1955 Silver Cup
Tempo VII Speeds To The Silver Cup
Lombardo Craft Nips Gale V in Detroit River Finale— Miss Pepsi Runner-Up
By Clarence E. Lovejoy, Special to The New York Times.
DETROIT, Aug. 27—In a sensational finish to the Silver Cup regatta as dusk gathered over the Detroit River tonight, Dan Foster piloted Tempo VII to victory over Bill Cantrell in Gale V, the winner of the Gold Cup at Seattle early this month.
Tempo VII is owned by Guy Lombardo of Freeport, L.I., who has retired from active racing. The band leader watched Foster’s every strategy from the banks of the river today.
With two firsts and one second place in the three heats he steered, Foster piled up 1,100 points. Gale V, earlier piloted by Lee Schoenith, the owner, who gave way to the more experienced Cantrell for the final test, scored 869.
The Gold Cup victor was tied on points with Miss Pepsi, navigated by Chuck Thompson. But Schoenith’s entry had to be satisfied with third place because her elapsed time was slower than Miss Pepsi’s.
A long afternoon that started with thirteen entries wound up with six top scorers eligible for the final test. Five of them finished legally. But the entry from Seattle, Willard Rhodes’ Miss Thriftway, with Bill Muncey of near-by Royal Oak, Mich., at the wheel, drew a disqualification. The charge was cutting inside the 1,000-foot starting buoy.
Last year’s Silver Cup winner was fourth with 675 points. That was Horace Dodge’s Dora My Sweetie, driven by Don Wilson. Miss United States, with 506, was at the tail end behind Miss Thriftway’s 625.
Foster took command on the third of the five three-mile laps in the final fifteen-mile heat. First he drew even with Cantrell, then edged ahead five yards. It was a nip-and-tuck duel as they see sawed around the oval. Roostertails sprayed high into the air. At the end of the fourth lap Tempo VII was fifteen yards in front and by the finish a good seventy-five.
With only six contenders permitted in the final heat, another half-dozen were also-rans, forced to stay behind in the pits. Their point scores were too low to qualify.
Gar Wood, former speed boat ace who was a spectator here, praised the decision to limit the field to six even on a river as wide as the Detroit. He had seen more than his share of accidents in his racing days in Gold Cup classics and in memorable Harmsworth Trophy defenses.
Other Old-Timers on Hand
Other old-timers among the throngs on the river bank included Orlin Johnson, Commodore Wood’s famous mechanic who was in many a spilling accident, and Wild Bill Horn, once a Gold Cup and President’s Cup victor.
Ineligible for the final heat were Joe Schoenith’s Gale IV, Ray Crawford, California sportsman who came here to drive Miss Detroit; Bill Braden, at the helm of Canada’s pride, Miss Supertest, and Walter Kade, driver of Jack Schafer’s Such Crust III. They were good but not good enough.
Foster’s triumph earned an array of prizes and honors. It established him as the national Unlimited Class champion and gave the O. J. Mulford Memorial Silver Cup Trophy to him. .
Smaller racing classes had their big moments. George Smith of Mount Holly, N.J., victor in the 225 cubic inch class, captured the Edsel Ford Memorial Trophy. Harry Evans Jr. of Voorheesville, N.Y., took the 136 cubic inch class honors and with it the Dossin Brothers Trophy. Ron Musson of Akron, Ohio, national 135 winner last year, won the Alfred F. Steiner Trophy for that event.
Crowd Exceeds 100,000
A crowd exceeding 100,000, the largest at a Detroit regatta in five years, saw ideal racing water this afternoon. The Detroit River is frequently rough, with a downstream current usually bucked by a prevailing up-current wind that results in a chop. Today the old river was actually smooth under a gray, low-hanging ceiling.
As the result of a drivers’ insurrection last night at the Detroit Yacht Club at a meeting of officials, owners and pilots that continued long past midnight, a race program vastly different from the one originally announced was adopted for the Silver Cup.
Led by Schafer and supported by Foster, Cantrell and others, the drivers condemned the American Power Boat Association’s inboard racing commission for ordering only one elimination heat for each entry.
Rhodes said in effect that he would not appear next summer on the Detroit River for the Gold Cup unless new, better and fairer rules prevailed. After a long session behind closed doors, the pilots emerged with a plan for a minimum of two trial heats for each entry
Field Split Into 3 Groups
Eligibility for the final heat was based on point scoring in the early eliminations. With thirteen starters, the field was to be split into three groupings of five, four and four. After the first round of elimination heats, the slowest boat would be dropped from the second round to leave twelve craft in two six-boat heats.
The plan was accepted by Chairman Clyde L. Palmer, Referee Gibson Bradfield and other officers because it was within the framework of A. P. B. A. rules. Heavy-eyed, the drivers left the meeting at almost 2 A.M. to return from the club on Belle Isle to the Detroit mainland for the inevitable eleventh-hour tune-ups.
The two Gales dominated the two first heats. Gale V finished three-quarters of a mile ahead of Such Crust III in the first; and Gale IV was nearly a mile and a half ahead of Miss United States in the second elimination.
The third elimination test was an amazing demonstration by Chuck Thompson that Miss Pepsi is back to stay in the front ranks. The twin-engined creation, in retirement for the last two seasons but now re-powered by a new pair of Allisons, won by more than a mile. Tempo VII was next, a mile ahead of Dora My Sweetie.
Detroit Regatta Summaries
136-CUBIC INCH HYDROPLANES
(All heats six miles) First Elimination Heat—1. Skld-Do, John Cramer, Dayton. Ohio; 2. Scat, Fred Leithe, Center Line. Mich.: 3. Sneaky Pete, Don Brush, Piqua, Ohio: 4. No Name, Irwin Mitchell, Philllpsburg. Ohio; 5. Wiggle, Tom Rex, Detroit; 6. Vibrator, Tom Skelly, Detroit. Speed—48.543 m.p.h. (Egg Money, Ray Nash, Stoney Creek, Ont., disqualified for entering wrong heat).
Second Elimination Heat—1. Hank Prank II, Harry Evans jr., Voorheesville, N.Y., 2 Fantasy, G. J. Edmonds, Rochester, N.Y.: 3. Can't Wait, Francis Hoagland, Fayetteville, Ohio; 4, Commotion, Robert Schultz, St. Clair, Shores, Mich.: 5. Bandit, Jimmie English, Northfield N. J.; 6. Awful Awlul, Tom Stenger, Dayton.
Final Heat—1, Evans; 2. Rex; 3. Cramer; 4. Brush; 5. Skelly; 6. Edmonds; 7. Hoagland: 8. Leithe; 9. Mlss Lynda, John Scott, Hillsboro, Ohio; 10. English; 11. Stenger; 12 Mitchell.
Point score—Evans 200, Cramer 625, Rex 427, Edmonds 393, Brush 394.
135-CUBIC-INCH HYDROPLANES
First Heat—1. Chromium, Ron Musson, Akron; 2, Allegro, Bob Schroeder. Niagara Falls. N.Y.: 3, El Torro, Jimmy Mann. Allen Park. Mich. Speed—64.179 m.p.h. Final Heat—1. Musson; 2. Mann: 3. Royal Rebel, Tommie Turner, Kenmore. N.Y.; 4. Schroeder: 5. Rivets, Delbert Kreger, Detroit: 6. Mom's Worry, Raymond Weber, Detroit. Speed—63.025 m.p.h.
Point score—Masson 800. Mann 525. Schroeder 469. Turner-394, Kreger 157.
225-CUBIC-INCH CLASS
First Heat—1. Jersey Devil, George Smith, Mount Holly, N.J : 2. Cheetah, Chuck Irish, Hamilton, Ont.; 3. Stinger Again, William Linns, Highland Heights, Ky.; 4. Sir Ron II, Joe Allbee. Detroit: 5. Miss Columbus, Chuck Hunter. Columbus. Ohio: 6. Why Not, Harold Glllesple, Altamont, N.Y.; 7. Static, Bob Petrak. Detroit. Speed—67.183 m.p.h.
Final Heat—Pee Bee IV, Ron Musson; 2. Smith; 3 Irish; 4, My Ambition, Bob Schroeder; 5. Capri, Jack Keating, Pontiac, Mich.; 6. Linns; 7. Petrak; 8. Allbee. Speed—69.095. Score—Smith 700, Irish 525; Musson ..... Linns 320, Allbee 222.
266 CUBIC-INCH HYDROPLANES [several dropouts in text]
First Heat—1. Mighty Mouse, Don Hamill, Dixon, Ill., 2. Water Bug, Sam Guarino, Detroit; 3. Briar Hopper, William Linns, Highland Heights, KY,; 4. Slo-Mo-Shun ..... tath, Detroit; 5. Red Ram, ..... Detroit; 6. D-V-8, Larry ..... Detroit; 7. Black Widow, R. W "Bob" Kieser, New Albany, Ind.; 8. Doable Burn, Jim Neln, Columbus, Ohio: 9. Day and Night, Francis McFarland, Columbus, Ohio. Speed—66.873 m.p.h.
Final Heat—1. Hamill; 2. Guarino; 3. Bartush; 4. D'Eath; 5. Linns; 6 McFarland; 7 Neln. Speed—69.912.
Point score: Hamill 800, Guarino 600, Bartush 352, Linns 352, D'Eath 338.
Silver Cup Unlimited Class (All heats 15 miles)
First Elimination Heat—1. Gale V, Lee Schoenith, Detroit, 400 points; 2. Such Crust III, owned by Jack Schafer, Detroit and driven br Walter Kade, Detroit. 300; 3. Miss Thriftway, owned by Willard Rhodes, Seattle, and driven by Bill Muncey, Royal Oak, Mich., 225; 4. Miss Cadillac, Frank Saile Jr., Detroit, 169. Winner’s speed average—95.381 m.p.h.
Second Elimination Heat—1. Gale IV, Bill Cantrell, Detroit, 400 points; 2. Miss U.S., George Simon, Detroit, 300; 3. Wha Happen Too, Marv Henrich, Detroit, 225. Winner’s speed average—91.678 (Miss Detroit. owned by Bill Stroh, Detroit, and driven by Ray Crawford, El Monte. Calif., which had finished third, was disqualified for hitting buoy.)
Third Elimination Heat—1. Miss Pepsi, Chuck Thompson, Detroit. 400 points; 2. Tempo VII, owned by Guy Lombardo. Freeport. L.I. and driven by Dan Foster, Detroit, 300; 3. Dora My Sweetie, owned by, Horace E. Dodge, Detroit, and driven by Don Wilson, Detroit, 225. Winner’s speed average—96.238 m.p.h. Miss Wayne, owned by Frank Saile Jr.. Detroit, and driven by Jack Bartlow, Detroit, did not finish: Miss Supertest, owned by J. Gordon Thompson, London. Ont., and driven by Bill Braden, Waterdown. Ont.. did not start.
First Semi-Final Heat—1. Tempo VII, Dan Foster, 400 points; 2. Miss Pepsi, Chuck Thompson, 300; 3. Dora My Sweetie, Don Wilson, 235; 4. Miss U.S., George Simon. 169. Winner’s speed average—93.408 m.p.h. Such Crust III, Waiter Kade, did not finish. Wha Hoppen Too did not start.
Second Semi-Final Heat—1. Miss Thriftway. Bill Muncey, 400 points: 2. Miss Detroit, Ray Crawford, 300; 3. Miss Supertest, Bill Braden, 225; 4. Gale V, Lee Schoenith, 169; Miss Cadillac, Bob McElroy, 127. Winner's speed average—88.504.
Final Heat—1. Tempo VII, Dan Foster, 400 points; 2. Gale V, Bill Cantrell, 300; 2. Dora My Sweetie, Don Wilson, 225: 4. Miss Pepsi, Chuck Thompson, 169; 5. Miss U.S., Jack Bartlow, 127. (Miss Thriftway, Bill Muncey, disqualified, cutting buoy. Winner’s speed average—94.732. Points score—Tempo VII 1,100; Gale V 869; Miss Pepsi 869; Dora My Sweetie 675; Miss Thriftway 625; Miss U.S. 596. Miss Pepsi second on elapsed time.
--- New York Times, August 28, 1955