THUNDERFEST: SIGNAL FLAG ONLINE

SIGNAL FLAG ONLINE #53

CHRYSLER JEEP DETROIT APBA GOLD CUP July 11-14, 2002
Wednesday November 14 2001
*** THE NEXT GOLD CUP RACE: TENTATIVELY SET FOR JULY 11-14, 2002
STILL a tentative date, the 2002 Gold Cup is scheduled to be held July 11-14th, one week after the Madison race.
*** RECENT PHONE PROBLEMS AT THE THUNDERFEST OFFICES
Due to problems at our phone services company, all of our usual phone numbers have been knocked out. Until they get this fixed, we have two alternate numbers for you to call: (313) 964-4754 and (313) 964-4629 The automatic roll-over is broken too, so if one line is busy please try the other. For now I will respond to inquires at this 'news' account. I am not in the offices but can try to assist you if you have trouble reaching them.
*** MARINE PROP RIDERS - 50TH ANNIVERSARY
We would like to extend our congratulations to the local inboard racing club, the "MARINE Prop Riders", for celebrating their 50th Anniversary in 2001! America's finest inboard racing club!
More than 200 people attended the recent MPR Awards Banquet, including present & past Unlimited drivers Mark Weber, Jimmy King, Mark Tate, Chuck Thompson Jr., and Fred Alter [one of the MPR founders]. COUNTLESS other past and present limited drivers were in attendance as well. It was a very special evening!
MARINE Prop Riders is the host club for the local limited inboard race, Quake On The Lake (in Pontiac MI). Quake III is scheduled for July 27-28 2002. For my personal coverage of the past two Quake's visit http://www.thunderfest.com/quake
*** HOLIDAY SALE OF THE JIM CLARY SERIES - HALF-PRICE!
All four "Century of Hydroplane Racing on the Detroit River" prints are on sale for the holidays at the greatly reduced price of $50 each. This half-price sale is a wonderful opportunity to get one or all! They really are extraordinary, and the sale is for a limited time. Don't miss out. For more info about the series:
http://www.thunderfest.com/mmart/clary.html
*** OUR ANNUAL FINISH/START PARTY
An exact date has not yet been set - look for the Finish / Start party to be held in about March of 2002.
*** "BEHIND THE WHEEL" - SPECIAL GUEST CHIP HANAUER - SATURDAY!
Presented by Unlimiteds Detroit in conjunction with the Great Lakes Maritime Institute, "Behind The Wheel" will highlight Chip's racing career at the Dossin Museum on Belle Isle. This Saturday, November 17 2001, doors open 11am.
$5 for advance tickets or $10 for the Deluxe advance ticket which includes a limited edition commemorative print autographed by Chip and the artist Ray Dong. There are only 100 prints and those tickets are going fast.
There will also be a raffle for you and a friend to spend Sunday brunch with Chip at Sindbad's Restaurant (November 18th). MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN!
All proceeds (after expenses) will be donated to the Dossin.
Tickets are available by fax at (734) 434-4623 or at the door, though I'm not sure of the admission price at the door.
*** MADISON, THE MOVIE: A REVIEW OF THE MID-WEST PREMIERE
By Fred Farley - APBA/HYDRO-PROP Unlimited Historian
The movie MADISON, directed by William Bindley, should do for boat racing what John Frankenheimer's 1966 film GRAND PRIX did for car racing. MADISON is a magnificent calling card for the sport in general and the city of Madison, Indiana, in particular.
MADISON had its Mid-West premiere on Thursday, October 18, at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis. The capacity crowd, which included a large delegation from the tiny Ohio River town, gave the film a standing ovation at the end of the screening.
The racing sequences were stunningly photographed. On the big screen, they were simply breathtaking. MADISON is a movie that demands to be seen in a theatre--not on television. And the camera pays loving attention to the picturesque southern Indiana locations.
The script is based upon the true story of the underdog MISS MADISON Unlimited hydroplane, which won the 1971 APBA Gold Cup before the hometown crowd with Jim McCormick driving.
And yet, strictly speaking, MADISON is not a racing film. It is the story of a man and his son--Jim and Mike McCormick--and the effect that the race has on an economically challenged community. Actors Jim Caviezel as Jim and Jake Lloyd as Mike bring their characters to life. And Hollywood legend Bruce Dern does a memorable star turn as Harry Volpi, whose prowess with the Allison engine proves invaluable to the MISS MADISON team.
Broadcaster Jim Hendrick, who announced the 1971 Gold Cup thirty years ago, makes a cameo appearance in the film as himself.
Some matters of historical fact are glossed over for dramatic effect. But this is a movie not a documentary. And as a movie, it succeeds on its own terms. Granted, there is a lot of fictionalizing. But the characters ring true. I knew all of the real people portrayed in the script. And I can visualize the real people saying and doing many of the things that they say and do in the movie.
The sub-plot involving Jim McCormick's relationship with a young driver, played by actor Richard Lee Jackson, is an obvious reference to McCormick's real life friendship with George "Skipp" Walther. Skipp was fatally injured at Miami Marine Stadium in 1974 while testing the RED MAN hydroplane, which McCormick owned. The film footage that represents the crash involving Jackson's character (fictionalized as "Buddy Johnson") is actually taken from KING-TV film of the 1962 MISS SEATTLE TOO disintegration on Seattle's Lake Washington.
Power boat racing has definitely been given short shrift as a topic for Hollywood films. I've only seen two others. And neither of these had to do with the Unlimited Class of hydroplane. One was CLAMBAKE, a mediocre Elvis vehicle, which did the sport no great service. The other was RACING FEVER, an absolutely wretched drive-in opus from the early '60s that makes PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE look like GONE WITH THE WIND.
The MADISON movie is in a class by itself. Never has this much talent been lavished on a boat racing subject.
For almost as long as I've been a hydroplane fan, I've also been a film buff. With MADISON, I'm able to enjoy both of my passions. When I read the script two years ago, I concluded that if the filmmakers adhered to the screenplay as written, they would have a pretty darned good movie. They did not disappoint me.
The first race that I ever saw on the Ohio River was the 1971 Gold Cup. In my whole life, I've never been happier than when MISS MADISON flashed over the finish line as the winner. It was also the first race that I had ever attended that was won by a personal friend, Jim McCormick.
It was Jim's dream that this movie be made. Prior to his death in 1995, he had planned to portray his own father in an earlier version of the script.
When the end credits rolled during the screening in Indianapolis, I was pleased to see a montage of outtakes from the ABC WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS telecast incorporated into the film. Through the magic of motion pictures, my friend Jim was able to appear in 'his' movie after all.
[Ed: MADISON is currently scheduled for release in Spring 2002]
- Brian Reed (Volunteer WebMaster)