The Unlimiteds - 2002 in Review

By Fred Farley - Unlimited Hydroplane Historian

No one could complain about the quality of competition on the 2002 Budweiser Unlimited Hydroplane Series tour, sanctioned by HYDRO-PROP, Inc.

MISS BUDWEISER (U-1) owner Bernie Little, nearing the end of his brilliant career, won three races, including the Gold Cup at Detroit, with driver Dave Villwock. The Ellstrom family's MISS E-LAM PLUS (U-16) grabbed two first-place awards with Nate Brown in the cockpit. Mike and Lori Jones emerged victorious at San Diego with SUN HARBOR MORTGAGE (U-9) and driver Mike Hanson.

By far the pleasantest surprise of the year was the amazing performance at season's end by the new VACATIONVILLE.COM (U-3). The only "piston-packer" in a fleet dominated by Lycoming turbines, the Allison-powered U-3 and driver Mitch Evans qualified fastest on San Diego's Mission Bay at an unprecedented 160.370 for owners Ed Cooper, Sr., and Ed Cooper, Jr.

The MISS BUDWEISER team scored 836 points, compared to 759 for second-place MISS E-LAM PLUS. Then came SUN HARBOR MORTGAGE with 709, MISS TRENDWEST (U-2) and Mark Tate with 647, MISS TROXZILLA (U-99) and Terry Troxell with 535, OH BOY! OBERTO/MISS MADISON (U-6) and Steve David with 529, MISS EMCOR (U-10) and Mike Weber with 472, VACATIONVILLE.COM with 316, LLUMAR WINDOW FILM (U-8) and Jimmy King with 303, AMERICAN PRIDE (U-100) and Greg Hopp with 287, SECURITY RACE PRODUCTS (U-25) and Ken Muscatel with 254.

Despite fuel restrictions, MISS BUDWEISER and MISS E-LAM PLUS accounted for five of the six victories on the 2002 tour and finished one-two in the final standings. Indeed, the season championship wasn't decided until the last day of the season. BUDWEISER's Villwock clinched the title by finishing second to E-LAM's Brown in Heat 2-B at San Diego. This marked the 22nd High Points crown for team owner Little since 1969.

"I'm glad the battle for the championship didn't come down to the Final Heat at San Diego," said Little. "I don't know if my nerves, or anyone else's, could have handled that. All of the teams did well this year. And I'm extremely proud of my guys."

Throughout the season, MISS BUDWEISER started 25 heats, finished first 15 times, second three times, and third three times. MISS E-LAM PLUS started 24 heats, finished first 11 times, second five times, and third three times. The BUD participated in all six Final Heats in 2002, while the E-LAM participated in five--all except Detroit where the U-16 experienced mechanical difficulties.

MISS E-LAM PLUS qualified fastest at five of the six races and established a HYDRO-PROP record for a 2.5-mile course at 162.666 on the Columbia River at the Tri-Cities, Washington.

MISS BUDWEISER established a HYDRO-PROP record for a 2.5-mile competition lap at 153.964 on San Diego's Mission Bay.

VACATIONVILLE.COM became the first non-turbine boat to clear 150 miles per hour on a closed course in 2002. The previous high was 148.810 on a 2.5-mile course, set by an earlier Ed Cooper-owned entry in 1995.

At Seattle in 2002, Mitch Evans guided VACATIONVILLE.COM to a qualification speed of 145.612. This was a piston record for a 2-mile course. Since the differential between a 2-mile course and a 2.5-mile course is approximately 5 miles per hour, the U-3's Seattle speed translated to 150 on a larger track.

The Cooper team's outstanding performance of 160.370 on the 2.5-mile course at San Diego served notice that piston power is far from dead in the Unlimited Class.

The other big winner in 2002 was the variously named U-9, which finished third in the High Points chase. Driver Mike Hanson secured his fourth career win at San Diego and the second for team owners Mike and Lori Jones.

In Lori's words, "This victory only makes our team that much stronger as we prepare for 2003. Watch out for us!"

Thirteen Unlimited hulls crowded the newly remodeled pit area at Evansville, Indiana, for the season-opening "Thunder On The Ohio." The MISS BUDWEISER (U-1) crew showed up with their T-5 and T-6 hulls. Kim Gregory arrived with a pair of MISS EMCOR (U-10) hydroplanes. And Fred Leland had a double entry: the MISS U.S. (U-100) with Greg Hopp and the MISS BIG TALKER WGAB (U-99) with Terry Troxell.

The Ed Cooper team, the traditional hometown favorite at Evansville, made the scene with the older 1996 vintage U-3, racing as MASTER TIRE. (The new boat would not be ready until the West Coast circuit.)

Villwock and the MISS BUDWEISER began their defense of the Unlimited Hydroplane World Championship with a victory at Evansville. The BUDWEISER team had been winless since the previous year's "Thunder On The Ohio."

The win marked Villwock's seventh consecutive victory at Evansville and his 37th career win. (No other driver has ever won seven races in a row at the same venue.) Owner Little also celebrated his 132nd career victory and his 15th title at Evansville.

Villwock made a perfectly timed start in the Final Heat and led from the first turn onward with fast pursuit from Troxell in the WGAB and Hanson in the WABX (U-9).

"It's always beneficial to start every race season off with a win," said Villwock. "The first race is important to the whole team and tends to lift everyone's spirits heading into the rest of the season. The competition this year will be tough and getting an early points lead is a must."

Moving on to Madison for the Indiana Governor's Cup, Nate Brown rocketed to victory with MISS E-LAM PLUS. After having been disqualified for a driving infraction at Evansville, Brown trailed Troxell and MISS TROXZILLA for two and three-quarter laps in the Final Heat at Madison and pulled away on lap-four.

This was Nate's third career race win and third in four consecutive races. Brown won the final two races of the 2001 season at Seattle and San Diego. This win also marked the fourth career victory in Unlimited racing for the Ellstrom family.

Then, it was on to Detroit for the fabled Gold Cup, the Crown Jewel of APBA racing.

Villwock and MISS BUDWEISER moved to the inside lane before the start, forcing the rest of the field to run a wider and longer track around the squash-shaped Detroit River course. MISS BUD took the lead in the first turn and never looked back.

The battle behind Villwock was heated with Terry Troxell in FOX HILLS CHRYSLER-JEEP (U-99) and defending Gold Cup champion Mike Hanson in TUBBY'S GRILLED SUBMARINES (U-9) battling for the second position for the first few laps. Troxell was able to distance himself from Hanson but couldn't catch Villwock.

This was the 14th victory in the Gold Cup series by the MISS BUDWEISER team and the fifth by Dave Villwock. (Among drivers, only the retired Chip Hanauer and the late Bill Muncey have more.)

"The Detroit River is always very challenging and this year it showed its teeth again," said Villwock. "The river owed me for last year's rough ride."

The eight preliminary heats at the 2002 Gold Cup produced some outstanding action for the fans with six different drivers scoring victories--Villwock, Tate, Brown, Hanson, David, and Troxell.

At the half-way point of the 2002 Unlimited campaign, MISS BUDWEISER led in points with 466, followed by TUBBY'S GRILLED SUBMARINES with 379, MISS TROXZILLA with 376, MISS E-LAM PLUS with 327, and MISS TRENDWEST with 326.

The scene then shifted to the Tri-Cities of Kennewick-Pasco-Richland. Thirteen Unlimiteds set up shop in the Columbia Park pit areas. These included two replacement boats. Fred Leland activated his 1996 hull to carry the U-100 identity. And Ed Cooper's U-3 team unveiled their brand new turbo-Allison-powered craft, which bore a striking resemblance to the MISS BUDWEISER (T-6) hull.

On Sunday morning, Mitch Evans pulled an amazing 141.037 out of the new VACATIONVILLE.COM (U-3) but had to withdraw from the race on account of a cracked propeller strut. Evans was quoted as saying, "It drives through the corners like a turbine boat."

Brown and MISS E-LAM PLUS powered to their fourth win in seven races at the Columbia Cup. This marked the second Tri-Cities victory for Sven and Erick Ellstrom, owners of the Ballard, Washington-based team, which had won the 2000 Columbia Cup with Mark Evans as driver.

Winning the 2002 Tri-Cities race had special significance for Nate Brown. The year before, Nate had done exceptionally well in the preliminary Columbia Cup heats but had nullified a victory by making a bad start in the Final Heat.

At the one-minute gun for the 2002 Tri-Cities finale, Villwock and MISS BUDWEISER had secured the inside lane with MISS E-LAM PLUS in lane-two. At this point, many observers expected a repeat of the Final Heat at Detroit. That's when the BUDWEISER likewise achieved the inside lane and sprinted on to victory. But that didn't happen at the Tri-Cities.

The BUD and the E-LAM emerged ahead of the pack out of the first turn and proceeded to wage a battle royal with the Columbia Cup at stake. Villwock and Brown dueled side-by-side for three dynamic laps with neither driver holding an advantage.

The fans observed a spectacular driving job by Villwock when the BUD recovered after nearly blowing over. Unfortunately, the boat came down inside the race course, missing three buoys. That was the end of MISS BUDWEISER's valiant drive for the lead as the U-1 was assessed a one-lap penalty.

Notified by radio of Villwock's infraction, Brown backed off to a more conservative pace to insure the victory.

But the day's action wasn't over yet.

Just as Brown received the checkered flag, Ken Muscatel, trailing the field, blew over on the backstretch with SILVER DOLLAR CASINO (U-25). Muscatel escaped injury but his boat literally broke in two.

Once again, the F-16 safety canopy, which has saved so many lives since its introduction in 1986, worked to perfection.

The scene then shifted 220 miles west to Seattle for the General Motors Cup.

MISS BUDWEISER driver Dave Villwock and the BUD crew handed ailing "Beer Wagon" owner Bernie Little the perfect "Welcome Back" gift at Seattle. They won the race 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 had 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.

The General Motors Cup marked the third win in five races for the MISS BUDWEISER in 2002. At Seattle, the MISS BUD team ran their "Turbine-5" hull, which had won for them in Evansville. The MISS BUDWEISER "Turbine-6" triumphed at Detroit.

Villwock took the lead from Mark Tate and MISS TRENDWEST on the first lap of the GM Cup Final Heat and was never headed. Brown and MISS E-LAM PLUS passed TRENDWEST for second-place but couldn't overtake the front-running MISS BUDWEISER.

"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 new VACATIONVILLE.COM had to withdraw prior to Heat Three on account of hull damage. Driver Mitch Evans placed fourth and third in the boat's first two competitive heats. No one could recall seeing a piston boat go through the corners as quickly as the fledgling U-3.

An added feature of the General Motors Cup Regatta was an exhibition race for vintage Unlimited hydroplanes. David Williams in MISS MADISON (SAVAIR'S MIST) outran Mark Evans in HAWAII KAI III (BREATHLESS II), 81.902 miles per hour to 81.893.

During the seven-week hiatus between Seattle and San Diego, MISS BUDWEISER participated in an invitational drag race at Lake-of-the-Ozarks, Missouri. Pilot Villwock dusted off the veteran "Turbine-3" hull and was clocked at 192 miles per hour on the straightaway, compared to 168 for David Scott in BACARDI SILVER, a catamaran craft.

"We had a great run," said Villwock. "We didn't think it was fair to run this kind of boat here and weren't going to. But with the speeds they were running, we decided to go for it."

The 2002 Bill Muncey Cup at San Diego was destined to go down in history as something out of the ordinary. For the first time all year, someone other than Nate Brown and MISS E-LAM PLUS achieved the fastest qualifier distinction. VACATIONVILLE.COM with Mitch Evans driving did 155.060 on Friday and then, on Saturday, ran a couple of laps at 159.662 and 160.370 respectively.

After years of "also-ran" status, the Evansville-based U-3 team shaped up as a major factor in Unlimited racing.

In preliminary Heat 3-A on Sunday, VACATIONVILLE.COM outran Mike Weber in MISS EMCOR, 148.585 to 148.176, while MISS BUDWEISER checked in third at 140.494.

VACATIONVILLE.COM led out of the first turn in the Final Heat with Mike Hanson in SUN HARBOR MORTGAGE in close pursuit, as the San Diego crowd went wild. Evans stayed ahead for two laps before Hanson finally overtook him. Brown in MISS E-LAM PLUS, running third, worked past the U-3 on lap-four. And that's how they finished: Hanson, Brown, and Evans in that order with Tate, Villwock, Weber, and Muscatel trailing to conclude a memorable Budweiser Unlimited Hydroplane Series tour.

In the words of HYDRO-PROP Chairman Gary Garbrecht, "The competition in 2002 was stronger than it has been in many years as indicated by the number of heat winners throughout the season. The MISS BUDWEISER team was pushed hard as every team raised the bar on their level of performance."

The 2002 San Diego race brought down the curtain on the 40th--and final--season of participation by MISS BUDWEISER owner Bernie Little, who passed away seven months later at age 77 from complications of pneumonia.

Little's 134-race victory total since 1966 is more than double that of any other team.

In clinching a 22nd World High Points Championship for Anheuser-Busch on the last day of his career, the man went out a winner.