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CHRYSLER JEEP DETROIT APBA GOLD CUP July 6-9, 2000
*** SODT WELCOMES NESTLE ICE CREAM AS OUR NEWEST SPONSOR!
Nestle Ice Cream joins us as the Official Ice Cream of the 2000
Gold Cup, and we are looking forward to their participation.
Their cool and refreshing products will be available in all our
spectator parks.
*** CHRYSLER JEEP APBA GOLD CUP ACTION STARTS THURSDAY
When the Budweiser 2000 Unlimited Hydro Tour comes to Detroit
this week, the most prestigious powerboat trophy will once again
be on the line. The Detroit River will be the site for the
Chrysler Jeep APBA Gold Cup with qualifying on Thursday, July 6
and Friday, July 7. The big unlimited hydroplanes and the
entire support show will race on Saturday, July 8 and then again
on Sunday, July 9 as the action leads to a winner-take-all final
at 3:10 PM.
In 1999, Chip Hanauer returned to the hydroplane wars and won
the first race on the circuit in Lake Havasu. Then, the Ohio
River, Hanauer took the Miss Pico to its second win on the tour
and 60th career triumph with the Jasper Engines and Transmission
Governor's Cup title in Madison, Indiana. Hanauer came to
Detroit one week later and captured the Chrysler Jeep APBA Gold
Cup for unlimited win number 61-one short of the late, great
Bill Muncey. Hanauer did not win again in 1999.
This year, Hanauer has retired and Dave Villwock and the U-1
Miss Budweiser have won all three races. Even more impressive,
Villwock has been the fastest qualifier and has won all of his
preliminary heats in each race including this past Sunday's
Belterra Resort & Casino Indiana Governor's Cup.
This week, 11 different unlimited race teams are scheduled to
make the stop in Detroit's Bill Muncey Memorial Pits. The
question is will the defending championship team return?
Owner Fred Leland and driver Gregg Hopp skipped the Madison race
this past Sunday, deciding to return to Seattle to work on the
turbine. The team had two consecutive fuel violations and a
third violation could mean the U-10 would have to sit on the
beach for the entire season.
Mark Tate of Canton, Mich., in the U-2 Miss Chrysler Jeep, hopes
the good fortunes look down on him this week. On Sunday, July 2
in Madison, the team broke a gearbox and was forced to sit on
the beach for the entire day.
Miss Chrysler Jeep owner Jim Harvey has made numerous changes
with former crew chief Ron Brown consulting for the team. In
Detroit, the team is expected to have a new turbine ready to go.
Hometown favorite Mark Weber in the U-10 York International and
Shelby Enterprises presents the Miss Detroit Yacht Club also
should prove to be a threat to Villwock. Weber, a St. Clair
Shores resident, won the season finale in the Honolulu two years
ago and has not found the winner's circle since.. In Madison,
Weber found himself a winner of three preliminary heats but
lost to Villwock and the Bud in the final by seven seconds.
Tickets for the Chrysler Jeep APBA Gold Cup are available at
TicketMaster locations or at the Spirit of Detroit Thunderfest
Office (313-331-7770). Eleven viewing locations are available
along the Jefferson side of the Detroit River. Pit tours and
group rates are available. Free viewing is available on Belle Isle.
All unlimited heats will be broadcast live on 950 WWJ-AM Sunday.
*** MADISON INDIANA GOVERNOR'S CUP RESULTS (JULY 2)
*** MORGAN FOODS UNLIMITED LIGHTS RESULTS (JULY 2)
*** CHRYSLER-JEEP APBA GOLD CUP TO GO WORLD WIDE
The Spirit of Detroit Thunderfest is teaming together with
allwebsports.com and Earthlink to put the Chrysler Jeep APBA
Gold Cup on the world-wide web on Saturday, June 8th and
Sunday, June 9th.
What is different about this webcast is that the only live radio
coverage of the event is on WWJ-AM during the Sunday heats, so
allwebsports.com is going to use the Public Address system
broadcast and couple it with a three-camera videocast to put
together the first video/audio webcast of an entire unlimited
hydroplane race program. Not only will the unlimited boats
receive coverage but so will the Authorized Cellular Unlimited
Light race, the Big Boy Five-Liter North American Championship,
the Sinbad's Inflatable Challenge, the Dave Czerwinski Memorial
Grand Prix race, the Jersey Speed Skiffs and the Vintage boats.
The Spirit of Detroit received verbal permission from Ken Black
of WWJ to put the on air portion of the broadcast on the web and
SODT volunteer Brian Reed worked closely with allwebsports.com
to put the myriad of technical areas together to ensure a
successful video and audio webcast.
Allwebsports.com is one of the worlds leading providers of audio
video LIVE "streaming" for all major sports and entertainment.
Allwebsports simply marries the two technologies into a whole
presentation so that you get exactly what a full TV show would
present plus everything else that TV cannot show and do. Sports
partners include Hydros, Worldwide Soccer, Hockey, Baseball,
Boxing, Tennis, Motorsports, Football, Golf, and much more.
Allwebsports CEO/President Chris Collins has put together an
impressive line-up of partners from the operational side to
insure satisfaction when delivering this very difficult but
satisfying program to computers all over the world. World Stream
Productions of Bellevue, Wash. provides the technology to get
the "stream" to users while Mere-Image Productions of Federal
Way, Wash. and Eye Candy Productions of Seattle, Wash. will
handle the graphic and content related issues.
The webcast will begin at approximately 10 am EDT both Saturday,
June 8th and Sunday, June 9th. To join the webcast, internet
users can go to www.thunderfest.com or to www.allwebsports.com
and link from there. Details to follow.
- Brian Reed (Volunteer WebMaster)
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All contents Copyright © 2000 Spirit of Detroit THUNDERFEST, except where noted.
Written by Brian Reed.
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