The Jim McCormick Story
By Fred Farley – Unlimited Hydroplane Historian
The only driver to score back-to-back victories with MISS MADISON, Jim McCormick first served notice of his competitive prowess when he won the 266 Cubic Inch Class race at the 1964 Madison Regatta with MISS KATHLEEN.
An air conditioning contractor from Owensboro, Kentucky, Jim’s first competition in an Unlimited hydroplane was at the 1966 Tampa Suncoast Cup with MISS MADISON (U-6) where he piloted the community-owned craft to a third-place finish with a victory in the first heat. During 1966, he completed all but two of the 19 heats in which he started with MISS M and finished eighth in a field of 23 drivers in the National High Point Standings.
After starting the 1967 season with NOTRE DAME, he replaced owner Bob Fendler in the cockpit of WAYFARERS CLUB LADY and went onto place third in a field of 22 drivers in the National Standings. While driving the WAYFARER, he set the fastest qualifying marks at each of the Atomic Cup, Gold Cup, and British Columbia Cup races with speeds of 110.837, 118.507, and 112.782–the latter a world record for a 2-1/2-mile course.
In 1968, McCormick divided his time between ATLAS VAN LINES (U-35) and HARRAH’S CLUB (U-3). His best finish was a third at the Arizona Governor’s Cup with HARRAH’S CLUB. While driving the U-3, he was the only driver to defeat National Champions Billy Schumacher and MISS BARDAHL three times in heat competition–twice at Seattle and once at Phoenix.
In 1969, Jim returned to MISS MADISON, which he drove in four Eastern races and placed third in the Madison Regatta. For the Western tour, he handled ATLAS VAN LINES (U-19)–the former WAYFARERS CLUB LADY–and posted the highest finish of his career thus far–a second-place at the Seattle Seafair Regatta.
It is interesting to note that, twice in his career, McCormick was called upon to bail out a major team that had started the season with a highly touted rookie driver who ultimately couldn’t make the competitive grade. In 1968, he replaced Burnett Bartley in HARRAH’S CLUB and, in 1969, he succeeded Earl Wham in ATLAS VAN LINES.
Both Bartley and Wham came to the Unlimited ranks with impressive credentials from the Limiteds. But as Unlimited drivers, they were total non-entities. Enter Jim McCormick. All of a sudden, the boats were contenders with significant increases in heat speeds.
For the next two seasons, Jim drove exclusively for MISS MADISON, although he almost missed the 1970 campaign entirely. MISS MADISON was involved in a highway accident in Georgia while en route to the first race of the season in Tampa, Florida. Pulled off the circuit, the stricken craft underwent repairs by original builder Les Staudacher. In retrospect, the mishap was probably a blessing. Staudacher used the occasion to go through the entire hull and fix several things in addition to the highway accident damage that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.
Yes, it did happen. And it happened again three weeks later on the Columbia River at the Tri-Cities, Washington. That’s when MISS MADISON driver McCormick, and crew members Steinhardt, Stewart, Humphrey, Hand,and Willey made the incredible seem commonplace. They won the sixth annual Atomic Cup Race and, in so doing, moved from second to first place in the National Season Points chase.
Entering the Final Heat in fourth place in regatta points with two second-place finishes, MISS M was again lightly regarded as a title threat. The boat’s nitrous oxide system (which gives the craft an added burst of speed coming off the corners) had failed to function during the first two heats. In fact, the crew wasn’t even certain if the engine was going to start for the finale. But, in McCormick’s words, “We got it all together,” and not a moment too soon.
Most attention centered on Billy Schumacher in the PRIDE OF PAY ‘n PAK and Bill Muncey in the now repaired ATLAS VAN LINES I, who led the field with only 100 points separating them. The futuristic PAY ‘n PAK looked especially formidable that day and seemed on the verge of coming into her own. Although, many experts were still siding with ATLAS I to win due to that boat’s superior record on the Eastern tour.
Again, MISS MADISON moved to the inside lane before the start and stayed there. The first corner was tight with four of the five finalists closely bunched. MISS M exited the first turn in the lead with NOTRE DAME, PRIDE OF PAY ‘n PAK, and ATLAS VAN LINES following in close pursuit and MISS TIMEX trailing. So evenly matched were the first four boats that they appeared as one long continuous roostertail down the first backstretch.
MISS MADISON finished the initial lap one fifth of a second ahead of PAY ‘n PAK and two fifths of a second ahead of NOTRE DAME with Billy Sterett, Jr. As the boats went through the first turn of lap two, MISS M started to pull away, while PAY ‘n PAK dueled with NOTRE DAME. The PAK moved away from Sterett on the second backstretch as NOTRE DAME lost power and slowed way down. Schumacher tried to challenge front-running McCormick but, in so doing, blew his engine and went dead in the water.
Meanwhile, ATLAS VAN LINES had gone past the ailing NOTRE DAME and then moved into second-place. By this time, MISS MADISON had an enormous lead and was putting added distance between herself and the ATLAS. Jim McCormick was flat out-driving his more powerful and heavily financed rival. Now no longer considered an upset threat to win, the U-6 was making it all look easy.
At the checkered flag, MISS MADISON had a full 22-second lead over ATLAS VAN LINES. Then came NOTRE DAME, followed by MISS TIMEX, which was lapped by MISS M on the leader’s last time around the course.
In winning the Atomic Cup, MISS MADISON became the first Tri-Cities champion to do the honors with an Allison engine as opposed to a Rolls-Royce Merlin. MISS M also became the first Allison powered craft since 1966 to score consecutive race victories in the Unlimited Class.
“This is really sweet,” beamed a jubilant McCormick. “This should prove to some race fans that our Gold Cup win wasn’t a fluke.”
The MISS MADISON team’s triumph was now complete. “We’re number one!”, they proudly proclaimed. At long last, they stood at the very top of the racing world. In a sport dominated by millionaire owners and large corporate sponsorships, no one could afford to take the low budget U-6 for granted on the race course.
Following her back-to-back victories on the Ohio and Columbia Rivers, McCormick and MISS M competed in three more races. They blew an engine and didn’t finish at Seattle but quickly regained their commendable form at Dexter, Oregon, where MISS MADISON took a strong second place to PRIDE OF PAY ‘n PAK, the experimental craft that had finally gotten its act together. The PAY ‘n PAK was not significantly faster on the straightaway than the other top Unlimited hydroplanes of post-1950 vintage. But, with her low profile/wide afterplane design, the PAK could corner more efficiently than any previous boat in history. Handled by Billy Schumacher, PRIDE OF PAY ‘n PAK became the first to reach a speed of 121 mph on a 3-mile course at the 1971 Seattle Seafair Regatta.
The boat of the future had arrived as the first in a new and faster generation of Thunderboats. The handwriting was on the wall. Inside of two years, every boat would have to be a PAY ‘n PAK design to be competitive.
In the twinkling of an eye, MISS MADISON was obsolete. The days of the box-shaped hull with the narrow transom and the shovel-nosed bow were gone forever. The craft that had debuted so many years earlier as NITROGEN TOO had seen its better days. It was time to make way for the new generation of world class race boats.
On the last day of her career, September 26, 1971, MISS M took an overall third in the Atlas Van Lines Trophy Race at Lake Dallas, Texas, with a victory in Heat 2-A over Season High Point winner MISS BUDWEISER. The U-6 also tied down enough points to secure second place in the 1971 National Standings and thereby duplicate her 1964 accomplishment for overall performance during the season.
MISS MADISON’S year-end box score read 26 heats started, 24 finished, six in first-place, thirteen in second, four in third, and one in fourth. This brought her all-time career total to an unprecedented 163 heats started, an even 150 finished, 26 in first-place, 53 in second, 46 in third, 21 in fourth, three in fifth, and one in sixth.
During the finale at Lake Dallas, the MISS M’s deck started to work itself loose. McCormick kept her going at a safe conservative pace, finished the heat, and brought the aging U-6 back to the dock for the last time.
A new MISS MADISON represented the Ohio River town on the Unlimited tour, starting in 1972. Another MISS M carried on the tradition, beginning in 1978, followed by another in 1988. And while each of these boats represented their 13,000 owners well, it is still the Gold Cup-winning hull that inspires awe.
In mid-season 1971, Jim started an Unlimited team of his own. He purchased the former PARCO’S O-RING MISS (U-8) and ran it as MISS TIMEX–although he finished the season as driver of the MISS MADISON, while Ron Larsen handled the U-8.
In 1972, he campaigned two boats–the MISS TIMEX (U-44) and the MISS TIMEX II (U-8)–and drove the U-44 himself. In 1973, he owned and drove two boats–the RED MAN (U-8) and the RED MAN II (U-81).
While attempting to qualify the U-81 at Miami in 1974, the boat hooked in a turn and McCormick was thrown out. Jim suffered a serious leg injury, which left him with a lifelong limp. His relief driver, George “Skipp” Walther, was killed a few days later when the U-81 lost a rudder during a qualification run at Miami Marine Stadium.
McCormick returned to the driver’s seat of the U-81 for the last two races of the 1974 season, taking a fifth at Madison and a fourth at Jacksonville, Florida.
In 1975, Jim briefly piloted Dave Heerensperger’s PAY ‘n PAK (U-1) but retired from racing after a third-place finish in the President’s Cup. McCormick honored a previous commitment to campaign the U-81 (as OWENSBORO’S OWN) at his hometown Owensboro Regatta in 1975 but relinquished the cockpit to Howie Benns for that race.
Jim took one last sentimental journey as an Unlimited driver when he piloted the U-81, renamed SANTA RITA HOMES, at the 1977 Owensboro Regatta, where he finished eighth.
Between 1966 and 1977, Jim McCormick participated in a total of seventy Unlimited races and finished in the top three at nineteen of them.
Following his retirement from competition, McCormick suffered health problems and was for a time (in 1981) legally blind.
Following laser surgery, which partially restored his eyesight, McCormick returned to the sport one more time in 1988 as co-owner with Bob Fendler of POCKET SAVERS PLUS, driven by Steve David.
Years later, Jim was approached by a motion picture production company that wanted to do a theatrical film on McCormick’s life and his victory in the 1971 Gold Cup. The movie, which was titled MADISON, went before the cameras in 1999 with screen actor Jim Caviezel in the role of Jim McCormick.
It was Jim’s dream that this movie be made. Prior to his death in 1995, he had planned to portray his own father in an earlier version of the script.
When the credits roll at the end of MADISON, a montage of outtakes from the ABC WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS telecast can be seen. Through the magic of motion pictures, Jim McCormick was able to appear in “his” movie after all.
