1998 Texaco Cup At Seafair

Bud Bounces back at Seattle

Villwock Outduels the Evans Brothers

by Dick Sanders

A week after being manhandled by the competition at Kelowna, Dave Villwock reasserted Miss Budweiser's year-long dominance by winning the Texaco Cup at Seafair. A combination of sheer boat speed and crafty driving in the finale earned Villwock his fifth victory of the 1998 season.

Testing and Qualifying

Nine camps were on hand for Friday's qualifying sessions, with one more, U-14/Tveten's R.V. Mart, still at the shop undergoing repairs. Although conditions were very good, with temperatures in the mid-80s and little wind, speeds were on the low side. No one was ready or willing to challenge Budweiser's fast morning run of 155.699 mph. Mitch Evans in Appian Jeronimo posted a 151, while brother Mark looked hardly the Kelowna champ, turning a less-than-inspiring 145 in PICO American Dream, as that team's fuel-flow problems continued. Others on the ladder were Jimmy King in Miss E-Lam Plus at 149, Nate Brown in U-8/LLumar at 146, Steve David in the local casino-sponsored U-21 Freddie's Club at 143, Mike Weber in U-9/Miss Graham Trucking at 136, and Jerry Hale in U-19/"Chaplin's Bellevue Volkswagen presents Easter Seals" at 130.

Friday was most notable for a mishap involving U-11 Miss Sammamish Lake Watch, which hooked hard right in the middle of the front straight on driver Lindsey Emmons, then barrel-rolled before coming to rest right-side up. Former drivers of the ill-handling two-wing boat were unanimously sympathetic with the rookie pilot, who wore a precautionary neck brace for the rest of the weekend on the beach.

Saturday's sessions were much more lively. After Villwock ran a 155 lap, Mitch Evans ran off successive laps of 156 and 158 in Appian, electrifying the crowd in the pits. The excitement was short-lived, as half an hour later an N2 violation on Appian was announced. Bud raised its speed to 156.508 (T5), then Appian came out and turned a 157. This time the crowd buzz was more reserved, waiting for a possible penalty, which indeed arrived over the PA 20 minutes later. Appian later managed a legal 154.400, letting the big, red team know they were in the hunt. King was third fastest in E-Lam with a 151. Ken Muscatel got Tveten 's into the field with a 13 6.LLumar, Graham, and Easter Seals also increased their Friday speeds.

Heat 1

Sunday saw more warm, sunny skies, and smiles on the faces of Seafair officials. The crowd on the beach was slightly larger than the previous year. Aside from the usual rollers off the log boom, water conditions on Lake Washington were excellent. In the pits, the Bud team chose to race T5, while PICO went with their 1998 hull.

Heat 1A matched Bud, Freddie's, Graham, Tveten's, and Easter Seals. Easter Seals was DQ'd for not running at the one-minute gun—Mike Weber in Graham was fined for washing Hale down. Villwock kept Bud far outside and a little late at the start, apparently preferring not to tangle early on with his chief nemesis at Kelowna, Steve David, in lane 4. Graham took an early lead up the backstretch, as Bud reeled in Freddie's by the exit pin and then Tveten's. Bud passed Graham by the end of lap 1 and cruised to victory. Graham finished second, then Tveten's and Freddie's.

Heat 1B matched the Bud's closest rivals: Appian, PICO, LLumar and E-Lam. Mitch Evans grabbed lane 1 and then the win, holding off an early challenge from second-place finisher LLumar in lane 2. Appian won by two roostertails. E-Lam was early to the line in lane 3 and soon fell behind the pack. King got it going by the end of lap 1, passing PICO. Mark Evans battled back by the end of lap 2, but a strong turn 1 by King sealed third place for E-Lam.

Heat 2

Graham was DNS for heat 2A and later withdrew for the day with propeller-shaft and gearbox problems. Bud followed E-Lam and Tveten's, with Easter Seals trailing, over the line for what looked like another easy win.

Only Hale in Easter Seals avoided jumping the gun. Jerry gladly collected the 400 points, while Bud and Tveten's paraded for four laps. E-Lam stalled on the second lap but re-started to take fourth.

Appian was matched against PICO, Freddie's, and LLumar in 2B. Freddie's and Appian led at the start, with PICO using lane 1 to pull even at the exit pin of the first turn. LLumar was late after eating Freddie's roostertail in the score-up and wasn't a factor.

Appian led Freddie's and a fading PICO around the second turn, PICO smacking a buoy in the process. Mitch's ride showed superior acceleration at the end of lap 1, pulling away to a roostertail lead over Freddie's.

As Mitch put it on the hook entering the first turn of lap 2, Appian's horizontal stabilizer came loose and shot high above its roostertail, prompting a Coast Guardsman on a nearby patrol boat to fire a red flare, which in turn brought out several UHRA red flags. Mitch, unaware of the red flare, continued at a slower pace sans wing to win. Freddie's was second, LLumar third, and PICO fourth after taking a penalty lap.

Like a similar incident here in 1995, only Mark Evans stopped his boat upon seeing the flare, before being told to resume racing over his radio. Unlike that incident, Mark's protest afterward for a heat re-run was denied, the officials saying that Mark had previously hit a buoy and was out of contention, and that the flare hadn't been fired by a UHRA official. Given that argument, and that a flare is now fired by officials as a substitute for the one-minute "gun," it seems the days of the flare's usefulness as a safety device are numbered.

Heat 3

The section draws for heats 2 and 3 were identical. In 3A, Villwock got the early lead again, with Tveten's to his left in lane 1 and E-Lam in lane 3, Easter Seals trailing. Villwock built up a roostertail lead and started to coast on the backstretch of lap 2.

E-Lam charged hard to within half a 'tail, but Bud closed the door with a solid turn to run away with the win. King held off a steady charge by Muscatel in Tveten's for second. Hale finished fourth.

Appian ran short of time and sported only a right-side tail fairing for 3B. David got a great start in Freddie's. He led the pack into the first turn and out, with LLumar on his left and PICO on his right hip, Appian trailing on the outside, in the best action of the day.

Charging up the back-stretch towards the second turn, David hung on to the slimmest of leads. Approaching the apex of the north turn, Freddie's bounced hard off a roller. The right sponson slowly gained altitude until a blowover was a foregone conclusion. Narrowly missing PICO upon landing, the boat broke its back.

David was more fortunate, escaping with only a broken toe.

Down to only three boats, the re-run of 3B was almost as exciting. The Appian crew used the downtime after the crash to re-attach the entire tail assembly. LLumar grabbed lane 1, next to Appian, PICO outside. This time Appian led the charge to the first turn and up the backstretch, with his rivals hugging each hip. LLumar backed off at the end of lap 1 to settle for third. The Evans duel continued for another lap before Mitch opened up a roostertail lead and took his third heat win of the day. Mark had reason to be happy with second place—a third would have left PICO six points behind Easter Seals and in the trailer position for the final.

Final Heat

The final featured Villwock and Miss Budweiser at their competitive best. At the one-minute gun, Villwock cut sharply across the infield towards the backstretch. Mitch Evans, inside of and almost a 'tail in back of the Bud, followed. On the backstretch, PICO was early but clearly established in lane 1. Villwock cut around a buoy and through the end of PICO's 'tail into lane 2. Mitch was left with the unhappy choice of deciding which 'tail to drive through. Appian lost its fire cutting behind Bud. Unlike the final at Tri-Cities, Mitch managed to re-start with time to spare. A perfectly timed start from the outside was his only hope. Mitch caught his rivals (who all were early) too quickly and had to back off slightly just before the gun.

Only two boat-lengths separated the six at the entrance pin of the first turn, PICO leading with Bud on his right two lengths back, then Tveten's, LLumar, E-Lam and Appian. Mitch moved over entering the turn, washing down E-Lam. PICO came out of the first turn on top, Bud only a boat length back and charging hard. Mitch pulled Appian within a few boat lengths of Bud but soon got word of his DSQ from the officials. Mark Evans held the lead up the backstretch and into the second turn, but it was here that Villwock showed why the Bud is on top. Mark moved out slightly, but Villwock anticipated

it and held a perfect line at the edge of Mark's roostertail, driving around PICO, nosing ahead at the exit pin. Mark pressed, but Bud led by two boat lengths going into the first turn of lap 2, where Villwock gave Mark no room to maneuver. PICO briefly stalled in Bud's wake in the second turn, allowing Villwock to pull away to a two-'tail lead and victory. LLumar finished third ahead of Tveten's, while Easter Seals and a restarted E-Lam Plus rounded out the finishers.

After a grueling stretch of five races in six weeks across the U.S. and Canada, most teams will look forward to the four-week "break" before returning to Madison. Several lower-budget teams will spend their time thrashing to repair hull damage sustained over several races. The big, red team from Tukwila will polish their trucks and trophies (just kidding), while the Evans brothers' respective teams continue to try to capture at once those elusive qualities of performance and consistency that have made the combination of Bud-weiser and Villwock almost unbeatable for the last two years.

(Unlimited NewsJournal, September 1998)