Hanauer’s Love for Hydroplane Racing Is Unlimited

Chip Hanauer probably won’t win the Bayfair Bill Muncey Cup unlimited hydroplane race Sunday on San Diego’s Mission Bay and equal Muncey’s record 62 victories, but the legendary driver has still had a fulfilling comeback season.

“Winning the Gold Cup [in July] when no one gave us a chance, gave me the greatest feeling I’ve had in racing since I won my first Gold Cup in 1982,” the 45-year-old driver from Seattle said. “And winning that first race at [Lake] Havasu, my first race in nearly three years, was very gratifying too.”

Hanauer had not been in a boat since a spectacular crash in 1996 during the APBA Gold Cup in Detroit. His decision to stop racing had also been hastened by spasmodic dysphonia, an incurable condition that causes his vocal cords to tighten and spasm. Fred Leland talked him out of retirement this year to drive his Miss PICO.

“Don’t ever say I’m retiring,” Hanauer said at the time. “I love powerboat racing, particularly unlimiteds. I’ll never get over that.

“It is the most aesthetic of all motor sports. There is nothing in racing as beautiful as the big roostertails racing across the water. When we combine that beauty with good competition, we have something that I don’t think car racing has.”

Still, when the 1998 season came and went, few expected him to return.

Dave Villwock, in the Miss Budweiser boat that Hanauer had driven to three Gold Cups and four American Power Boat Assn. championships, won eight of 10 races last year and was heavily favored at the start of the 1999 season.

“When I finally agreed to drive [Leland’s] boat, I had no expectations of winning a championship, not really of winning a race,” Hanauer said. “And then to beat the Bud boat at Havasu and again in the Gold Cup was just great.

“The Gold Cup was a complete team effort. Everybody did their job to perfection. I had a great start when I needed it, and the crew’s choice of propeller, gear ratio, engine, hull trim, everything meshed.

“[Crew chief Ken Dryden] made sure we had our strongest engine in there. He’d saved it all week. I told him on Saturday that I wanted to run it, but he said no, we had to save it for the final. He didn’t want to risk ruining it.”

Hanauer and Villwock raced in a heat earlier on Gold Cup day and Hanauer got a fast start, only to have Villwock easily drive around him on the outside.

“I think they thought the same thing would happen in the finals when I got another great start,” Hanauer said. “I was on the inside of the Bud boat, just like I was in the heat, but this time he couldn’t get past me. If nothing else happened all year, that one race made it a fun year.”

It was a record 11th Gold Cup for Hanauer. Since 1904, no one else has won more than eight.

When Bill Muncey was killed during a race in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1981, Hanauer was selected by Fran Muncey to replace him in the Atlas Van Lines boat.

Now Hanauer, who also won this season at Madison, Ind., can gain a share of Muncey’s record in unlimited races.

“There’s been a lot of talk about tying Bill’s record in his hometown, but I try to put that out of my mind,” Hanauer said. “If it happens, it happens. I’d rather not anticipate it and just do the race.”

He also says that reports he came back to tie or break Muncey’s record are not true.

“It was not an iota of a factor,” he said. “If anything, it might have been a detriment. I remember when I was going to break [Gar Wood’s] Gold Cup record, all the expectations took some of the fun out of it.

“We’re here to race. That’s all I think about. That, and trying to beat Dave and the Bud. Their boat is incredibly fast. Our boat has been freshened, made a little lighter, and I’ve had a month to recuperate from the crash at Tri-Cities [Wash.], where I hurt my back again.”

After Hanauer had won three of the first five races this season, Villwock came back to win the last four and all but clinch a 19th championship for boat owner Bernie Little. Villwock has already won his third unlimited driver’s title in the last four seasons.

Under a new rule this year, designed primarily not to allow Miss Budweiser to be so dominant, winning successive races can become a handicap.

If a boat wins twice in succession, it must start the next race in Lane 2. Three wins, in Lane 3, so Villwock and Miss Bud will be out in Lane 4 all weekend.

“I don’t like the rule, it tends to manipulate the sport and I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Hanauer said. “Besides, if we beat them, we’ll hear about how they had to start out in the fourth row. If we win, I want to say I beat them straight up, like we did at the Gold Cup.”

Hanauer has scored four of his 60 victories at San Diego, but he has not won on Mission Bay’s fast two-mile saltwater circuit since 1990, when he drove Circus Circus to victory. His crew chief that day was Villwock.

Villwock is defending Muncey Cup champion on Mission Bay, where he won his first race as a driver in 1992.

Testing and qualifying will start today and continue through race day on Sunday. Eleven boats are entered, but only Villwock and Hanauer have won this season.

CART AND IRL

How embarrassing for the Indy Racing League when the city of Cleveland rejected the IRL for a race on Burke Lakefront Airport next year, then reopened negotiations with CART. After earlier having broken off negotiations, CART and IMG Motorsports, the race promoter, negotiated a new contract through 2002.

Although specific details have not been reported, representatives of both CART and the IRL are saying publicly that they expect the two open-wheel groups to get together for the 2001 season. The major sticking point involves the engine manufacturers, who have contracts with the sanctioning bodies.

Willy T. Ribbs, who became the first African American to drive in the Indianapolis 500 in 1991, has entered the IRL race Sept. 26 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Ribbs, who last drove an Indy car in 1994, will drive for car owner Dennis McCormack.

Roger Penske, not content with dropping Al Unser Jr. and hiring Greg Moore and Gil de Ferran for next year, is also changing the chassis for his CART team. He will quit building his own Penskes and instead buy Reynards. It was an easy decision, since both Moore and De Ferran have driven Reynards all during their CART careers.

LAST LAPS

Drag racing legend Don Garlits will be inducted Saturday into the Cruisin’ Hall of Fame in San Bernardino during the 10th annual Route 66 Rendezvous, a nostalgic celebration of America’s famous “mother road.” Garlits is being recognized for his influence as an innovative champion and designer. Also being honored are Motor Trend magazine for 50 years of covering automotive trends, and the Pontiac GTO for 35 years as America’s original muscle car.

Jaguar, with seven victories in the 24 Hours of LeMans, is entering Formula One next year. The Stewart-Ford team will be renamed Jaguar Racing. Ford, Jaguar’s parent company, bought the team from Jackie Stewart in June. Eddie Irvine, who has driven for Ferrari the last four years, will be the driver next season. . . . Tickets for next year’s U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway go on sale today. The race is scheduled for Sept. 24, 2000.

Round 18 of the American Motorcyclist Assn. Grand National championship series will be run Saturday night at the Cal-Expo Fairgrounds in Sacramento. Chris Carr continues to lead Rich King, with nine-time champion Scott Parker third. The season will end Oct. 10 at Del Mar.

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This Week’s Races

WINSTON CUP, Dura Lube 300

* When: Today, first-round qualifying, 1 p.m.; Saturday, second-round qualifying, 8 a.m.; Sunday, race (TNN, 9:30 a.m.)

* Where: New Hampshire International Speedway (oval, 1.058 miles, 12 degrees banking in turns), Loudon, N.H.

* Race distance: 317.4 miles, 300 laps.

* Last year: Jeff Gordon won, using a two-tire change to move from fifth to first during a caution period with 67 laps left. He held off Mark Martin by 0.644 seconds.

* Last race: Tony Stewart won the Exide 400 in Richmond, Va., becoming only the second driver to gain his first career victory at Richmond International Raceway. Kyle Petty was the first, 13 years ago.

* Fast facts: Ricky Rudd needs a victory to extend to 17 years his NASCAR record of winning at least one race. . . . Rudd will join Dale Jarrett on the Robert Yates Racing team next season. Rudd has been an owner-driver since June 1993. . . . Gordon has won both fall races in Loudon. . . . Gordon is the only driver to qualify in the first round for every race this season.

* Next race: MBNA Gold 400, Sept. 26, Dover, Del.

NHRA, Keystone Nationals

* When: Today, qualifying, 11:45 a.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 9 a.m.; Sunday, final eliminations, 8 a.m. (Fox Sports West, 2 p.m.)

* Where: Maple Grove Raceway, Reading, Pa.

* Last year: Gary Scelzi won his third consecutive event. He beat Mike Dunn in the top-fuel final with a quarter-mile run of 4.637 seconds at 305.39 mph.

* Last event: Cory McClenathan won the top fuel division at the U.S. Nationals in Clermont, Ind. Frank Pedregon, Warren Johnson, Matt Hines and Mike Coughlin won their divisions.

* Fast facts: John Force is a five-time Keystone Nationals winner in the funny car division. . . . Tony Schumacher leads Mike Dunn in the top fuel standings 995-983. . . . Force has the biggest lead of any driver. Tony Pedregon trails him by 1,512-1,211. . . . In the pro stock division, Warren Johnson leads son Kurt, 1,339-1,130.

* Next race: Parts America Nationals, Sept. 30-Oct. 3, Topeka, Kan.