1989 Budweiser Columbia Cup
D'Eath Gets Psyched For Tough Heat
Columbia Cup Field Sets Sights On Favorite
PASCO — It's human nature that people prefer the easy way out.
But Miss Budweiser driver Tom D'Eath laughs in the face of that tradition.
D'Eath and the Bud were drawn into the toughest of the 24th Columbia Cup's two opening heats, and he's delighted.
D'Eath, who led qualifying with a record 155.206-mph lap around the 2-mile course, will face the third and fourth fastest qualifiers — Larry Lauterbach in the Winston Eagle and Chip Hanauer in Miss Circus Circus — when Heat 1A opens today's regatta on the Columbia River at noon.
The second swiftest qualifier, Scott Pierce in Mr. Pringle's (148.976 mph), was assigned to the less-competitive Heat 1B.
"I want a re-draw," D'Eath said moments after the heat assignments were announced. "We want Scott (Pierce) in there, too. We want to be the best, so we have to beat the best."
The Miss Budweiser team, chasing its fourth consecutive national title, leads the national standings by less than 200 points and wants to meet its closet pursuers head-on to pad the slim lead.
Twelve boats qualified for today's regatta, which will be contested in five six-boat heats. The championship final is scheduled for 4:10 p.m.
D'Eath, who had a world record disallowed Friday because the Columbia Cup course was 22 feet short of two miles, did not make a run at the record yesterday, even though he took the Bud out several times.
"We would have liked to have set the record, but that's not a team goal," said D'Eath. "There was no need to risk our equipment. We want to win the race. We just wanted to try out some different combinations."
Based on the way the Bud chewed through the course during qualifying, most observers are ready to concede today's race to D'Eath.
But Lauterbach thinks the Bud is beatable under the right conditions — namely, strong winds and rough water.
Today's weather forecast contains predictions of possible thunder showers and gusting winds in the afternoon. But yesterday was the kind of day that gave the Pasco-Richland-Kennewick region the nickname "the Fried-Cities" — temperatures in the low 90s, little or no wind and plenty of flat water on the course. The kind of condition the Bud thrives in.
"I think it will be the usual program, a battle between the four top turbines," said Lauterbach. "Especially if the wind comes up. Our boat likes rough water, so that could swing the advantage to our boat."
Lauterbach's ride is the Winston team's five-year-old boat, which is several hundred pounds heavier than the Bud. The team's new boat, a radical design by crew chief Jim Lucero, is parked for the year.
Lauterbach said Hanauer, who also is driving a Lucero-designed hull, could be a factor if the water gets bumpy.
"The Bud has been the fastest in qualifying, but the rest of us (turbine-powered boats) will be running good come race day," said Lauterbach. "It's going to be close."
D'Eath said adjustments to the Bud's hull since its victory at Syracuse have improved its rough-water performance and handling.
"If it gets rough, That's when we'll be at our best," he said.
Pierce, whose boat has gone airborne twice this season, said Mr. Pringle's is running better than ever.
"That last crash (at Syracuse July 16) seems to have straightened out our problems," Pierce said. "The boat really handled well when we ran 148, and I still had plenty of throttle left."
Unlike Lauterbach, who is hoping for rough-and-tumble water, Pierce is praying today's weather is exactly like yesterday's.
"Our boat is set up for these conditions," he said. "The Bud is faster, but the gap has narrowed."
D'Eath is hoping he'll be seeing double after today's race. He won the last race at Syracuse and was the 1988 Columbia Cup winner.
"In a way, we aren't racing the other boats here," D'Eath said. "We are racing against ourselves, trying to make Miss Budweiser race to its full potential."
NOTES: Bernie Little's Budweiser team, which has won the past three national titles, has won the past two Columbia Cups — with Jim Kropfeld driving in 1987 and D'Eath last year. Little's boats have won five races on the Columbia, but each time a different driver has been in the boat. They were Bill Brow (1966), Dean Chenoweth (1973), Ron Snyder (1978), Kropfeld (1987) and D'Eath (1988). . . . Oh Boy, Oberto!, driven by George Woods Jr., qualified at 125.206 mph, but was nearly disabled by the effort. The boat's skid fin broke off during its qualifying run, but didn't hit the bottom of the speeding boat. The fin was recovered from the bottom of the river by course divers shortly afterwards. . . . U-85 Miss Northwest (driver Jack Schafer), which didn't arrive in the pits until two hours before the end of qualifying, didn't make a run yesterday. It will be allowed to qualify as an alternate during this morning's test period.
| HEAT 1A — U-1 Miss Budweiser, Tom D'Eath (155.206 mph — course record); U-2 Oh Boy, Oberto!, George Woods, Jr. (125.196); U-3 Cooper's Express, Mitch Evans (126.183); U-7 Jackpot Food Mart, Jerry Hopp (105.008); U-10 Winston Eagle, Larry Lauterbach (138.51); U-31 Miss Circus Circus, Chip Hanauer (137.427). HEAT 1B — U-6 Holset/Miss Mazda, Mike Hanson (130,909); U-8 Mr. Pringle's, Scott Pierce (148.976); U-11 U.S. West Cellular, Todd Yarling (126.427); U-88 Miss Tri-Cities, Ron Snyder (109.008); U-99.9 KISW/Miss Rock, Jack Barrie (110.26); U-146 Pietro's Pizza, Steve David (116.732). Heats 2A and 2B will be drawn after Heats 1A and 1B are completed. TODAY'S SCHEDULE 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m. — Testing. 11 — Opening ceremonies. Noon — Heat 1A. 12:30 p.m. — Heat 1B. 1:45 — Heat 2A. 2:15 — Heat 2B. 4:10 — Championship final. Point standings (after 6 races) — 1, Miss Budweiser, 6,402. 2, Miss Circus Circus, 6,234. 3, Oh Boy! Oberto, 4,182. 4, Winston Eagle, 4,121. 5, Holset/Miss Mazda, 4,088. 6, Mr. Pringle's, 3,975. 7, Cooper's Express, 2,505. 8, Pietro's Pizza, 971. 9, U.S. West, 957. 10, Jackpot Food Mart, 915. 11, Sundek, 694. 12, Miss Tri-Cities, 225. 13, KISW-Miss Rock, 0. |
(Reprinted from The Seattle Times, July 30, 1989)