Villwock Leaves Hanauer In His Wake

Dave Villwock swept undefeated through three heats and upset Chip Hanauer to win the Gila River Casino Unlimited Cup of hydroplane racing Sunday.

For Villwock, of Auburn, Wash., it was his fourth career win and first since September 1994 in San Diego. The Cup is the first stop of the 1996 Unlimited Hydroplane Thunder Tour.

Villwock drove the PICO American Dream to win all three heats. He upset Hanauer, driving Miss Budweiser, in the five-lap championship final match on the 1.5-mile Firebird Lake course.

Hanauer lost his lane choice when he hit a buoy in the semifinal. He received a one-lap penalty for striking another buoy in the warm-up lap to the final then hit another in the championship race.

Villwock’s average speed was 136.069 mph compared to Hanauer’s 131.647.

Hanauer went into Sunday’s competition four victories shy of matching the late Bill Muncey’s all-time record of 64 career unlimited wins.