2000 Budweiser Columbia Cup with Wings
E-Lam Wins Columbia Cup; Bud Streak Ends
by Bill Osborne
Mark Evans took advantage of Miss Budweiser's misfortune and a miscalculation by Greg Hopp to bring E-Lam Plus its first-ever win in the 35th running of the Columbia Cup. Dave Villwock's day ended early in heat 2A, when Ken Muscatel lost control of Miss Freei and caused Miss Budweiser to crash. In the final, Hopp dropped Znetix off plane for almost 10 seconds in order to gain lane 1. "I saw Znetix and YORK early and off plane, " Evans said, "What are they doing? I'm not going to play that game." He made his start and chased after Znetix, knowing that Hopp should be penalized. "By the fourth lap, I knew they were definitely going to penalize Hopp, so I stopped pushing so hard. I didn't want to do anything goofy like wreck the boat. " Evans steered E-Lam around the course to victory for the Ellstrom family at a speed of 139.735 mph.
George Stratton also decided not to play the game, which referee Mike Noonan called a "parking lot start." According to Stratton, "I was early and saw them off plane. I didn't want to get penalized, so I looped around the field and made a start at full speed." It was a good move, one that kept Appian Jeronimo legal and allowed Stratton to take second place.
Nate Brown drove Oh Boy! Oberto into third place, followed by the weekend's surprise entrant, Terry Troxell piloting Znetix II. Znetix, Vacationville.com, and YORK finished in that order, though Hopp lost his fifth-place position when he was cited for a flagrant fuel violation.
Testing and Qualifying
Mark Weber in YORK turned in Friday's top speed, but the big news of the day was that violations wiped out Miss Budweiser's times and placed the red boat at the bottom of the scale. YORK's 157.640 was followed by Freddie's Club (Mark Tate) which continued to surprise many observers with a vastly improved boat ride. Znetix, Jeronimo, and Miss Go Bowling (Mike Hanson) rounded out the top five positions. Another notable violator was E-Lam Plus.
Before the Saturday session, Bernie Little said, "We are ready to turn a lap of 160."
After changing gears and prop and loosening up the hull, Villwock clocked a 160.148 mph (in T6; T5 only tested). Not a bad prediction.
The big news came from Freddie's Club, which lost its prop, tore off the strut and stuffing box, and trashed the new gearbox that the team bought in Detroit. Too bad, because Jim Harvey's boat was really looking like a contender.
Heat 1
Hopp circled the course before 1 A, intending to grab lane 1. He kept a watchful eye on Villwock. "I knew where he was at all times. When he went deep in the last minute and a half, I cut the course inside of him and took lane 1 at the score-up buoy." Bud settled into lane 2.
Both boats made good starts, with Hopp slightly out in front. The rest of the field trailed going into the first turn. Most notably late was Nate Brown driving Oh Boy! Oberto. Jeronimo was outside and a bit late as well. The heat turned into a parade with Villwock unsuccessfully trying to pass from lane 2. In the last turn, he did manage to close ground, but Hopp held him off to win. "I knew he was coming up, so I put the wing down and flew it as hard as I could, " said Hopp.
Oberto moved through the field to take third followed by Go Bowling, LLumar (Jimmy King), and Jeronimo, which just couldn't get up to speed. Stratton was very disappointed, "This was the same combination that ran so well at Detroit and qualified fast here, but all I could get was 98% N2. You just can't win unless you are close to the 110% limit."
Afterwards officials announced that Hopp had two violations, stripping him of the 400 points earned in the heat. He was still the official heat winner, but no points were added to his race total.
Mark Evans started his racing day on a good note, capturing heat 1B despite a last-lap charge by Weber in YORK and some confusion by Troxell in Znetix II before the start. As the boats headed to the west end of the course in the one-minute period, rookie Troxell, who was supposed to trail the field by one roostertail, suddenly turned hard left and cut across Mark Evans' lane. Troxell explained, "Hooked, and no one was there, so I moved over — then I remembered that I wasn't allowed to do that, so I moved back outside." Evans' take on the matter was casual considering the potential for a bad situation. "When I saw Terry cut across the infield, I called my crew on radio and said, "What was that! Oh well, it's no biggie, the refs will take care of it. I still have a lane, so we're OK."
Mark Weber said, "I just missed the start, and by the time I got to the turn, I had nowhere to go. When you make a mistake like this you can get wet, and I did. " Weber drove hard enough to take second-place points, but he could not overtake Evans. Troxell finished third with apparent ease, unlike Ken Muscatel in Miss Freei, who battled Mitch Evans in Vacationville for two hard laps before taking fourth place.
Heat 2
The outcome of the entire race was impacted in the first turn, when Miss Budweiser was taken out of contention by one of the most unusual accidents in recent memory. According to referee Rick Sandstrom, "Miss Freei went out of control and turned to the right, towards Bud, who went right into the spray from Nate Brown's Oberto and launched in a flat trajectory over the lane occupied by Mike Hanson in Go Bowling." Somewhere along the line, Go Bowling's right sponson hit Bud's left transom shoe. Budweiser landed hard on the edge of its right sponson, tearing off most of the sponson's non-trip and blowing open a large chunk of the deck.
Villwock continued to run, but he was no longer competitive. Afterwards he spoke in harsh terms regarding Muscatel and his boat. "'Muscateer' did it again! I saw him moving and said, 'This ain't going to happen!' I planted it [turned the canard wing up as high as it would go, to slow the boat] and held on. If you wait until you are in the wake of another boat, it's too late. The boat took off and came down hard. Muscatel shouldn't be anywhere near lane 1, driving that boat on the inside, and he knows it — but he continues to do it. Every time he does it, he costs someone. He cost us in Seattle [1999 final heat], and here he took out 20 percent of the field. It's to be expected from Muscatel." Muscatel denied causing the problems for Villwock. "I was in the turn, and things got tight. He was late, and he had nowhere to go. If he had made it to the turn on time, which he was able to do in the earlier heat, there would have been no problem."
Villwock easily could have landed on top of Hanson or have been torpedoed by him. In either case, serious injuries might have resulted. Except for minor bumps and bruises, neither driver was hurt.
The same couldn't be said for the boats. Go Bowling had a small hole along the sheer line of the right sponson and will be ready for Seattle. Miss Budweiser was not so lucky. T6 lost most of the right sponson and has a broken spar. T5 or T3 will take over in Seattle and probably San Diego, while T6 is repaired for 2001.
Almost lost in the confusion was the heat itself, won by Oberto, which passed Znetix in lap 3 after a pretty good duel. Somehow Villwock kept Bud running to take a distant third. Go Bowling, Vacationville, and Freei, which was cited for a lane violation and punished with an additional lap, took fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively.
Stratton found the correct combination and easily won 2B, followed by his teammate Weber, who made a better start but lacked the power to overtake Jeronimo. Mark Evans, who just missed his start, had to make his way through traffic to finish third.
"I was 'way too late. I was almost last across the line, so I had to pass LLumar to get the points. " LLumar finished fourth, while Troxell recorded his first DNF when he was black-flagged, because his canopy was not completely latched.
Heat 3
Mark Evans and Greg Hopp staged a great 3A race, running side by side until Znetix stalled in the last turn. Hopp re-started but not until Troxell passed his stalled mate to take second.
YORK and Oberto battled for almost a lap until Weber pulled away for good to win 3B. LLumar and Freei raced for most of three laps. When King moved ahead, he made a run at Oberto but came up short.
Provisional Heat
Muscatel grabbed lane 1 and led the pack of three into the first turn. What looked like a good race suddenly became scary. Freei entered the turn with its right side high. Muscatel settled the boat down only to have it come unhooked at the apex and spin violently, sliding towards LLumar. According to King, "I saw a lot of white water coming at me." The race was over, and LLumar went on to win while Mitch Evans took Vacationville back to the pits, apparently finished for the day. The LLumar crew discovered a broken motor mount and several deck cracks. Sadly, they pulled out of the final. Freei also passed, so Vacationville made it as the trailer.
Final
For Evans and the Ellstroms, it was a great victory. For five years, they have conducted themselves with dignity and independence from the politics of unlimited racing, always striving for excellence. If good things do happen to good people, then the Ellstroms serve as proof.
The fuel-limitation rule, intended to prevent one team from completely dominating the circuit, achieved its goal but not without some hard feelings from the Bud camp. Every member of the team feels that the punishment for success is too severe. Mike Campbell used the analogy of handicapping Michael Jordan by taking away his shoes, while Villwock said, "It's like making Tiger Woods use a shovel if he wins too often on the PGA tour." Hopefully, the new administration will come up with a more equitable method to achieve parity.
Mark Evans, who reveled in victory, had one last comment about the outcome. "The good news is that we won, but the problem is that we lose some fuel for next week." Before feeling too sorry for Evans, there are 10 other drivers who would be willing to trade places with him and have that problem!
(Unlimited NewsJournal, September, 2000)