Dead In Water? Nope, Hydro Racing Still Afloat

At first glance, the troubled 1991 unlimited-hydroplane racing circuit would appear to operate on one simple rule: Win or lose, the Bud wins.

Consider the qualifying laps for today's season-launching Gold Cup race in Detroit.

Scott Pierce, driver of the Miss Budweiser for only a week, was cruising at 170 mph on the Detroit River on Thursday morning when the boat threw its propeller.

"It felt like the whole world came to an end," Pierce said. "We lost about 20 feet of the bottom of the boat."

For any other hydroplane team, the race would be over. For the Bud boys, it was merely time to unwrap their spare water rocket.

Friday, Pierce hit the course in the Budweiser "B" boat and promptly set a Gold Cup qualifying record of 158.090 mph.

"I don't think we lost too much," said Pierce, tongue firmly in cheek.

Today, the Bud's "A" boat, a 1989 hull, is on its way back to Seattle for repairs. Pierce expects it to be ready for the next race, June 30 in Evansville, Ind.

That quick recovery illustrates Budweiser's dominance of a hobbled sport that has lost two major sponsors and four races since last season.

Gone is chief Bud-battler Chip Hanauer, who now drives race cars. The sport was dealt an added splash of cold water by the exit of Hanauer's old race team, Circus Circus, which folded its tents last year. Next to fall was Mr. Pringles, which cashed in its chips on owner Bill Wurster and his U-8. The boat now is racing on a relatively bare-bones budget as the Executone.

The bottom seemed to be falling out when when races were canceled in Miami, Syracuse, N.Y., Milwaukee and Las Vegas.

"People were talking all season long about this season being a disaster," Ralph Lewis, spokesman for the Unlimited Racing Commission, said from Detroit. "Well, today, they're in pretty high spirits."

The spurt of optimism came courtesy of this week's qualifying for the Gold Cup. All 10 boats in the pits (six turbines, four pistons) qualified on the first day. The last time that happened in an unlimited race, Richard Nixon was still talking into a White House tape recorder.

"Everybody had forecast doom and gloom," said Winston Eagle owner Steve Woomer of Auburn. "And here we end up with two more boats here than we had last year."

The boats not only ran, but ran fast. Four may be within striking distance of the Bud. Nipping at the beer boat's stern is Woomer's U-10 Winston Eagle, driven by Mark Tate, the 1990 rookie of the year. Woomer bought the Circus Circus equipment after last season. The current Winston boat is the craft Hanauer drove to the world championship last year.

Woomer's dockside manager is Jim Lucero. Their team no longer is willing to settle for second-place finishes. Winston, backed by the cigarette money of the R.J. Reynolds Co., probably is the only camp with enough money and gear to challenge the Bud.

"We've got plenty of equipment," Woomer said. "I think we've got about six boats, and we've got enough parts to put together about 20 engines."

Tate, who drove the Oh Boy! Oberto boat last season, says he's confident he can run with the Bud, but said it will take time for the Winston crew to get used to a new boat and driver. Handling problems during qualifying this week were an unpleasant reminder.

"We have to educate ourselves with the hull - what it likes and what it doesn't like," Tate said.

But that could work to the team's advantage. "No one really knows what we have, or where we're coming from," Tate said.

The boat qualified at 148.082 mph. "We're pretty close to being in the hunt," Woomer said.

Winston is not alone. When Pierce looks in his rear-view mirror this season, he's likely to be chased by his old ride. The U-8 Executone - a boat flipped three times by Pierce in 1989, when it raced as Mr. Pringle's - flew to a 154-mph qualifying time at the hands of driver George Woods Jr.

"It never ran like that when I had it," Pierce said of the boat, owned by Bill Wurster of Seattle. "I have no idea what they did to it. Whatever it was, it worked."

A new turbine engine also is working for the Miss Madison, which qualified for today's Gold Cup at 144 mph. The boat, driven by Mike Hanson of Auburn, has performed well. But time will tell if the team has enough money or luck to run with the fast boats all season.

Other turbine boats to watch are owner Jim Harvey's U-2 (136.284 mph in qualifying), driven by Steve David and running in Detroit as The Brake Shop after losing Oberto sponsorship; and the U-50 American Spirit (139.039 mph), a Ron Jones Jr. boat on loan from Woomer and driven by Mark Evans of Chelan. The final turbine contender, the U-19 Jackpot Foods driven by Ken Muskatel, will race only in the West.

The piston field, which might become its own class next season, is headed by the U-3 Cooper's Express (124.821 mph), driven by Evans' brother, Mitch. Bringing up the rear are the U-7 Thor (110.873), a perennial crowd favorite driven as the Miss Sundeck in Detroit by Jerry Hopp; and the UR-5 Edge Gel (117.825 mph), a Mercruiser-powered boat considered a prototype for the new piston division.

NOTES -- Mark Tate's 149-mph lap in the Winston Eagle was yesterday's fastest, but a fumbled start in the second heat left him tied for the points lead. The Winston Eagle and Miss Budweiser have 350 points apiece heading into today's Gold Cup final in Detroit. Tate averaged 145.176 mph to win Heat 1A. Pierce averaged 141.522. But the Winston Eagle had mechanical problems at the start of Heat 2B, while Pierce's Miss Budweiser averaged 133.750 mph for the win. Tate took second with a 121.589 average.

-- 1991 point standings (after one race last November in Hawaii): 1. Miss Budweiser, 1,600; 2. U-2 Jim Harvey, 1,400; 3. U-8 Executone, 1,050; 4.Winston Eagle, 750; 5. U-85 Miss Northwest, 127.

-- The underfunded U7 Thor camp, a Snohomish entry led by driver Jerry Hopp and co-owner Al Thoreson, has assumed Chuck Hickling's place as the circuit's crowd-pleasing smoke-sputterer. "You know they're not gonna win, but people see they're out there having fun," the URC's Lewis said. The piston-powered boat has an all-volunteer crew. Until this week, when Sundeck of Detroit climbed aboard, it had no sponsor.

-- By the time Seattle's Seafair hydroplane regatta rolls around in August, several boats will have added sponsors. One will race with five. Pity the TV announcers forced to describe a finish-line surge by the U-50 American Spirit-Safeway-Vlasic-Pickles-KIRO-TV-and-Radio-Frito-Lay-Pizza-Hut. Not necessarily in that order.

-- The slowest qualifier for the Gold Cup, the piston-powered U-9 (108 mph) driven by Jack Shafer Jr., was feeling fine this week until its owners switched sponsors, dropping Motorcraft and adding a Detroit health maintenance organization. The ailing boat's new name? "Miss Wellness."

1991 HYDRO SEASON AT A GLANCE THE SCHEDULE

DATES SITE RACE

Today Detroit APBA Budweiser Gold Cup; June 30 Evansville, Ind. Thunder on the Ohio; July 7 Madison, Ind. Indiana Governor's Cup; July 28 Tri-Cities Columbia Cup; Aug. 4 Seattle Seafair Rainier Cup; Aug. 18 Kansas City Hydrofest; Sept. 15 San Diego Budweiser Cup on Mission Bay;

PROBABLE HYDRO LINEUP;

NO. BOAT DRIVER POWER NOTE;

U-12 Miss Budweiser Scott Pierce Turbine Expected to dominate; U-10 Winston Eagle Mark Tate Turbine Former Circus Circus; U-2 Harvey Motor Sports Steve David Turbine Driver's 2nd year; U-3 Cooper's Express Mitch Evans Piston Oberto boat in West; U-6 Miss Madison Mike Hanson Turbine Switched from piston; U-7 Thor Racing Jerry Hopp Piston Snohomish owners; U-8 Executone George Woods Jr. Turbine Mr. Pringle's in 1990; UR-5 Edge Shaving Gel Larry Lauterbach Auto/marine Prototype for

UR class; U-50 American Spirit Mark Evans Turbine Seattle boat, 7 sponsors; U-19 Jackpot Foods Ken Muskatel Turbine Races only in West; U-99.9 KISW Miss Rock Jack Barrie Piston Floating billboard;