Sunday, Jul. 30, 2006

Villwock's Atomic Cup comes sweetly after flip

By Jody Moore, Hydro.commentator

Dave Villwock went from the bottom of the river to top of the hydro world Sunday with a big victory in the Atomic Cup for Unlimited Hydroplanes on the Columbia River in Tri-Cities, Wash.

Villwock's Miss E-Lam Plus team recovered from unlikely odds for the win after flipping the boat in heat 2A earlier in the day. Villwock said it was fortunate that the boat wasn't severely damaged in the accident.

"The crew did a great job," Villwock said. "I made a mistake early and got lucky that we were able to continue."

Villwock said he was angry after the accident, but rallied the team when he realized that there was a possibility of continuing.

"That's why I popped out so bad, because I was just mad at myself, because I knew that I had somehow contributed, with the wind and all the waves and all of that," Villwock said. "And I had not quite reacted to it correctly. I was just mad when I got out and as soon as I surveyed the boat, I said 'man, I've got to get back on the radio. Get the cannard out. Get the wing out. This thing's in good shape. Let's go!'"

Villwock laid all of the credit for the victory at the hands of his team, who performed phenomenally under the circumstances.

"It shows the championship-caliber team. They don't quit. They got her back together and put together an awesome piece of equipment," he said. "And I was able to get it into a good place where I didn't get into a fight with anyone else or get into a collision, or any of those things.

Delays throughout the day forced the final heat to a conclusion at nearly 7:00 p.m., about two and a half hours later than anticipated. The delays started with weather problems early in the day, then extended further with Villwock's flip in heat 2A, J Michael Kelley's flip in heat 3B, and a fire aboard the ACCS G-24 boat owned by Mike Eacret. By the time the final heat ran, the sun had sunk low in the western sky, nearly blinding the drivers as they went down the backstretch.

"That last heat, boy, it was hard to see. I mean, we were staring right into the sun late in the day. The bumps looked a lot bigger in the sun, I can tell you that," Villwock joked.

Villwock said he was using the dead boat of Jimmy King in the U-3 Conover Insurance as a marker for the turn. King led the field through the first lap, but went dead on lap two after breaking a post off of the batteries and losing ignition.

"That's too bad," said U-3 owner Ed Cooper, Jr. "We really thought we had something for them there."

JW Myers had a solid second place finish in the U-10 Solutions Plus. In many ways, it was a victory for the embattled team that has limped home from its last two outings with severe damage to the boat.

"It's a long ways from where we were in the last couple of races. We'd come out of here with a big giant hole in the bottom and busted up pieces, just out of parts and with our heads hung down low," Myers said. "We came around, and worked hundreds of hours to put it together. It was up to me to show the fans what we could do."

Myers easily outdistanced Steve David, who placed third in the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto. Jean Theoret earned fourth place points in the U-37 Beacon Plumbing. He was running in third early on, but had to circle around and make up a buoy after missing one in the far turn on lap two.

"Dave just beat us. Those guys have got their stuff together, and we got beat," Myers said "All the same parts we left with are still on it, and that's a bonus."

Mike Weber was fifth in the U-5 Formulaboats.com, but earned a monetary fine for bearing out in the first turn of lap one. (Check out our onboard video from the Oberto for a great shot of Weber unhooking and hopping out.) King did not finish in the U-3, while Kevin Aylesworth wasn't able to get the motor started to get the U-21 Area Codes Cellular presented by Meyers Auto Tech off the dock.

Racing action will continue here in the northwest next weekend with the Chevrolet Cup at Seafair in Seattle. The Unlimiteds, ACCS and Unlimited Lights will all compete. Qualifying begins on Saturday, August 4, with racing on August 5 and 6.

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