1986 Budweiser Columbia Cup
7-Eleven Just Does Slow Burn
TRI-CITIES -- When the unlimited hydroplanes finally touch down on the Columbia River for the first heat of the Columbia Cup at about 11:45 this morning, Steve Reynolds and the Miss 7-Eleven racing team already will have been 24 hours into the race.
Their race, however, is against time. Their turbine-powered hydro has been running a fever and the 7-Eleven team has been scurrying for a remedy virtually since the start of the 1986 season.
The 7-Eleven's turbine engines have been generating temperatures excessive enough to cause its fuel control to restrict the amount of horsepower the motors produce. A turbine fuel control takes into account various internal and atmospheric factors -- temperature is just one -- in monitoring the fuel intake and resulting power the engine produces.
Wednesday, the first day of qualifying, the 7-Eleven's temperature was so high, Reynolds was unable to complete a qualifying lap. Thursday, the condition improved enough that Reynolds was able to turn a top lap of 134.429 mph.
At the time, Reynolds was hitting a top speed of about 160 mph.
Since the 7-Eleven's engine temperature was then receding, he was confident he could start building the speed and horsepower back up to desirable levels.
"We just have to systematically build our way back up," Reynolds said Thursday. "We can't rush it. We tried to rush earlier in the year, and it cost us some mediocre performances."
The 7-Eleven hydro indeed has performed a Big Gulp below expectations so far this season.
This is the first year of a turbine limit of 2,650 horsepower produced by the Lycoming T-55 L-7 engines. Until Miller American's Chip Hanauer logged 144.485 mph on the L-7 this week, Reynolds' 144.462 mph lap here last year had been the standard for the engine. Based mainly on that performance, Reynolds and 7-Eleven had been installed as preseason favorites. But, four races into 1986, Reynolds so far has been outclassed by his turbine brethren, Hanauer and Jim Kropfeld of Miss Budweiser.
"Now, time is beginning to be a precious commodity," Reynolds said. "I really don't know if we have enough time to correct the problem."
Ironically, the high-tech 7-Eleven now is plagued by a lack of available technology. In a best-case scenario, the team already would have had its engines checked on a dynamometer, but lacked the time to do so. So, it is having to settle for the boat, and its less accurate gauges, as a replacement.
"Right now, it's just a best-guess situation for us," Reynolds conceded.
If the 7-Eleven team is unable to resolve the temperature problem by race time, Reynolds will have to settle for less power, thus drastically altering his racing strategy.
"If we're not able to develop competitive horsepower, all I can do is keep the engine alive, finish and accumulate as many high points as possible," Reynolds said. "There has been no pressure from our sponsors or our owner. But I can feel the pressure building within the team, the urgency to do well, to win."
With the Reynolds boat in its sickly state, the task of keeping today's Columbia Cup from becoming a two-boat, Bud-Miller race is left to the top two piston drivers, Tom D'Eath of The Squire Shop and Scott Pierce of Mr. Pringles. Though D'Eath came within a nitrous bottle of doing so in Evansville, he believes the challenge may be insurmountable here.
"I call this course the St. Petersburg of unlimited racing," said D'Eath, "because it is so fast and the conditions are so good. It is the perfect course for the turbines."
Even though Hanauer laid down the week's top qualifying speed, Reynolds said, "I don't think Miller American is the boat to beat."
Hanauer agreed.
"Whatever we do, I'm sure Jim Kropfeld and the Miss Budweiser can match," he said after turning his pace-setting lap Thursday.
Sure enough, Kropfeld made Hanauer's words ring prophetic Friday. Known more for his qualifying restraint, Kropfeld surprised many by turning a 144.069 mph lap that was only an eye lash slower than Hanauer's.
"I like to see what I can do," said Kropfeld, "but if I go out and run a 155 mph lap, everybody's going to be aiming for me. I hate to show my hand. I'm sure the lap that Chip did wasn't their best, either."
Said Hanauer: "Without a doubt, Budweiser has closed the gap.
We've been running this boat for three years and can't keep progressing our boat when its already been running close to its potential. The Budweiser has not even been close to theirs."
ROOSTER TALES: Mike Hanson of Federal Way passed his unlimited driver's qualification yesterday. Hanson, who will pilot Fred Leland's U-100, mainly forged his limited-class reputation in the Madam Blue, a world record holder in the 225 class. . . . The only boat that failed to qualify for today's race is Horizon Air. Driver Jerry Hopp of Seattle will have an opportunity to qualify the hydro from 9 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. today. If Hopp qualifies, he will be seeded into Heat 1B.
| Columbia Cup The draw: Heat 1A (noon): Chip Hanauer, Miller American, qualified at 144.485 mph; Scott Pierce, Mr. Pringles, 135.338; Ron Snyder, Holset Miss Madison, 122.183; Mike Hanson, U-100 (unsponsored), 117.540; Todd Yarling, Cellular One, 115.104, and Jack Schafer, Tempus, 111.359. Heat 1B (12;30 p.m.): Jim Kropfeld, Miss Budweiser, 144.069; Tom D'Eath, The Squire Shop, 135.685; Steve Reynolds, Miss 7-Eleven, 134.429; Milner Irvin, Frank Kenney Unlimited, 126.814, and George Johnson, Oh Boy! Oberto, 113.881. Radio: Final heat, KVI (570 AM), 4 p.m. |
(Reprinted from The Seattle Times, July 27, 1986)