1963 Governor's Cup
Seattle-Detroit Hydro Showdown Due Today
Bardahl vs. Gale; Exide Meets Tahoe
MADISON, Ind., Aug. 31. — (Special) — It’s Seattle vs. Detroit and the winners of the first two heats in a quick showdown tomorrow in the final round of the Governor’s Cup race for unlimited hydroplanes on the Ohio River.
Miss Bardahl, which only last Thursday flipped during a test run, and the Gale V are matched in Heat 2-A, along with Notre Dame, Blue Chip and Such Crust.
The follow-up of Seattle’s one-two punch Miss Exide, meets Tahoe Miss from Stateline, Nev., in Heat 2-B; also in this heat are Miss Michigan, Tempo and Miss Madison.
The first heat tomorrow gets under way at 10:30 a. m., Seattle time. Heat 2-B follows at noon, with the final at 1:45.
Ron Musson, who suffered three cracked ribs in last Thursday’s mishap, turned over the controls of the Bardahl to the redhead from West Palm Beach, Fla., Don Wilson. The regular driver for George Simon’s Miss U. S. boats found the Green Dragon very much to his liking in Heat 1-B.
First it was Chuck Thompson who challenged. Then, it was another substitute driver, Bill Brow. Wilson accepted both challenges and turned each back in turn. Thompson’s Tahoe Miss ran out of engine on the third lap and went dead in the water. Brow got another lap from Miss Exide before limping home in second place with a "sick engine."
"Don’t know the exact problem," George McKernan, (crew chief for the Exide camp said, "but it won’t be one tomorrow."
Brow was a last-minute replacement in the Exide cockpit when Continental Air Line officials put a "stop" order on Mira Slovak. Slovak had planned to return to racing after suffering serious injuries in the Diamond Cup last month in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
The Exide had room to spare, even in distress, to take second place from Miss Michigan. The Bardahl had an elapsed time of 8 minutes 45.9 seconds, the Exide was in at 18:51.4 and Miss Michigan was way tardy at 10:55.0.
Warner Gardner had one consolation for the day — it was his last in the Air Force after 25 years. The now-retired lieutenant-colonel had a short day on the race course — the Notre Dame went dead on the second lap of Heat 1-B.
Wild Bill Cantrell was the quickest on the bumpy track today. He took only 8:34.9 for an average of 104.874, to run away from Walt Kade in Detroit’s Blue Chip (101.694), Buddy Byers in Miss Madison (101.275) and Eddie Sachs in Such Crust (94.076. Bernie Little’s Tempo failed to get Bob Schroeder farther than the second lap in 1-A.
Byers and Sachs were out racing for the first time. Byers, however, is no rookie. He was the 1961 7-liter national champion and also holds both the mile and kilometer straightaway records for the largest of the limiteds.
The Such Crust was a lagging last in Heat 1-A, averaging 94.076. Only the Miss Michigan was slower — the former Miss Lumberville and Coe-Z-Miss checking at 82.430.
Heat Summaries
HEAT 1A— 1. Gale V., Bill Cantrell (8:34.9); 2. Blue Chip, Walt Kade; 3. Miss Madison, Buddy Byers; 4. Such Crust, Eddie Sachs. Tempo, Bob Schroeder, dropped out on second lap.
HEAT 1B — 1. Miss Bardahl, Don Wilson (8:45.9); 2. Miss Exide, Bill Brow (8:51.4); 3. Miss Michigan (10:55.0). Tahoe Miss, Chuck Thompson, dropped out on the third lap. Notre Dame, Warner Gardner, dropped out on second lap.
(Reprinted from The Seattle Times , September 1, 1963)