henley’s run around the 2½-mile course of 122.116 m.p.h., logged earlier today.

Henley, whose Pay 'n Pak now holds a slim lead over Schumacher’s Weisfield’s in national point standings, said:

"We’re getting there. It just took some minor changes, shifting weight."

New qualifiers today, in addition to the Weisfield’s, were the Miss Budweiser, driven by Mickey Remund, at 121.786, and Atlas Van Lines, with Bill Muncey behind the wheel, at 111.801.

Tom d’Eath, Miss U.S. pilot, improved from a clocking yesterday of 107.142 to 118.577 today.

D’Eath was told yesterday he had toppled three records.

The marks that fell, however, had nothing to do with the new Seafair Trophy Race course.

Statisticians searching through American Power Boat Association files discovered that D’Eath and his Detroit-based boat set course, Gold Cup and national marks last weekend in the Tri-Cities’ unlimited regatta.

Ironically, D’Eath did not win that boat show. George Henley steered the Pay 'n Pak to the championship. but D’Eath got his marks by averaging 108.974 m.p.h. for the 60-mile test.

The previous course, Gold Cup and national marks for 110 miles on a 2½-mile layout were 107.902 m.p.h., established by Bill Muncey in the Atlas Van Lines.

And the winner of that Gold Cup battle two years ago in the Tri-Cities was not Bill Muncey. Dean Chenoweth captured the Cup, steering Miss Budweiser.

The Miss U.S. was one of five boats which qualified yesterday for Sunday’s race. Pay 'n Pak, new leader in national standings, led the way. Other qualifiers were Lincoln Thrift, Hamm’s Bear and Vernors.

George Henley put the Pak on top of the opening-day list with a lap at 121.130 miles an hour. Lincoln Thrift was next at 113.493 m.p.h., Jerry Bangs handled Hamm’s Bear at 109.090 m.p.h., and Bob Miller qualified Vernors at 104.287.

One lap at a minimum speed of 100 m.p.h. is required for qualifying.

The Shakey’s Special and Miss Van’s P-X, formerly Super Cinders II, both took trips around the oval; but neither was able to get in a lap above 97 m.p.h.

Peter LaRock, Shakey’s Special owner, blamed engine problems. Jack Schafer, a new driver in the Van’s P-X was out for testing and was not attempting to qualify.

The U-80 has raced with a Van’s P-X label before. In the Tri-Cities, the hull carried only the unlimited number and was piloted by Ron Armstrong.

Henley said he had difficulty setting up for the 2,000-foot turns in the Pay 'n Pak. He made a half-dozen journeys onto the course, almost as many as the Pak ran during opening-day testing in the Tri-Cities.

The turns were the talk of the day yesterday. Some drivers complained that the shorter straightaway, necessitated by the longer turns, would create relatively slow speeds on race day.

All said they needed more time on the water to adjust from the 1,200-foot turns in the Tri-Cities to the longer variety here.

"You might think that a course like this would give us an advantage, but our boat is riding so light we’ll have a bit of a problem with these turns," said Milner Irvin, Lincoln Thrift pilot.

"It probably would be an advantage if the boat were handling like it should be, but we’ve been having trouble with the sweeping turns all year long.

"I kind of think Tommy will have trouble, too."

Irvin’s comments conflicted with ‘those of race observers who predict D’Eath and the Thrift driver will be right at home on the new course.

The Miss Budweiser made its long-awaited arrival in the pits late this morning.

Crewmen have worked since last Sunday repairing sponson damage which caused the Bud to sink during the Gold Cup race.

Roostertales: Jerry Bangs, usually one of the last drivers to make a qualifying attempt, had the Hamm’s Bear in the water first yesterday, explaining: "About all we had to do after we got here from Pasco was wash the windshield" Tom D’Eath, who fumed about firefighting help here last year after the Miss U.S. burned, not plenty of attention from a race official yesterday who was jotting notes about fire-suppression equipment aboard the boat . The button and photo mini-trading posts are back again, and business is brisk among the souvenir fanciers.

A recount of the boats in the pits shows there are 16 on hand, but only 14 are capable of racing. The Miss Thriftway [??--LF] and Lauterbach Special are there for display only, the latter having been beached by assurances it will not receive a new gearbox in time to race here. Most-asked question yesterday was: "Where’s the Weisfield’s?" Les Rosenberg, owner, and Billy Schumacher, driver, were among those doing the asking. It seems the boat manager, Jerry Zuvich, kept the craft at the shop longer then expected after discovering a crack in a propeller shaft.

Another often-asked query concerns the difference between a supercharger and a turbocharger. In layman’s terms, a supercharged hydro uses fuel force-fed into its engine by mechanical means; a turbocharger forces fuel into the engine by utilizing scavenged exhaust pressures Schumacher, asked if he would qualify faster than George Henley, put it this way: "After watching what he did today, I would say if we didn’t go faster, we would have problems.

A yellowing newspaper clipping, attached to a door of the Lincoln Thrift truck, has underlined sentences pertaining to covering an engine. Someone didn’t during a downpour at Dayton, and the boat missed the next heat with a D.N.S. The Hamm’s Bear crew chief, Dave Stewart, missed his boat’s qualifying run yesterday, remaining in Madison, Ind., on other business. We called him and told him we didn’t need him, but actually we’ll be as nervous as heck until he gets here" said Bangs.

What does the Pay 'n Pak crew test so hustle? "Everything," said Jim Lucero. "Propellers, skid fins, gear ratios, maybe a sponson . . . sometimes it might simply be realigning the weight".

Bernie Little, Miss Budweiser owner, took time out from his criticism about closing the course to qualifying tomorrow long enough to report that he may buy his next boat from a Tacoma builder, Norm Berg, who recently has been turning out some swift inboards . . .

That on-again, off-again San Diego race may be on again, says Bill Muncey, Atlas Van Lines driver, who went south in search of a race earlier this week.

Guided tours of the Stan Sayres pits will be offered tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is $1. Tickets will be available at the pit area.

The Pride: Gold and Orange

By John Woodward
Reprinted from facebook.com

The 1970 Pay 'n Pak’s Lil Buzzard. Photo by Kirk Pagel.

As I look back at my experiences as a Seattle hydroplane fan in the early 70’s, the image of the Pay 'n Pak’s famous Gold and Orange paint scheme stands out as a favorite of mine. I remember the first time I saw the U-00 Pay 'n Pak’s Lil Buzzard (1969-25b) at the 1970 Seafair Trophy race, hoisted high on a crane as I entered the racecourse with my family. Even as the sun was hidden behind a blanket of clouds, her sparkly Gold and Orange paint caught my youthful eyes. She was the big “buzz” in the pits after her victory at the Atomic Cup two weeks previous. Pitted next to the Lil Buzzard was the other half of the sparkle machine, the twin auto powered cab-over 1970 U-25 Pride of Pay 'n Pak (3).

The 1970 Pride of Pay 'n Pak. Photo by Kirk Pagel.

After the first round of heats were done, the twin auto Pak driven by Ron Larsen had 300 pts from her 2nd place finish in 1A and the Lil Buzzard had 400 points from her victory in 1B with Tommy Fults at the helm. Well, that was enough to hook me and the other thousands of race fans. Whomever came up with that paint scheme was a genius. Unfortunately heat 2 was a complete bust and neither hull scored a single point, the auto Pak DNF’d and the Buzzard DNS’d. I would see both hulls one more time in the Consolation heat where Tommy Fults opened up the Lil Buzzard, running the fastest heat of the entire day at 108.433mph. Larsen’s auto Pak finished in third place at 100.037mph. “The paint job” was now burned into my memory banks forever.

The 1971 Pride of Pay 'n Pak. Photo by Kirk Pagel.

The Pride of Pay 'n Pak returned in 1971 completely transformed. She was now a conventional and had a knarly Rolls Merlin in her belly. But the paint job was still the same! She did not disappoint as the new look Pride with her new look pilot Billy Schumacher took home the coveted 1971 Seafair trophy, which was run twice due to an accident by the Notre Dame. Schumacher handily won both finals including the last two races of the 1971 season.

The 1972 Pride of Pay 'n Pak. Photo by Kirk Pagel.

The sky was the limit as the Dave Heerensperger owned Pride of Pay 'n Pak rolled into the ’72 season as a clear favorite but Joe Schoenith had other plans. His U-71 Atlas van Lines driven by the crafty champion Bill Muncey became the boat to beat. Before the Pak returned to Seattle, Schumacher had been replaced by Billy Sterett Jr. Sterett then picked up a convincing win in Washington DC at the 1972 Presidents Cup as he out-dueled Muncey in the final heat. When they came to Seattle, all the talk was on three boats, the U-1 Miss Budweiser (6) driven by Terry Sterett, the mighty Atlas driven by Bill Muncey who had already picked up 5 wins and of course the Pride of Pay 'n Pak with Billy Sterett Jr. At last, we would finally see who was mightier. Sadly, it would not be the Pak’s weekend. Three blown engines in two days put one of the favorites on the beach for most of the event without a single earned point. Much to my chagrin, the Atlas rolled over everyone to claim the ’72 Seafair trophy and the eventual national championship. The day after the Seafair race, the disappointed Heerensperger sold the hull and engine stock to Bernie Little who was looking to update his aging three-time champion Miss Budweiser.

And just like that, one the greatest paint schemes of all-time was gone, never to return. However, “never” is a very long time. After coming back home from her extended stay in Australia as the Miss Bud, this revolutionary hull quietly sits in storage waiting for an undetermined future restoration down the road. If it was up to me, this hull would be returned to her former glory as the Pride of Pay 'n Pak (3) with her trademark paint job that took Seattle by storm. I sure do miss those days but thanks to the late great Kirk Pagel, many of those fond memories were forever captured on film and are now presented here for your viewing pleasure. Until next time, see you at the races.

Miss Budweiser winner in Miami

Reprinted from The New York Times, May 24, 1971

MIAMI, May 23 (AP)—Dean Chenoweth drove Miss Budweiser to first place and $10,000 in prize money today in the Champion Spark Plug unlimited hydroplane regatta at Miami Marine Stadium.

Miss Budweiser averaged 94.543 miles an hour in the championship heat on the 2.5-mile course, finishing well ahead of Miss Madison, driven by Jim McCormick of Owensboro, Ky. Miss Timex, a boat racing for the first time under Tom Sheehy of Miami, was third.

Hallmark Homes, driven by Leif Borgersen of Seattle, was dueling with Miss Madison for second place when the Hallmark thunderboat's 1,200 horsepower engine died only one lap from the end of the six-lap championship heat.

Billy Schumacher of Seattle escaped serious injury when his boat, Pride of Pay 'n Pak, did a 360-degree spin and ejected Schumacher into the water at about 150 m.p.h.

Billy talks Pride of Pay 'n Pak

By Craig Fjarlie
Reprinted from unlimitednewsjournal.net

Billy Schumacher

UNJ: After the 1970 season, did you know you were going to have the Pay 'n Pak ride the following year?

Schumacher: I have a shortness of memory when it comes to 1971. I don’t know if I raced.

Yes, you won the last few races. 

Oh, that was with Pay 'n Pak.

Yeah.

That’s right, that was Pay 'n Pak year.

And in ’72 you raced until Madison and quit because of the debris in the water.

Right.

But in ’71, Jim Lucero was crew chief. How was he for you to work with?

Fabulous.

Yeah?

With the Bardahl I had to watch the manifold pressure constantly. Of course, a lot of that was our high-dome pistons. We built quite a few engines in 1968 and that accounted for a couple of races that I lost, too. Once again, that year my starts weren’t the best and I’ll admit it, but I felt I had a good enough boat to pass anybody anyway. And I did. But we broke engines because of my pushing the boat harder than I should have, but I felt they were gonna live like they did in ’67, and then unfortunately, they didn’t. We blew up a few. Mostly manifold pressure, I think, that caused a lot of that. When I got to the Pay 'n Pak with Jim Lucero, I said, “How much manifold pressure should I look for, and where should I stop?” He said, “Manifold pressure? I don’t want you to even look at the gauge. Just stare at where you’re going and win the race.”

Mmm.

“I don’t want you to even look at the gauges.” He said, “You can do that during testing and let me know what’s going on but forget it in the race.” And you know what? In my whole career with Pay 'n Pak and Jim Lucero, I don’t remember breaking an engine. I don’t think we broke one single engine.

I don’t think you did.

I was able to put my foot on the floorboard I don’t know how many times and leave it there and use the nitrous before two laps were over. And never break an engine. Totally amazing to me, even to this day. I’m amazed at that. And you know, my accident with that boat set us back a few paces. It was turning left at 155 miles an hour, and that’s what caused that, because of the keyway in the rudder.

It took me a while to build confidence in it again. One of the races that year that I did win, in Dallas, I was going to the first turn testing and there’s a rockery. It was at the first turn, so if you didn’t make the turn you were gonna be in the rocks.

Oh, yeah.

I got down to that turn and turned for the corner and the steering wheel wouldn’t turn. It locked up. What happened was a bolt came out, vibrated out of the steering system, and when I went to turn it hit the frame in the boat. It wouldn’t do anything. It turned to the right but not to the left. So, I’m going pretty fast into that first turn and when that happened, I just turned off all the switches I could see and held on to the steering wheel and got up onto the deck, ready to jump off if I had to. But it stopped before the rocks. After my experience in Miami where I almost got killed, to have another steering problem happen in the same year, that was a big concern to me.

Sure.

I lost confidence. I really did. I lost confidence in the boat and some of the people working on it. Not mentioning any names, but it should have been corrected. Those things should not have been happening. So, all of that led to kind of an ill feeling between crew and driver.

And, you know, when the water was horrible in Madison [in 1972], I mean to the point of seeing tires and cows, stuff floating down the river—the river was dark brown, the buoys were laying on their sides from the current and you could see logs coming down. To race on that, I just said no. The rest of the drivers in the evening said no along with me. So, when race day came, they all said, “OK, I’ll do it.” Except me, I said no.

Yeah.

After the race when Sterett didn’t get killed, or nobody else got killed from hitting anything, there was some boat damage and stuff but nothing serious happened, then the crew started thinking that I was just afraid of the boat. After the race, that upset me to the point that I just got in my motor home and drove away.

Mmm, yeah.

I wasn’t very nice about it, but I figured the next race was a week or two away and they could find somebody else. I should have gone to Heerensperger or Lucero and said, “Look, I’ve had enough of this and I’m not gonna do it anymore,” but I didn’t. I just drove away. So, they hired Bill Sterett, Jr., to drive the next…

He finished off the season. You know, they won that race, I heard. I wasn’t there, but I heard the boat was completely out of shape many times, but he drove it hard enough to win. They were pretty proud of that fact that they won it. I wasn’t drivin’ it. So, there were some pretty bad feelings between Heerensperger and me.

The Pride of Pay 'n Pak team in 1971, from the left, crew chief Jim Lucero,
team owner Dave Heerensperger, and Billy Schumacher,

Yeah.

Actually, and Lucero, for a while.

To back up just a little bit to 1971, that was the year Madison—you were still coming off your accident in Miami—won the Gold Cup on their home water and then they won at Tri-Cities, the next race.

Yeah.

In Seattle you won, and you won a race in Eugene, and then Dallas. You finished off the season winning three races. Except for that incident in Dallas, things seemed to be better in ’71, the end of the year.

Yeah, the boat was faster. We had tried different skid fins and made it corner better. It was a goal of mine to set the course record in Seattle in qualifying, which we accomplished. Just barely, but we did it. I started liking driving it again. It was a fast boat that I could use the engines as hard as I wanted to use ‘em and I didn’t have to worry about breaking ‘em. That helped a lot, too.

I felt like we had something really going there. But, I don’t know, things happen in racing that you don’t expect. That thing in Miami really was an experience, you know. Going back to your thing about the Madison race and Tri-Cities, I think Jim McCormick got on a roll. They had, with that Madison boat, they had put nitrous in it. I think I could have actually won that Gold Cup, but he was faster than I expected him to be, and, uh, legitimately won the race.

Yeah.

I couldn’t really go much faster. I think I could’ve made a better start or something where he didn’t get the jump that he got and, uh, done better. It could’ve been driver error as much as anything but, my hat’s off to the way Jim McCormick drove the boat, and they had nitrous in it. He drove the pants off that boat, and it showed. Once you’re on a roll like he was in winning the Gold Cup in Madison, he showed everybody it wasn’t an accident and he did a really good job.

During those years—this is kind of an overview question—a lot of fatal accidents were happening. Were you worried about that being a possibility for yourself in racing as well? This is a dangerous game…

Constantly.

…can I survive this and still have fun?

That was mostly on my mind in the Bardahl days, because of what happened to Ron Musson and others in those years. I had a bucket of Bardahl that I would sit on in the truck, away from everybody, and I would just think about what I was gonna do and how I was gonna do it. How I was going to be concentrating on what I needed to do to win. Period. That was my goal. And I wasn’t the most  friendly guy in the world on my way to the boat when it came time to race. In other words, people needed to just get out of my way. I didn’t want a slap on the back, a slap on the hand. I didn’t want anybody saying anything to me. I was just tunnel-vision down to the boat and got in it.

The Pride of Pay 'n Pak heads out onto the Columbia River at the Tri-Cities, Wash., in 1971.

Yeah.

I didn’t even want crew guys sayin’ anything to me. I’d been on my bucket and I knew what I was gonna do, and I was thinking about it the entire time. I was very thankful to come back in one piece after every race.

A couple of times you were pretty lucky.

Yeah, that went through my, uh, I was lucky, probably, in my career, talking about Unlimiteds only, probably four or five times. And that’s what really led me to quit when I quit, at 36 years old. You know, that’s pretty young today, but my thought was one of these times my luck’s gonna run out.

Yeah.

There were several times when it was out of my control and I was just flat lucky. And so, there was a lot more I wanted to do in life other than race boats. That’s when I decided to quit. Those people who got killed were on my mind a lot.

Like every driver you think, well, if I’m watching my p’s and q’s, I’m gonna get through it OK where they don’t. We just think that. I still concentrated on every effort that I did to be safe about it, about the dangerous sport I was in. As safe as I could be and still do well. So, yeah, it was on my mind a lot. And you know, it’s tough when you see people, I mean, there were a couple of times when people got killed where I actually knew something was gonna happen. You just know.

Yeah.

In a couple instances I could tell that the driver’s not thinking clear. Just wasn’t thinking clear. The only thing on their mind was to win at any expense. That was never a problem with me. I did not have that attitude. I just knew that was not a healthy attitude, something could possibly happen. And it did. So, yes, it was on my mind constantly.

'Hot' hydros matched in first heat

By Del Danielson
Reprinted from The Seattle Times, August 15, 1971

EUGENE — Billy Schumacher, fastest qualifier for the third unlimited-hydroplane race in a row, will have his hands full in Heat 1A of the Emerald Cup at noon today.

Schumacher, winner of Seattle's Seafair Race last Sunday, drew into 1A with Dean Chenoweth and Jim McCormick, a pair of double winners running one-two for the national-points championship.

Schumacher pedaled the Pride of Pay 'n Pak to a qualifying average of 112.502 miles an hour late yesterday, upping his Friday mark by 6 m.p.h. Schumacher was the top qualifier for the Tri Cities' Atomic Cup three weeks ago and set a world qualifying record of 120.405 m.ph. prior to the Seafair event.

Four boats were unqualified at the time of the draw yesterday and were given extra time on Dexter Reservoir's 2½-mile layout. Another draw will be held at 11 this morning, putting the late-comers in heat selections.

The lineup, as it stands now:

Heat 1A — Van's P-X (Mickey Remund), Pride of Pay 'n Pak (Schumacher), Budweiser (Chenoweth) and Madison (McCormick).

Heat 1B — Hallmark Homes (Leif Borgersen), Valu-Mart (Bob Gilliam) and Atlas Van Lines (Bill Muncey).

Ron Larsen, George Henley and Dave (Salt) Walther reached the 95-m.p.h. (two-lap) minimum after the drivers' meeting. Larsen got Timex up to 95.541, Henley turned 95.188 in the Lincoln Thrift, and Walther clocked 99.554 m.p.h. in the Country Boy.

Terry Sterett and his Smyth Smoother Mover will be given a chance this morning.

Dexter, a picturesque pond 20 miles south of Eugene, was rippled by 10 m.p.h. breezes when Schumacher turned the Pride loose late yesterday. Schumacher posted three laps at better than 110 m.p.h. His best was 113.065, highly respectable for this short, pear shaped course.

The pit turn, with a 1,500-foot diameter, has been dubbed "Schumacher corner." The Seattle driver sweeps wide through the turn, where he gets maximum performance from the pickle-forked Pride.

The east corner, with a 900-foot turn, is "Chenoweth corner." There, the Bud driver hugs the buoys — his favorite tactic — in setting up for the straightaways.

The few spectators on hand were pleased with the draw putting the Pride against the Bud right off the bat.

"Schumacher is the guy to beat," Chenoweth said. "At the first of the season, I felt there were four or five boats I'd have to outrun, but now it's Billy. The Pay 'n Pak crews has that boat singing. Billy's the guy to beat if I want to win. And I do."

Schumacher, who ended a three-year victory drought when he won in Seattle last week, was smiling after the draw. Schumacher has a mathematical — although a long shot — chance of winning the national championship. He is 1,329 points behind Chenoweth and trails second-place McCormick by 596.

"I'm glad the Bud and Madison are in there with me," Schumacher said. "I can gain on both of them if I can get out in front."

McCormick, like Chenoweth, is concerned about the charging Schumacher.

"This big, first turn favors the Pay 'n Pak," McCormick said. "Billy will come through this corner like gangbusters. The small turn at the far end may bother him, but he'll be way out in front by then."

It was first announced that an 11-boat field would mean six of the big unlimiteds in one section, five in the other. But at the drivers' meeting, concern was voiced over the tightness of the east corner where the boats will mill around prior to the start. In that corner, the exit buoy is about 570 feet from shore.

Bill Newton, referee, took a poll of drivers. Most said there isn't enough room for six boats. Newton then ruled there will be two sections of five boats each, with the 11th — the slowest qualifier — designated the alternate starter.

Right now, that is the Lincoln Thrift. If Terry Sterett can better Henley's 85.188 m.p.h., Henley will be on the beach.

Memories of the 1975 Season

By John Woodward
Reprinted from Facebook, April 10, 2019

Today, our throwback goes back to a pivotal time during the 1975 season, the first two races on the western circuit, Tri-Cities and Seattle. Not having instant news or the Internet like we do now, I had no idea what was at stake when the boats were en route to the 1975 Gold Cup in the Tri-Cities.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer, Monday August 4th, 1975. 

I was a nerdy 16-year old who occasionally watched the Sunday evening news on TV or saw a clip in the newspaper here and there but nothing I heard or saw indicated the battle that was forthcoming.

I was not aware that the U-74 Weisfield’s driven by Billy Schumacher held a sizable lead of 2,335 points over the Pay 'n Pak after the first three races and was pretty much picked to win the national championship. I also had no clue that Jim McCormick was hired to drive the Pay 'n Pak and was then replaced after just two races.

But when I heard that George Henley was back in the seat, I knew that it was not good for the rest of the field. After Schumacher won in Owensboro, the advantage started to shift. Heading into the Tri-Cities, the points race between the Weisfield’s and the Pak had been cut in half thanks to Henley and the surging Pay 'n Pak team.

I remember being riveted to my transistor radio as I listened to Jim Hendricks call the race live from the Tri-Cities.

Surprisingly, the other player in the middle of that points race was one of my personal favorites, the turbo-charged, Allison powered U-55 Lincoln Thrift driven by Milner Irvin. If it had not been for a loose distributor wire in heat 2B, the Lincoln Thrift could have easily swept all three heats and quite possibly the Gold Cup.

The other surprise was the Bud's quick exit when the hull suffered structural damage and sank in heat 1B. By virtue of the Weisfield’s misfortunes and the Pak's good fortune, by days end the Pak had taken the lead in the points race over the Weisfield’s and the Gold Cup belonged to George Henley for the second straight year.

The next day, the newspaper made reference to several infractions called on Billy Schumacher by head referee Bill Newton. Even though it appeared that the war of words had been cleared up, it was apparent that tension still existed as the fleet headed west.

The 1975 Seafair trophy race in Seattle a week later would be billed as a “destruction derby.” Before heat 1A had even started, the U-6 Hamm’s Bear bumped the Pak causing significant damage to the hull’s left side.

In a bizarre set of circumstances, every boat except for the Atlas jumped the gun. It was pretty much hand Bill Muncey the win. Ironically, it was not meant to be. All the other boats DNF’d except for the busted up Pay 'n Pak. Muncey’s huge lead quickly evaporated as the U-71 Atlas Van Lines (7) ran out of gas nearing the end.

The damaged Pak passed the Atlas and limped across the line for the unbelievable win and 400 points. And that was only the first heat! In 1B, the Miss U.S. nailed the start and was way out in front when the boat suddenly slowed to a stop with a lost prop as the culprit. Schumacher claimed the victory along with the much needed 400 points.

Heat 2A would be the game changer for the Weisfield’s as the crafty Milner Irvin in the U-55 Lincoln Thrift grabbed the inside lane and held off Schumacher for several thrilling deck to deck laps until the Thrift pulled away as the Weisfield’s engine soured with a burnt piston. Billy only got 225 points as the Atlas snuck by to grab the extremely critical 300 second place points.

In 2B, the Miss U.S. caught fire for the second year in a row. Not as bad as Sand Point the year before but bad enough to end their day.

Those points lost earlier by the Weisfield’s now weighed heavy in the Pak’s favor. Thanks to the “fan plan”, Henley could place 2nd in the final and still win the Seafair Trophy.

The start of the final heat only added to the carnage and controversy surrounding Muncey and his driving style as the slower Atlas Van Lines chopped the Lincoln Thrift off going through the first turn causing injury to Irvin and damage to the hull. Karma came quickly calling when Muncey’s bold and brazen move would not be enough to overtake the dynamic duo as Schumacher and Henley would leave the Atlas far behind in their roostertail mist.

The race was exciting for several laps, but Henley, knowing what was at stake eventually yielded the race to Schumacher and settled for second place which was enough to claim the trophy making it Pay 'n Pak’s fourth straight win.

These two action packed events proved to be a major factor in deciding the 1975 National Champion.

The final race in San Diego was the exclamation point for the Weisfield’s up and down season, finishing in a distant 7th place as smiling George Henley and the mighty Winged Wonder took home the 1975 “Weisfield’s Trophy race” (Bill Muncey Cup) along with the Pay 'n Pak’s third straight National Championship.

Billy Schumacher did end up with something as he won the drivers title based on points. It would be many years before I realized how important these two crazy races were, both of which were soaked in driver/referee controversy.

It sure was a great time to be a kid in Seattle, or in Madison or Detroit or wherever the pied piper caravan of fire breathing thunderboats lead you!

Until next time, see you at the races.

Pay 'n Pak wins 3rd straight hydro title

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.

A rarity: Owners, drivers agree - Pak is favored

By Chuck Ashmun
Reprinted from The Seattle Times, August 3, 1975

Jim Lucero, left, Pay 'n Pak crew chief, and Dave Heerensperger, owner, watch as the 1975
national-points leader was lowered into Lake Washington for a test run. The Pak, driven by George Henley
of Eatonville, will be bidding for it's forth consecutive victory in today's Seafair Trophy race.
Staff photo by Pete Liddell.

The Pak is the pick.

Unlimited-hydroplane owners and drivers, seldom unanimous about anything, have given the favorite's role to the Pay 'n Pak for today's Seafair Trophy Race on Lake Washington.

A spot check with several camps in the Stan Sayres pits resulted in a near-unanimous agreement that it will be a four-boat race and a less-solid vote for the Pak to finish first.

Weisfields, Miss Budweiser and Miss U.S. are the three other boats given a good chance, but the general feeling is that George Henley will wind up as leader of the pack.

Henley has won 10 unlimited races in less than two full seasons and is aiming for his fourth straight victory of 1975 and second straight in Seattle.

Nine boats qualified before time trials ended, but the field probably will grow by the time the first race starts at noon today.

Closed-mouth race officials last night would not say definitely, but it seemed certain more qualifying tries would be made this morning.

"I'll take the Pay 'n Pak," said Tom D'Eath, Miss U.S. driver, when asked for his assessment of today's outcome. D'Eath was an exception in the he did not choose his own boat to finish first.

"I don't think it's fair for me to pick my boat, but I really do think our chances of winning are very good." D'Eath said.

"We've had all kinds of problems with our engines this week, but maybe that's not so bad. We had trouble all week in Detroit, too."

D'Eath drove to the first unlimited triumph of this career on June 29, winning with a Detroit-based boat rebuilt after it was gutted in last year's Gold Cup race here.

"I'm not superstitious, but after what happened in Detroit, this might be a good omen," D'Eath said.

"Budweiser, Pay 'n Pak and Weisfield's," said Bernie Little, owner of the Miss Bud, giving his choices, in order, without hesitation.

"I'm really serious. I think this is our race course. Mickey went out and hit 160 (m.p.h.) and came back and said he could really turn one on."

The Budweiser jockey, Mickey Remund, charged around the 2½-mile course at an average speed of 121.786 miles an hour soon after the boat was lowered into the water for the first time on Friday.

Remund's last previous ride on the Bud ended with him standing on the upright pickle-forked bow, grasping a tow line from a rescue craft, as his boat sank in the Columbia River.

Another driver, Billy Schumacher, went with a top three of Weisfield's, Pay 'n Pak and Budweiser for today's race, while his former boss, Dave Heerensperger, said:

"Pay 'n Pak, Budweiser, Miss U.S."

"I still think we can beat him when we have it all together," Schumacher said following the Pak's Gold Cup win in the Tri-Cities last weekend.

The Weisfield's driver did not seriously challenge the Pak in what was expected to be a duel of Seattle boats as mechanical difficulties cost Schumacher points as well as money.

"I think this is going to be a Rolls Royce race, although I may have a surprise coming in Heat 1B," he added.

Schumacher's competition in the second heat race will include the Miss U.S. and Lincoln Thrift, both powered by turbocharged-Allison engines.

"The Budweiser might have an advantage if the water's rough," said Heerensperger, who owns the Pay 'n Pak. "He's been doing better than anybody in the corners."

But Heerensperger believes Henley will finish first.

And the consensus is: Stick with the Pak.

Remund named Pak driver

By Del Danielson
Reprinted from The Seattle Times, April 9, 1973

Mickey Remund, who gained his boat-racing fame in the cockpit of a 5-liter limited hydroplane, will pilot the unlimited Pride of Pay 'n Pak during the 1973 season.

The announcement that Remund will drive the Pride came at a press conference at noon today, but Remund has been employed by the Pay 'n Pak camp for several months. The Pride is fresh out of the shop, and Remund has been working with Ron Jones, the build, during construction.

Remund left for southern California after testing the Pride on Lake Washington this afternoon. He will attend his mother's funeral tomorrow, then return the Pacific Northwest. The Pride is scheduled for more testing — on the Columbia River at Pasco — later this week.

Three drivers saw duty in the Pride of Pay 'n Pak last summer. Bill Sterett, Sr., took over one race with Billy Schumacher quit at midseason. Billy Sterett was the pilot for the final three races of the year and wan the Washington D.C. President's Cup.

The Sterett family — including Billy's brother, Terry — has retired from unlimited racing.

This is not the first unlimited ride for Remund. He way limited duty in the Van's P-X in 1970 and '71.

Remund, of Garden Grove, Calif., holds the world straightaway record in the 5-liter class. In November, 1971, Remund pushed the Jones-designed Going Thing to 152.130 miles an hour through the kilo traps at Parker, Ariz.

On several occasions, Remund and the Going Thing were "over" the world competition record, only to stall because of mechanical failure. Two near misses were on Green Lake the past two summers.

"This is something I've wanted for quite a while," Remund said yesterday. "I really liked driving the Going Thing, but a guy can't make a living in a 5-liter."

"I think the Pride of Pay 'n Pak will be competitive in its first year. Jones builds a great boat, and the crew is top-notch. If we get enough testing time in, I think we can have the bugs worked out by Miami."

The unlimited season will begin May 20 in Miami's Marine Stadium.

"During testing, it really helps to have a regulation course set up. They've got that in Pasco, so we'll do a lot of work over there."

Remund's appointment fills the unlimited fleet's last vacancy for the coming season.

Ron Larsen, once the driver of the Pride of Pay 'n Pak, will pilot the Notre Dame. Dean Chenoweth, last year's Notre Dame driver, has returned to the Budweiser camp.

Bill Muncey, 1972 national champion, will return with the Atlas Van Lines. The backup Atlas of last season, still looking for a 1973 sponsor, will  make a the full circuit with Fred Alter at the wheel.

Charlie Dunn will again be the Miss Madison chauffeur. Jim McCormick hopes to compete at all '73 regattas, but is looking for a sponsor. Timex bailed out as McCormick's sponsor after last season.

Bill Wurster, a rookie last year will return in Bob Gilliam's Valu-Mart.

Pak again wins Ohio hydro race

Reprinted from The Seattle Times, July 14, 1975

DAYTON, Ohio — (Special) — Seattle's Billy Schumacher had a grand view of the final heat of the Hydroglobe race yesterday, but the price of admission was rather costly.

While Schumacher stood aboard his powerless boat and watched, George Henley of Eatonville, Wash., drove the Pay 'n Pak to its second straight Hydroglobe victory.

The Weisfield's (left) duels the Pay 'n Pak (right) during the final heat of yesterday's
Hydroglobe race in Dayton, Ohio. The battle was shorted lived, as the
Weisfleld's would soon break a propeller shaft and withdraw from the race.

Henley's winning ride in the last heat turned into little more than an around-the-lake cruise after the Weisfield's, driven by Schumacher, dropped out in the first lap with a broken propeller shaft.

Schumacher steered into the infield and watched as the Pay 'n Pak easily defeated the second-place finisher, Miss U.S., driven by Tom D'Eath.

Pay 'n Pak and Weisfield's each had scored a pair of decisive wins in preliminary heats as Henley set a course record for one lap of racing and Schumacher set another for a five-lap heat.

That setup the final-heat showdown: Pay 'n Pak, defending national champion, vs. Weisfield's, the 1975 point leader, for the $16,600 first place prize.

Henley had the Pak a boat length in front of the Weisfield's heading out of Turn No. 3 of the first lap when Schumacher suddenly dropped out.

"I'm sorry Billy blew an engine," Henley said shortly after the race, at that time unaware of the Weisfield's difficulty, "because I think we could have really had some fun out there.

"Our boat's running well now; I'd say a little better than last year."

Henley drove the Pay 'n Pak to seven victories in 11 unlimited races in 1974, but the Seattle-based boat encountered difficulties on this year's tour until Henley steered it back into the win column earlier this month at Madison, Ind.

The 39-year-old Henley pushed the Pak to its record lap of 107.463 miles an hour in Heat 1B yesterday, bettering his year-old race-day mark of 106.195 m.p.h for a tight, two-mile Hydroglobe course.

Schumacher, this season's only other double winner among the thunderboat drivers, set his heat record of 102.246 m.p.h. while easily winning 2B.

Henley's 1,200-point performance here moved the Pay 'n Pak into third place in the national point standings, ahead of another Seattle-based boat, Miss Budweiser.

The Pak, which trailed first-place Weisfield's by 1,524 points a week ago, cut the difference to 1,124 points with its final-heat win here. Lincoln Thrift, eliminated from a final-heat spot when Milner Irvin was unable to get his engine started for Heat 2C, remains in second place in the standings but is only 162 points ahead of the Pay 'n Pak.

The points totals are: Weisfield's 5,563; Lincoln Thrift 4,601, and Pay 'n Pak 4,439.

The crews started heading west today. Their next meeting will be July 27, at the Gold Cup race in Tri-Cities, Wash. The Seattle Seafair race will follow, on August 3.

Pak still boat to beat

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.

Schumacher solve travel trouble

Reprinted from Tri-City Herald, June 18. 1972

There is a lot to be said for the good life of professional athletes. Their hours are relatively short and the pay is high.

About the only negative factor, most athletes agree, is the extensive traveling they have to do.

Billy Schumacher, driver of the hydroplane "Pride of Pay 'n Pak," in the Tri-Cities for the Atomic Cup race July 23, has found a solution to the pro athlete's travel woes.

Billy Schumacher and his wife Cindee discuss racing strategies with
Bernie Little (left), of the Miss Budweiser racing team, and Dave Heerensperger (top).

His home is on wheels, a spacious top-of-the-line motor home, complete with sleeping quarters for up to six, a fully equipped kitchen, dinette, full bath and modern decor featuring teak and Formica.

Schumacher and his pretty wife, Cindee, recently bought the Revcon 250 so they "wouldn't have to live out of a suitcase anymore."

"It's really great," Schumacher said, predicting motor home travel will soon become routine for traveling athletes, entertainers, salesmen and construction workers who are on the road most of the time.

"The better motor homes today have all the accommodations of motels, but you don't have to pack and unpack, hustle for cabs, and try to beat time tables," he said.

"This rig," he said, "is just great driving too. It's built for the professional traveler or the guy who can afford some builtin features to ease his fatigue. It has front-wheel drive, power steering, automatic transmission, and it's got an aluminum body so it weights and handles like a car."

"For me, that's important," he said. "It means I'm not all bushed when  I arrive so I can save my best driving for the water."

Billy the Kid, as he is know to his fellow hydro pilots, and his family are traveling throughout the country this summer in their "home on wheels" during the hydroplane racing campaign.

Relaxing with all the comforts of home, Schumacher discussed his racing career which started when he was eight years old. Since his first race, in a utility outboard, Schumacher has competed in virtually every boat racing class. His record at all levels of competition is impressive.

Schumacher is a two-time national unlimited hydroplane champion and Gold Cup winner. He was recipient of the coveted "Driver of the Year" award in 1968 and 1968.

The personable 29-year-old hydroplane driver from Seattle has set 10 world records ranging from outboards to unlimited hydroplanes. Last year, he established the world record for a three-mile course (121.076 m.p.h).

Schumacher chauffeured the "Pride of Pay 'n Pak" to more wins last year than any other boat on the unlimited hydroplane circuit despite an early season accident.

Many members of the racing fraternity are picking Schumacher as the favorite for this year's campaign.

"Pride of Pay 'n Pak" is sponsored by David J. Heerensperger, chairman of the board of Pay 'n Pak Stores, a Seattle-based electrical and plumbing supply chain operating in the western United States.

The unlimited hydroplane weighs 7,000 pounds and measures 28 feet 6 inches in length and 13 feet 9 inches at the beam. A 2,500 horsepower Roll-Royce Merlin aircraft engine powers the boat to top speeds of 175 m.p.h.

The 1972 unlimited hydroplane schedule opened June 4 in Miami. Other racing events include: The Governor's Cup at Owensboro, Ky., June 11; Gold Cup at Detroit, Mich., June 25; the World Championship, Madison, Ind., July 2; the President's Cup, Washington D.C., July 19; the Atomic Cup, Tri-Cities, Wash., July 23; the Seafair race, Seattle, Wash., August 6; and the Diamond Cup, Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, Aug. 13.

With this busy schedule, Bill Schumacher will be a man on the move during the summer months - in his "Pride of Pay 'n Pak" hydroplane on the water and in his Revcon 250 on the highway.

Billy bows out

Schumacher retires. Pay 'n Pak names Bill Sterett Jr. as driver 

July 8, 1972, WASHINGTON (AP) - Billy Schumacher announced his retirement from unlimited hydroplane racing yesterday and Owensboro's Bill Sterett Jr. was hired to replace him as driver of the Pride of Pay 'n Pak.

Sterett, who drove the Notre Dame hydro in 1971, will make his debut aboard the Pay 'n Pak in the President's Cup Regatta on the Potomac River here today and Sunday.

Schumacher, a 29-year-old Seattle resident, refused to drive in the World Championship race at Madison, Ind., last Tuesday, claiming the course was unsafe because of scattered driftwood and debris.

In the Madison race, Sterett's father former national champion Bill Sterett Sr. guided the Pay 'n Pak "as a favor to a friend." owner Dave Heerensperger.

Among others, young Sterett will be competing against his brother, Miss Budweiser driver Terry Sterett, in the President's Cup Regatta.

Schumacher retirement bolsters Muncey's lot

Reprinted from Tri-City Herald, July 9, 1972

Even if Bill Muncey doesn't win today's President's Cup Regatta on the Potomac River, the 44-year-old unlimited hydroplane veteran is virtually assured of this fourth national championship.

The only unlimited pilot with a real chance of catching Muncey for the national points standings was Billy Schumacher, who stunned hydroplane racing last week with his resignation from the crew of Seattle-based Pride of Pay 'n Pak.

Schumacher's decision to call it quits, at least for the seven-race, 1972 schedule, leaves him with 3,725 points. Muncey, two-time defending President's Cup champion, has 4,700. No other driver is close to Muncey's leading point total.

Schumacher was openly critical of racing conditions during the last two events. The Detroit Gold Cup was held on the flood-swollen waters of the Detroit River, and last Tuesday's Madison, Ind., World Championship Race was postponed from Sunday because of floating debris on the Ohio River caused by tropical storm Agnes.

Schumacher, a five-time world champion at only 29, will probably be replaced by either Bill Sterett, Sr., who came out of retirement to pilot the Pay 'n Pak at Madison, or by Billy Sterett, Jr., whose brother Terry drives Miss Budweiser.

Schumacher, of course, will not be here for the seventh annual Atomic Cup on the Columbia, July 23. Schumacher won the Atomic Cup aboard Miss Bardahl in 1967 and last spring set an unofficial lap record while testing the Pay 'n Pak on the Columbia.

The Pay 'n Pak went into the 1972 unlimited season as just about everybody's favorite to end Miss Budweiser's string as national champion at three years. Schumacher had finished the 1971 season by winning the last three races.

But in Detroit, the Atlas Van Lines crew, headed by former driver Bill Cantrell, spent the winter putting modifications on Muncey's boat. Atlas won the first three races of 1972, setting speed records wherever it went.

Muncey, who has never won the Atomic Cup, is the clear favorite to win his sixth President's Cup overall. His stiffest competition is expected from Pay 'n Pak, Miss Budweiser and the GoGale, the Atlas sister ship out of Detroit which is also listed as Atlas Van Lines II to distinguish it from Muncey's boat.

Other boats checked into the pits by late Friday afternoon were Timex, Towne Club, and Country Boy.

There had been some concern whether debris on the Potomac could be cleared in time for the regatta. Apparently it was.

Al Bauer, one of the race officials, said Friday, "The river's in better shape than I've seen it in 38 years."

Pay 'n Pak Crew Cautious About 'Record'

By Bill Purcell
Reprinted from Tri-City Herald, March 8, 1972

If one of Andy Granatelli's Indy 500 cars spun around a track somewhere at record speed, the news would leak out soon enough. He might even incorporate it in one of his STP TV ads.

But in the clandestine sport of unlimited hydroplane racing, where the fleet of competitors is one-fifth as large, record speeds are preferably only hinted at.

Thunderboat owner Dave Heerensperger, the cautious owner of such a record on the 2½-mile watery oval of the Columbia River, explained why.

"If we let everybody know how fast we really went out there," avowed the 35-year-old hydroplane magnate, "we would lose our competitive edge.

"Suffice it to say, that we went considerably faster than we ever have on the Columbia. But that's all."

"Considerably faster," in this case was something between 116 and 118 m.p.h, according to the bits and pieces of veiled information coming from the pit crew, driver Billy Schumacher and his wife Cindy in the wake of an unofficial record run around the Atomic Cup course Monday by the Pride of Pay 'n Pak.

Although the Columbia has proven the most hospitable watering hole on the hydroplane circuit for Heerensperger - he won the race with Miss Eagle Electric on 1968 and with Lil Buzzard in 1970 - the president of the Pay 'n Pak store chain has good cause for caution.

Not only did racing accidents claim the lives of Eagle driver Warner Gardner and Buzzard pilot Tommy Fults, but Heerensperger was denied a third Atomic Cup when his crew gambled and lost with a new engine in the championship heat of last year's race.

After winning its first two heats by a dozen roostertails in 1971, the Pride was fitted out with a new engine before the final heat.

Recalling the abortive decision, Mrs. Schumacher, a dark-haired beauty more lovely to look at than any hydroplane, said the crew was afraid their usually trusted old Rolls would blow before the heat was over.

"How ironic," said Cindy, "that the new engine blew up instead and that Billy set a new qualification time with the old engine on Lake Washington (in Seattle) two weekends later."

Heerensperger brought his boat to the Tri-Cities, hoping such last-minute decisions could be avoided at this year's Atomic Cup, set for July 29.

"The more tinkering that can be done during the offseason," said Heerensperger, "the better prepared we can be for what might happen when the boat hits the water for real."

The red-and-gold sister ship to Lil Buzzard is not exactly the same unlimited which finished fifth behind Jim McCormick's Miss Madison in 1971's Atomic Cup.

The radically-designed sponsons have been cut back six inches, the boat has been lightened 400 pounds and a new prop has been installed.

Driver Schumacher, who has been competing on the water for 21 of his 29 years and has set 10 world record times, declared Tuesday, "This boat has never run better. We're going to win a lot with it this year."

Crew chief Jim Lucero, honored as the best in the business by the Unlimited Commission last year, was busy testing a new prop to replace the one that sank to the bottom of Lake Washington on a recent test run. Both crew chief and owner were surprised the new prop so closely approximated the performance standards of the old one.

Heerensperger admitted that the almost ideal conditions on the Columbia didn't hurt either.

"This is better water to test on than in Seattle," he said. "We always know what to expect here, and besides the Tri-Cities have usually been lucky for us."

As luck would have it, Schumacher almost had his racing career interrupted during a regatta in Parker, Ariz., on the Colorado River last month. His boat flipped, but a co-driver was in the cockpit.

The same thing didn't happen to veteran driver Bill Muncey on the same course, when his boat also flipped but a co-driver was likewise handling the controls.

Schumacher had another close call at Miami in 1971. The bugs hadn't yet been worked out of the Pride of Pay 'n Pak and the boat overturned in the water. Schumacher got a dunk, but not much more.

Asked if those experiences and the deaths of two Heerensperger pilots is enough to scare the Schumachers away from unlimited racing, Cindy replied, "My trepidation magnified 100-fold after the Miami incident, but since then I'm getting used to it.

"There is always danger in any high-speed sport, but Billy has the reputation of being one of the safest drivers in the business."

Chasin’ the Pak

Pay 'n Pak Win Third Straight Governor's Cup Before Record 90,000

By J.D. Lewis, Staff Writer
Reprinted from The Republic, Columbus, Ind., July 7, 1975

Pay ‘n Pak out-dueled Weisfield's in one of the closest heat races in unlimited hydroplane history and went on to capture its third straight Indiana Governor's Cup Sunday during the 26th running of the Madison Regatta on the Ohio River.

A record crowd of 90,000 fans watched driver George Henley score about a 10-foot win over Bill Schumacher and Weisfield's in the fourth and next to last heat race. The victory worth 400 points meant Henley needed only a second place finish in the final heat to clinch the Governor's Cup. He did just that, playing it safe and settling for second behind Schumacher, whose finish maintained Weisfield's lead in the national point standings.

"The name of the game is winning the Cup,” said a smiling Henley later. "We could have gone all out at the end, but we could've broken something and not finished. You go on strategy, not pride."

The victory, Pay 'n Pak's first in five unlimited races this year, was worth $6,336 out of a total purse of $30,000 for Henley and owner Dave Heerensperger of Seattle, Wash. The winning combination scored a first and two seconds in three heat races for 1,000 points.

Weisfield’s had a first, second and third for 925. Lincoln Thrift driven by Milner Irvin placed third with 794, Miss U.S. driven by Tom D'Eath was fourth with 750 and Miss Vernor's driven by Fred Alter was fifth with 625.

The local favorite, Miss Madison, piloted by Jerry Bangs, was black flagged for failing to shut off its engine after conking out in turn two in the first heat and scored no points. However, it finished second in the third heat and wound up eighth overall with 300 points.

A total of 11 boats were entered, but only nine reached minimum qualifying speeds of 100 miles an hour on Friday and Saturday. Pay 'n Pak averaged 103.010 for the three heats. But it set new Madison records in the thrilling duel with, Weisfield's in heat 2B.

The Pak covered the fifth and final lap over the 2½-mile course at 116.883 miles an hour, the fastest speed ever at Madison. The previous lap records of 116.580 for qualifying and 114.796 during a race were set by the Pak last year. And the Pak's average for the heat was 115.148, which shattered the record of 110.892, also set by the same boat last year.

Told later what his heat average was, the 39-year-old Henley, an Eatonville, Wash., native, exclaimed, "Holy mackerel!"

"I didn't think I had it won until I looked over my shoulder and saw (Schumacher) wasn't there," he said. "I could hear him all the time."

"There was nothing left in my engine," said Schumacher. “I pushed it as hard as it would go. That's one of the best races I've ever been in. "

"Me, too," said Henley. "I don't think I've ever been in as close a race even when I was racing limiteds. It was a good, clean, fun race."

In the final heat, Schumacher took Weisfield's into a comfortable lead on the first lap and led all the way. Weisfield's only hope for a Cup championship was that Miss U.S. would beat the Pak for second, but Henley held on and finished ahead of D'Eath by a safe margin.

Prior to the Regatta, Pay 'n Pak had won only one out of 10 heat races, but Henley said he felt confident of his chances after taking the boat out for a test run on Friday. "It finally began to handle like it did last year," he said. "Now I think she's back where she was."

There was only one minor mishap during the 4-hour program. In the second heat race, Miss Budweiser sustained considerable sponson damage on the right side when she hit a "low" spot entering the second turn. Driven by Mickey Remund, she went on to win the heat, but was forced to withdraw from the competition. "The crew will have to work night and day for a week just to get her ready for the next race (the Dayton Hydroglobe on July 13)," said Remund.

Final Points Standing: 1.) Pay 'n Pak, George Henley, 1,000; 2.) Weisfield's, Bill Schumacher, 925; 3.) Lincoln Thrift, Milner Irvin, 794; 4.) Miss U.S., Tom D'Eath, 750; 5.) Miss Vernor's, Fred Alter, 625; 6.) Miss Budweiser, Mickey Remund, 400; 7.) Atlas Van Lines, Bill Muncey, 338; 8.) Miss Madison, Jerry Bangs, 300.

Schumacher Likely to Give Muncey Run for Gold Cup on the Detroit Today

DETROIT, June 24, 1972 — “This course is the roughest and toughest challenge in hydroplane racing,” asserted Bill Schumacher on the eve of tomorrow's $44,000 Gold Cup race.

“It also has the weirdest turns and the crookedest chutes [straightaways], is filled with driftwood and debris, has groundswells coming in from the lake, plus all of our wakes splash waves back at us from the bulkheads along the shore.

“Besides all this, the river current runs into the wind, which creates all kinds of ripples and waves, any one of which can flip your boat and snuff out your life before you know it.”

Despite his protestations of the Detroit River, where nine of the fastest propeller driven boats in the world will vie for the American Power Boat Association's coveted Gold Cup, Schumacher has won the big race twice, in Seattle in 1967 and in Detroit in 1968.

Switching Boats

His vehicle then was Miss Bardahl, the checkered thunderboat now retired. After a year with Parco O-Ring Miss, Schumacher moved to Seattle, got married and signed a contract to drive Dave Heerensperger's Pride of Pay 'n Pak, a revolutionary-designed unlimited named for a chain of West Coast department stores.

Totally unsuccessful at first with the radical pickle fork boat designed by Ron Jones, Schumacher worked with Heerensperger and his crew chief, Jim Lucero, and brought Pay 'n Pak to a point last year where it swept the last three races of the season and finished a close second to Miss Budweiser for the national championship.

This year, only the fabulously successful Bill Muncey, at the helm of two-year-old Atlas Van Lines, has managed to top Schumacher and Pay 'n Pak. And Muncey has won the Gold Cup four times, so he must remain the favorite.

Moves Backfire

Two other Gold Cup winners are competing: Jim McCormick, last year's victor in Miss Madison, and Dean Chenoweth, Miss Budweiser's driver last year. Both drivers have changed boats, however, and both have experienced little luck as a result.

McCormick is driving his own Miss Timex, preferring the dual role of owner-driver, but he has not come close to winning. Chenoweth took on the job of driving Notre Dame, a new Jones-designed boat which has also failed to win.

Why did Chenoweth, a Gold Cup winner, a two-time national champion and a victor in almost every race on the circuit in Miss Budweiser, quit a winning combination?

“I wanted a challenge, I guess,” said the Xenia, Ohio, automobile dealer. “Shirley [Mendelson McDonald, the owner] has been trying to put together a winner for 10 years, and now she's starting in all over again.”

Terry Sterett, one of the two driver sons of former champion Bill Sterett, is now the pilot of Budweiser, whose owners, Bernie Little and Tom Friedkin, seemed to have ignored the maxim, “Don't fool with a winning combination.”

After three years of domination, Budweiser's crew revised the sponsors and hull, but instead of improving her performance, it seemed to make it worse.

“The trouble was we never had proper conditions on the Coast to test those new ideas,” said Bill Sterett, “Now we've got her back to the way she was when I was driving and I think you'll see the difference Sunday.”

Muncey also has the advantage of a second Atlas Van Lines acting as a teammate in the fleet. Muncey drives U‐71 and Tom Sheehy drives U-70, which is the former Myr's Special and Miss Smirnoff and two years older.

“We've instructed Tom to push those other guys as hard as he can even though he doesn't win,” Muncey said.

Other boats and drivers in contention include Pizza Pete, with Bob Gilliam; Lincoln Thrift, a turbocharged boat, with George Henley, and Towne Club, with Fred Alter.

The next Miss Madison turned over and sank yesterday on a test run, thus denying the Gold Cup race a defending champion Her driver, Charlie Dunn, was not hurt seriously.

Schumacher's Hydro Wins In Seafair Trophy Race

SEATTLE, Aug. 8, 1971 (AP) — Bill Schumacher in Pride of Pay 'N Pak, forced by an accident to twice win a championship heat, raced to a quarter‐lap victory in $30,000 Seafair Trophy unlimited hydroplane race today.

Seafair Trophy winner Billy Schumacher in the Pride of Pay 'N Pak

Schumacher had crossed the finish line in the original championship heat seconds after Notre Dame disintegrated in the final lap of the three‐mile Lake Washington course.

Notre Dame driver, Billy Sterett, Jr., was listed in satisfactory condition with facial cuts after a Coast Guard helicopter plucked him, from the water.

Unlimited hydroplane rules specify that the final heat must be rerun if marred by an accident.