Great unlimited drivers

[Bill Gibson]

Perhaps not in the drivers seat but one of the reasons the Bud and Elam/Qatar were so fast was Villwock's ability to set up gearbox and prop combinations. I couldn't believe how much faster the U 37 was when he got his hands on it. Unfortunately he was hitting everything but the scoring barge and washing down too many people and they had to pull him out of the boat.

The dude is an awesome RC plane pilot.

Sorry Bill, I wouldn't put Dave Villwock in the top 10. Granted, he won a championship with a Fred Leland boat but, that said, Mike Hansen won a Gold Cup with the U-9, one of the lowest funded boat teams that year. You take Villwock out of the Bud and Elam boats, he's just another driver.

Mark, im not a Villwock fan, nor a hater, but you might want check out his stats:
67 victories...the most in unlimited history
10 High Points championships
I watched him race flat bottoms in the 1980s....his boat was plastered with U.S. 1 emblems....just another driver? Not hardly! fan or not, got to give him his due! Personally my favorites are Bill Muncey, Chip Hanauer, And Dean Chenowith.......but that's just me.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

Not to be argumentative but top 10 drivers don't:
1) after being given a penalty in a previous heat, take out a majority of the buoys on a racecourse and claim it was rudder issues, they would pull into the infield and shut down
2) hit another boat outside of his, in a turn, and claim structural failure was the reason when his rudder was working fine up to the point of impact
3) hit a boat crossing the infield that was turning a wider arch OUTSIDE of his own
4) get barred from ever driving again due to misconduct
If you take away all his wins while driving the Bud and Elam, arguably the two best funded teams of the era(you could throw in the Oberto/Madison after 2000 as well), he wouldn't have been nearly as dominant. Look at Steve David after 2000, 5 championships, 7 drivers championships and 17 wins, most of that coming after the team started running the new boat in 2007. That has to say something about what having a top boat will do for your record

 

[Bill Gibson]

Not to be argumentative but top 10 drivers don't:
1) after being given a penalty in a previous heat, take out a majority of the buoys on a racecourse and claim it was rudder issues, they would pull into the infield and shut down
2) hit another boat outside of his, in a turn, and claim structural failure was the reason when his rudder was working fine up to the point of impact
3) hit a boat crossing the infield that was turning a wider arch OUTSIDE of his own
4) get barred from ever driving again due to misconduct
If you take away all his wins while driving the Bud and Elam, arguably the two best funded teams of the era(you could throw in the Oberto/Madison after 2000 as well), he wouldn't have been nearly as dominant. Look at Steve David after 2000, 5 championships, 7 drivers championships and 17 wins, most of that coming after the team started running the new boat in 2007. That has to say something about what having a top boat will do for your record

Keeping in mind that as I said, im not a fan of Dave Villwock, you are expressing opinions, and im stating facts.......its kind like of a Dale Earnhardt comparison.....a large number of people weren't crazy about him because he got away with what some people would call dirty driving......but it doesn't change the number of race wins and chamionships he won....its about wins and losses.....and yes even domination. Most any driver that drove for Budweiser won races, but so did Muncey with Atlas Van Lines, Hanauer with Atlas Van Lines, Circus Circus, and yep....Budweiser, and Chenoweth with Budweiser!.........like it or not its about W's versus L's in hydroplane racing as in any other motorsport, and im afraid Villwock will go down as one of the greats, whether we like him or not, or what our opinion of his driving abilities is.

 

[shoboat]

Dave is one smart propeller guy that is for sure.
One of the best in boat racing I believe. Bill, Chip,
and Dean were all great on the Detroit River when
I was growing up.

Just My Opinion,

Mark Sholund

 

[Mike Cathey]

I totally agree, Mike. In that regard Dave is very similar to Mike Hansen, they are wizards when it comes to setting up a boat. You could see the difference in the 1990 Circus boats, they were more than a match for the Budweiser in many cases while Mike had the Madison running with the hot boats from the moment he became the crew chief. Has to say something when, driving one of the oldest boats in the fleet, Steve David gets two or three drivers championships after Mike started calling the shots.

My only experience with Mike Hansen was over twenty years ago when I went to pick up some plans from Roger in Muscatel's shop when Roger was prepping the Miss Freei for the speed run. Mike Hansen came in and noticed there was some oil in the bilge and grabbed some rags to start wiping it up. One of Muscatels' crew asked him what he was doing saying that's what volunteers are for. Mike said, "not on my crew, I do the dirty work so I keep my volunteers instead of training them for somebody else". Here was a guy that understood one of the basic tenants of good leadership. Don't ask people to do something you are unwilling to do yourself. Classy guy that obviously knew how to get the most out his people.

 

[ChrisCapaldi]

This is a great watch...really gives an idea of that Mike is like -
Chris

 

[Hydro Junkie]

I found this on You Tube over the weekend. Mike was very open with his answers but, at the same time, he didn't really give anything away about what the team is going to do when the season actually starts

 

[Jim Recker Jr.]

Jim are you old enough to remember when all the drivers would stop by the Mini Gold Cup. Wild Billy Cantrel absolutely loved toy boats. One of our Wolverine Club members had a slow running deep vee that we’d let any of the unlimited drivers give it a try.

No I don't believe so. The 1st mini Gold cup my father and I attended was either '76 or for sure '77

 

[Jim Recker Jr.]

So all that you guys mentioned, are we talking Slo Mo shun IV or Hawaii Kai days?
Also who drove the Miss Supertest III to all it's success?

 

[Bill Gibson]

So all that you guys mentioned, are we talking Slo Mo shun IV or Hawaii Kai days?
Also who drove the Miss Supertest III to all it's success?

I believe it was Bob Hayward.......and he lost his life in that boat.

 

[JoePeters]

Jim Kropfeld is my all time unlimited hero always was and always will.Steve David is a living legend in my book.Mr.David always makes time to talk to fans and is a riot to be around like Jim.My 2 cents.
P.S. Kropfeld drove one of my childhood favotites Country Boy. Love the model too. JOE

 

[Hydro Junkie]

I have to agree with your comments on Steve David. He could only be called a "FAN'S DRIVER". He turned the wife into a serious fan of his and the Oberto team when he let me take a picture of him and her in front of the boat just before a heat in Seattle several years ago. She almost cried when he retired as he was who she went with me to watch drive.
That said, she also liked Mark Evans, especially after he signed the stand for my 2000 Elam Plus. I have found Jimmy Shane to be a person I could be friends with as well. I had a 45 minute conversation with him at the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum a while back. He came across, to me anyway, as a great person and we all know how well he can drive a boat

 

[BobCronin]

Jim Kropfeld is my all time unlimited hero always was and always will.Steve David is a living legend in my book.Mr.David always makes time to talk to fans and is a riot to be around like Jim.My 2 cents.
P.S. Kropfeld drove one of my childhood favotites Country Boy. Love the model too. JOE

 

[BobCronin]

Jim Kropfeld was the best overall driver. I grew up racing limited inboards (145 now 2.5 stock) in the 70’s & 80’s. He always had good starts and ran out front. What ever class, 2.5 Mod “Mr Bud”, 225 “Country Boy”, Grand Prix “Danish” in both Lauterbachs and Staudackers. Then a great career in “Miss Budweiser”. Just my opinion.

 

[Bill Gibson]

Jim Kropfeld is my all time unlimited hero always was and always will.Steve David is a living legend in my book.Mr.David always makes time to talk to fans and is a riot to be around like Jim.My 2 cents.
P.S. Kropfeld drove one of my childhood favotites Country Boy. Love the model too. JOE

Hey Joe! How ya doing? I saw Jim Krofeld drive Country Boy at the Southland Regatta several times! He was a great driver! I even said hi to him once.......he was a heck of a nice guy.
That’s a nice looking model!

 

[JoePeters]

Hey Joe! How ya doing? I saw Jim Krofeld drive Country Boy at the Southland Regatta several times! He was a great driver! I even said hi to him once.......he was a heck of a nice guy.
That’s a nice looking model!

Thanks Bill, The countryboy model is a local favorite. Im really lucky to have a ton of local hydro Heros here in the Tri State area. Butch Kropfeld Jims brother is another Hero of mine who drove a ton of boats back in the day.You may see a Golden Nugget Lauterbach in my collection soon.

 

[PiroSteel]

Hi,

Did you ever seen this page about those Hydroplane?

I think that's great source for scale lovers

Cheers