Villwock, Evans Swiftest On River Pico American Dream Turns 168.58 Lap In Hydro Qualifying

Mitch Evans’ homecomings had become nightmarish the past couple of years. The driver of the unlimited hydroplane racing series’ last piston-powered team, Ed Cooper’s U-3 Mill Bay Casino Spirit of Lake Chelan, spent 1993 and 1994 at the Budweiser Columbia Cup watching from the shore.

That’s because two years ago, the first time on the Columbia River in the Tri-Cities, Evans lost a propeller and ripped open the bottom of his boat.

Last year, three times he tried and three times an engine blew up.

Dave Villwock’s travails haven’t gone on as long. Outside of a second-place finish at the Detroit Gold Cup the second race of this season, Villwock’s U-100 Pico American Dream struggled through the East Coast tour.

Friday turned things around.

Evans, from Walla Walla, roared around the 2-1/2-mile Columbia River course during the morning qualifying session in world-record time for a piston-engined hydroplane. His qualifying-lap speed of 148.410 mph beat the old record, also set by the Cooper team in 1991, of 147.600.

Villwock didn’t score a world record. His was only a new Tri-Cities course standard of 168.580. That broke the record of 168.486, set by Chip Hanauer in the Miss Budweiser in 1994.

Villwock was faster than the other 11 hydros in attendance - including the Miss Budweiser (167.698) and Smokin’ Joe’s (167.376).

Notes: U-19 Appian Renegade from Spokane did not qualify and is the only boat that is not in the field at this time. The boat did get into the water but made only one try at qualifying before suffering engine problems. They will try again in today’s session that begins at 9 a.m…. Ken Muscatel driving the U-14 Epson Computers blew over in a qualifying run. Muscatel was treated for a hip and shin injury and released from a TC hospital …The U-16 Miss E-LAM, driven by Ken Dryden, is still en route to the race and is expected today.