Hydroplanes | Villwock continues perfect season with victory at Columbia Cup

KENNEWICK — The other drivers try as best they can to parrot the company line of increased parity in the sport of unlimited hydroplane racing.

But then race day comes and reality hits them in the face like a cold roostertail from the back of Dave Villwock and the Miss Ellstrom Elam Plus

"He's very hard to beat right now," said Miss Beacon Plumbing driver Jean Theoret. "He's got a lot of speed, a very good machine. He can get out in lane two, three, four and just run by everybody."

That's exactly what Villwock did here Sunday in capturing the Columbia Cup race on the Columbia River.

Villwock, who was the highest qualifier and won all four heats he raced over the weekend, began the winner-take-all final heat in lane four, which for any other boat would be a recipe for disaster.

But for Villwock, it was easy street as he simply used superior speed to eventually blow by the boats on the inside and pull away for his fourth straight win to start the season.

Steve David and the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto was second and the U-10 Miss Hoss Mortgage Investors and David Bryant third.

It's the first time any boat has won four in a row since Villwock and the Miss Budweiser won the first six in 2000.

That was part of a string of 10 in a row for Villwock and the Bud over two years, the longest winning streak for any driver.

Such winning streaks are the kind of thing the sport's leaders hoped would no longer happen when the Bud pulled its team — and its loaded wallet — out of hydroplane racing in 2004.

Instead, as legendary driver Chip Hanauer said of the Elam: "They are the new Miss Bud."

Villwock, who drove Miss Budweiser from 1997-2004, has won nine of 15 races since joining the Elam team midway through the 2005 season and has become even more dominant this year, winning 15 of 16 heats, losing only a preliminary at Madison, Ind.

"As a group, we're just working better together through the day," Villwock said of the difference this year from his first two.

Elam crew chief Erick Ellstrom said the team was motivated to spend extra hours on the boat after some rough races last season — Villwock won only three of seven events in 2006.

"We got beat last year and we didn't like that," Ellstrom said.

Villwock calls the race here a year ago a turning point. Villwock flipped the boat in an early heat in the Tri-Cities last season, but the crew worked quickly to repair the hull and Villwock came back to win the final.

"That was sort of the genesis of a championship team," Villwock said.

This year was a lot easier as Villwock cruised to three preliminary heat wins, part of a relatively uneventful day in which there were no flips and little real drama.

The championship heat looked like it might break that drought, however, when David — who was the second-fastest qualifier — and Theoret, who won Seafair a year ago, each got inside Elam at the start. In fact, Elam was in lane four when Jeff Bernard and the FormulaBoats.com grabbed lane one at the last minute, pushing everyone else out.

But the Elam team, confident in the boat's superior speed, had prepared the boat to win from the outside and Villwock insisted he was right where he wanted to be.

"We didn't want to get in a bumping contest," Villwock said.

David held the lead through most of lap one, but Villwock caught him as they hit the start-finish line. His task got easier when Theoret was called for encroaching the U-5 and given a one-lap penalty.

Theoret disputed the penalty, saying "the Oberto didn't leave me room. It shouldn't have been called."

David said he thinks the gap is closing, and vowed for a more competitive race in Seattle, where he said his boat will have a better chance on a shorter course (two miles as opposed to 2 ½ miles here).

And it's worth noting that the Elam has struggled in Seattle in recent years, winning only once — in 2001, before Villwock came aboard.

But if Elam can win Seattle, it will then need just one more race, the season finale at San Diego in September, to make hydroplane history and sweep the season — no boat has ever won every race on the schedule.

"There's a reason nobody's ever done it," Villwock said, "because it's a longshot."

One that's getting shorter every week.

RESULTS

FINAL HEAT -- 1, U-16 Miss Ellstrom Elam Plus, Dave Villwock, 145.013; 2, U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto, Steve David, 142.164; 3, U-10 Hoss Mortgage Investors,David Bryant, 137.454; 4, U-13 Spirit of Detroit, J. Michael Kelly, 134.687; 5, U-5 Miss FormulaBoats.com, Jeff Bernard, 122.296; 6, U-9 Miss Conover Insurance, Chris Bertram, 117.456; 7, U-37 Beacon Plumbing, Jean Theoret, 124.814. U-37 penalized one lap for encroaching.

HEAT 2A -- 1, U-16, Villwock, 150.377; 2, U-37, Theoret, 145.988; 3, U-48 Miss Lakeridge Paving, David Williams,144.392; 4, U-9, Bertram, 131,169; 5, U-1, Miss FormulaBoats.com, Jimmy Shane, did not finish.

HEAT 2B -- 1, U-5, Bernard, 148.620; 2, U-10, Bryant, 147.015; 3, U-25 Superior Racing,Ken Muscatel (Seattle), 136.796; 4, U-21Meyers' Auto Tech, Brian Perkins, 116.523.

HEAT 2C -- 1, U-6, David, 145.641; 2, U-13, Kelly, 142.674; 3, U-100 Mirage Racing, Greg Hopp, 133.616. U-3 Hoss Mortgage Investors II Presents Ronald McDonald House, Jimmy King, did not finish.

HEAT 3A -- 1, U-5, Bernard, 152.357; 2, U-6, David, 151.739; 3, U-10, Bryant, 143.601; 4, U-25, Muscatel, 136.243.

HEAT 3B -- 1, U-37, Theoret, 143.151; 2, U-9, Bertram, 122.433. U-13, Kelly, did not finish; U-3, King, did not start.

HEAT 3C -- 1, U-16, Villwock, 141.751; 2, U-100, Hopp, 139.600; 3, U-48, Williams. 129.570; 4, U-21, Perkins, 120.928.

CONSOLATION FINAL -- 1, U-13, Kelly, 143.678; 2, U-48, Williams, 123.748. U-21, Perkins, did not finish. U-25, U-100 did not start.

FINAL POINTS

U-16 Miss Ellstrom Elam Plus, 1700; U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto, 1249; U-37 Miss Beacon Plumbing, 1241; U-10 Hoss Mortgage Investors, 1190; U-5 Formulaboats.com, 1104; U-9 Miss Conover Insurance, 894; U-13 Spirit of Detroit, 799; U-100 Mirageboats.com, 724; U-21 Myers' Auto Tech, 668; U-25 Superior Racing, 649; U-48 Miss Lakeridge Paving, 480; U-1 Formulaboats.com, 255; U-3 Hoss Mortage Investors II Presents Ronald McDonald House, 60.

ABRA NATIONAL

HIGH POINTS STANDINGS

TEAM -- U-16 Ellstrom Elam Plus, 6625; U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto/Miss Madison, 5104; U-37 Beacon Plumbing, 4238; U-13 Spirit of Detroit, 3208; U-3 Cooper Motorsports, 3125; U-100 Fred Leland, 2703; U-5 Formulaboats.com, 2606; U-25 Superior Racing, 2558; U-10 USA Racing, 1970; U-1 Formulaboats.com, 1968; U-9 Jones Racing, 894; U-21 Freedom Racing, 668; U-48 Go Fast, Turn Left, 480.

DRIVER -- Dave Villwock, 6625; Steve David, 5104; Jean Theoret, 4238; J. Michael Kelly, 3208; Greg Hopp, 3125; Jimmy King, 3097; Jeff Bernard, 2606; Ken Muscatel, 2164; David Bryant, 1970; Mike Allen, 1713; Chris Bertram, 894; Brian Perkins, 668; David Williams, 480; Jimmy Shane, 255.