1989 Budweiser Thunder On The Ohio
Lauterbach, Winston Eagle avoid trouble, win Evansville race
By Jim Terhune, Staff Writer
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - "Most of the racing," Miss Risley's driver, Todd Yarling, said, "is done before the start. Because once it starts, you need to have the right lane and be on top of the gun."
So it came to pass that Chip Hanauer in Circus Circus ran over a buoy on the back-stretch of the last warmup lap.
Mr. Pringle's took enough watery hits from roostertails as Scott Pierce turned it toward the start buoy that it looked as if it had hit an underwater mine, with damage to the cowling and rear end.
A trailing Miss Budweiser was so flooded that it conked out.
Circus Circus led all the way but was penalized a lap for dislodging the buoy. Miss Bud was out of the hunt. Mr. Pringle's slipped back an eighth of a mile and couldn't recover.
And Larry Lauterbach in the Winston Eagle emerged from the rain forest to win the Thunder on the Ohio unlimited hydroplane race yesterday on the Ohio River before about 70,000 fans.
"I didn't know anything about the penalty until I saw the white flag stay out when Chip went by (for the last lap)," Lauterbach said. "I didn't believe it when I saw that. But I knew I was the next guy in line, so I knew it must be me."
Circus Circus was easily the class of the lot. It had set a two-mile world record of 150.407 miles per hour in qualifying. But Lauterbach felt the Eagle was a worthy champion.
"I don't feel we backed into it," he said. "Circus Circus had more power, but we got a good clean start, and I thought we had the best boat in the final."
The Winston Eagle finished five laps or 10 miles at an average of 120.939 mph. Mr. Pringle's finished second, about 20 boat lengths back with a speed of 119.125.
Miss Risley's, running with a turbine made for boats rather than the ones in Circus Circus, Miss Budweiser and Mr. Pringle's constructed for helicopters, grabbed third.
An ecstatic Yarling, whose best previous finish was a second in a piston-driven boat in 1987, said, "This is a Cinderella story. To get third blew me away. I almost fell out of the boat. But we're coming inch by inch with this boat. It's built to handle salt water better than the others, and we're going to win the Gold Cup in San Diego.''
Circus Circus got fourth, Miss Bud fifth and the Holset Miss Madison lost a turbocharger in the final heat and didn't finish.
Oh Boy! Oberto, driven by George Woods Jr. and third in the national points standings coming in, blew an engine in the first heat, had oil problems in the second and failed to finish either one.
Steve Conway, a crew member for the ARC Construction craft, escaped serious injury when a buckle on the sling broke as it was lifting the boat onto the trailer after the first heat.
The boat fell about three feet onto the trailer. Conway dove out of the way and hurt his shoulder as he hit the concrete ramp. He was treated and released at a local hospital.
The boat suffered minor damage that was fixed in time for the second heat, then accumulated enough points to be the alternate for the six-boat final.
(Reprinted from the Louisville Courier-Journal, July 10, 1989)