1952 Steel Cup
Statistics
| June 7 | 2½ Mile Course |
| Ohio River | 15 Mile Heats |
| Pittsburgh, Penn. | 45 Mile Race |
| No. | Entry | Owner | Qual. | Race | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | U-3 | My Sweetie (2) | Horace Dodge | 67.0@@ | — |
| 2 | G-7 | Such Crust IV | Jack Schafer | 68.039? | — |
| 3 | H-2 | Bon Voyage | Gene Marentette | — | — |
| Heat One | Driver | Points | Speed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Such Crust IV | Bill Cantrell | 400 | 67.05 |
| 2 | Bon Voyage | Gene Marentette | DSQ | — |
| 3 | My Sweetie | Al D'Eath | DNF | — |
| Heat Two | Driver | Points | Speed | |
| 1 | Such Crust IV | Bill Cantrell | 400 | 68.38 |
| 2 | Bon Voyage | Gene Marentette | 300 | 51.704 |
| Recapitulation | Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Cum. | Heat 3 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Such Crust IV | 400 | 400 | 800 | Can. | 800 |
| 2 | Bon Voyage | DSQ | 300 | 300 | Can. | 300 |
| 3 | My Sweetie | DNF | DNS | 0 | Can. | 0 |
In the first heat Such Crust IV on the outside and My Sweetie on the inside battled for the lead. A buoy on the frontstretch had drifted out and as Such Crust and Sweetie headed for the start-finish line after the initial lap their courses converged and they collided. Sweetie spun toward the center of the course pitching her driver Al D’Eath out. Afterward Cantrell swung back to see if D’Eath was all right and then went on to complete the heat. Bon Voyage was disqualified for turning inside the drifted buoy.
An estimated 250,000 showed up in 1952 as opposed to 200,000 in 1951 and 150,000 in the initial year of the regatta 1950. The people showed up, but the unlimiteds didn’t with a field of three in 1950, two in 1951 and another two in 1952. The Steel Cup was scheduled early in the season being the initial regatta so perhaps the boats just weren’t ready. But ready or not they lost a major league city that might have enhanced the image of Unlimited racing for years to come.
The Steel Cup was a three heat race in 1950 and 1951. Apparently the final heat was cancelled in 1952 since no entry could overcome Such Crust IV’s point total.
[Statistics and comments from Greene, V.1]