Unlimited hydroplane racing season kicks off in Alabama with the Gold Cup

Earlier this month, Mike Hanson sat on a trailer in Kennewick’s Lampson Pits and watched someone else’s unlimited hydroplane hurry around the Columbia River.

Though friendly to people curious with questions, it was easy to tell that Hanson — the crew chief of the U-1 Miss HomeStreet Bank unlimited hydroplane — was all business that day.

And why not?

It was at the annual spring training event, where teams were getting prepped for the coming 2022 H1 Unlimited season.

And now, starting this weekend, that season begins in Guntersville, Ala., with the APBA Gold Cup.

Just like NASCAR, which opens the season every year with its Super Bowl-like event in the Daytona 500, H1 Unlimited is doing the same thing with its APBA Gold Cup.

“The Gold Cup is the first race,” said Hanson. “You run your best stuff right off the bat. You don’t get much testing time in Guntersville. You run the whole thing in two days. So we needed to run hard today (in the Tri-Cities).”

There is no scheduled qualifying time for unlimited teams in Alabama. Just testing.

The weekend Gold Cup schedule starts on Saturday with two sets of A and B heat races.

Two more sets will be run on Sunday, and then capped off with the Gold Cup final.

The Gold Cup lineup is set with seven boats:

Miss HomeStreet Bank

The U-1 Miss HomeStreet Bank, with driver Jimmy Shane.

The boat carries that national champion number of U-1 for winning another title last year.

Shane did not win the driver’s title after missing the opener in 2021 while working for Blue Origin.

Still, Shane understands he has the bullseye on his back.

“I’m getting used to having the target on my back,” he said. “It’s a good place to be in. Otherwise people start to forget you.”

Miss Ace Hardware

The U-3 Grigg’s presents Miss Ace Hardware, with driver Jimmy King.

Pasco’s Charlie Grigg, who has sponsored Ed Cooper’s team in the Tri-Cities for quite a few years now, found some sponsorship money to get the fleet’s only piston-powered boat off the trailer in Alabama.

The team still plans to make the Columbia Cup in the Tri-Cities, which happens July 29-31.

Miss Tri-Cities

The U-8 Miss Tri-Cities, with driver J. Michael Kelly.

Tri-Citian Darrell Strong and his wife Vanessa enter their second season as team owners of two boats.

The U-8 is one of them, and Kelly was the top driver in H1 during 2021.

While the Strong team cleaned up at the H1 awards in January, no one is satisfied just yet.

“What do we do for an encore?” said Strong. “I don’t know, but we didn’t win one of the races last year, and everybody is better.”

Lynx Healthcare

The U-9 Lynx Healthcare, with driver Corey Peabody.

The other Strong team boat, and Peabody took the 2021 Columbia Cup title last year for his first-ever victory.

The two team boats could lead the fleet this year.

Strong said he hired Bryan Pyziak, “the best turbine guy in the sport. We didn’t even have a turbine guy last year.”

Unlimited Racing Group

U-11 Unlimited Racing Group, with driver Jamie Nilsen.

Scott and Shannon Raney, the team owners, moved their base of operations last year from the Seattle area to Cle Elum.

They skipped the Tri-Cities Spring Training event because Nilsen had a conflict. But the team had already been on the water in May at the Vancouver, Wash., exhibition event.

So the team should be ready for Alabama.

Miss Beacon Plumbing

U-40 Miss Beacon Plumbing, with driver Dave Villwock.

Team owner Kelly Stocklin made the decision to shut down the 440 Bucket List Racing boat for 2022 and concentrate on the U-40.

It’s made a difference.

“We want to give Beacon Plumbing all the attention we can,” said Stocklin. “They deserve it. The 440 is a great little boat, but Beacon Plumbing has invested in us.”

The 440, he says, has had a tough time the last few years handling more power, and it breaks down.

“Now, we’re making a bunch of power with this thing,” Stocklin says as he points to the U-40.

This will be the second season with the U-40 unlimited for the Bucket List race team.

“This boat is still brand new to us,” Stocklin admitted. “But we’ve got a lot of depth, with both crew and equipment. I call it tooling up. We’ve been working every day, all day on this.”

Miss Goodman Real Estate

The U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate boat, with driver Jeff Bernard.

The Miss Madison team, which also has the U-1, decided to run a second boat on the entire circuit.

It may not be as fast as the U-1, but it’s pretty close.

Season outlook

So who is going to be the team to beat?

Strong has the answer.

“Jimmy still has the best boat (the U-1) until somebody beats them,” said Strong. “I think that now we’re better than we were last year. But that might not translate into any wins.”

That’s how competitive this season could be.

“I don’t think the competition has ever been this even,” said Stocklin. “Right now, this year, any of seven boats could win a race.”

According to Miss Madison team manager Charlie Grooms, that includes Stocklin’s team.

“(Driver) Dave (Villwock) and Kelly have stepped up their game,” Grooms said.

Shane said Covid has a lot to do with the improvement of speed in so many boats.

“Teams had a lot of time to reset with the down time,” he said. “It improved equipment. Everybody has elevated their performance. We have a lot more resources because we had time to work on things. All seven boats at the Gold Cup have a chance to win.”

Other notes

Both Strong and Grooms say to expect nine unlimiteds for the Columbia Cup in late July:

• All seven boats at the Gold Cup, plus the U-12 Graham Trucking and driver Andrew Tate, and the U-21 Go Fast, Turn Left team with drivers Brian Perkins and Gunnar O’Farrell.
• After Guntersville, the boats head to Madison, Ind., July 1-3. The Columbia Cup is held July 29-31, followed by the HomeStreet Bank Cup at Seafair (for the first time in three years) in Seattle on Aug. 5-7; and finishing with the HomeStreet Bank San Diego Bayfair race in September.