Hydroplane Racing -- Community Pride, Support Fuels Dewalt Tools Driver

Hydroplane racing is special in Madison, Ind. For 25 years the townspeople would wander down to the local boat shop after work. Young and old, strong and weak, they volunteered their evenings to ensure their community-owned hydroplane, the Miss Madison, would be ready to race by the weekend.

There are no professional sports in Madison, a farming community of 13,000 along the banks of the Ohio River. Boat racing is it, as Mike Hanson has discovered.

The 1979 graduate of Federal Way High School was one of the first paid crew members on the team deeded to the town by Samual DuPont in 1960. Big-dollar sponsor DeWalt Tools now controls the team, but Hanson still spends many of his evenings instructing a crew of unpaid locals in the finer points of boat building.

"There's a lot of community pride," said Hanson, who moved to Madison in 1989. "Unfortunately, because of the covered cockpit, I don't get to hear it, but from what I understand there's a tremendous roar from the crowd whenever we leave the beach.

"It's great for the ego, but when you make a mistake everybody lets you know about it."

The town threw a parade after Hanson's lone victory in Madison's boat - at San Diego in 1993. Chasing the Miss Budweiser, PICO American Dream and Close Call (formerly Smokin' Joes) hasn't yielded great results yet, but Hanson proudly states, "there's no longer three big boats, there's four."

He might be right. Hanson finished fourth in the driver's standings last season. Entering this weekend's UHRA race in Madison, Hanson is second to Dave Villwock and the Miss Budweiser.

But Hanson hasn't won a race in four years. And his performances in front of the hometown fans, the ones who devote their time to make sure his boat stays afloat, have been subpar - he finished sixth (last) at Madison last season.

He hopes to change both trends this weekend.

"Racing here in particular, there is a lot of pressure on me," Hanson said. "We want to perform. This is one of the few racecourses we've struggled on, but this year we're changing that."

He figures it's about time for another parade.

Madison Memories

The Governor's Cup races at Madison, Ind., have been disrupted by trees, dead cows and refrigerators floating down the Ohio River. But PICO American Dream driver Mark Evans and the other boats were delayed by a different obstacle before the 1991 final, a race Evans won while driving for American Spirit.

"I just caught a streak out of the corner of my eye. Some thrill seeker had just jumped off the bridge (that hangs over the finish line)," Evans said. "It's 120 feet to the top of the bridge and only 12 feet of water. We sat there for about an hour and a half before starting the race and he never appeared."

The bridge jumper later was found dead downriver.

Points standings

Here are the O'Doul's High Points standings for boats and drivers entering this weekend's race at Madison, Ind.

Boats - Miss Budweiser 3,505; DeWalt Tools 2,467; Close Call 2,297; ARC Construction 2,121; PICO American Dream 2,016; Computers & Applications 1,628; Appian Jeronimo 1,135; Miss D.O.C./TruckGear 1,125; Miss Exide 592; Miss Crazy Tomato 361; Master Tire 169.

Drivers - Dave Villwock 3,505; Mike Hanson 2,467; Mark Tate 2,297; Steve David 2,121; Mark Evans 2,016; Ken Muscatel 1,628; Mitch Evans 1,135; Nate Brown 1,125; Mark Webber 338; Jimmy King 338; Mike Jones 254; Rich Christensen 169; Scott Pierce 23.