Seafair extra
1. THE RESULTS
Columbia Cup
Tri-Cities, July 30
No.Boat Driver
1. U-16 Miss E-Lam Plus N. Mark Evans
2. U-5 Lowrey's presents Jeronimo George Stratton
3. U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto Nate Brown
4. U-99 Znetix II Terry Troxell
5. U-3 Vacationville.com Mitch Evans
6. U-10 York Heating & Air Conditioning Mark Weber
Gold Cup
Detroit, July 9
No.Boat Driver
1. U-1 Miss Budweiser Dave Villwock
2. U-10 York Heating & Air Conditioning Mark Weber
3. U-5 Appian Jeronimo George Stratton
4. U-2 Miss Chrysler-Jeep Mark Tate
5. U-6 Miss Madison Jerry Hopp
6. U-16 Miss E-Lam Plus N. Mark Evans
Indiana Governor's Cup
Madison, July 2
No.Boat
1. U-1 Miss Budweiser Dave Vilwock
2. U-10 York Heating & Air Conditioning Mark Weber
3. U-9 Jones Racing Team Mike Hanson
4. U-5 Appian Jeronimo George Stratton
5. U-8 Llumar Window Films Jimmy King
6. U-6 Miss Madison Charley Wiggins
Evansville Thunder Festival
Evansville, Ind., June 25
No.Boat
1. U-1 Miss Budweiser Dave Villwock
2. U-2 ARC/Freddie's Club Mark Tate
3. U-10 York Heating & Air Conditioning Mark Weber
4. U-8 Llumar Window Film Jimmy King
5. U-3 Master Tire Mitch Evans
6. U-9 WABX/Jones Racing Mike Hanson
Mohave Unlimited Hydrofest
Lake Havasu, Ariz., May 21
No.Boat
1. U-1 Miss Budweiser Dave Villwock
2. U-2 Freddie's Club Mark Tate
3. U-10 York Heating & Air Conditioning Mark Weber
4. U-100 Miss Znetix Greg Hopp
5. U-5 Appian Jeronimo George Stratton
Remaining schedule
Bill Muncey Cup at San Diego, Calif., Sept. 15-17
2. THE ESSENTIALS
Tickets: Today is free to everyone, and the best value is a weekend pass from participating 76 gas stations, which costs $15 and provides admission for tomorrow and Sunday. Tickets purchased at the gate are $15 for tomorrow only; $25 for Sunday. Children under 12 admitted free when accompanied by parent or guardian.
TV: Channel 7, KIRO, 10 a.m.
Radio: STAR (101.5 FM), and KOMO (1000 AM), 10 a.m.
Parking: There is no public parking provided at the race site. Spectators are encouraged to park in the lots around Safeco Field and use the free shuttle service available from Fourth Avenue and Royal Brougham across from Safeco Field. Buses leave every 15 minutes tomorrow and Sunday.
Today
Testing - 9 a.m.
Qualifying session 1 - 10 a.m.
Blue Angels practice - Noon
Qualifying session 2 - 1 p.m.
Testing - 3 p.m.
Tomorrow
Qualifying session 3 - 9:25 a.m.
Drivers autograph session - 11:45 a.m.
Blue Angels performance - Noon
Unlimited lights final - 2:50 p.m.
Qualifying session 4 - 3 p.m.
Sunday
Testing - 9 a.m.
First unlimited race - 11:05 a.m.
Blue Angels' performance - Noon
PEMCO Classic vintage hydro race - 3:05 p.m.
General Motors Cup - 4:10 p.m.
Awards ceremony - 4:30 p.m.
3. THE HISTORY
1989 - Chip Hanauer says his boat drives like a school bus, which is understandable since the back-up hull has an outdated design. Still, Hanauer in the Miss Circus Circus beats the Bud for the fourth of his seven Seafair titles.
1988 - Tom D'Eath drives the Miss Budweiser to victory in a close race against Chip Hanauer's Miller American. D'Eath, a Michigan native, is the last out-of-state driver to win the Seafair trophy.
1980 - Bill Muncey wins a record fourth consecutive Seafair Trophy, ninth overall. Both records still stand.
1973 - Dean Chenoweth's Miss Budweiser edges Mickey Remund in the Pay 'N Pak after four laps of deck-to-deck racing on a fog-covered day, the first time two boats averaged more than 120 mph in the same heat.
1969 - Bill Sterett Sr. wins in the Miss Budweiser for owner Bernie Little's first Seafair title. Sterett wins four races that season, retiring after clinching Little's first national championship.
1965 - Ron Musson became the first driver since the 1930s to win three consecutive Gold Cups when he won in Seattle, his final Seafair race. Musson was killed in an accident in Washington D.C. the following year.
1961 - Ron Musson's first race with owner Ole Bardahl at Seafair produces an upset that was Bardahl's first win in Seattle.
1958 - Bill Muncey's sinking of a Coast Guard cutter was big news, but the Hawaii Kai capped the day with a victory in its final race for owner Edward Kaiser, who wanted to sell his boat, not run run it in the final. He changed his mind, and the boat kept the Gold Cup in Seattle.
1955 - Everything turned upside down. Twice. A Boeing 707 did a barrel roll between heats at Seafair, but the bigger news happened when Lou Fageol did a loop-de-loop during qualifying, becoming the first hydroplane to blow over. On Sunday, the crowd left thinking rookie driver Bill Muncey had won in the Miss Thriftway only to learn on the radio that Lee Schoenith's Gale V won the Gold Cup based on overall points.
Year-by-year look at Seafair winners
SEAFAIR RESULTS
1999 Miss Budweiser, Dave Villwock
1998 Miss Budweiser, Dave Villwock
1997 PICO American Dream, Mark Evans
1996 PICO American Dream, Dave Villwock
1995 Miss Budweiser, Chip Hanauer
1994 American Dream, Dave Villwock
1993 Miss Budweiser, Chip Hanauer
1992 The Tide, George Woods Jr.
1991 Miss Budweiser, Scott Pierce
1990 Miss Circus Circus, Chip Hanauer
1989 Miss Circus Circus, Chip Hanauer
1988 Miss Budweiser, Tom D'Eath
1987 Miss Budweiser, Jim Kropfeld
1986 Miller American, Chip Hanauer
1985 Miller American, Chip Hanauer
1984 Miss Budweiser, Jim Kropfeld
1983 Miss Budweiser, Jim Kropfeld
1982 Atlas Van Lines, Chip Hanauer
1981 Miss Budweiser, Dean Chenoweth
1980 Atlas Van Lines, Bill Muncey
1979 Atlas Van Lines, Bill Muncey
1978 Atlas Van Lines, Bill Muncey
1977 Atlas Van Lines, Bill Muncey
1976 Miss Budweiser, Mickey Remund
1975 Pay 'N Pak, George Henley
1974 Pay 'N Pak, George Henley
1973 Pay 'N Pak, Mickey Remund
1972 Atlas Van Lines, Bill Muncey
1971 Pay 'N Pak, Bill Schumacher
1970 Miss Budweiser, Dean Chenoweth
1969 Miss Budweiser, Bill Sterett, Sr.
1968 Miss U.S., Bill Muncey
1967 Miss Bardahl, Bill Schumacher
1966 My Gypsy, Jim Ranger
1965 Miss Bardahl, Ron Musson
1964 Miss Bardahl, Ron Musson
1963 Tahoe Miss, Chuck Thompson
1962 Miss Century 21, Bill Muncey
1961 Miss Bardahl, Ron Musson
1960 Miss Thriftway, Bill Muncey
1959 Maverick, Bill Stead
1958 Hawaii Kai III, Jack Regas
1957 Miss Thriftway, Bill Muncey
1956 Shanty I, Russ Schleeh
1955 Gale V, Lee Schoenith
1954 Slo-Mo-Shun V, Lou Fageol
1953 Slo-Mo-Shun IV, Joe-Taggert-Lou Fageol
1952 Slo-Mo-Shun IV, Stan Dollar
1951 Slo-Mo-Shun V, Ted Jones (Seafair Trophy)
1951 Slo-Mo-Shun V, Lou Fageol (Gold Cup)
4. THE STANDINGS
High-points standings
U-1 Miss Budweiser 7,252
U-10 York 6,070
U-5 Lowrey's presents Jeronimo 4,669
U-9 Skyway Park Bowl & Casino 3,363
U-2 Freddie's Club 3,283
U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto 3,261
U-8 Llumar Window Film 2,837
U-16 Miss E-Lam Plus 2,790
U-100 Miss Znetix 2,580
U-25 Miss freei 2,221
U-28 New Kid in Town 750
U-99 Miss Znetix II 694
Drivers' standings
Dave Villwock, U-1 7,252
Mark Weber, U-10 6,070
George Stratton, U-5 4,669
Mike Hanson, U-9 3,363
Mark Tate, U-2 3,283
Mitch Evans, U-3 2,977
Jimmy King, U-8 2,837
N. Mark Evans, U-16 2,790
Greg Hopp, U-100 2,580
Ken Muscatel, U-25 2,221
Charley Wiggins, U-6 1,815
Nate Brown, U-6 1,150
5. THE DRIVERS
U-1 Miss Budweiser
Home port: Seattle
Driver: Dave Villwock
Hometown: Auburn
Age: 43
Family: Wife, Pam.
Unlimited victories: 33
Seafair pedigree: He has won the past two Seafair finals while driving the red boat, but Villwock's favorite Seafair win was his first in 1994 when he drove Fred Leland's American Dream to the title. "To win a race here for Fred Leland, who had never won a race before, to win for him and his family was really special," Villwock said.
U-2 Freddie's Club
Home port: Seattle
Driver: Mark Tate
Hometown: Canton, Mich.
Age: 40
Family: Wife, Sandy; sons Andrew, 10, and Brent, 8.
Unlimited victories: 12
Seafair pedigree: Tate crashed in the third heat at Seafair last year, an appropriate return to a race site that has never been very kind to him. "In '93, we won all of our preliminary heats, we were running really well and then I blew over in the final," he said.
U-3 Vacationville.com
Home port: Evansville, Ind.
Driver: Mitch Evans
Hometown: Chelan
Age: 40
Family: Daughter Erin, 14.
Unlimited victories: 1
Seafair pedigree: Evans is back in the piston-powered boat owned by Ed Cooper Jr., which was the boat he drove to victory in a heat against Chip Hanauer early in the '90s when Hanauer was driving the Miss Circus Circus. "It was deck-to-deck and we ended up beating him," Evans said. "That was probably my favorite memory."
U-5 Lowrey's presents Jeronimo
Home port: Redmond
Driver: George Stratton
Hometown: Las Vegas
Age: 44
Family: Wife, Cici; son Christopher, 13; daughter Natalia, 6.
Unlimited victories: 0
Seafair pedigree: Stratton has raced an unlimited-light hydroplane twice before in Seattle, winning the 1996 race and placing second in '97. Stratton still recalls the challenge of the late Ted Jones, who asked why Stratton wasn't racing one of the biggest boats. Now he is.
U-6 Llumar Window Film
Home port: Ballard
Driver: Jimmy King
Hometown: Richmond, Mich.
Age: 39
Family: Daughter Kiara, 9; sons Robert, 6, and Jeffrey, 4.
Unlimited victories: 0
Seafair pedigree: King is another driver who can't pick a favorite Seafair race because there hasn't been one for him yet. "I have not had good weekends there," he said. One of the only highlights was that no one was hurt when his boat landed on top of the Miss Budweiser and was heading toward the log boom. Bud driver Mark Weber steered away in time.
U-9 Miss Go Bowling
Mike Hansen
Hometown: Bonnie Lake
Age: 39
Family: Wife Tonya; son Trevor, 11, and daughter Aubree, 6.
Unlimited victories: 2
Seafair pedigree: He has been racing for years, but until he wins a Seafair final, his fondest memories will always be from his childhood. "I would just be on my dad's shoulders, watching the races, and telling him one day that was going to be me out there."
U-16 Miss E-Lam Plus
Home port: Ballard
Driver: N. Mark Evans
Hometown: Chelan
Age: 43
Unlimited victories: 10.
Family: Wife, Linda.
Seafair pedigree: Never before had a boat flipped and won a final on the same day. It happened in Seattle in 1997 when Evans flipped in the PICO American Dream and came back to win the final five hours later. "Flip and win, man, that was something," Evans said.
U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto
Home port: Madison, Ind.
Driver: Nate Brown
Hometown: Preston
Age: 41
Family: Wife Jante; son Derek, 9.
Unlimited victories: 0
Seafair pedigree: Brown has won plenty of heats in his career, but it hasn't happened in a final. Not yet anyway, and while he said he's not that big of a boat racing fan, his favorite Seafair memory was watching the Pay 'N Pak and Budweiser racing deck-to-deck inthe 1960s.
U-10 York International
Home port: Las Vegas, Nev.
Driver:Mark Weber
Hometown: St. Clair Shores, Mich.
Age: 36
Family: Wife, Lori.
Unlimited victories: 2.
Seafair pedigree: Has yet to win in Seattle, and the most noteable moment came in 1998 when he gave the Miss E-Lam Plus a piggy-back ride. "I've always had bad luck," he said. "My best year is 2000, so stay tuned."
U-25 Miss freei
Home port: Seattle
Driver: Ken Muscatel
Hometown: Seattle
Age: 51
Family: Wife, Kathy Binns; daughter Jillian, 14.
Unlimited victories: 0
Seafair pedigree: He grew up in Leschi where Lake Washington was his neighborhood pool. Through the '50s and '60s, he was a first-hand witness to the sport's hold on the area. "It was the ultimate," he said. "I got to grow up with the best, most beautiful boy toys."
U-99 Miss Znetix II
Home port: Kirkland
Driver: Terry Troxell
Hometown: Gig Harbor
Age: 53
Family: Wife, Sue; daughters Jennifer, 25, Tiffany, 19, and Jaime, 14; son Jeff, 15.
Unlimited victories: 0
Seafair pedigree: Troxell hasn't raced an unlimited hydroplane in Seattle before, but he does have early roots in the sport in this city. He was about 5 when he sat in one of the Slo-mo-shun boats at Anchor Jensen's boat shop with driver Joe Taggart. "I knew then I wanted to drive one of them," he said.
U-100 Miss Znetix
Home port: Kirkland
Driver: Greg Hopp
Hometown: Lake Stevens
Age: 32
Family: Wife, Michele; sons Saxon, 8, and Peyton 2.
Unlimited victories: 0
Seafair pedigree: Hopp made a grand entrance to the Seafair stage last year, winning the third heat over a certain big, red boat. "The best was kicking the snot out of the Budweiser last year," he says.