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 Before the Pak returned to Seattle, Schumacher had been replaced by Billy Sterett Jr.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.

Steretts join Pay 'n Pak hydro team

By Del Danielson
Reprinted from The Seattle Times, July 6, 1972

The Sterett family has joined the Pride of Pay 'n Pak unlimited-hydroplane team.

Bill Sterett, Sr., drove the boat in Tuesday's Indiana Governor's Cup regatta in Madison, Ind., when Bill Schumacher refused to "risk his life" on the debris-strewn Ohio River course. Schumacher said the course was too dangerous. After the race Schumacher announced he was "through with hydroplane racing for the year." Schumacher said he is “disillusioned with the sport and the executives who run it."

Dave Heerensperger, owner of the boat, said he was pleased with the driving job of Bill Sterett, Sr., and asked the 51-year-old Owensboro, Ky., resident to drive the rest of the year.

Prior commitments will keep the senior Sterett away from Sunday's President's Cup race in Washington, D. C.. but he will drive in the Tri-Cities' Atomic Cup and Seattle's Seafair event.

Bill Sterett, Jr., 25, who drove the Notre Dame last season, will be in the cockpit of the Pride this weekend on the Potomac River.

Bill Sterett Jr. Wins on Potomac

Pay 'n Pak Substitute Does 109 M.P.H. -- Muncey Next in President's Cup Race

By Parton Keese
Reprinted from The New York Times, July 10, 1972

WASHINGTON, July 9—Little-known Bill Sterett Jr. put an end to Bill Muncey's reign in unlimited hydroplanes today when he drove Pride of Pay' N Pak to a record-breaking 200-yard victory in the President's Cup.

Driving at an average speed of 109.090 miles an hour for the six-lap, 15-mile race, Sterett set a record for a 2½-Mile course. He had to—Muncey's second-place finish at 108.324 also broke the mark he himself had set here yesterday.

The 24-year-old Sterett surprised Muncey as well as 80,000 spectators lined along the Potomac shore. He was given the helm after the two-time national champion, Billy Schumacher, quit last week, apparently tired of catching Muncey's roostertail spray during race after race.

The Muncey-Sterett duel gave a shot in the arm to the President's Cup race, which had been lacking luster throughout the weekend because of a curtailed fleet that was battered and torn by the Gold Cup race two weeks ago. Four damaged boats were missing, leaving seven to race here, only three of which had any zip.

A Family Affair

Sterett is one of two driver sons of Bill Sterett of Owensboro, Ky., who twice won national titles in Budweiser. Terry Sterett, 25, has been driving Budweiser this season and finished third today, a half-mile behind the leader.

“They made an agreement with me last year,” the senior Sterett said, “that they would race unlimited only two years and then retire. Billy was sit ting this year out to race next season, so I guess we won't count this as a full season.”

Asked if the new driver had made the difference in Pay ‘n Pak's becoming a winner rather than an also-ran, Dave Heerensperger the owner, said. “Well, we didn't change anything else. Does that answer your question?”

Muncey, who had won 13 of 14 races and had set three speed records while winning all four this season in Atlas Van Lines, got a good start, but could not pass Billy Sterett, who stayed a length in front for 2½ laps.

When Muncey shot by Sterett on the far turn and took a 100-yard lead, it looked like the excitement was over. But in a marvelous stretch battle, Sterett proved Pay ‘n Pak slightly faster on the straightaway and won going away.

Pak owner, driver reach $ impasse; Remund out

Reprinted from The Seattle Times, September 26, 1973

Associated Press — An impasse in contract negotiations probably will keep Mickey Remund, national unlimited-hydroplane championship driver, away from the controls of the Pay 'n Pak next summer, Dave Heerensperger, the boat's owner, said yesterday.

Heerensperger, who said he's "in the market for a new driver," said Remund had demanded a 400 percent salary hike and call the demand a case of "the tail wagging the dog."

"I'm a hard-nosed guy. If I make an offer and my driver doesn't accept it, well that's it," he said in Seattle. "I'm still running the show."

He said he and his crew chief have not gone beyond the initial look at five prospective drives but added, "I don't think we'll have any trouble finding the right driver, with a national-championship boat and a great crew."

Remund, 36, had an established record as a limited-hydro pilot before joining the Pay 'n Pak team. The machinist from Palm Desert, Calif., was chosen to replace Billy Sterett, who retired from racing last year.

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.

Muncey Takes Off With Seafair Cup

August 7, 1972, Seattle, Wash. (UPI) - If baseball parlance can be applied to unlimited hydroplane racing, veteran driver Bill Muncey did more than have a perfect game, he nearly had a perfect season.

When Muncey ran away from the field in the Atlas Van Lines for an amazingly easy victory in the Seattle Seafair Trophy race Sunday, he chalked up the following statistics at the end of the unlimited season:

• Six wins in seven races.
• National championships for driver and boat.
• Winner of 22 of 25 heats for the season.
• Finisher in every heat he started.
• Trailed in his one losing race by one 3 seconds at at finish. 

With more than 100,000 fans lining the lake shore in a record 91-degree heat wave, Sunday’s Seafair Race was billed as a season-ending showdown between the Atlas Van Lines and the Pride of Pay ’n Pak, which had been chasing the Atlas across the finish line all year.

That bit of anticipated excitement never materialized. The Pay ’n Pak, with Bill Sterett, Jr, at the wheel, blew engines at the start of two preliminary heats and never reached the final or even got racing.

Muncey, of San Diego, wrapped up national championships for himself and the Detroit-based Atlas Van Lines in his very first heat with a coasting second-place finish. He won his next preliminary heat and roared away from the field in the final competition for the easy victory.

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."

Maiden voyager Billy Sterett steers by Muncey to win President's Cup

July 10, 1972, WASHINGTON (AP) - Billy Sterett Jr. of Owensboro, Ky., driving the Seattle-based Pride of Pay 'n Pak for the first time in competition, defeated previously unbeaten Bill Muncey and the Atlas Van Lines yesterday in the President's Cup unlimited hydroplane regatta at Washington, D.C.

Sterett, who just drove the boat for the first time Friday, beat Muncey by only 3½ seconds after securing the lead on the next-to-last turn.

The Sterett brothers: Terry (left) and Bill Jr. (right).

Yesterday's program consisted of two other 15-mile preliminary heats plus the final. Sterett and Muncey, who is from San Diego, Calif., went into the final heat tied with 800 points.

Sterett led the fleet at the start and was first out of the initial turn. Muncey took the lead coming out of the second of the six laps. The two battled bow to bow for the next three laps before Sterett took command.

The next race on the circuit is the Tri-Cities Atomic Cup at Pasco, Wash., July 23.

Pak ended up with 1,200 points to the Detroit-based Atlas Van Lines' 1,100. Third was Miss Budweiser with 825, followed by Pizza Pete with 619.

Sterett and Muncey won the two President's Cup heats contested Saturday. Muncey was seeking his fifth cup victory of the season in the races on the Potomac River. Sterett won the final heat at an average speed of 109.090 mph.

Sterett, who drove the Notre Dame hydro in 1971 but didn't have a driving assignment for the first four races this year, was hired to guide the Pay 'n Pak after veteran Billy Schumacher announced his retirement Friday.

Other point winners in the race were Towne Club of Detroit with 525 and Miss Timex of Owensboro, Ky. with 300.

Despite the setback, Muncey and the Atlas still hold a comfortable lead in the national championship battle, owning 5,800 points to the second-place Pay 'n Pak's 4,925.

About time for Atomic Cup luck, says race winner

By Bill Purcell
Reprinted from Tri-City Herald, July 24, 1972

When it was suggested to Bill Muncey on Sunday afternoon that luck as much as speed decided 1972's Atomic Cup, he had a jovial retort.

"Well, it's about time Bill Muncey had a little luck on the Columbia. I've been trying to win this race for a long time, and I'm real happy we put it all together here."

For the 44-year-old hydroplane jockey with 32 regatta championships to his credit, the $4,500 he pocketed for first place in the Tri-Cities was only part of his winning story. His Atomic Cup victory, the first in seven tries, guaranteed Muncey of the unlimited hydroplane national point championship.

Although Muncey established three Atomic Cup and two world speed records before an estimated 50,000 fans, it is unlikely he would have won the race without Lady Luck interfering.

In the sixth and final lap of the championship heat, Muncey and his Atlas Van Lines were embarrassingly behind by some 13 seconds to favored Billy Sterett Jr. in the Pride of Pay 'n Pak. But, with the heat and the race nearly in the record books, Bob Gilliam was thrown from his hand-me-down boat, Pizza Pete, and the heat had to be restarted.

Forty-five minutes' worth of engine-changing and second-guessing later, Atlas and Pay 'n Pak resumed the fight. But no sooner had the two boats hit the starting line than Pay 'n Pak stopped dead in the water as a result of what the crew later diagnosed as a frozen supercharger.

Crew chief Jim Lucero, driver Billy Sterett Jr., and owner
Dave Heerensperger of the Pride of Pay 'n Pak racing team.

So, while the Pay 'n Pak floated helplessly downstream in the final heat of a race it had virtually won earlier in the afternoon, Muncey coasted around the 2 1/2-mile course for his fifth victory in six races on the unlimited circuit this year.

Muncey said later that it was not until his second lap that he knew "we were on our way to the bank."

"Going through the corner of the first lap of the rerun, I didn't know he (Sterett) was down. I was wondering to myself on the first backstretch where his boat was, but I said to myself, "I've got a good lead and I'll keep on pushing.'"

In a unprecedented tribute to the racing fans, many of whom, Muncey admitted, weren't exactly rooting for him, the San Diego native toured the course one last time in a victory lap, clapping his hands with glee as he passed the official barge.

Sterett and Pay 'n Pak owner Dave Heerensperger, Kent, were appropriately glum-faced after the race. It was Billy Sterett Sr., however, who offered the most appropriate analysis. He said to Gilliam after the Pizza Pete driver had been safely brought back to shore, "If that happens again, please fly through the air for at least 30 seconds more."

Gilliam was scratched up a bit, but that's all. He finished fifth, behind Muncey, Terry Sterett in Miss Budweiser, Billy Sterett in Pay 'n Pak and defending Atomic Cup champion Jim McCormick in Miss Timex.

Muncey set new records for fastest lap, 115.979 m.p.h. fastest heat, 110.655, and race average, 107.417. The first two records are world as well as Atomic Cup standards.

Atlas and Pay 'n Pak won their respective heats so handily earlier in the afternoon that it was not until their long-awaited confrontation that the sun-drenched throng had much to get excited about.

In the "first" championship heat, Pay 'n Pak beat Atlas to the first buoy, Sterett outmaneuvered Muncey at the upstream turn and led by two seconds at the end of lap one. By the end of lap two, Sterett's lead was 11 seconds, and the issue was apparently decided.

But when Gilliam was tossed out of his boat four laps later, Muncey had his chance.

"It wasn't his (Sterett's) fault and it wasn't mine," said Muncey. "It's a shame this had to happen, but things like this have happened to me many, many, many times in this strange world of unlimited racing."

Remund Drives Pay ’n Pak To 2 Hydroplane Records

SEATTLE, Aug. 4, 1973 (AP)—The Pay ‘N Pak, badly damaged in the Gold Cup two weeks ago, warmed up today for the Seafair world championship regatta by setting two unlimited hydroplane records.

Mickey Remund at the wheel of the Pay 'N Pak.

Mickey Remund drove Pay ‘N Pak twice around the three‐mile Lake Washington course during time trials for tomorrow's race at speeds averaging 126.464 and 126.761 miles an hour.

The faster lap time broke the old one‐lap time trial record over a three–mile course of 125.874 m.p.h. set here last year by an earlier version of the Pay ‘N Pak with a different driver in the cockpit, Billy Sterett Jr. Remund's average for the two laps, 126.613 m.p.h., broke the old mark in that department, 125.874, also set by Sterett last year.

Sterett drives 'Pak' to victory

Washington, DC, July 10, 1972 - (Special) - Bill Sterett, Jr., earned himself a permanent ride in the Pride of Pay 'N Pak yesterday scooting away from Bill Muncey on the final lap of the final heat to win the President's Cup unlimited-hydroplane race.

Sterett, a substitute driver for his father, Bill, Sr. in the Seattle-based Pride, scored a 1,200-point sweep and stopped Muncey's 1972 string at four straight victories.

Sterett and Muncey were tied with 800 points apiece going into the final heat on the muddy and wind-chopped Potomac River.

The two drivers battled side by side for five laps. Coming out of the first turn on lap six, the boats ran into traffic - Bob Gilliam in the Pizza Pete was just starting lap five. Sterett swung wide in the Pride and zipped pass Gilliam with no trouble. Muncey was caught behind Gilliam and had to let off and move around the Pete. The lapse allowed Sterett to open a three-second lead he carried to the finish line.

"There's no doubt who my driver is from now on," Dave Heerensperger, owner of the Pride, said. Heerensperger earlier had indicated that Bill Sterett, Sr., would drive in West Coast races.

The unlimiteds are en route to Pasco for the Tri-Cities' Atomic Cup July 23.

Muncey, driver of the Atlas Van Lines, was the odds-on favorite going into the seven-boat race after winning the Miami, Owensboro, Detroit (Gold Cup) and Madison regattas.

The Atlas still leads the national points chase with 5,800. The Pride has 4,925. The Budweiser, which placed third here yesterday, is third with 3,379. Gilliam's Pizza Pete ranks fourth with 3,016.

Atlas Crew Solves Engine Troubles; Sterett Criticized

By Walt Parietti
Reprinted from The Seattle Times, August 7, 1972

A disappointed Billy Sterett sat alongside the Pride of Pay 'N Pak cockpit yesterday
as the boat was towed back to its dock.  Sterett, expected to give Bill Muncey a race,
never got a chance because of two engine failures.

"We didn’t expect to have this kind of season," Bill Muncey said. "Who’d ever believe ten years ago that I’d bring Lee Schoenith a national championship?"

Muncey just had completed his greatest season in 17 hydroplaning years, riding aboard his white charger, Atlas Van Lines, to his sixth win in seven races before one of the largest Seafair Trophy Race crowds in recent years.

Muncey did it by shattering the lap and 15-mile-heat records on the three-mile Lake Washington course that he had set in Miss Thriftway 10 years earlier. He hinted the records might fall early yesterday afternoon after finishing second in Heat 1 B.

"The lid’s off now. We can go racing," balding Bill had said.

His crew chief, Jim Kerth, put a new power plant in the Schoenith-owned Atlas, and Muncey ran the first lap in Heat 213 at 115.139 miles an hour. He later upped the mark to 117.137 in the final heat runaway.

The longtime Seattleite, who now lives in San Diego, said, "I wouldn’t have given us a 5-2 chance to win this race Saturday."

Muncey’s happy wife, Fran, chimed in: "Saturday night the engines were all apart here. Things went wrong Saturday."

Among the problems, Bill said, was a broken blower section from Saturday’s final tuneup session.

"We didn’t have all the spare stuff we needed here from Detroit," Muncey said.

Kerth said, "You find things like that by testing. It’s great working with Muncey. It’s just the way he drives. He’s superb. I never worry once he leaves the dock. There’s nothing you can do after that."

The unexpected elements in the race were the complete fold-up by the Pride of Pay ‘N Pak — two broken engines without a full lap run and the strong, third-place showing by the patch-quilt Van’s P-X team.

"It just wasn’t our day," said a dejected Billy Sterett, Jr., Pay ‘N Pak driver.

"These engines were strictly race engines. They were built up for this race. We broke them in like we usually do. We ran three laps this morning and thought we were ready to go.

"This kind of blows you out of the water. I just don’t know about next year yet. We had the Pasco race won and now we’ve gone three straight heats without a finish. That’s pretty bad."

Dave Heerensperger, Pay ‘N Pak owner, said in frustration: "We break three engines in two days. I’d like to run a 120-mile-an-hour heat right now just to show the people."

Of the first-heat failure, he added, "the back four cylinders were not firing and they finally blew. They loaded up with fuel. Billy should have cleared it out."

Heerensperger intends to stick with Sterett for 1973. "If Billy wants to drive, he’ll be my driver. It’s his decision," Heerensperger said.

Heerensperger said the sale of his Pride of Pay ‘N Pak boat had "nothing to do with the performance" yesterday. The boat was purchased yesterday for $30,000 by Bernie Little, who will campaign the hull as Miss Budweiser next year.

Heerensperger said he will build a new boat for next season, virtually a cop, "but hopefully a lighter-type boat."

The Van’s P-X got the job done with some help from Gary Crawford, Timex crew chief, who formerly worked alongside Jerry Zuvich on the old Bardahl national-championship boat.

"They’ve got half our motor in there," Crawford said. "We gave them the stuff they needed a gear box, wheel housing and quills, most of the front section."

"That’s not a bad effort for three weeks’ work," Zuvich said.

Leif Borgersen, P-X pilot, said, "The crew told me, ‘If you can’t win, get third place.’ So I did." Borgersen, close behind the second-place Notre Dame at the finish, added, "After that many heats in that rough a water, I don’t think I could have held on much longer."

"The cockpit temperature out there today must have been 150 degrees," said Muncey. "It was a lot easier running out front than where Leif was running."

Wild Bill Cantrell, longtime hydro driver and boat manager of the Atlas, said, "I wish we could have hooked up with the Pay ‘n Pak. Now we’ve got to sit all winter long and not know how we’d have done."

Schoenith, the boat’s designer, won the Gold Cup on Lake Washington in 1955, edging Muncey with the help of a disputed "bonus points" system. The result added fuel to the Seattle-Detroit battle in which Schoenith was the "bad guy" from the East and Muncey was Seattle’s "hero."

"We’ll go with this hull again next year," Schoenith said. "I’m happy with it. I don’t know now what I’d do different if I were going to build a new boat."

Cantrell said, "There’ll be a couple new Detroit boats next year. George Simon is building a new Miss U. S., with a turbo-charged Rolls engine. And Jim Herrington’s building a gas-turbine job. They’ve been testing the engine for a year in the old Mariner, but they haven’t raced it."

Muncey, commenting on the Pay ‘N Pak’s miseries, said, "I’m sorry for them, but I’m not disappointed they didn’t run. Racing involves everything, not just qualifying.

"We came to Seattle wanting that qualifying record; but when they (Pay ‘N Pak) went 125.8, we felt there was no way. So we started shooting for a victory today.

"Our goal was to do exactly as we did."

Pak ‘Really Smokes’ In Record Run

By Del Danielson
Reprinted from The Seattle Times, July 22, 1972

TRI-CITIES — "He was really smokin’ out there, wasn’t he?"

Dave Heerensperger didn’t wait for an answer to his own question as he bounced down a catwalk to greet his driver, Bill Sterett, Jr., after a world-record run by the Pride of Pay ‘N Pak yesterday.

Sterett qualified for tomorrow’s Atomic Cup unlimited-hydroplane race with a sizzling average of 120.161 miles an hour for two laps on the Columbia River course.

The mark, which bettered the 116.636 m. p. h. clocking Bill Muncey turned in the Atlas Van Lines in Owensboro, Ky., earlier this year, is the top qualifying effort ever on a 2½-mile course.

Muncey had yesterday’s second fastest mark as five of the eight unlimiteds in the pits were put on the "in" list for this year’s Atomic Cup.

Muncey pushed the Atlas to 115.531 m. p. h. Terry Sterett, in the Budweiser, turned 110.294 m. p. h. George Henley, returning to the circuit after losing a sponson in the Detroit Gold Cup race last month, registered 109.093 m. p. h. in the Lincoln Thrift. Bob Gilliam qualified his Pizza Pete with a 100.560 m. p. h. clocking.

Making qualifying efforts today were Jim McCormick in the Timex, Bill Wurster in the Valu-Mart and Chuck Hickling in the Smoother Mover.

Heerensperger has predicted a 118 for either the Pay ‘N Pak or the Atlas. He was ecstatic when the public address announcer called out the lap speeds for his boat.

A photographer asked Heerensperger to pose near the Pay ‘N Pak.

The owner’s reply:

"You bet! You want me to stand on my hands?" Sterett was driving without the benefit of nitrous oxide. Most unlimiteds are fitted with a nitrous injection system to provide added acceleration off the turn.

"We blew a supercharger during a test run," Sterett explained. "When that popped, it cut the nitrous line. We didn’t hook it up for this run."

The young driver from Owensboro didn’t know how fast he was going.

"I didn’t look at the speedometer," he said. "I’ve got too many other things to do out there."

Heerensperger credited the improved speed to a change in the skid fin, moving it farther out on the sponson.

"Billy picked up one a half seconds in each corner," Heerensperger said. "Three seconds is five miles an hour."

Race sponsors are concerned about the small number of boats.

If all eight qualify, the Atomic Cup will go with two sections of four boats each. If any fail to start, there would be three-boat race in one or both sections.

The Valu-Mart and Smoother Mover camps were having their problems yesterday. A burned-out booster coil stalled the Valu-Mart. Bob Murphy, owner of the Mover, was shopping for a propeller.

"We can’t get any speed at all," Murphy said. "The Budweiser guys are loaning us a different prop to try, but we have to send to Seattle for it."

"We don’t have very many boats," said one race official. "The Pay ‘N Pak and Atlas will have to be mighty fast and mighty close to save the show for us."