Hydroplane Racing: Ego Trip That Appeases Male Vanity

By Parton Keese
Reprinted from The New York Times, June 24, 1972

DETROIT, June 23 — Illustrating the imminent danger drivers face when their tender craft take on quixotic waters, the unlimited hydroplane Miss Madison was torn apart today and sank in the Detroit River. Charlie Dunn, her rookie driver, escaped serious injury in his unsuccessful attempt to qualify for Sunday's Gold Cup. The Gold Cup is the race of races for one of the world's most dangerous sports. Ironically, Dunn was the only racer who tempted the froth, whipped up yesterday by 20-knot winds.

Today he hit a wave he couldn't avoid. The craft fell apart. He was taken to Detroit General Hospital, but released after a few hours.

Dunn, from Miami, said afterward: “The boat was going about 120 miles are hour when she hit a roller and nosed under.” The 34-year-old Dunn is in third place in the national point standing.

The accident left only nine boats in the fleet slated to race for the Gold Cup Sun day. Atlas Van Lines, driven by Bill Muncey, led the qualifiers with an average two-lap (six miles) speed of 120.948 miles an hour, with Notre Dame (113.745 m.p.h.) second, Pride of Pay ‘n Pak (110.647) third, a second Atlas Van Lines (107.103) fourth, and Pizza Pete (105.575) fifth.

Despite the near-tragedy other drivers were not deterred.

“It's strictly an ego trip with me,” explained Muncey, the most successful driver in the history of unlimited hydroplane racing. The money isn't worth the risk, you don't need that much in physical attributes, it's not an especially brainy business and there are hundreds of easier ways to gain fame.

“But I like it, maybe even need it. It appeases my male vanity, I guess.”

Not all drivers of the huge two-ton thunderbolts, capable of speeds of 200 miles an hour, can even approach the records Muncey has set in his 17-year career. Yet every week of the racing season they show up at the regatta course willing to put their lives on the line for the thrill of creating the ear-splitting roars and dazzling rooster-tail sprays that mark their profession.

Eight drivers have lost that gamble with living in the last six years—six killed in competition, one in a practice run and an other in a construction accident. The sport seems to have entered a hiatus caused by a slowdown in mechanical progress and lack of money.

But the dedicated breed of unlimited hydroplane owners, drivers and mechanics, though fewer in number, continues to survive on admittedly limited achievement.

The machine is the dominating specter in unlimited racing. Though a Muncey or a Bill Schumacher or a Dean Chenoweth may outperform less qualified drivers in racing craft and equal potential, it is the esoteric nature of the peculiar hull shape and the engine propelling it that ultimately determines the success or failure of the racing team.

D'Eath Scores First Ever Hydro Win

DETROIT -- (Special) — Tom D’Eath’s days as an apprentice are over.

D’Eath became a member of unlimited-hydroplane racing’s Winners Club yesterday when he drove the Miss U.S. to victory in the $30,000 Gar Wood Trophy race on the Detroit River.

The triumph capped a series of comeback attempts by D’Eath and the Miss U.S. owner, George Simon, and could not have occurred at a more appropriate site.

The Detroit-based boat out dueled the defending champion Miss Budweiser in the final heat, pulling away to a 10-length triumph that delighted hometown spectators.

Mickey Remund moved the Miss Budweiser up to the No. 2 spot in the season’s point standings with his second place finish, while George Henley finished third in the Pay 'n Pak. Lincoln Thrift was fourth and Miss Madison fifth in the final heat.

Weisfield’s, the season-long leader and top qualifier for this race, was not in contention. The Seattle-based boat dropped out of its first heat with a broken gear box and sputtered because of a bad piston to a fourth-place finish in its second heat.

D’Eath sped to victory in all three of his heats, traveling the final five lap circuit at a reported 121.321 miles an hour.

While D’Eath was gripping his first unlimited trophy after 2½ years of trying, Bill Muncey was shaking his head about what happened after he got a firm grip on the Atlas Van Lines’ steering wheel.

Muncey, a five-time Gold Cup champion from San Diego, found himself in control of only the wheel when it came off in his hands as he roared toward the start of Heat 2A.

The Atlas veered sharply to the right and made an unscheduled dash up a canal, between two lines of spectator boats, near the Detroit Yacht Club.

"It scared the hell out of me," Muncey said.

D’Eath, 31, of Fair Haven, Mich., had not finished a 1975 regatta until yesterday and almost doubled his previous season point total with the 1,200-point performance here.

Simon, who has campaigned unlimiteds under the U.S. Equipment Co. banner for 20 years, had not fielded a winner here since Muncey pushed a previous Miss U.S. to victory in 1969.

This Miss U.S., rebuilt after burning to the water line in last year’s Gold Cup race in Seattle, is powered by a turbo-charged Allison aircraft engine.

The Weisfield’s, winner of two previous races this year, and Miss Budweiser, the President’s Cup winner both get their thrusts from Rolls Royce powerplants.

D’Eath’s speeds for one lap, one heat and an entire regatta all were faster than the Spirit of Detroit course records. However, since the new, shorter course has not been surveyed and its exact distance is unknown, none of the marks was a record.

The speeds, computed with a three-mile conversion table by unlimited officials even though the course was about 2¾ miles long:

Fastest lap — first lap, final heat, 123.287 m.p.h.; fastest five-lap heat-final, 121.321; overall 15-lap average, 118.476.

The hydroplanes will be in Madison, Ind., Sunday for the Indiana Governor’s Cup race.

Heat 1A — Miss U.S., T. D’Eath, 117.921 m.p.h.; Miss Budweiser, Remund, 116.404; Lincoln Thrift. Milner Irvin, 110.361; Miss North Tool (former Miss Shenandoah), Roger D’Eath, 82.733. Atlas Van Lines, Muncey, did not finish.

Heat 1B — Pay 'n Pak, Henley, 115.904; Miss Madison, Jerry Bangs 102.311; Probe, Bob Miller, 101.256. Weisfield's, Billy Schumacher, did rot start; Miss Vernors, Fred Alter, D. N. F.

Heat 2A — Budweiser, 116.104; Lincoln Thrift, 108.108; Probe, 97,737. Atlas, Vernors and Mr. Fabricator (alternate), Tom Kaufman, D. N. S.

Heat 2B — Miss U.S., 116.179; Pay 'n Pak, 111.662; Madison, 95.575; Weisfield’s, 86.552. North Tool, D. N. S.

Consolation race — Probe, 101.886. Fabricator, Vernors, D. N. F.

Final — Miss U.S., 121.312; Budweiser, 120.160; Pay 'n Pak, 111.065; Lincoln Thrift, 108.238; Miss Madison, 68.588.

Chenoweth Takes Gar Wood Memorial

Reprinted from Sea and Pacific Motor Boat, September 1973

Gar Wood Trophy race on the Detroit River--A context for hydroplanes. In the pits. Photo by Joe Clark.

The unlimited hydros were at it again, and it was Mickey Remund in Pay 'n Pak and Dean Chenoweth in Miss Budweiser that grabbed the silver. The Gar Wood Memorial on the smooth Detroit River went to Miss Bud after some intense racing in front of 400,000 fans.

Remund beat Chenoweth in the first heat, only to lose in the finals. Drama was added when Pay 'n Pak sheared a propeller in a trial run three days before the event and ripped off much of the hull bottom. With the help of other teams, the crew worked for 60 hours straight to repair the damage.

Gar Wood Memorial: 1, Miss Budweiser, Dean Chenoweth, 1100; 2, Pay 'n Pak, Mickey Remund, 1000; 3, Gale's Roostertail, Fred Alter, 925; 4, Red Man, Jim McCormick, 738; 5, Miss U.S., Tom D'Eath, 652.

Bud wins by (—) that much

Pak edged at Detroit

Reprinted from The Seattle Times, July 1, 1974

DETROIT— (Special) — George Henley ran out of time in his game of "catch up" with Howie Benns, but the unlimited hydroplane jockey from Eatonville, Wash., still leads in the chase for national high points honors.

Howie Benns, Miss Budweiser driver, after a heat victory. Photo by Bill Knodell.

Henley, at the wheel of the Pay 'n Pak, was washed down by Benns in the Budweiser as the two boats battled for the lead late in the second lap of the winner-take-all final heat of yesterday's Gar Wood Trophy Race on the stormy Detroit River.

The splash pushed the Pak inside the buoy line and allowed Benns to build a commanding lead.

But Henley circled back to pick up the missed buoy and methodically gained on Benns to set up one of the most exciting finishes in the long history of hydro racing on the Motor City.

The two boats were side by side in the backstretch of the fifth and final lap, but Benns had the inside lane and held it through the final turn. Benns' margin of victory was three tenths of a second (about one boat length).

"I had to eat his water," Henley said of the incident. "But that's all part of the game."

Henley, trailed Benns by about four boat lengths at the apex of the turn, headed for the inside. But Benns had the necessary lead and cut for the exit buoy and Henley ran through the Budweiser's roostertail.

"We don't play any dirty game," Benns said when questioned about a possible infraction. "I wouldn't do anything like that and to him and he wouldn't to me."

Benns, a 35-year-old rookie from Grand Island, N.Y., received high praise from his boss, Bernie Little, owner of the Bud.

"It took him about three races to really get with it," Little said. "But he's a thousand percent better. You should have seen the move he put on Muncey in 1B."

Bill Muncey, winningest driver in unlimited history, ran forth in Heat 1B and did not finish 2B.

It was a Pak-Bud race all the way. Savair's Probe, driven by Bob Miller, ran third in the final but its speed was more than 10 miles an hour under the second-pace Pak. Tom Kaufman ran forth with his Mister Fabricator and Roger D'Each placed fifth in the Miss Cott's Beverages.

Benns' speed was announced at 109.800 m.p.h. But, in actuality, it was much slower. The Detroit course was shortened during time trials. Bill Newton, chief referee, ordered the sharp turns to be "rounded off" and this the course is about 2¾ miles. But a three-mile speed chart was used "for comparison purposes only."

The Pak leads in the points race with 3,750. Budweiser closed to 3,694.

Next stop on the unlimited circuit will be the World Championship Regatta in the Tri-Cities on July 21.

Miss Budwesier outruns Pay 'n Pak at Detroit

July 2, 1973 — Detroit (AP) — The stage is set for a showdown between Miss Budweiser and Pay 'n Pak in Sunday's Madison (Ind.) Regatta.

Or what it actually will be, if it materializes, is Chapter Two in unlimited hydroplane's hottest 1973 rivalry.

The two went at it on the Detroit River yesterday and when the smoke cleared, Miss Budweiser and driver Dean Chenoweth owned the Gar Wood trophy.

Dean Chenoweth drives Miss Budweiser to a Detroit victory.

But just barely. It took a victory in the final heat for the Budweiser-Chenoweth duo to master Pay 'n Pak, piloted by Mickey Remund.

The rivals entered the finale with 700 points each after swapping first-place efforts in two preliminary heats. Pay 'n Pak won Heat 1-B, finished about 13 seconds ahead of Miss Budweiser and then Miss Budweiser averaged 102.369 miles per hour to Pay 'n Pak's 101.199 in winning Heat 2-B.

In the final heat, the boats were never more than 10 lengths apart, with Chenoweth and Budweiser prevailing by about four seconds. Miss Bud covered the 15 miles at a 105.980 clip while Pay 'n Pak averaged 104.489.

Miss Budweiser wound up with 1,100 points to Pay 'n Pak's 1,000. Surprising Gale's Roostertail, driven by Fred Alter, also had 700 points going into the finale and then ran third for a day's total of 925.

Red Man, with Jim McCormick of Owensboro, Ky., at the wheel, had a first and two fourths to take forth place in the overall standings with 738.

Other totals: Miss. U.S 652, Atlas Van Lines 450, Miss Madison 394, Lincoln Thrift 169, Mr. Fabricator 169, ValuMart 127.

Community-owned Miss Madison, driven by Tom Sheehy, was third in Heat 1-A, behind Gale's Roostertail, and Miss U.S., and then forth in 2-A, behind Red Man, Gale's Roostertail and Miss U.S.

In the sami-feature, for boats not making the final, ValuMart and Bob Gilliam triumphed with Miss Madison second and Mr. Fabricator third.

Boats Escape Damage

Average speeds were well below the course record of 121 m.p.h. because of rough water conditions. In contrast to last year's race, when a number of hydros were damaged, all came out of the Gar Wood competition in reasonably good shape and will move on to Madison.

Pay 'n Pak's strong effort was a mild surprise since the Seattle-based boat had sustained minor damage during a trial run Thursday. Owner Dave Heerensperger had repair materials flown to Detroit by charter, and the crew was able to ready the craft by race time.

Despite yesterday's runner-up performance, Pay 'n Pak continues to lead the national championship battle after four races, with 3,738 points to Miss Budweiser's 3,638. Red Man is third with 2,934.

Miss Bud has won two straight races, its previous success coming at Owensboro June 17. Pay 'n Pak won the opener at Miami and Lincoln Thrift took the second stop at Washington D.C.

Henley qualifies with Pay 'n Pak

June 29, 1974, DETROIT (AP) — George Henley's Pride of Pay 'n Pak and Bill Muncey's Atlas Van Lines U-71 head Sunday's field in the Spirit of Detroit unlimited hydroplane race for the Gar Wood trophy.

Muncey's U-71 ended up on the bottom of the Detroit River when he was here in May, but six weeks of rebuilding helped him turn in the second-best qualifying time over a shortened course.

Muncey pushed the U-71 to an "official" speed of 132.352 m.p.h. over the 2½-mile course Friday. However, officials are computing speeds based on the normal three-mile run for unlimited hydroplane races.

The course over the often treacherous river was shortened Thursday in the interest of safety. The major changes was the removal of the sharp "roostertail" turn.

Henley piloted the Pay 'n Pak to a 133.044 m.ph. qualifying run Thursday to notch the fastest qualifying speed.

Others making the cut in the final qualifying heats Friday were Milner Irvin in Miss Madison, Fred Alter in Atlas U-44, Roger D'Eath in Miss Cott Beverage, Tom Martin in Sunny Jim and Tom Kaufman in Mr. Fabricator.

Although the speeds turned in during qualifying and the race will not have any historic basis because of the shortened course, Muncey was all smiles.

"It was the first time we had it in the water since I crashed it and it was just beautiful. And we had plenty left," he said.

The Atlas U-71 and Pay 'n Pak will be joined in the "fast" heat of Sunday's race by Miss U.S., Miss Budweiser and Miss Madison.

The first heat will feature Savair's Probe, Atlas U-44, Sunny Jim, Miss Cott Beverage and Mr. Fabricator.

CU-22, piloted by Bob Schroeder, is an alternate in case one of the top 10 qualifiers is unable to run.

Rest of Fleet Chases Miss Bud, ‘Pride’ Again

By Curt Sylvester
Reprinted from Detroit Free Press, June 30, 1974

Look out George Henley and Howie Benns. They're after you again. It will be Henley in Pride of Pay 'n Pak and Benns in Miss Budweiser against the world again Sunday in the Gar Wood Trophy Race on the Detroit River.

The rest of the 10-hydroplane field will be out to overtake the pace-setters when Detroit's only unlimited hydroplane race of the season gets under way at noon. The final heat is scheduled for approximately 3:40 p.m. The race will be broadcast by WBRB AM (1430) and FM (103). And if this race runs according to form for the first three races of the season, either Henley or Benns will be stepping up to collect the trophy by 4 o'clock.

Pay 'n Pak, with wins in the last two races, holds the point edge for the season with 2,925, just 256 better than Budweiser, which won the season's only other event.

Both boats were among the top speedsters during qualifying last week, but both will be up against factors they have not encountered earlier this season For one thing, the new Miss U.S. finally seems to be in racing form for driver Tom D'Eath, who would enjoy nothing more than winning in front of a hometown crowd on the Detroit River.

For another, veteran Bill Muncey, who is presently fourth in season points, will be back in the top Atlas Van Lines boat (U-71) which needed extensive rebuilding following a mishap earlier in the season.

Then there is the matter of handling the often-difficult Detroit River course and in this race, under the infrequently-used Fan Plan, there is no easy way to victory ... no backing into a title by accumulating points in preliminary heats against weak competition.

Under the Fan Plan, the five fastest qualifiers Pay 'n Pak, Miss U.S., Atlas U-71, Miss Budweiser and Miss Madison will battle it out in two preliminary heats. The top three will advance to the championship final. The five slowest qualifiers Savair's Probe, Atlas U-44, Sunny Jim, Miss Cott and Mr. Fabricator will compete in the other two preliminaries and send their top two into the final event.

The whole race then goes down to that championship heat, with the winner taking home the Gar Wood Trophy … regardless of point totals accumulated in previous heats.

"That's racing," said Henley. "It's good for the fans and it's good for racing. You have to win that last heat. It's not like the other races where you get enough points in the first two heats, then play it safe in the final and still win."

With speed going against speed all afternoon, and with the course shortened and redesigned to eliminate the sharp, Roostertail turn, the race could be a fast one.

Grandstand tickets are still available at the gates for $5. They will be sold at the foot of Parkview, Memorial Park and Waterworks Park, where bleachers have been.

Today on the River 

11:30 a.m. Flag-raising ceremonies. 

Noon. Flight 1A.

12:30 p.m. Flight IB. 

1:00 p.m. Miss America IX vs. Miss Canada IV. 

1:30 p.m. Flight 2A. 

2:00 p.m. Flight 2B.

2:45 p.m. Schoenherr Memorial Consolation Race.

3:40 p.m. Gar Wood Trophy Race. 

The Qualifiers 

U-l Pay 'n Pak, George Henley, 133.044 

U-2 Miss U.S., Tom D'Eath, 132.352 

U-71 Atlas Van Lines, Bill Muncey, 132.352 

U-l2 Miss Budweiser, Howie Benns, 129.963 

U-8 Miss Madison, Milner Irvin, 118.811 

U-50 Savair's Probe, Bob Miller, 116.883 

U-44 Atlas Van Lines, Fred Alter, 111.111 

U-22 Sunny Jim, Tom Martin, 109.311 

U-76 Miss Cott, Roger D'Eath, 109.090 

U-3 Mr. Fabricator, Tom Kaufman, 105.571 

CU-22, Bob Schroeder, 102.661

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.

Costly gash in boat bags Pay 'n Pak Cup chances

By Tommy George, Free Press Sports Writer
Reprinted from Detroit Free Press, June 28, 1982

John Walters with his turbine-powered hydro Pay 'n Pak had high hopes of claiming his first Gold Cup Sunday. He had good reason to be optimistic. After all, Walters had driven Pay 'n Pak to an impressive victory earlier this month on Lake Seneca in New York, beating a field that included the queen of unlimited hydroplanes, Miss Budweiser.

John Walters with his turbine-powered hydro Pay 'n Pak.

But Walters didn't get a shot at the coveted trophy Sunday. He was out of the race before it began. During an early qualifying heat, his orange, black and white boat, designed by Pay 'n Pak crew chief Jim Lucero, was damaged when the rough waters of the Detroit River course and a hard turn combined to open a two-foot hole in the front of the left sponson. "I was on my first turn just before the start when I saw that damage was done," Walters said. "I came down hard on the nose; I thought I could finish, but I knew that every lap it would get worse and worse."

He did finish the five-lap heat, placing second behind eventual Gold Cup winner Chip Hanauer and his Atlas Van Lines boat. Walters' average speed was 115.669 m.p.h.; his fastest lap was 121.649 m.p.h. But the damage was too severe to be repaired in time for the next heat. Walters and Pay 'n Pak had to withdraw.

"When you try to do a hurry-up repair job for this kind of course and race, you're asking for trouble," Walters said. He said his crew will take about six weeks to repair the boat and "make other modifications, including repair work on some engines."

Sunday, he had to watch the race from an unfamiliar and uncomfortable place; the river bank. "I knew that if we got through the preliminaries without boat damage, we'd be very competitive," Walters said. "There's no way to tell now, but I feel comfortable saying we'd have been competitive. Everybody on the crew has worked extremely hard to get where we are now. It's frustrating. This basically eliminates us from any chance at the national championship. Realizing that kind of shocks you."

Pay 'n Pak Tops Five Qualifiers

By Curt Sylvester
Reprinted from the Detroit Free Press, June 28, 1974

Pride of Pay 'N Pak skims along Detroit River, turning in the best qualifying speed during Thursday's trials.

The qualifying has just begun and already the Pride of Pay 'N Pak in its old familiar plane - No 1.

With George Henley at the controls, Pay 'N Pak took the top spot Thursday among the first five boats that qualified for Sunday's Gar Wood Trophy Race on the Detroit River.

Her speed was listed at 133.044 miles per hour but that was an exaggeration, as were there the speeds of the four qualifiers - Miss U.S., Miss Budweiser, Savair's Probe and CU-22.

The "three-mile" course was shortened considerable by chief referee Bill Newton "in the interest of safety" but the speeds were still calculated on a "three mile" speed chart.

Whatever the actual speed were, it was still Henley, navigating the Pay 'N Pak, that took the least time to tour the course. And that's the type of performance that has come to be expected of the national points champion boat, even though Henley is new to its cockpit this season.

"They're used to winning so they expect you to get out and go," admitted Henley, who replaced defending drivers' champion Mickey Remund after last season.

"I was thinking of that when they offered me the job but then I thought...if I couldn't do it, then what was I doing in racing?"