CHRYSLER JEEP DETROIT APBA GOLD CUP July 8-11, 1999 Sunday July 11 1999 *** CHIP HANAUER IN PICO FLAT-OUT BEATS DAVE VILLWOCK IN BUD! The excitement the fans showed during the final heat was really unbelievable! As the boats approached the line for the start, it was clear that Dave wasn't where he wanted to be - a bit behind and between two other boats. In one motion everyone stood up and started hollering and clapping, and the clamor grew until Chip was done with the TV interviews. The largest crowd in memory stayed to see the Gold Cup Trophy presentation, chanting CHIP CHIP CHIP and PICO PICO PICO. I can still taste the excitement in the air! Coming off the first Belle Isle bridge turn, PICO was almost a roostertail ahead of Bud, a lead which he lengthened to about three by the finish. Both were racing hard - floating the front end and tipping from sponson to sponson. Hanauer has now won three of the five UHRA events this year. Chip will tell you that Dave brings more to a team with technical skills (prop, engine, etc); but I'll say that when it comes to driving, Hanauer is the maestro. *** OFFICIAL GOLD CUP RESULTS 1) Chip Hanauer: U-100 MISS PICO at 152.591 MPH 2) Dave Villwock: U-1 MISS BUDWEISER at 148.802 3) Mark Weber: U-10 YOUNG COUNTRY PRESENTS MISS DYC at 136.638 4) Greg Hopp: U-15 R. S. EASTIN at 134.754 5) Steve David: U-2 MISS CHRYSLER JEEP at 128.195 -- Ken Muscatel: U-14 MISS BELL FORKLIFT (DNS - never left dock) How about that #3? A Detroit driver in a boat sponsored by Detroit Yacht Club members and Detroit's 'Young Country' radio! *** OTHER RESULTS Due to a copier snafu in the press room and poor distribution of the Timing & Scoring report, full results have been delayed. They will be reported here ASAP, but it may take 1-3 days. *** CHIP'S STATS - Hanauer is one race win away from Muncey's record of 62. He notes that he is indifferent about breaking Bill's record, and in my opinion it seemed that while of course he wants to continue winning, he doesn't want to take Bill's name off this record. Chip went on to say that of all the people really close to him, Fran Muncey has been the only one that has remained adamant that he return to racing and go after that record. It was a touching moment during the press interview. - Since 1982, Chip has started in 14 Gold Cups, making it to 13 final heats and winning an unprecendented 11 Gold Cups. Six of them were here in Detroit. Wow!! - Hanauer is the last driver to win the Gold Cup with piston power (Atlas Van Lines 1983-Evansville OH) and also the first driver to win the Gold Cup with turbine power (AVL 1984-Pasco WA). Wow!! *** ALL MY THANKS TO THOSE THAT HELPED WITH INTERNET COVERAGE First is Gene Casaroll and VPM Studios... he has already posted RealVideo clips from Thursday, and the best are yet to come! We have 4 hours of good footage to sort through on his 3CCD digital video camera - this stuff looks GREAT. Gene and VPM Studios also loaned us the camera for the ThunderCam. Assistance by Lory Grillo. Second is Jim Stapleton. Jim has brought you all the still photos on our page! He then stepped in on Sunday and helped Gene with his efforts. He also brought along his friend... Third is Todd Davis. Todd took control of the ThunderCam on Sunday and GREATLY improved over what I could have done in-between tasks. Last and surely not least are Cindy and Chuck Moore, two of the nicest people you could meet. They were the ones that followed up my NewsBits with the full story, more eloquently that I can. *** WE ALL HAVE OTHER INTERESTS I know you're all racing fans - while the Paris-Ruebiex event is my favorite bicycle race, the Tour de France is their Gold Cup. Lance Armstrong (United States) has won the 8th stage of the TdF in addition to winning the pre-TdF trial stage. Not unlike Chip he has been out for a few years, but in Lance's case it was because of recovery from cancer. If you haven't picked your favorite for the TdF yet, choose Lance and stay tuned to the race coverage. Mentioning Lance makes it impossible to not mention the U.S. Women's Soccer team win. Saturday night I was at Sindbad's with the boating crowd and suddenly we were a soccer crowd too. *** STILL MORE TO COME! The best Audio/Video clips of the Gold Cup weekend. As a tie-in to Saturday night's HYDROFEST benefit party, we here at http://www.thunderfest.com have a very special prize to give away. How about a 1999 Gold Cup race program signed on the cover by ALL ELEVEN drivers? It's a beauty! An entry form will be available on the web page within the week, and you'll have at least a week to enter. This is open to fans only - if you're directly involved with the Gold Cup event, you're excluded. - Brian Reed (Volunteer WebMaster: http://www.thunderfest.com)

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