Miss Budweiser wins General Motors Cup
By Fred Farley – Unlimited Hydroplane Historian
Driver Dave Villwock and the MISS BUDWEISER crew handed ailing “Beer Wagon” owner Bernie Little the perfect “Welcome Back” gift on Sunday, August 4, 2002, in Seattle, Washington. They won the General Motors Cup for him on a windy Lake Washington with victories in all four heats.
Little had missed the three previous races (at Madison, Detroit, and the Tri-Cities) due to a bout with pneumonia. He vowed to return to Seattle, where he has never missed a race in his 40-year Unlimited hydroplane career. “I’ll have a smile on my face all the way home,” proclaimed a jubilant Little.
“Having Bernie here meant a lot to me and the entire MISS BUDWEISER team,” said Villwock. “He has a calming influence that helps us a lot, especially me.”
The General Motors Cup marked the third win in five races by the MISS BUDWEISER (U-1) on the 2002 Budweiser Unlimited Hydroplane Series tour. Once again, the MISS BUD team ran their “Turbine-5” hull, which had won the “Thunder On The Ohio” race at Evansville, Indiana, on June 30. The MISS BUDWEISER “Turbine-6” triumphed in the Gold Cup at Detroit on July 14.
Villwock and MISS BUDWEISER took the lead from Mark Tate and MISS TRENDWEST (U-2) on the first lap of the GM Cup Final Heat and never looked back. Nate Brown and MISS E-LAM PLUS (U-16), the winners of the previous weekend’s Columbia Cup at the Tri-Cities, Washington, passed TRENDWEST for second-place but couldn’t overtake the front-running “Beer Wagon.”
Jimmy King and LLUMAR WINDOW FILM (U-8) took fourth behind the U-1, the U-16, and the U-2. Then came Mike Hanson in SKYWAY PARK BOWL & CASINO (U-9) and Mike Weber in MISS GRAND CENTRAL CASINO (U-10), while Greg Hopp in AMERICAN PRIDE (U-100) was disqualified for a technical violation.
Thirty race boats set up shop in the Stan Sayres Memorial Pits for the 52nd annual Seafair Regatta: thirteen Unlimiteds, twelve Unlimited Lights, and five vintage Unlimiteds.
The Unlimited Lights race was won by veteran Jerry Hopp in MIKE’S HARD LEMONADE (UL-15), the former ALAMO. The UL Final Heat featured a sensational duel between Hopp, Phil Bononcini in BUDWEISER/POCKET MECHANIC (UL-72), and Dave Bender in GOLDEN NUGGET CASINO (UL-38).
Hopp, Bononcini, and Bender shared the same roostertail for three tremendously exciting laps. The UL-15 nearly blew over on the third backstretch. But “Grandpa” Jerry managed to recover and coax the boat back down.
Second-place Bononcini was concentrating so much on the competition that he miscounted his laps and flipped the UL-72 upside-down on what should have been his cooling-off lap. The BUDWEISER/POCKET MECHANIC caught a stray wave that kicked the boat into the air. Bononcini, fortunately, escaped injury.
The antique Unlimited event was captured by David Williams in the MISS MADISON (SAVAIR’S MIST) at 81.902 miles per hour in a close race with Mark Evans in the HAWAII KAI III (BREATHLESS II), which did 81.893.
Brown and MISS E-LAM PLUS turned the fastest time trial lap at 153.344 on the 2-mile course. This entitled them to the Bill Brow Memorial Trophy, which is traditionally awarded by the Brow family to the fastest qualifier at the Seattle race.
Villwock and MISS BUDWEISER (T-6) were next fastest at 152.632. The MISS BUD team nearly duplicated this performance by doing a 152.581 lap with their T-5 hull.
Then came Hanson in SKYWAY PARK BOWL & CASINO at 148.404, Tate in MISS TRENDWEST at 147.692, Greg Hopp in AMERICAN PRIDE at 146.284, Weber in MISS GRAND CENTRAL CASINO at 146.009, Mitch Evans in VACATIONVILLE.COM (U-3) at 145.612, Terry Troxell in MISS FAIRWEATHER MASONRY (U-99) at 142.970, King in LLUMAR WINDOW FILM at 141.612, Steve David in OH BOY! OBERTO (U-6) at 137.265, and Ken Muscatel in SILVER DOLLAR CASINO (U-25) at 135.567.
The back-up MISS GRAND CENTRAL CASINO hull was also present in the Sayres pits but was not put into the water.
Muscatel’s U-25 was a former ZNETIX hull, built in 1996 and borrowed from Fred Leland. It replaced the U-25 that had broken in two pieces at the Tri-Cities race.
The Allison-powered U-3, owned by Ed Cooper, Sr., and Ed Cooper, Jr., attracted considerable attention. The boat’s time trial lap of 145.612 was the fastest ever on a 2-mile course by a piston craft and only 3 miles per hour off the all-time record for a non-turbine boat on a 2.5-mile course.
No one could ever recall seeing a piston boat go through the corners as quickly as the new U-3.
The field for Heat 1-A, in the order of lane assignments, was U-16, U-9, U-100, U-3, U-8, and U-25. Heat 1-B had U-1, U-2, U-10, U-99, and U-6.
MISS E-LAM PLUS led from the first turn onward in Heat 1-A but had to hold off a persistent challenge from SKYWAY PARK BOWL & CASINO. At the finish line, it was E-LAM the winner over SKYWAY PARK by less than seven tenths of a second, 129.815 miles per hour to 129.329. AMERICAN PRIDE took third at 127.657, only two seconds astern of SKYWAY PARK. VACATIONVILLE.COM, in its first heat of competition, battled head-to-head with LLUMAR WINDOW FILM for fourth. The piston-powered U-3 edged out the turbine-powered U-8, 122.640 to 122.185, far ahead of sixth-place SILVER DOLLAR CASINO, which checked in at 107.705.
The order of finish was: U-16, U-9, U-100, U-3, U-8, and U-25.
OH BOY! OBERTO was first across the starting line on the outside in Heat 1-B. MISS BUDWEISER led out of the first turn and throughout. MISS BUD maintained a one roostertail length advantage over MISS TRENDWEST at the end of laps one, two, and three. OBERTO and MISS FAIRWEATHER MASONRY battled for third with OBERTO taking it by a sizeable margin. MISS GRAND CENTRAL CASINO, also scheduled for Heat 1-B, never left the pits. As things developed, the second, third, and fourth-place boats were all penalized a lap for lane encroachment.
The order of finish was: U-1, U-2, U-6, and U-99. Winning average: 134.292.
Heat 2-A matched U-25, U-8, U-3, U-100, U-9, and U-16. Heat 2-B had U-6, U-99, U-10, U-2, and U-1.
AMERICAN PRIDE conked out during the warm-up for Heat 2-A. SKYWAY PARK BOWL & CASINO was penalized a lap for not holding its lane through the first turn. LLUMAR WINDOW FILM led down the first backstretch. LLUMAR, SKYWAY PARK, and MISS E-LAM PLUS ran two roostertails apart for two laps. E-LAM finally passed LLUMAR on the third backstretch and went on to win, 132.987 to 131.908. VACATIONVILLE.COM trailed the field on lap-one but then overtook SILVER DOLLAR CASINO on lap-two to secure third position. SILVER DOLLAR CASINO took fourth ahead of the penalized SKYWAY PARK BOWL & CASINO but was denied points on account of a fuel violation.
The order of finish was: U-16, U-8, U-3, U-25, and U-9.
OH BOY! OBERTO made another perfect start in Heat 2-B. MISS FAIRWEATHER MASONRY led out of the first turn, followed by MISS GRAND CENTRAL CASINO and MISS BUDWEISER. GRAND CENTRAL passed FAIRWEATHER on lap-two and stayed in front for the rest of the heat. But it was all for naught, inasmuch as GRAND CENTRAL had been penalized a lap for destroying a buoy before the start. MISS BUDWEISER passed MISS FAIRWEATHER MASONRY on lap-three to take over the legal lead and went on to win by a full five seconds, followed by FAIRWEATHER, OBERTO, MISS TRENDWEST, and MISS GRAND CENTRAL CASINO. OH BOY! OBERTO finished only 1.3 seconds astern of FAIRWEATHER, while TRENDWEST trailed.
The order of finish was: U-1, U-99, U-6, U-2, and U-10. Winning average: 132.630.
Heat 3-A matched U-10, U-100, U-25, U-3, U-8, and U-9. Heat 3-B had U-6, U-99, U-2, U-1, and U-16.
MISS GRAND CENTRAL CASINO was first across the starting line in Heat 3-A and first out of the first turn. AMERICAN PRIDE overtook GRAND CENTRAL on lap-two and pulled away for a clear-cut win. SKYWAY PARK BOWL & CASINO was physically second after three laps but was penalized a lap for not holding its lane. LLUMAR WINDOW FILM lost its cowling but managed to take a distant third, followed by SILVER DOLLAR CASINO. VACATIONVILLE.COM withdrew on account of hull damage.
The order of finish was: U-100, U-10, U-8, U-25, and U-9. Winning average: 134.174.
MISS FAIRWEATHER MASONRY made it into the water for Heat 3-B but couldn’t get underway in time for the one-minute gun. MISS TRENDWEST led OH BOY! OBERTO down the first backstretch with MISS BUDWEISER close behind. While exiting the upper turn, just before the completion of lap-one, OBERTO lost a propeller blade and slid to a halt with major hull damage. BUDWEISER overtook TRENDWEST on lap-two and went on to win by a roostertail length. MISS TRENDWEST and MISS E-LAM PLUS see-sawed for second and third places with TRENDWEST taking it by half a roostertail.
The order of finish was: U-1, U-2, and U-16. Winning average: 132.515.
The field for the Provisional Heat got off to a blanket start with MISS FAIRWEATHER MASONRY first across in lane-one, MISS GRAND CENTRAL CASINO in lane-two, and SILVER DOLLAR CASINO in lane-three. GRAND CENTRAL and FAIRWEATHER MASONRY see-sawed back and forth for the lead for two and three-quarter laps. Mike Weber and Terry Troxell–the racing brothers-in-law–exited the final turn together with Weber beating Troxell to the finish line by less than half a roostertail. SILVER DOLLAR CASINO trailed way back.
The order of finish was: U-10, U-99, and U-25. Winning average: 137.387.
After three sets of preliminary heats, U-1 led the way into the Final Heat with 120 accumulated points. Then came U-16 with 103, U-2 with 77, U-8 with 66, U-100 with 63, and U-9 with 56. U-10 was admitted to the Final Heat as the trailer boat on the basis of having won the Provisional Heat.
For the fourth time in five races in 2002, HYDRO-PROP’s Gary Garbrecht gave the go-ahead for a traditional Final Heat with no assigned starting lanes. As the boats entered the Ted Jones Memorial Race Course for the 5-lap moment of truth, it was “catch as catch can.”
From the standpoint of speed, MISS BUDWEISER had to be highly regarded, having posted the fastest competition lap of the day at 141.961 in Heat 1-B. This compared to the fastest lap by MISS E-LAM PLUS at 137.512 in Heat 1-A. Ironically, the fastest heat of the day was by MISS GRAND CENTRAL CASINO at 137.387 in the Provisional Heat with a fast lap of 138.461.
As the final seconds ticked away, Dave Villwock managed to grab the inside lane prior to the start for the third Final Heat in a row. AMERICAN PRIDE lost power but managed to re-fire almost immediately. And in the run to the starting line, MISS E-LAM PLUS experienced compressor stall and slowed down momentarily.
The start was ragged with MISS TRENDWEST first across. E-LAM, BUDWEISER, LLUMAR WINDOW FILM, and SKYWAY PARK BOWL & CASINO all entered the first turn tightly bunched–and in the case of SKYWAY PARK, too tightly. Director of Competition Rick Sandstrom assessed the U-9 a one-lap penalty for not leaving a lane for MISS E-LAM PLUS. This marked the third infraction of the day by SKYWAY PARK.
MISS BUDWEISER led out of the first turn and was never headed. MISS TRENDWEST ran close to the BUDWEISER on lap-one but faded on lap-two. E-LAM passed TRENDWEST at the start of lap-three and took off after BUDWEISER.
Villwock maintained a one to two roostertail lead over Nate Brown and won by one and a half roostertails. MISS BUDWEISER reeled off laps of 138, 139, 136, 135, and 132, compared to MISS E-LAM PLUS, which did 125, 140, 136, 135, and 132.
MISS TRENDWEST ran a steady third, while AMERICAN PRIDE and LLUMAR WINDOW FILM trailed. MISS GRAND CENTRAL CASINO had to run an extra lap for hitting a buoy and was seventh and last across the finish line.
During post-race inspection, AMERICAN PRIDE was disqualified for not having its “black box” (which measures technical compliance) hooked up. This moved the fifth, sixth, and seventh-place boats up one position in the final standings.
The order of finish was: U-1, U-16, U-2, U-8, U-9, and U-10. Winning average: 136.541.
During the awards presentation, Nate Brown congratulated Dave Villwock on a fine performance. And Mike Hanson apologized to the E-LAM team for “pinching” them in the first turn of the Final Heat.
The 2002 General Motors Cup marked the 134th win in Unlimited racing for MISS BUDWEISER owner Bernie Little. His first win was the 1966 Tri-Cities Atomic Cup with Bill Brow as driver. Little’s first Seattle win occurred in 1969 with Bill Sterett in the cockpit.
During an interview with KIRO Television, Little announced at Seattle that his younger son, Joe Little, will eventually assume the leadership of the MISS BUDWEISER team and continue the Little family’s tradition in Unlimited competition.
“This is the first time that Bernie has ever told the media that Joe will eventually take over the MISS BUDWEISER team and that is great news for the sport and all the MISS BUDWEISER fans,” said ESPN2 and KIRO race commentator Chip Hanauer.
“Make sure that everyone understands that the key word is ‘eventually,'” said Joe Little.
With five down and one race remaining (in San Diego) on the 2002 Unlimited calendar, MISS BUDWEISER led with 722 National Points, followed by MISS E-LAM PLUS with 630, SKYWAY PARK BOWL & CASINO with 572, MISS TRENDWEST with 544, MISS FAIRWEATHER MASONRY with 482, OH BOY! OBERTO with 456, MISS GRAND CENTRAL CASINO with 377, AMERICAN PRIDE with 274, LLUMAR WINDOW FILM with 260, VACATIONVILLE.COM with 209, and SILVER DOLLAR CASINO with 207.
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