2000 Budweiser Columbia Cup with Wings

Miss Budweiser Tri-Cities Preview

Tri-Cities, WA, July 25, 2000 — Dave Villwock and Miss Budweiser head for the Pacific Northwest swing of the Budweiser Unlimited Hydroplane Series this weekend (July 28-30) with the Budweiser Columbia Cup with Wings at Tri-Cities, WA.

Bernie Little's Miss Budweiser would like to continue the success they had during the series' Midwest swing. Villwock drove Miss Budweiser to a clean sweep of all three races in Evansville, IN, Madison, IN and Detroit, MI. The Gold Cup victory in Detroit was Villwock's tenth consecutive win, which broke Bill Muncey's record of nine dating back to 1978-1979. The win also established Villwock as the winningest driver of the Miss Budweiser. "To win Bernie's 13th Gold Cup, to break Muncey's consecutive win streak and to become the winningest driver of Miss Budweiser are all great accomplishments, but to do all these things in one race is amazing," said Villwock.

Because the Miss Budweiser has won four consecutive races this season, the team heads to Tri-Cites with restricted fuel flow. All of the Hydros competitors will run their hydroplanes at 4.3 gallons per minute while the Miss Budweiser will be restricted to 3.9 gallons per minute. "So far the Miss Budweiser crew has done a terrific job setting up the boat to offset the horsepower we have lost due to the fuel restriction rule," said Villwock. "I have total confidence they will once again allow me an opportunity to be competitive even without the fuel."

The Budweiser Columbia Cup has been a very popular race for Little and his Miss Budweiser. Little's Miss Budweiser won the inaugural event in 1966 and has since won an additional ten Tri-Cities' races, including the last two years. "Hopefully we can use our past success to our advantage and bring home another victory," said Little.

Villwock and the Miss Budweiser team lead the driver and boat standings with 6687 points, respectively. Mark Weber in the U-10 York Heating & Air Conditioning is second with 4945 points followed by George Stratton in the U-5 Appian Jeronimo with 3734 points. Points are awarded for qualifying rank and finishing place in each heat of competition and the finals.

Practice and qualifying will begin for the Budweiser Columbia Cup with Wings Friday, July 28 with the finals scheduled for Sunday, July 30. The race will be televised on ESPN2 on Sunday, September 3.