Harvey's Hydroplane Gains Speed -- Miss T-Plus Nearly Hits 135 Mph

On a sunny Aug. 2, 1966, a young Jim Harvey puttered around Stan Sayres pits, wrench in hand, smile on face.

On a sunny Aug. 2, 1991, he was a bit older, a lot wiser, and still puttering.

And smiling wider than ever.

Harvey, who bought his own white pants and shirt and wore a stick-on "Hilton Hy-per Lube" decal as a volunteer on Bob Gilliam's U-88 that day, now owns his own boat. And for the first time in a 25-year career that has earned the respect of the hydro-racing world, Harvey is on the verge of being a contender in tomorrow's Seafair hydroplane race.

His U-2 Miss T-Plus posted a deceptively slow qualifying speed of 102.418 mph earlier this week. But the boat hit the Lake Washington course yesterday morning and posted a trial lap of nearly 135 mph. That's in the same league as the circuit's faster boats, and it comes after major sponson surgery less than two weeks ago.

"Obviously, we can't run with the Winston and the Budweiser," Harvey said. "But we can get ourselves close, in the hunt, then we can be there when a slot opens up."

Slots have opened up in the past two races, when the Miss Budweiser and Winston Eagle boats collided. For the T-plus, the spots merely came in the wrong heat. Harvey's boat ran all of last week's Columbia Cup in a heat bracket filled with slower, piston-powered boats. He acknowledges he instructed driver Steve David to deliberately keep qualifying times down to run with the slower boats.

"We don't have the depth in our equipment to go out and run with the big boats all day long," he said. The team chooses, instead, to run and win the slow boat heats, then hope for a window in the final.

Next season, that strategy might go out the window. Hy-per Lube, the same Hilton company that sponsored Harvey's first boat a quarter century ago, might be back in the sport to stay, said Howard Leendertsen, company president.

"The chemistry is perfect," Harvey said.

Hydro observers say such a commitment would give Harvey a first-class ride that's long deserved. From his volunteer beginnings, the Seattle native went on to fame as crew chief for the Miss Budweiser in the 1970s. He has long been considered the unlimited circuit's consummate engineer - and gentleman.

"He's just a great guy," said Gilliam, who visited the pits yesterday. "He deserves this."

Gilliam said he's pleased to see that a bit of the sport's get-dirty, have-fun charisma lingers in the Harvey boat camp. Like Gilliam's old come-as-you-are Seattle boat shop, Harvey is known for accepting and training volunteers who love the sport.

"We're very people oriented," Harvey said. "I think it shows."

Next year, Harvey, who went into the first race of the season without a sponsor after Oberto withdrew its national backing of his boat, expects to have his long-sought day in the sun.

"We intend to be a national force," he said.

Field at 12 -- Three boats bettered their qualifying times yesterday and four more qualified, bringing the field to 12 for Sunday's race.

The Budweiser upped its time by a narrow margin despite blowing an engine early in the day. The Bud's archrival Winston Eagle ran in tests yesterday morning, but never sought to increase its qualifying time. New qualifiers were Todd Yarling in the U-5 Edge/Hunan Harbor (108.876 mph), Jack Barrie in the U-99 Miss Rock (106.527), Mitch Evans in the Oberto Beef (103.344) and Jerry Hopp in the Miss Go Bowling (100.703).

The U-6 Kellogg's Miss Madison is still being repaired after last week's flip and failed to show. The boat will be allowed to race without qualifying, race officials said.

Notes -- Officials with the Washington State Bowling Proprietor's Association announced yesterday that they'll grant a free game of bowling to any customer Aug. 5 if the Miss Go Bowling finishes a heat during Sunday's race. If the boat wins, it's a free DAY of bowling at any member bowling alley, a spokesman said. -- Oberto President Art Oberto explained his sponsorship of two boats for the Seattle race - one named the beef jerky, the other the pork jerky - this way: "Sure, it's a gimmick. We've built our whole business on gimmicks. Whether people talk good about your or bad, it's still advertising." --------------------------------------------------------------- SEAFAIR QUALIFYING ................................................................ -- Seafair qualifying speeds, with season point totals:

Boat name No. Driver Speed Pts .

. Miss Budweiser U-12 Scott Pierce 155.474 2648 .

. Winston Eagle U-10 Mark Tate 152.316 2428 .

. Super Range Golf U-8 George Woods, Jr. 148.668 # 1839 .

. American Spirit U-50 Mark Evans 139.454 # 1346 .

. Oh Boy! Oberto/ U-24 Mike Eacrett 110.803 # 23 . Wild Waves/KUBE/Pork Jerky .

. Edge Shaving Gel/ . Hunan Harbor UR-5 Todd Yarling 108.876# 204 .

. KISW/Miss Rock U-99.9 Jack Barrie 106.527# 0 .

. Jackpot Food Mart U-19 Ken Muscatel 105.125 221 .

. Oh Boy! Oberto/Wild Waves/ . KUBE/Beef Jerky U-3 Mitch Evans 103.344# 696 .

. Miss T-Plus/ .

Hy-per Lube's U-2 Steve David 102.418 1414 .

. Miss Go Bowling U-7 Jerry Hopp 100.703# 283 .

. Kellogg's Frosted .

Flakes U-6 Mike Hanson C.O. # # 1433 .

.

# Increased its speed since Thursday; # qualified yesterday; # #

Commissioner's option (boat hasn't qualified, but will be allowed to race tomorrow). .