Saturday, Jul. 14, 2007

Duking it out for Gold: Winner is anyone's guess

By Jody Moore, Hydro.commentator

Good news. The most coveted trophy in all of hydroplanedom is up for grabs this weekend in Detroit.

That's right, it's time yet again to contest the prestigious Gold Cup, motor sports' oldest trophy and the crown jewel for boat racers. Ah, life is good indeed, at least in Detroit.

A field of nine boats has assembled for the occasion, down one from the 10 that met at the season's two previous races in Evansville and Madison, Ind., during the previous two weekends.

So let's take a bet. Put your money on the table and tell me who is going to win it all this year. The field is incredibly close in quality, and the competition so far this year has been outstanding. So who are you going to go with?

Sure, you could take the easy way out and pick Dave Villwock in the U-16 Miss E-Lam Plus. And why not? Dave has been on a roll this year, snatching both Indiana victories and rolling out to an impressive high points lead.

Besides, history favors Villwock, no? The driver of the Big Orange One (six) has his name etched on the side of the Gold Cup trophy for wins in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2002. But wait. That same history seems to be bound and determined to put its smile on the most unlikely of heroes.

As boat-racing fans, you probably already know about Jim McCormick's 1971 against-all-odds victory in the under-funded, locally owned Miss Madison before a hometown crowd. It's such a great story that it found its way to the silver screen a few years ago as "Madison", with Jim Caviezel in the hero role.

But just in the past two decades, the Gold Cup has shown itself to be the most unlikely of races, bringing out something extra in everyone who competes, and frequently, yielding something special in return.

Consider Chip Hanauer's unlikely six-in-a-row streak from 1982 to 1988. Though his Atlas Van Lines and Miller American rides were one of the front-runners in the sport, the streak wasn't easy to come by.

In 1982, Hanauer was a replacement for legendary driver Bill Muncey, who perished in a crash the previous year. In 1984, his Atlas ride was one of those newfangled (and not quite proven) turbine-powered boats that had suffered plenty of teething problems up to that point.

In 1987, the race was contested on Mission Bay in San Diego, where the salt water frequently gave the turbine engines fits they hadn't learned how to cope with yet. And in 1988, he took over for John Prevost in the Circus Circus after his own boat failed to make the final.

But the Gold Cup has been even more generous to my favorite clan in all of racing -- the underdog. Let's hear it for the guys you never thought would pull it off!

Such as Mike Hanson (now crew chief of the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto) who won the 2001 Cup in the U-9 Miss Tubby's Subs. Or Mitch Evans, who blew the competition away to win the 2003 race in the piston-powered U-3 Miss Fox Hills Chrysler-Jeep, two decades AFTER the impressive (and loud) Allison aircraft engines had yielded to the tiny Lycoming turbines as the power plant of choice in the sport.

Nate Brown had the 2004 Gold Cup handed to him well after the end of the race when apparent winner Villwock was disqualified because of a rules violation during the race.

And of course, Terry Troxell pulled off a storybook victory in Dave Bartush's U-13 Miss Al Deeby Dodge, just two weeks after the team was formed in 2005. After a century of racing, Jean Theoret finally became the first Canadian to have his name on the trophy, winning last year's race in the U-37 Miss Beacon Plumbing. Even Villwock's first win was an unlikely one, a high point on the road to an unlikely national championship in Fred Leland's U-100 Pico American Dream.

So what's it going to be? Who are you going to put your money on? Villwock is on a roll, and owner Erick Ellstrom still hasn't seen Gold in Detroit. But despite a first-race blowover, Theoret is still looking strong. He bounced back for second in Evansville and sits in third place in high points, right behind Steve David in the Oh Boy! Oberto. That Madison-owned Oberto team can't be counted out either. Twenty-six years after their storied 1971 win, they are back with a brand-new boat (their first since 1988) and look incredibly strong. I don't think it's a matter of whether or not the U-6 will get its first victory, only when. Sunday might be the day. But don't count out defending national champion Mike Allen in the U-1 Formulaboats.com II or teammate Jeff Bernard in the U-5 Formulaboats.com. Their hulls combined for half a dozen Gold Cup victories in the past 15 years as part of the Miss Budweiser dynasty. And then of course there are previous Gold Cup victories for the U-3 Miss Chrysler-Jeep, U-13 Spirit of Detroit and U-100 Mirageboats.com. All three have different drivers from their victorious days in Jimmy King, J. Michael Kelly and Greg Hopp, respectively. But all three have impressive credentials. Geez, did I miss anybody? Oh yes, how about Ken Muscatel in the U-25 Jarvis Construction. The ultimate underdog. But the good doctor (Muscatel is a forensic psychologist) was consistent enough to earn a victory in one of the Gold Cup's preliminary heats last year after the front-runners faltered. Anything is possible. So there it is. A Gold Cup field that could very well finish up front. And it two days until a race where dreams come true, heroes are made, and dynasties are started, reinforced, or brought to an end. I don't know about you, but I'm putting my money on the only sure bet, and that's you and I. The fans ought to get something exciting to talk about, and by golly, I'll have something interesting to write about for the next two weeks until it's Columbia Cup time at last.

Have fun!

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