1995 JN Automotive Hydrofest
In The End, It Is All Miss Budweiser . . . Again
The season ends much as it begins: with Bernie Little's Miss Budweiser juggernaut in fine fettle, sweeping the boards in Honolulu just as it has in springtime romps at Phoenix and Detroit. But for the misfortune of tipping over at 185-plus in the San Diego final, Chip Hanauer likely has the broom out there, also, to go with a virtual sweep in rainswept Seattle.
The Final Heat At Honolulu Is All . . . Miss Budweiser
1. Chip Hanauer, Miss Budweiser, 145.410; 2. Mark Tate, Smokin' Joe's, 142.290; 3. Dave Villwock, PICO, 141.650; 4. T-PLUS Engine Treatment, Steve David, 138.415. DNF -- Mark Evans, Miss Columbia Communications (washed out); Scott Pierce, Miss Outrigger (caught fire, abandoned near pit area). DNS -- Mike Jones, Miss JN Automotive. Fast Lap -- Hanauer, Miss Budweiser, 154.855 (1st). Hanauer's 35-mile race average of 152.987 eclipsed the mark set last year by Dave Villwock in the American Dream (150.008).
(Reprinted from the URC Electronic Hydroletter, No. 32 October 19, 1995)
* * *
| WINNER | U-1 | Miss Budweiser | Chip Hanauer |
| 2nd | U-10 | Smokin' Joe's | Mark Tate |
| 3rd | U-100 | PICO | Dave Villwock |
| 4th | U-2 | Miss T-PLUS | Steve David |
| DNF | U- 99.9 | Miss Columbia Comm. | Mark Evans |
| DNF | U-50 | Miss Outrigger | Scott Pierce |
| DNS | U-7 | Miss JN Automotive | Mike Jones |
Like cream, the Miss Budweiser generally comes to the top. With Chip Hanauer at the wheel, it happened again this afternoon on Pearl Harbor as the 10-race 1995 Hooter Unlimited Hydroplane Series drew to a close with the sixth annual JN Automotive Hydrofest, witnessed by a record crowd of 65,000.
The big red Bud became the first boat in the history of the sport to win five consecutive Eagle Snacks Presents O'Doul's High Points champion-ships. And only the Budweisers, circa 1986-89 and 1991-94, had ever won four. Hanauer clinched it with a wire-to-wire romp in the five-lap, winner-take-all final of this $150,000 event.
Mark Tate and the Smokin' Joe's -- the only other boat with a chance at the championship -- fought a balky engine to second place, while Dave Villwock, despite losing a wing on the last lap, finished third in the PICO.
The season title thus was the ninth in ten seasons for the perennial defending champions. Close, but no cigar again, was Smokin' Joe's owner Steve Woomer of Auburn, WA. His team battled right down to the last lap here in 1994, only to lose by 46 points. This time, they led by 39 points coming into this event, but lost 10 of that margin when Hanauer set a course record qualifying mark of 172.385 miles an hour on Saturday.
Then, in each of the three preliminary heats, Hanauer and his recently- rebuilt Budweiser outhorsepowered Tate. The Bud, it may be recalled, was in pieces following a first-lap accident in the final heat at San Diego last month. But crew chief Ron Brown, who has played a key role in the last nine Bud world titles, oversaw an around-the-clock repair effort that resulted, ironically, in the team's most competitive boat of the season.
In the final compilation, Miss Budweiser outscored Smokin' Joe's for this season's boat title by 13,815 to 13,444, a difference of 371 points. Tate had earlier clinched a second straight driver's title.
For driver Hanauer, the 41-year old veteran from Seattle, it was his 58th career triumph -- and marked the fifth consecutive season [of his participation] that he has driven the championship boat. Hanauer interrupted the four-year Budweiser win skein in 1990 while driving the Miss Circus Circus, then sat out 1991 while Scott Pierce began a new Bud winning string.
Joining forces with owner Bernie Little in 1992, Hanauer has now put together four more championship years for the venerable Budweiser team boss. Thanks to two races missed due to injury (Evansville and Madison), Hanauer didn't win the individual driving championship, losing out in that category to Tate for a second straight year.
| Heat 1A (11:30) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ln | Boat | Name | Driver | Finish/Points | Speed | |
| 1 | U-1 | Miss Budweiser | Chip Hanauer | 1/400 | 156.696 | # |
| 2 | U-10 | Smokin' Joe's | Mark Tate | 2/300 | ||
| 3 | U-100 | PICO | Dave Villwock | 3/225 | ||
| 4 | U-2 | Miss T-PLUS | Steve David | 4/169 | ||
| # Fast Lap: (1st) | U-1 | 159.671 mph | ||||
| Heat 1B (12:00) | ||||||
| Ln | Boat | Name | Driver | Finish/Points | Speed | |
| 1 | U-99.9 | Miss Columbia Comm. | Mark Evans | 1/400 | 141.717 | # |
| 2 | U-50 | Miss Outrigger | Scott Pierce | 2/300 | ||
| 3 | U-19 | Appian Renegade | Tom Hindley | 3/225 | ||
| 4 | U-7 | Miss JN Automotive | Mike Jones | 4/169 | ||
| #- Fast Lap: (1st) | U-99.9 | 146.232 mph. | ||||
| Heat 2A (1:00) | ||||||
| Ln | Boat | Name | Driver | Finish/Points | Speed | |
| 2 | U-1 | Miss Budweiser | Chip Hanauer | 1/400/800 | 153.302 | |
| 1 | U-10 | Smokin' Joe's | Mark Tate | 2/300/600 | # | |
| 4 | U-19 | Appian Renegade | Tom Hindley | 3/225/450 | ||
| 3 | U-7 | Miss JN Automotive | Mike Jones | 4/169/338 | ||
| # Fast Lap: (2nd) | U-10 | 155.587 | ||||
| Heat 2B (1:30) | ||||||
| Ln | Boat | Name | Driver | Finish/Points | Speed | |
| 2 | U-100 | PICO | Dave Villwock | 1/400/625 | 151.032 | # |
| 4 | U-99.9 | Miss Columbia Comm. | Mark Evans | 2/300/700 | ||
| 1 | U-2 | Miss T-PLUS | Steve David | 3/225/394 | ||
| 3 | U-50 | Miss Outrigger | Scott Pierce | 4/169/394 | ||
| # Fast Lap: (1st) | U-100 | 153.439 mph | ||||
| Heat 3A (2:30) | ||||||
| Ln | Boat | Name | Driver | Finish/Points | Speed | |
| 1 | U-1 | Miss Budweiser | Chip Hanauer | 1/400/1200 | 155.587 | ' # |
| 3 | U-10 | Smokin' Joe's | Mark Tate | 2/300/900 | ||
| 2 | U-99.9 | Miss Columbia Comm. | Mark Evans | 3/225/925 | ||
| 4 | U-19 | Appian Renegade | Tom Hindley | DNF/0/450 | ||
| # Fast Lap: (2nd) | U-1 | 162.250 mph | ||||
| Heat 3B (3:00) | ||||||
| Ln | Boat | Name | Driver | Finish/Points | Speed | |
| 1 | U-100 | PICO | Dave Villwock | 1/400/1025 | 149.889 | # |
| 3 | U-2 | Miss T-PLUS | Steve David | 2/300/694 | ||
| 2 | U-50 | Miss Outrigger | Scott Pierce | 3/225/619 | ||
| 4 | U-7 | Miss JN Automotive | Mike Jones | 4/169/507 | ||
| # Fast Lap: (1st) | U-100 | 153.304 mph | ||||
| Final Heat (4:10) | ||||||
| Ln | Boat | Name | Driver | Finish/Points | Speed | |
| 1 | U-1 | Miss Budweiser | Chip Hanauer | 1/400/1600 | 145.410 | # |
| 4 | U-10 | Smokin' Joe's | Mark Tate | 2/300/1200 | ## | |
| 2 | U-100 | PICO | Dave Villwock | 3/225/1250 | * | |
| 5 | U-2 | Miss T-PLUS | Steve David | 4/169/863 | ||
| 3 | U-99.9 | Miss Columbia Comm. | Mark Evans | DNF/0/925 | ||
| 6 | U-50 | Miss Outrigger | Scott Pierce | DNF/0/619 | ||
| T | U-7 | Miss JN Automotive | Mike Jones | DNS/0/507 | ||
| # Fast Lap: (1st), wire-to-wire victory |
U-1 | 154.855 | ||||
| ## | - Suffered from poor engine performance | |||||
| * | - Lost wing on final lap | |||||
[Summary written by J Michael Kenyon]
(Reprinted from UHRA.com)