Dead Heat Question

By Fred Farley - Unlimited Hydroplane Historian

QUESTION:

I was wondering if there ever was a dead-heat finish in an Unlimited hydroplane race. If so, how was it scored? - Glenn Winter

ANSWER:

Exhibition races aside, the only genuine dead-heat finish in Unlimited history occurred in the Final Heat of the 1947 National Sweepstakes Regatta at Red Bank, New Jersey.

Danny Foster in MISS PEPS V and Guy Lombardo in TEMPO VI took the checkered flag side-by-side. They both averaged 68.706 miles per hour.

First-place in a heat is worth 400 points; second-place, 300. The officials awarded Foster and Lombardo 350 points apiece.

Foster, by the way, became Lombardo's driver (of TEMPO VII) in 1955 after Guy had retired from competition.