D’Eath Sets World Speed Record

Miss Budweiser, the defending national champion in unlimited hydroplane racing, regained the world closed-course speed record Friday when Tom D’Eath of Fair Haven, Mich., pushed the red boat to a lap at 167.224 m.p.h. over the 2 1/2-mile Bill Muncey Memorial Course on Mission Bay.

The record run, during first-day qualifying for Sunday’s Budweiser Cup race, beat the record of 166.759 m.p.h. set earlier in the day by four-time national champion Chip Hanauer of Seattle, in Circus Circus. D’Eath had held the mark of 160.122 m.p.h., set July 1 at Evansville, Ind.

D’Eath also broke Hanauer’s course record of 158.870 set last year in Circus Circus. Qualifying will continue today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.