Bill muncey race boat driver

I was there that horrible day in mexico when bill muncey died in that boat. As motorboat racing is a dangerous sport, many individuals including drivers, crew. Black and white film negative of notre dame background at the 1963 gold cup race on the detroit river. Bill muncey, left, has won more unlimited hydroplane races. Bill muncey, the alltime leader in victories with 62, was killed in 1981 when his boat flipped during a race in mexico. The 1978 race was run at owensboro, kentucky with an average winning speed of 111.

The muncey era comes to a sad end the new york times. William edward muncey was an obscure 225 cubic inch class hydroplane driver in the midwest during the late 1940s. Muncey began his boat racing career in 1949 by sinking in front of a. Bill waves his arms to alert drivers as chip hanauer in the squire shop finishes lap 4. Muncey went to gar wood s riverfront mansion, and asked wood for help. Between 1982 and 1988, he won 24 races for the bill muncey industries team, including an incredible seven consecutive gold cups.

So said bill muncey of unlimited hydroplane racing two years ago. Bill muncey, widely regarded as the greatest racer in the history of the sport. Muncey, bill power boats 1989 inductees hall of fame. It is a day that i, and everyone who has ever been involved in the sport, will remember forever. Thompsons boat disintegrated in heat 3 of the abpa gold cup race on the. The dave heerensperger pay n pak saga h1 unlimited. If you dont, a little history is required, because if anybody had suggested 10 or 15 years ago that bill muncey would ever drive a boat owned by lee schoenith, he would have been laughed off the dock. San diego bayfair has a long and rich tradition in mission bay park. Schumacher and lucero were at odds on how to set up the boat. Chenoweths death in 1982 came a year after bill muncey, the sports winningest driver, died in a race in mexico. Muncey was the driving force behind bayfair and getting the racecourse built to host the event. I was fortunate to interview the great bill muncey in 1978. List of fatal accidents in motorboat racing wikipedia.

News footage showed the boat leave the water at an incredible rate of speed and roll over three times before returning to the surface and disintegrating. Close call in the outside, or pace boat, position, mark weber wheeled the miss budweiser inside of him and secured a. Between 1982 and 1988, he won 24 races for the bill muncey industries team, including an. Bill muncey, left, has won more unlimited hydroplane races than any driver in the 74year history of the sport.

The famous bill muncey dunking of 1979 hydroplane and raceboat. Beginning with the first heat of the first race of 1960, muncey and c21 had never failed to. Unlimited hydroplane driver bill muncey talks about life. Walled lakes tate hits his mark, wins presidents cup. When hanauer learned that fran muncey, bill s widow, and o. The deaths of boat racers jerry bangs and bill muncey gave chip hanauer the. Muncey won his first championship at the prestigious gold cup race at detroit in 1956 driving the first of his three miss thriftway boats. The brash muncey was a superstar for more than three decades, winning in such boats as the locally owned miss thriftway and the detroitbased atlas van lines. It was a great honor for me to take laps this year in that boat. The first hydroplaneracing fatalities occurred in seattle in 1951 when a driver and riding mechanic of the quicksilver drowned when the boat sank. Detroiter bill muncey is the most dominant driver in the history of presidents cup.

Articles in subsequent seafair race programs tell us that five more deserving unlimited hydroplane personalities. And the 1979 race took place at madison, indiana with the average winning speed of 100. Rc boat company is owned and operated by steve gualtieri in west palm beach, florida. Bill muncey was the most winning driver of all time in a hydroplane boat at the time of his death in 1981 while racing in acapulco, mexico. Later in her career as a owner, she would also operate an unlimited hydroplane for miller. A blast from the past remembering atlas hydroplane atlas. Bill edward hot chauffeur muncey, jr 19281981 find.

Bill muncey remembered hydroplane and raceboat museum. Over a tenyear period beginning in 1971, muncey and his atlas van lines team captured 36 race wins which included four more gold cup trophies and four national championships. Driven by russ schleeh and managed by exdriver bill stead, the boat would be the host entry for the first of a new series of races on lake tahoe at stateline, nevada, sponsored by harrah. Chuck thompson sits in the miss smirnoff unlimited hydroplane before the race in which he was killed on july 3, 1966. Steve reynolds unlimited hydroplane driver highlights duration. Dean chenoweth, a fourtime national champion hydroplane driver, was killed this morning when his boat, the miss budweiser, flipped over backward and shattered during a qualifying run for the. Today, the boat has been rebuilt as a tribute to munceys memory. The first race was staged in 1964 thanks to the foresight of the great unlimited hydroplane racer bill muncey. Muncey began his boat racing career in 1949 by sinking in front of a hometown crowd on the detroit river. Aug 11, 1957 u62 thriftway too with driver i believe chuck hickling, will check in autograph book i have to make sure. Trailing a long white plume of spray behind her, miss thriftaway, owned by willard e, rhodes of seattle, washington, crosses the finish line today to win the first heat of the presidents. Taken at the bill muncey memorial race course in 1995. Muncey, hydro racer, killed in acapulco race the new. For the gold cup, bill found himself driving the cabover thriftway too as.

Muncey, like schoenith, was a detroiter, the son of a prosperous suburban chevrolet dealer. Bill muncey wins bill muncey is a man of contradictions. Muncey, hydro racer, killed in acapulco race the new york times. In less than 12 months in 1981 and 1982, bill muncey and dean chenoweth, the two most victorious drivers in unlimited hydroplane history, died in racing accidents.

Oberto make their annual appearance at the albert lee cup at seafair unlimitedhydroplane race this weekend on lake washington fresh off a frontrunning victory in the lamb weston columbia cup, david could become the first driver to win seafair four consecutive years since the legendary bill muncey 197780. Then jones broke with sayres and designed a boat for rhodes, recommending that muncey be the driver. He drove for the squire shop, until the 1981 season, when his big break arrived in 1982, when he became the driver for the atlas van lines, sadly replacing ownerdriver legend bill muncey, when he died in the final race of the 1981 season, in the final heat of the race in acapulco, mexico, when his blue blaster boat. Warner gardner was the driver of notre dame and bill muncey drove miss thriftway.

Fast boats speed boats power boats drag boat racing boater wooden boats boat plans race cars woody. Bill muncey, the ownerdriver who won eight gold cups before his death in 1981 in a race at acapulco, mexico. It was not clear what caused the incident, in which the u6 spun around to its left, scratching the u2 harvey motorsports boat, then flipped over and landed upside down. Hydroplane race atlas van lines bill muncey vintage 8x10 reprint of old photo hydroplane race atlas van lines bill muncey vintage 8x10 reprint of old photo this is an excellent reproduction of an old photo on quality photography paper not cheap ink jet stock. Bill brow was killed in a racing accident during the first race of the 1967 season when his reworked miss budweiser barrel rolled on the backstretch during the suncoast cup on tampa bay 61167. Thunder and the glory an era when the hydros reigned. Stratton had wrapped up uhra rookie of the year honors before arriving in san diego for the seasonending bayfair bill muncey cup. I know bill would be happy that the blue blaster ran again, looking beautiful, in his honor. Joe schoeniths atlas van lines team, after an uneven 1971, had its act together in 1972 and driver bill muncey was really on a roll. Many have compared his starts to the lategreat driver, bill muncey. In the 1958 seattle race, he lost his steering and drove his boat into a. Munceys first attempt to drive in an american power boat association apba gold cup event began by blowing up the engine.

Gc521rb 1956 bill muncey 26 multicache in michigan. The u27 greater gadsden presents chase building group is considered the hometown race boat, based in nearby rainbow city, ala. Lv hydro driver killed in crash las vegas sun newspaper. One of the first cabover style designsplacing the driver in front of the. San diego the san diego bayfair ralphsfood4less bill muncey cup sept. Atlas van lines boat, driven by bill muncey, and the budweiser boat, driven by dean chenoweth, neck and neck. Unlimited hydroplaneoffshore power boats builder and owner ritchie sutphen l holding the 1988. Bill muncey miss thriftway hydroplane, hydroplane racing. Muncey had his first win at the gold cup in 1956 in miss. His first attempt to drive in a gold cup race resulted in blown engine on one run and a boat that had its bottom fall out on another run. Unlimited hydroplane driver bill muncey talks about life youtube. After taking the lead in the unlimited final race, u. Tragedy at 1966 presidents cup speed boat race on potomac river d.

The boat in the foreground is miss thriftway, which went dead at the start after getting caught in the roostertails of the other boats. Theres nothing i enjoy more than driving a racing boat. Bill had always told fran, if anything ever happens to me, be sure to get the boat to the next race and put a driver in it. Then it became a battle of personalitiesbernie little, the flamboyant boat owner, vs. There is in him a refreshing innocence about racing and life. Other new boats, in addition to miss thriftway, were bill waggoners second.

She then took over operations of bill muncey industries, building a new race boat for her sponsor, atlas van lines and selected chip hanauer as the teams driver. Since she took the helm, muncey boats have won 23 races, including seven gold cups. Muncey got an engine from wood, but the bottom of the boat fell out during the next race. Worldrecord speeds possible in guntersville hydroplane races. At 44 he is the elder statesman of unlimited hydroplane drivers, but he refuses to grow old gracefully. Muncey, who talks almost as well as he drives, was signed on as a public relations man with associated grocers, inc. Bill muncey, who had won more unlimited hydroplane races than any. During the warmup for heat 3b of the 1996 bill muncey cup at san diegos bayfair, the u6 dewalt tools, driven by mike hanson, went out of control and rolled over.

Bills first attempt to drive in an american power boat association apba gold cup event began by blowing up the engine. After the retirement of miss thriftway, driver bill muncey went through some lean years with just seven wins in the next seven years. Muncey went to gar woods riverfront mansion, and asked wood for help. Schumacher and pride of pay n pak ran a frustrating second to muncey at each of the first three races of the season at miami, owensboro, and detroit. Hours before unlimited hydroplane pilot dave villwock drove miss budweiser to its th san diego victory, driver george stratton, was killed in a single boat blowover during the morning test session. In 1950, he had a chance to drive albin fallons miss great lakes in the harmsworth trials on the detroit river. Bill muncey began a career in hydroplane racing by sinking his boat in the detroit river in 1949. Her husband, one of the most successful drivers in the history of the sport, died in a racing crash in 1981 in. Rc boat company radio control 18 scale unlimited hydros.