Hanauer’s Return Comes at Good Time for Hydroplaning
Unlimited hydro- plane racing, with its signature 40-foot high roostertails, seemed on the verge of disappearing in recent years. Interest was flagging, the boat count was down and so was competition for Bernie Little’s Miss Budweiser.
The future looked grim.
Now, the return of seven-time champion Chip Hanauer after nearly a three-year hiatus, has Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Assn. officials optimistic as the season gets underway this weekend at Lake Havasu.
Hanauer, 44, will be in Fred Leland’s Miss Pico and if he hasn’t lost his touch will offer a stiff test to champion Dave Villwock, in the Bud boat. Hanauer had been the Miss Budweiser driver before he quit in 1996 after a career that included a record 10 Gold Cup victories and 58 overall wins, second only to the late Bill Muncey’s 62.
“I was curious, I didn’t know what to expect.” Hanauer said after testing Miss Pico on Lake Washington in Seattle. “But it was good and seemed very comfortable. A lot has changed since I last raced unlimiteds but I am looking forward to the season.”
It was after suffering a concussion in a spectacular crash in the season-opening Gold Cup in 1996 that Hanauer announced he was taking a leave of absence.
“Don’t use the R-word,” he said at the time. “I’m not retiring.”
Another factor in the layoff was his treatment for spasmodic dysphonia, a condition that causes the vocal cords to lock or spasm and makes speaking difficult, if not impossible at times.
“I was so depressed,” he said. “I was losing my voice at the time and it was embarrassing to speak and doctors did not know how to diagnose the problem.”
There is no cure, but treatment--an injection of botulism toxin through the Adam’s apple--gives Hanauer about eight weeks of good voice. Then another treatment.
Hanauer, who has criticized the sport’s direction since he left, said his decision to return was influenced by changes in the UHRA hierarchy. Ken Muscatel has replaced Bill Doner as chairman of the UHRA and Bob Gobrecht is the new president and chief executive.
“When Fred Leland started calling me last November about driving his boat, I reeled off a number of things I wanted, and he made them all happen,” Hanauer said.
“First was the changes in the leadership of the sport. I’ve known Bob Gobrecht and Ken Muscatel for a number of years and I have great trust and confidence in them. It will take time, though. Bob and Ken have been given the ball on their one-inch line.
“We can’t expect instant changes. The sport has been deteriorating for over a decade. They can’t change everything overnight. They understand that.
“And Fred agreed to run just one boat. I was not interested in being part of a multiboat team. I also wanted some technical changes and the financial package had to be right. It all came together and I’m looking forward to Lake Havasu.”
This will be the first time for the unlimiteds on Lake Havasu, which replaced Lake Mead on the 11-race schedule. They will be in San Diego for the Bill Muncey Cup on Sept. 19.
The matchup between Villwock and Hanauer is an interesting one. In 1990, they teamed to win the national championship in Circus Circus, Hanauer driving, Villwock the crew chief.
Since then, each has raced the other’s boat. Hanauer drove Miss Budweiser from 1992 to 1996, winning three Gold Cups, 22 races and two championships. Villwock drove the Pico American Dream in 1996, winning four races, the Gold Cup and national title before moving to Miss Budweiser in 1997.
“It makes for a pretty interesting scenario,” Villwock said. “You have two guys who know a lot about each other, both on and off the racecourse. And because we are actually driving boats that the other has driven, we know each other’s teams and all their strengths and weaknesses. It makes for an interesting chess game and is going to make for some spectacular racing.”
Miss Budweiser won eight of 10 races last year, so the return of Hanauer could put more excitement on the water.
“There is nothing in motorsports more aesthetically beautiful than an unlimited hydroplane at speed,” said Hanauer.
Unless there are two of them, racing side by side, which is what Hanauer’s return could mean.
NASCAR
In the midst of a tense battle for the Winston Cup championship and its $2-million bonus, drivers and teams get a week off. Well, not exactly. A week off from the points race, but not a week away from the track.
NASCAR’s version of an all-star game, the Winston, will be run Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C. It is full of gimmicks--70 laps split into three segments--and it is for race winners only.
That means that Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton and a select field of 20 will be charging just as hard as if it were a Winston Cup race.
The final segment is a 10-lap shootout. Qualifying involves three laps with a mandatory two-tire pit stop at the end of either the first or second lap.
Mike Waltrip, who has driven in 405 consecutive Cup races without a win, was a surprise winner of the 1996 Winston. He earned his way into the race by getting a transfer spot in a qualifying race.
“The Winston is special,” Waltrip said. “People say it’s like an all-star game in football or basketball, but I really don’t agree. Those guys don’t have to go 100%. They can let their friends shoot, or make sure everybody scores.
“In our all-star game, we’re still running 200 [mph] down the straightaway, so it gets really serious once we start.”
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Ford unveiled the look of its new 2000 Taurus race car Thursday with the nickname “Taurus 2k.”
“The new 2000 Taurus race car will have an all-new look to reflect the sleek design of the new 2000 model-year production Taurus,” said Dan Davis, director of Ford’s worldwide racing program. “But it’s an evolution, not a revolution, when compared to the drastic changes we needed to make when we went from Thunderbird to Taurus in 1998.”
Chevrolet is also planning to produce a new Monte Carlo next season.
INDY 500
The shortened qualifying procedure used last year for the Indianapolis 500 will be used again this weekend to determine the 33-car starting field for the May 30 race. Instead of four days of time trials over two weekends, an Indy tradition for years, qualifying will be completed Saturday and Sunday.
The test is the same--an average speed over four laps of the 2.5-mile rectangular oval.
Because of Indy Racing League engine restrictions, no one will approach the qualifying record of 236.986 mph set by two-time winner Arie Luyendyk in 1996, the last year of the old rules.
The IRL standard is 223.503 mph by Billy Boat last year. A number of drivers have bettered that this week, headed by Greg Ray, who hit 227.192 Thursday. That was for one lap only.
After the weekend time trials, there will be no activity on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval until next Thursday, when cars get their final shakedowns on Carburetion Day. At that time, the IRL is expected to introduce its new wheel-tether system designed to keep flying wheels from sailing into spectator areas.
LAST LAPS
Joshua Wise, 16-year-old Riverside TQ midget car driver, will try to hold his eight-point margin over Randi Pankratz of Atascadero in a U.S. Auto Club 20-lap main event Saturday night at the Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino. Wise moved into the lead with a win at Irwindale Speedway. Also on the program is a 30-lap midget car main event.
The Sprint Car Racing Assn. makes its first of three 1999 appearances at Ventura Raceway on Saturday night. Mike Kirby, who won two of three races at Ventura last year, hopes to turn around a disappointing season on a track where he has eight wins. Richard Griffin, who has never won on Ventura’s tiny oval, remains the SCRA leader with 775 points to 702 for Troy Cline.
National offshore powerboat racing champion Matt Alcone of Laguna Beach opened defense of his American Powerboat Assn. championship with a victory last Sunday in Fort Myers, Fla. Alcone averaged 118.44 mph for 10 laps of the 10.25-mile course.
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This Week’s Races
WINSTON CUP, The Winston
* When: Today, qualifying, (Speedvision, 4 p.m.); Saturday, The Winston, (TNN, 4:30 p.m.)
* Where: Lowe’s Motor Speedway (tri-oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns).
* Race distances: The Winston Open, 75 miles, 50 laps; The Winston (non-points event), 105 miles, 70 green-flag laps in segments of 30, 30 and 10, Concord, N.C.
* Defending champion: Mark Martin.
* Last race: Dale Jarrett passed Mark Martin with 32 laps to go to win the Pontiac 400 in Richmond, Va. The victory gave Jarrett a 118-point swing in the point standings, moving him from 55 points behind Jeff Burton to 63 points in front.
* Next race: Coca-Cola 600, May 30, Concord, N.C.
BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL, First Union 200
* When: Saturday, qualifying, 10:30 a.m.; Sunday, race (ESPN, 9 a.m.).
* Where: Nazareth Speedway (oval, .946 miles, 3 degrees banking in turn 1, 4 degrees in turn 2, and 6 degrees in turns 3 and 4), Nazareth, Pa.
* Race distance: 189.2 miles, 200 laps.
* Defending champion: Tim Fedewa.
* Last race: Mark Martin took the lead from Roush Racing teammate Jeff Burton with 54 laps to go and pulled away to win the Hardee’s 250 in Richmond, Va.
* Next race: Carquest Auto Parts 300, May 29, Concord, N.C.
CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS, Kansas City 200
* When: Today, qualifying, 5 p.m.; Saturday, race (ESPN 12:30 p.m.)
* Where: I-70 Speedway (oval, .543 miles, 28 degrees banking in turns), Odessa, Mo..
* Race distance: 200 laps, 108.6 miles.
* Defending champion: Tony Raines.
* Last race: Mike Wallace won the NAPA 300 in Fountain, Colo., by .013 seconds over Jack Sprague. It was the third-closest finish in series history.
* Next race: Loadhandler 250, June 5, Bristol, Tenn.
NHRA, Mopar Parts Nationals
* When: Today, second-round qualifying, 11:45 a.m.; Saturday, first-round eliminations, 8:15 a.m.; Sunday, final eliminations, 8 a.m. (ESPN2, tape, 4:30 p.m.)
* Where: Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Englishtown, N.J.
* Defending champion: Joe Amato.
* Last race: At the Southern Nationals in Commerce, Ga., Gary Scelzi won the Top Fuel division. Force won in Funny Car, and Warren Johnson in Pro Stock.
* Next race: Fram Route 66 Nationals, June 3-6, Chicago.