1947 Silver Cup
Arena Wins First Silver Cup Heat in Notre Dame
Dan Stays in Front All the Way
Miss Canada's Rally Is 150 Yards Short
By W. W. Edgar
Winner in the first heat of the Silver cup race
Gene Arena, mechanic, left, and Dan Arena, driver, listening to cheers
By a margin that measured less than six ticks of the timer's watch, Dan Arena raced the Detroit-owned Notre Dame to victory in the first heat of the Silver Cup race on the Detroit River.
In one of the greatest finishes the Old River has seen, Arena averaged 73.685 miles an hour to beat Harold Wilson In the Miss Canada III by less than 150 yards.
With this stirring triumph to climax an unusual afternoon. Arena partially squared accounts with his buddy, Danny Foster, who could do no better than fourth with Miss Peps V. Lou Fageol and his So Long, of Kent, O., landed third.
* * *
The story of the race is the story of one of the most confused starts ever seen in bigtime speedboat competition.
Because of the heavy downpour of the early afternoon, the Silver Cup was set back one hour. The drivers were notified that the warning gun would sound at 6:10 with the start five minutes later. One by one the eight starters left their boat wells and moved over toward the starting line 10 minutes before the start. Arena, with Notre Dame, and Foster, with Miss Peps V, were among the first to show. They checked at the judges barge and started the traditional warming up.
Arena and Fageol stuck close to the starting line out toward the middle ground. The others -- Foster, Wilson, Bill Stroh with the Schafer Special, Bill Hagenmeyer with Nuts & Bolts, Howard Hughes with Dukie and Al Fallon with Miss Great Lakes headed on a spin toward the Belle Isle bridge.
* * *
Whether they became confused or just misjudged their time, the spectators on both sides of the course never knew. But when the starting gun sounded this group was more than a mile and half behind as Fageol and Arena hit the line for the 45-mile journey.
Fageol was the first over with Arena only a boat length behind. Before they hit the middle of the back stretch Arena had the Notre Dame out in front. And he kept it there -- but only after staving one of the greatest challenges he ever received.
* * *
By the time they reached the third trip over the four-and-one-half-mile course through the spans in the bridge, Miss Canada moved up into a contending position.
Sensing he had a battle. Arena stepped on the accelerator and hit a speed of 76.567 miles an hour. At that, he couldn't shake off Wilson and Miss Canada.
Others were having trouble. Miss Great Lakes encountered trouble on the lower turn beyond the bridge and had to withdraw. Dukie split a plank and gave up. Meanwhile, Stroh, at the wheel of Jack Shafer's new Schafer Special, was turning circles on the middle ground -- apparently unconcerned about the race. Finally Bill made a trip over the regular course and then headed for the boat wells.
As they reached the halfway stage Arena, with his brother Gene as mechanic, had Notre Dame in front by more than a half mile. It now was a question whether Wilson could catch him with Miss Canada.
* * *
The crowd, which fell far below expectations, sensed the drama as the Canadian craft inched up on the leader. On the seventh lap Wilson really opened up. He made the four and one half miles at a speed of 76.282 miles per hour -- the fastest lap of the race at that point—and was only 10 seconds behind.
Could he make it with three laps to go?
That's what the crowd was asking. And Wilson gamely was trying to prove he could.
He averaged 75.553 to Arena's 73.529 on the eighth lap and now was only 5.2 seconds behind. Now it was a real fight. Like two sluggers standing toe to toe in a prize ring, both Arena and Wilson "stepped on it."
Arena moved up to 76.350 on the ninth lap, but lost ground. Wilson hit 77.169 and was only 4.1 seconds back, as they headed into the last lap.
* * *
It was a futile fight for the Canadian boat, however. Refusing to give ground, Arena stepped Notre Dame up to 76.894 miles an hour on the 10th lap, while Wilson dropped to 73.660 miles an hour. This left Wilson exactly 5.4 seconds behind at the finish.
In defeat, however, he had the consolation of attaining the highest speed — the 77.169 — in the ninth lap. And only the confusion at the start prevented him from winning. He was a mile and a half back at the start and lost by only 150 yards.
This augurs well for a great race in the second and final heat Monday. Neither Wilson nor Foster will make the same mistake again, and Arena with Notre Dame is due for a battle every inch of the way.
(Reprinted from the Detroit Free Press, August 31, 1947)