2003 Chrysler Jeep APBA Gold Cup
"A Gold Cup like no other!"
Mitch Evans turns it on for first piston win in Gold Cup in 20 years: brother Mark hurt in spectacular crash
Words and photo by Steve Garey
A story this incredible could only have one outcome: the only piston boat in the field won! I'm talking about the story of the 2003 Chrysler-Jeep Superstores APBA Gold Cup, a race that almost didn't happen. And when it finally did happen on August 23 and 24, Whew, what a contest!
Just six weeks before, the Gold Cup race at Detroit was dead in the water. All kinds of financial problems put the previous committee on the ropes. Into the ring stepped Tom D'Eath, Bart and Gary Garbrecht from Hydro-Prop, and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. None of them wanted to see the world's most prestigious boat race and the oldest trophy in motor sports go down for the count. D'Eath formed the Detroit River Regatta Association, rallied everybody to the call, including the metro-Detroit Chrysler-Jeep dealers, and put the big race back on the calendar.
But, what about the show? Would any of the Unlimited teams want to trek back East for one event? Surprise! Every race team was represented. Kim Gregory was so excited he entered two boats. All eleven drivers wanted to win this race. You could feel the excitement up and down pit row. You could see it in the drivers' eyes. This was the Gold Cup, and it was going to be a Gold Cup like no other.
Time trials began on Friday, August 22 with a tremendous flurry of activity in the busy Horace Dodge Pits on the banks of the newly-named Detroit International Water Speedway. The pits were jammed with 12 Unlimiteds, a whole fleet of Jersey Speed Skiffs, vintage hydroplanes, Grand Prix and Unlimited Lights, the latter two running in the Sweepstakes race for the Silver Cup. Ike Kielgass and Barbara Carper had the restored Gold Cup champion ('61 -'62) Miss Century 21 there for nostalgia.
Nate Brown and Ellstrom's Miss E-Lam Plus led the field with a two-lap average of 159.285 miles per hour during the first three qualifying sessions. Ten boats made runs on Friday. The trials were extended to Saturday morning and five boats increased their speeds, with Mark Evans and the Miss E-Lam Plus coming out on top at 159.514 mph. Brown's Friday speed held for second place points, followed by Mike Hanson in U-9 Al Deeby Dodge at 159.275, Mitch Evans in U-3 Fox Hills Chrysler Jeep-Sun Coatings at 158.392, Dave Villwock in the defending champ Miss Budweiser at 158.361, and Mike Weber in Greektown presents Miss DYC, the final points scorer at 156.849.
The rest of the field came in thusly: Terry Troxell in Miss Trendwest, 152.107; Ken Muscatel in Fluid Systems Engineering, 150.120; Steve David in Oh Boy! Oberto, 149.644; rookie JW Myers in Fred Leland's Epoch Events/American Pride, 148.939. Mark Weber, who came out of retirement for one last shot at the Gold Cup, got the U-15 Miss Chrysler-Jeep in at 159.109 after some hull damage repair work kept him out of Friday's action.
The Gold Cup is a two-day affair, so the boats ran both sections of Heats 1 and 2 on Saturday (four laps each) and Heats 3 and 4 and the Final on Sunday (all five-lappers).
Heat 1-A on Saturday brought out Miss Budweiser, Trendwest, Oh Boy! Oberto, Miss E-Lam Plus, Al Deeby Dodge, and Miss Chrysler-Jeep. Boats were assigned lanes for Heat 1.
Mark Evans led from the start in the LLumar. In the early going, Al Deeby Dodge held second and Miss Budweiser was third. Trendwest and Oberto were next and Miss Chrysler-Jeep trailed.
On lap 3, Hanson's Dodge boat stalled and Villwock passed for second place. Troxell and David were battling for third the whole four laps with Troxell taking it. Hanson restarted and finished 5th ahead of Weber in the U-15. LLumar's fastest lap was the first one at 152.894. Bill Wurster's new yellow boat looked primed.
Heat 1-B brought out Fox Hills-Sun Coatings, Ellstrom's, Miss DYC, Fluid Systems, and Epoch Events.
Mark Evans' brother Mitch took off in the lone piston powered boat and led into the first turn ahead of Mike Weber in the DYC. Muscatel's U-25 and Myers' U-100 trailed. The Ellstrom boat crossed over the U-3's roostertail and stalled in the turn. Evans led all the way at a 144.092 clip with DYC a close second. On lap 2, Epoch Events stalled on the front straight, leaving Fluid Systems alone in third. U-16 and U-100 did not finish.
Prior to the start of Heat 2-A, in which drivers would be fighting for lanes, the Trendwest flipped over in the Roostertail Turn as the fast field approached the line. All entries shut down on the front straightaway as rescue boats rushed to the scene. Terry Troxell was pulled from his safety hatch and waved that he was OK. The U-2 was towed back to the pits and a round-the-clock repair job began for Jim Harvey's crew.
In the restart, JW Myers took the lead and held it, but was penalized for jumping the starter's gun. Mike Weber in Miss DYC went down in the first turn. Mark Weber in Chrysler-Jeep chased Steve David in the Oberto for the four laps, but came up short at the finish line with Oberto taking the win. Ken Muscatel trailed in third, and Epoch Events did a penalty lap and finished fourth. Mike Weber's boat was towed back to the pits in sinking condition as the gear box had shelled out and nearly tore the hull in half.
In a flying start in 2-B, all five boats roared into the Belle Isle Bridge turn together. Mike Hanson came out first and took off, leading a hungry pack down the back stretch. Mitch Evans' U-3 was second, Mark Evans' LLumar was third, Villwock and Miss Budweiser were fourth and Ellstrom's U-16 was fifth. Bud and Ellstrom's fought it out for fourth, switching positions at every turn, but Brown's U-16 hit a buoy on lap # 1 and was penalized. At the finish, it was Al Deeby Dodge ahead by ¼ lap over Fox Hills, LLumar and Budweiser. Ellstrom's E-Lam Plus was fifth.
On Sunday morning, the Trendwest crew had their boat back in shape for Terry Troxell. Things weren't so sunny in the Kim Gregory pit. The U-10 Miss DYC was withdrawn with a gaping hole punched right through the bottom. Kim's hopes for victory now lay with Mark Weber and the U-15.
A screaming start greeted the crowds in Heat 3-A with five hot boats and drivers looking for glory. Mike Hanson, on the inside, took a good lead with Dave Villwock chasing. The piston boat was third and LLumar and Oberto battled spectacularly for fourth. Coming out of the fourth corner on lap #2 Hanson's U-9 hooked and spun. At the same instant Mark Evans' LLumar kited off the water in front of the Detroit Yacht Club and did a backward somersault, coming down right side up but landing hard. Steve David witnessed the flip first-hand and shut the Oberto down. Villwock did the same with Miss Budweiser after taking over the lead. The race was red flagged as the LLumar was seen floating inside the Yacht Club docks.
Rescue boats arrived on the scene and extricated the injured Evans from the cockpit. He was rushed to shore and to the hospital with two fractures of his right leg and spinal damage. The U-8 was towed to the pits in sinking condition.
The racing had become so intense to this point that it seemed to harken back to the '50's and the old Detroit-Seattle rivalry. There was that air of breathless anticipation in the crowds onshore - that feeling that they were viewing something important, something historic. It was almost like the entire Detroit International Water Speedway was in a vacuum. It felt and sounded that way.
Heat 3-B was run next. Nate Brown smoked the E-Lam Plus into the lead entering the Belle Isle backstretch, passing Troxell and Trendwest on the outside. U-100 Epoch Events ran up the middle as the three giant hydroplanes dueled toward the DYC docks. Ken Muscatel's U-25 was a steady fourth and Miss Chrysler-Jeep was late and trailing. Brown opened up a commanding lead. On lap #3 JW Myers' U-100 cut to the inside of the Trendwest, looking for racing room, and then back to the outside, the Lycoming turbine ingesting water and slowing considerably. Muscatel passed him on lap 4 and Weber did the same. Weber finally passed Muscatel for fourth place, losing his engine cowl in the process. Nate Brown's fastest lap was his second at 152.529 mph.
In the restart of 3-A, Mitch Evans Fox Hills-Sun Coatings boat stalled before the start way down by the bridge. Miss Budweiser made a good start on the inside Hanson and Al Deeby Dodge gave chase for a lap, then backed off for second place. David in the Oberto trailed the distance in third. Mitch, the lone Evans boy left in the race, got no points after being on top following the Saturday rounds. Would he make the final championship heat? Stay tuned.
Heat 4-A was another wild one. JW Myers and his American flag-colored U-100 tore into the lead in the first turn, but Nate Brown in the Ellstrom came up on the outside and the two drag raced to the Roostertail turn. Brown took a slim lead as Myers semi-hooked in the 4th corner. Mark Weber's Miss Chrysler-Jeep was a steady third, losing the engine cowl on lap #2. Terry Troxell's Trendwest passed Ken Muscatel's Fluid Systems for fourth and then lost his engine cowl on lap 4. Brown won by ¼ lap over Myers, but Myers had the fastest lap - his second — at 143.378.
The last preliminary heat of the day brought out U-9, U-6, U-3 and U-1. Evans in the Fox Hills outpowered Hanson in the Deeby Dodge down the first backstretch with Bud in third and Oberto in fourth. On lap 2 the Bud veered through Hanson's roostertail, busting a front canard wing. Bud stalled momentarily and U-6 went past. Villwock restarted but was last. Evans won at a 142.946 mph pace and gained enough points to make the cut. He was in the finals.
After two days of heart-pounding racing, the final field was set. Defending champ Dave Villwock and Joe Little's Miss Budweiser would go up against Mike Hanson, Nate Brown, Steve David, Mitch Evans, and their super sleds in the 99th running of the APBA Gold Cup Championship.
In a tremendous speed performance, the Allison-powered Fox Hills-Sun Coatings came roaring out of the turn with the lead, and Mitch Evans never looked back! The sight of a piston banger leading four of the fastest turbines in the world was really exhilarating to the cheering crowds on shore. Al Deeby Dodge held second until lap #2 when the mighty Miss Budweiser got past and lit out after Evans. Ellstrom's E-Lam Plus went down in the first turn on lap 2 while holding third place. Oh Boy! Oberto trailed. After five grueling laps, Mitch Evans took the checkered flag about a turn ahead of the Budweiser, averaging 144.152, winning his first Gold Cup and second race of the 2003 season. Mike Hanson was third in the Deeby Dodge, and Steve David was fourth in the Oberto.
As Mitch was towed into the new Chrysler-Jeep winner's circle next to the grandstands, the 43-year-old driver from Chelan, Washington felt the bittersweetness of winning the Gold Cup, but knowing that his brother Mark lay injured in the hospital and couldn't be there to share his joy.
But a screaming crowd and a cell phone call from Mark made it all right and Mitch could finally celebrate.
Over the years, the APBA Gold Cup has meant many things to many different people. But this year, at a race that almost didn't happen, owner Ed Cooper, driver Mitch Evans and the entire U-3 crew overcame their turbine rivals and proved that piston boats can still compete in the magnificent world of Unlimited hydroplane racing.
(Thunderboat, October 2003)