Dean Chenoweth showed he could dominate on this river. Between he and Bill Muncey, they were the sport's two superstars - with up-and-coming Chip Hanauer on the way.

A few weeks before the Atomic Cup, Jim McCormick drove the Miss Madison to an upset victory in the Gold Cup in his hometown of Madison, Ind.

By 1989, everyone was driving a turbine boat, except the U-3 Cooper's Express. Ed Cooper Sr. and Jr. had been coming to town for years racing a piston-powered boat.

There are so many Bernie Little moments that we can't name them all.

He did it Sunday morning before the actual races began. So he had a packed house watching. And that's maybe why everyone remembers Walters flipping the Pay 'n Pak in one of the most spectacular blowovers ever.

Bill Muncey, in his Atlas Van Lines, doesn't score enough points to qualify for the World Championship final.

George Henley came out of retirement three races into the season to drive the Pay 'n Pak again.

After all the volunteer work, ticket sales, expenses are determined, Water Follies makes a profit of $1,000.

Mira Slovak raced the Tahoe Miss during the 1966 season.

Dave Villwock entered the Columbia Cup final on a 19-heat win streak. But in that final, coming out of the east end turn, his right sponson lifted up and flipped the boat over.

Bill Muncey had always liked driving limiteds and outboards at the Pasco Water Follies in the 1950s and 60s. Of course, he also happened to be one of the best unlimited drivers around.

Historian Fred Farley calls this one of the greatest days here.

Race sites and Hydro-Prop, the sport's managing body, had a falling out early in the 2004 season.

The Court Street riots the night before the race only confirmed Water Follies officials were on the right track to shut down the lawlessness and lewd conduct going on in the park during the weekend races.

The first of the four Gold Cup races held in the Tri-Cities, Miss Budweiser and driver Dean Chenoweth won the race in record speed.

It took Bill Muncey, a big booster of the Tri-City race, seven years before he picked up his first win on the Columbia River

A year after he nearly died on the Columbia, Dave Villwock was back in the driver's seat in the Miss Budweiser.

One of the best final heats on record, in which Chip Hanauer in the Squire Shop outdueled Dean Chenoweth in the Miss Budweiser and Bill Muncey in Atlas Van Lines.

Things didn't look good for unlimited hydroplane racing in the weeks leading up to the inaugural Atomic Cup.

Early Sunday morning, with a large number kids in for the boat races, things got out of hand when too many of them were hanging around and partying in the Court Street area in Pasco.

According to Ken Maurer, longtime Water Follies official, the race was named the Atomic Cup for the first six years.

In 1974, a new boat came out on the circuit - the U-95 turbine boat that needed a big battery the size of a small garbage dumpster, plugged into the boat, to get the thing started.

Dean Chenoweth had won 20 straight heats in the Miss Budweiser in the team's second Griffon Rolls engine boat, when Bill Muncey, in his Atlas Van Lines, finally snapped the streak on the Columbia.

American Speedy Printing driver Jack Schafer Jr. wasn't a favorite to win this race.

Fred Leland brought two boats to the Tri-Cities in 2001, the Znetix 1 and Znetix 2, driven by Terry Troxell and Gregg Hopp, respectively. With heavy favorite Dave Villwock and the Miss Budweiser starting the final on the outside, the Znetix pair used a rare concept in boat racing that is seen almost regularly in auto racing: team racing.

For the first time, Follies officials decided to combine the annual airshow with the boat races.

Bill Muncey and the Atlas Van Lines won this race on a rainy day. No surprise there, as Muncey dominated in the 1970s.

Muncey, driving the Atlas Van Lines, never made a mistake all day as he won every heat and the final with ease.

Bill Wurster, the owner of the U-8 Llumar Window Film, had a fast boat in 2003 and a fast driver in Mark Evans.

Sometimes it's tougher to get that second event done well after the first one.

Bill Muncey showed race fans why he was so dominant during this time, winning his eighth consecutive race in the Atlas Van Lines over a two-year period.

A year after Dean Chenoweth won the Atomic Cup in Myr's Special, he made his debut in the Miss Budweiser.

Hanauer made a triumphant return to racing after a brief retirement. But during Heat 3A, driving the Miss PICO, his boat lifted up in the west end turn.

Muncey made history on this day when he drove the Atlas Van Lines to his sixth career Gold Cup - but more on that in a few days.

Dave Heerensperger brought unlimited hydroplane fans the Pay 'n Pak during its glory years of the 1970s - something to counter the domination of Budweiser and Atlas Van Lines.

Bill Muncey and his Atlas Van Lines had been dominating all day. In fact, he had been undefeated in the previous four races and was looking to go unbeaten for the 1978 season.

Mark Tate and the Winston Eagle won the race, but it will go down as the one final that never got finished on the Columbia.

Water Follies officials learned a few things after that first year. For one, in 1966, the state patrol would only allow cars to enter Columbia Park from the west end. With such a traffic backup, some cars didn't get to the parking lot until 3 p.m., when the final heat began.

The relationship between Chip Hanauer and Tom D'Eath has always been contentious. So with that as a backdrop, 1988 was really interesting.

Hanauer returned to the Tri-Cities as the driver of the Atlas Van Lines, with Fran Muncey running the team.