50 Days of Hydros: Muncey is perfect in 1977 Gold Cup win

Editor’s note: There are 26 days until the APBA HAPO Gold Cup Heat 1A race takes place on the Columbia River. At the same time, the Tri-City Water Follies’ annual event is celebrating its 50th year of racing unlimited hydroplanes. So the Herald will take a daily look at past storylines leading up to the Gold Cup. These are in no particular order:

July 31, 1977: Muncey is perfect in Gold Cup victory .

Bill Muncey, driving the Atlas Van Lines, never made a mistake all day as he won every heat and the final with ease during the third and final APBA Gold Cup held in the Tri-Cities during the 1970s.

His dead-on start in the final was so good that the race looked to be over.

More importantly, Muncey set a mark for most career Gold Cup victories. It was his sixth, breaking the previous mark of five held by Gar Wood.

Muncey had spread out his Gold Cup wins over the years — 1956, 1957, 1961, 1962 and 1972. And at 48, he looked like he wasn’t slowing down.

As an aside, Jim Lucero was busy on race day, serving as crew chief for both Atlas and the Pay ’N Pak.

Muncey’s win overshadowed an incredible comeback attempts by the Miss Budweiser team.

On Friday, after a test run resulted in a damaged propellor, the Bud sank in front of the pits.

People were able to get the boat out of the river and onto its trailer. The team then raced the boat back to its Seattle shop, where 16 men worked all day Saturday to repair the damage.

The boat was then hauled back Sunday morning. Bud crew chief Tom Frankhouser said nobody got more than two hours of sleep all weekend.

During the morning of the race, the public address announcer was giving the crowd periodic updates as to the team’s whereabouts, and when it arrived in the park, it came with a police escort.

The only problem was Muncey was perfect all day Sunday, and Bud driver Mickey Remund could do no better than second.

Still, it was a perfect example of what happens when you put the best crew together. It wasn’t the only time a Budweiser crew had to pull something like this off. That’s why they were always considered the best.

This story was originally published June 29, 2015 at 11:04 PM with the headline "50 Days of Hydros: Muncey is perfect in 1977 Gold Cup win."