Hydroplane Racing : Hanauer Wins Record Sixth Straight Gold Cup

Step aside Gar Wood.

After 66 years, the most remarkable record in unlimited hydroplane racing belongs to Chip Hanauer.

What had been the most disappointing year in Hanauer’s career turned to gold Sunday when he drove the four-year-old Miller American to his sixth straight Gold Cup win on the salty waters of Mission Bay.

The win moved the 33-year-old former Seattle schoolteacher one win ahead of Wood, who dominated the unlimiteds from 1917 to 1921.

No other racer since the Gold Cup started in 1904--seven years before the Indianapolis 500--has won more than three in a row.

“I never thought we had a chance to win the sixth until yesterday,” Hanauer said. “Two things happened that gave me hope. First was our lap at 155.977 m.p.h., the fastest lap in history. That proved we were fast enough. Second was when we ran six laps without an engine failure. That proved we had the endurance.”

Hanauer’s feat was made easier when Jim Kropfeld, the year’s dominant driver, in Miss Budweiser, flipped upside down in the third heat and was hospitalized with bruises and a sore neck.

It was the first flip on Mission Bay since unlimited hydros began running there in 1964, but it was the second one for the 47-year-old national champion from Cincinnati this year. Kropfeld went upside down last May during a test in Lake Washington.

Miss Budweiser was leading going into the north turn at about 135 m.p.h. on the second lap when it appeared to lurch to the left, dig into the water and flip into the air.

Rescue crews moved in quickly and pulled Kropfeld from his enclosed capsule cockpit. He was taken to University Hospital, where he remained overnight for observation.

The boat, which had won five of the previous six races this season, was severely damaged. The rear wing was torn off and the left sponson splintered.

The accident, plus Hanauer’s three heat wins--he failed to start in a fourth heat--kept alive a minuscule hope for Miller American in the national championship race. Kropfeld leads, 6463 to 5200, with 1600 points at stake next Sunday in the Las Vegas Silver Cup, the season finale on Lake Mead.

Miss Budweiser owner Bernie Little said he would have last year’s boat, which won the American Power Boat Assn. title on Lake Mead, back for the final race. Kropfeld told team members that he would be ready to drive.

Kropfeld’s flip was the second disaster that struck the national champion. In an earlier heat, as he was nearing the dock after finishing the race, the engine suddenly burst into flames.

“I smelled some smoke, looked back and saw the flames and decided it was time for me to get the hell out of there,” Kropfeld said.

Remarkably, the Bud crew replaced the burned engine in less than an hour and sent Kropfeld back out for an impressive heat win. At that time it appeared that the Miller American and Miss Budweiser, which did not face one another in the three heats, would have a showdown in the 15-mile, six-lap Gold Cup.

“If Jim (Kropfeld) had been badly injured, it would taken a lot of the enjoyment out of this win,” Hanauer said, “but I’ll admit that his bad fortune made it a lot easier for me.”

Hanauer, with the only turbine-powered boat in the final heat against five ancient piston-powered craft, took every precaution in the Gold Cup final. At the start he lagged back and took no chance of getting involved in the turbulent water.

By the time the fleet reached the south turn, Hanauer caught and passed the leader, Todd Yarling in Household Finance, formerly Miss Hanover. Yarling finished second for the second year in a row.

Hanauer had not won a race this season before Sunday.

Fran Muncey, owner of the Miller American, said that the year had gone so poorly that she and Hanauer had contemplated dropping out of the sport if they could not find a way to be competitive.

“When we left Syracuse four weeks ago we were at our lowest, but Fran wouldn’t give up,” Hanauer said. “She said we had to forget the ’87 boat, get the old one out and start making changes. We made 20 major changes in the boat.

“We were shooting in the dark until yesterday when we made that 155 lap, and made it safely and comfortable. In some ways, that lap was as satisfying as winning our sixth Gold Cup because it meant all the work wasn’t for nothing.”

The four-year-old boat, which has been Hanauer’s favorite, has won the last four Gold Cups.