1977 Dayton Hydroglobe
Remund Wins at Dayton
It was a hard-fought battle for Mickey Remund for one lap of the final heat before Miss Budweiser pulled away to win the fourth annual Dayton Hydroglobe held July 17 at the Hydrobowl, ending the Pak/Atlas domination at Dayton.
Bill Muncey’s Atlas Van Lines, one of the finer Unlimited hydros ever entered in competition, proved that even the fastest boat needs a turn fin to win races. Leading by a boat length over rival Miss Budweiser, Atlas dove hard into the number three corner of the first lap of the championship heat and suddenly slowed for no apparent reason.
While driver Mickey Remund sped the beer boat past Atlas into first place, Ron Snyder in Anheuser-Busch Natural Light and Jerry Bangs in Miss Esquire were coming fast as Muncey moved slowly through the turn, regaining momentum once hitting the straightaway. While there appeared to be nothing mechanically wrong, the truth was discovered a few laps later, that Atlas had indeed lost the turn fin from her left sponson. Then, reminiscent of the first Dayton Hydroglobe, the remaining boats passed Atlas, one by one, into higher positions.
Jerry Bangs was the first as he flew the Miss Esquire from the back of the pack. Esquire and Miss Madison started at the 1,000 foot "stagger start" marker behind the starting line and finished, remarkably, not too far behind the eventual race winner Miss Budweiser. Ron Snyder, driving the back-up Natural Light, earlier campaigned at Miss North Tool, took third, and rookie Jon Peddie finished fourth in Miss Madison. Muncey managed a fifth place finish with Atlas Van Lines after winning two earlier elimination heats and setting course records of 114.650-mph for a lap and 110.000 for a heat in his second round.
Remund and Snyder also started up front with Muncey, Remund by benefit of a first and a second in the prelims, Snyder by two victories. Bangs also scored a first and a second in the early going, but started in the stagger because of a slower elapsed time than Budweiser. Madison took two seconds in her heats.
For the Miss Budweiser team there were many reasons to celebrate. Their lead in the high point race nationally had stretched to 673 points over Atlas Van Lines. For Remund it was his second win of the season and the ninth in his short career with the Unlimiteds. And, for owner Bernie Little, a three-way tie with Ole Bardahi and Joe and Lee Schoenith for most victories by an owner at 27.
— Unlimiteds Detroit