In 2018, the H1 Unlimited series returned to the state of Alabama bringing back hydroplane racing after nearly a half century hiatus. Guntersville, Alabama last hosted a H1 Unlimited race in 1969 with Bill Sterett claiming victory in the Miss Budweiser.

The 2.5-mile course has produced some memorable races including a spectacular 5 lap duel between Andrew Tate and Jimmy Shane in the 2018 Southern Cup Final Heat. Last year, Guntersville hosted the 112th running of the APBA Gold Cup. It marked the first time the state of Alabama has hosted the prestigious event that dates to 1904.

The city first hosted a H1 Unlimited race back in 1963 with Ron Musson driving Miss Bardahl to victory in the Alabama Governor’s Cup. Throughout the 60’s, the city hosted four additional events known as the Dixie Cup on Lake Guntersville.

Lake Guntersville is also known for being the site where Roy Duby set the one-mile World Record for propeller driven boats. On April 17, 1962, Duby drove the Miss US I to a record setting speed of 200.419 MPH, a record which stood for thirty-eight years.

As the fleet prepares for the fifth annual Southern Cup, let’s review the previous four Southern Cups…

2022 – COREY PEABODY WINS THE APBA GOLD CUP

 

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. — Corey Peabody of Kent, Washington, was crowned the winner of the 112th running of the APBA Gold Cup. His victory at the controls of Lynx Healthcare on Guntersville Lake, the second win in his career, came when both Jimmy Shane and Dave Villwock, each the winner of two preliminary heats, were both disqualified for infractions that happened before the final heat started.

Defending Gold Cup champion Shane, 36, of San Antonio, Texas, drove Miss HomeStreet to victory in every preliminary heat he entered in the two-day contest and was running ahead of all the other competitors through the entire winner-take-all final heat, but after the finish, officials ruled that he had violated the minimum speed rule. The hydroplanes are required to maintain a speed of at least 80 MPH as they jockey for position before the start of a race.

With Shane’s disqualification, the Gold Cup went to Peabody, 43, who had finished the final heat in second place. He averaged 147.829 MPH in winning the oldest trophy in American motorsports.

Dave Villwock, 68, of Monroe, Washington, the sport’s greatest champion, also had won each of his preliminary heats, but also was disqualified in the final heat. He drove his Miss Beacon Plumbing outside the racecourse boundary before the start. Placing second in the race was Jeff Bernard, 37, of Kent, Washington, who was driving Goodman Real Estate, and finishing third was Jamie Nilsen, 37, of Gig Harbor, Washington, the driver of Miss Colleen.

In earlier preliminary heat action, Shane came from behind to win both Heat 3A and Heat 4B. In the first of those races, he passed Bernard during the second lap and took the checkered flag. In his other victory, he passed Nilsen at the start of the final lap.

Villwock also came from behind to win Heat 4A. He was behind Peabody through most of the race but pulled ahead with only half of a lap to go. In winning Heat 3B, Villwock grabbed the lead coming out of the first turn and was never challenged.

In the first set of preliminary heats, Villwock, 68, of Monroe, Washington, set a course record of 159.810 MPH in the second lap of Heat 1A. He took the lead in the first turn of that contest and extended his lead to the finish line, where he finished with an average speed of 155.434 MPH. Shane, 36, of San Antonio, Texas, won Heat 1B after being challenged throughout the contest by Jimmy King in the Griggs presents Miss Ace Hardware, a boat powered by a V-12 Allison engine.

Bernard, 37, of Kent, Washington, won a controversial Heat 2A where Villwock was penalized one extra lap for a lane-encroachment violation. Bernard, driving Goodman Real Estate, led the field into the first turn but was passed by Villwock’s Miss Beacon Plumbing. Villwock’s penalty gave Bernard the victory.

Shane, the winner of last year’s Gold Cup, earned his second heat victory of the day in Heat 2B.

 

2021 – J. MICHAEL KELLY WINS IN STRONG DEBUT

 

The Strong Racing Group completed its first race on the H1 Unlimited Racing Series in a big way with boats that finished first and second in the Guntersville Lake Hydrofest in Guntersville, Alabama. J. Michael Kelly of Bonney Lake, Washington, was the winner of the Southern Cup driving Miss Tri-Cities and Corey Peabody of Kent, Washington, drove Pinnacle Peak Consulting to second.

Both boats are owned by Vanessa and Darrell Strong of the Tri-Cities, Washington, who purchased both H1 Unlimited hydroplanes last winter and are competing in their first year on the racing circuit. Dave Villwock of Monroe, Washington, the most successful driver in the sport’s history, returned to the H1 Unlimited Racing Series this year with a third-place finish.

In action earlier in the day, Kelly also won two of the preliminary heats while Andrew Tate and Jeff Bernard also scored heat victories.

In the day’s winner-take-all final heat, Kelly powered to the lead in the first lap and stayed there to the finish line. He was initially followed by Jeff Bernard of Kent, Washington, driving Miss HomeStreet, but when it was announced that he had crossed the starting line too early and was assessed a one-lap penalty, Bernard eased back on the throttle and the second-place position went to Peabody.

Also receiving a penalty for starting too early was Jamie Nilsen of Fife, Washington, who was driving J&D’s. Andrew Tate of Canton, Michigan, was disqualified before the race started when he drove the Graham Trucking through the Safety Zone.

The third-place finish by Villwock redeemed a difficult two days of racing for the 10-time national champion. Because of various mechanical issues, his Miss Beacon Plumbing had been unable to start any of the preliminary heats. He was allowed to start behind the others in the final, nevertheless, and with the penalties and disqualification to others, crossed the finish line third.

In addition to winning the final, Kelly also had a successful day during earlier heats on Lake Guntersville. He started by winning Heat 2A, where he outpaced defending national champion Jimmy Shane of Covington, Washington, who was taking a turn driving Miss HomeStreet. Kelly later added another victory in Heat 3B.

Peabody, who surprised the fans on the event’s first day when he was the fastest qualifier and took a victory in one of the preliminary heats, meanwhile had a difficult day of competition until finishing second in the final.

In Heat 2B, he was battling Andrew Tate deck to deck through the first lap until his boat suddenly hooked in the second turn and was thrown into the air by Graham Trucking’s roostertail. Peabody’s boat landed right side up and continued racing, but it was damaged and finished the heat at a much-reduced speed.

In Heat 3B, Peabody was assessed a one-lap penalty for bearing out on another boat before the start then was disqualified after inspectors checked the data recorder on his boat and found that he had not maintain sufficient speed before the start.

Jeff Bernard was back in the cockpit of Miss HomeStreet for Heat 3A and thrilled the Guntersville fans with an exciting deck-to-deck battle with Jamie Nilsen in J&D’s that lasted the entire three laps. Bernard ended that race with an average speed that was only 4/10ths of a mile an hour faster than Nilsen’s.

In Saturday’s first heat, Peabody drove Pinnacle Peak Consulting first across the starting line and held that position to the end, outpacing his Strong Racing Group teammate, J. Michael Kelly of Bonney Lake, Washington, who was driving Miss Tri-Cities. Peabody averaged 154.421 miles per hour in the victory.
Finishing third was Andrew Tate of Canton, Michigan, in Graham Trucking. Tate missed a buoy during the race and had to run an extra lap. Dustin Echols of Monroe, Washington, driver of Bucket List Racing, did not start.

In Saturday’s second preliminary heat, Jeff Bernard held the lead from start to finish driving Miss HomeStreet to an average speed of 150.474 miles per hour. Finishing second was Jamie Nilsen of Fife, Washington, aboard J&D’s. Dave Villwock of Monroe was not able to start in Miss Beacon Plumbing.

Earlier in the day, Peabody earned 100 points as the event’s fastest qualifier with a run of 158.623 miles per hour. Kelly was the second fastest qualifier at 157.930 miles per hour, Dave Villwock was third at 156.475 miles per hour, and Bernard was fourth with a run of 156.052 miles per hour.

 

2019 – SHANE WINS SEASON OPENER IN GUNTERSVILLE

 

GUNTERSVILLE, ALA. (June 30, 2019)- Jimmy Shane drove the U-6 “Miss HomeStreet” to victory in Sunday’s second annual Guntersville Lake HydroFest’s Southern Cup over J. Michael Kelly in the U-12 “Graham Trucking” and third place finisher Bert Henderson in the U-7 “Spirit of Detroit.”

Shane and Kelly battled each other side-by-side for four laps until Shane suddenly found the extra power in his hydroplane and flew ahead of Kelly on the last lap. In the end, Shane took the checkered flag over six MPH faster than Kelly. Shane ended the race with an average speed of 149.476 MPH.

With the win today, Shane has won on every active H1 Unlimited series racecourse. It is the team’s first victory in their new race boat that saw only its third race in her short history.

With the sun shining in the driver’s eyes leading up to the start, Shane in the back stretch maintained his timing marks and nailed the start.

Shane said, “I had a great run to the start finish-line and carried that speed into the first turn but at that point Mike (Kelly) and I were side-by-side, and he gained a little on me, but I was able to pull ahead and maintain control of the course.”

Shane said that with control of the course he was able to “keep him honest.” “My boat had legs,” and Shane, and the “boat had top end speed and we were able to slowly pull away.”
Shane, who lost last year’s Southern Cup by only a few feet to Andrew Tate said, “it is a little bit of redemption for me after last year’s great, great race last year and to be on the opposite end of was a little tough, but I am very happy to be on top this year.”

Shane also had the fastest lap in the final and reached an average speed of 155.044 MPH on lap two.

Kelly, who sat out last year’s race on Lake Guntersville, known as the “South’s fastest water” was disappointed he wasn’t able to maintain his speed with Shane.
“Even though he passed me I had to keep my foot in it because you never know – he could have taken a big hop and went out so you don’t give up until you know you just can’t get him anymore” Kelly said. He continued, “We ran hard the entire race and I obviously had to stay ahead of Bert, because he was running pretty good too.”

Kelly said, “To start off the season with a second place you really can’t complain too much about that.” Kelly finished the five laps with an average of 148.110 MPH.

Like Kelly, Henderson also missed last year’s race but ended up on the podium next to Kelly and Shane.

Henderson said, “This aqua oval is the Talladega Speedway of boat racing. Everyone in Guntersville will understand that after this weekend. I got to thank all the volunteers and people that put this event on. I mean, what an event, it’s awesome.”

Fourth place went to Dustin Echols in the U-440 “Bucket List Racing” who kept the U-98 “Graham Trucking American Dream” and rookie Corey Peabody at bay for two laps until Peabody progressively lost speed on subsequent laps.

Echols finished with an average speed of 133.385 MPH and Peabody managed an average of 128.323 MPH.

Tom Thompson in the U-11 “J&D’s presented by Reliable Diamond Tool” was unable to start due to a gearbox issue.

Shane scored 400 national points after winning preliminary heat 1A with an average three lap speed of 153.490 MPH Second place was J. Michael Kelly in the U-12 “Graham Trucking” based in Milton, Washington with an average speed of 152.664 MPH Third place was Tom Thompson in the U-11 “J&D’s presented by Reliable Diamond Tool,” averaging 143.381 MPH Dustin Echols in the U-440 “Bucket List Racing” rounded out the field with an average speed of 127.778 MPH.

Kelly said it was a really good preliminary heat race against Shane. “We went out and got lane one and fought it out to the very end and it was a very close finish.”

Shane and Kelly were neck-and-neck at the start before Shane stuck the nose of his boat out front of Kelly. Shane said, “I got ahead of Mike (J. Michael Kelly) just enough to control the course, and when you control the course, you can use the course and your roostertail as a tool. It was a good heat of racing and we’re glad we came out on top,” Shane said.

Shane had the fastest lap of the three-lap preliminary heat with a lap average of 155.044 MPH

With a second-place finish in Heat 1A in the books, Kelly went out to win the next preliminary heat. Kelly has a slight disadvantage coming into the first of five races on the H1 Unlimited series because he did not attend the inaugural Guntersville Lake HydroFest last season.

“I was pretty nervous going out the first time because we really didn’t get much testing time.” Kelly said. He continued, “I was kind-of flying by the seat of my pants because I didn’t have many timing marks.”

Kelly quickly adapted and finished with a heat average of 149.732 MPH He had the fastest lap with a speed of 154.836 MPH

Before the start, Echols collided with Shane and the U-12 “Graham Trucking” but Kelly was able to regroup. “I got a good start anyway but I didn’t want to push it too hard because I didn’t know how much damage I had on my right sponson,” Kelly said.

The next thing Kelly knew was Bert Henderson in the U-7 “Spirit of Detroit” was about to pass him. Kelly said, “I saw that Henderson was about to pass me and said, ‘well I can’t let this happen,’ so I stuck my foot back into it and was able to stay out front and come away with the win.”

Henderson ended in second with an average speed of 144.669 MPH

Echols in the U-440 “Bucket List Racing” and rookie-driver Peabody in the U-98 “American Dream” were side-by-side feet before the finish line until Echols inched forward ahead of Peabody.

Echols average third place speed was 124.676 MPH Peabody finished fourth at 124.416 MPH in the U-98 “American Dream.”

Echols was fined 150 points and $300 because of the collision with Kelly, causing damage to both race boats. Both teams worked through the night to make the necessary repairs to continue racing on Sunday.

 

2018 – ANDREW TATE IN U-9 DELTA/REALTRAC WINS SOUTHERN CUP

 

GUNTERSVILLE, ALA. – Andrew Tate (Walled Lake, Mich.), driving the U-9 Delta/Realtrac H1 Unlimited hydroplane captured the inaugural Southern Cup Championship Final. The five-lap race on the 2-1/2-mile racecourse turned into a two-boat duel between Tate and Jimmy Shane in the U-1 Miss HomeStreet. Tate pulled an early lead and at one point was over half of a roostertail ahead.

But on lap four, Tate hit some rough water and he said, “the boat just didn’t want to settle in and wanted to get away from me. I knew Shane was coming, so the gloves came off, so to speak, and I worked the front wing”, Tate said. “My canard was my best friend.”

As Tate exited the last turn, Shane pulled up alongside him as the two made one last effort to be the first to the finish line. The two were deck-to-deck all the way to the end, as Tate narrowly beat Shane by one boat length.

Tate averaged 152.004 MPH and his fastest single lap in the final race was 153.272 MPH.

Shane averaged 151.960 MPH and set the fastest single lap of the race at 156.092 MPH on the last lap.

“This is one I will never forget, that was one hell of a final. I think that was the best boat race I have ever been in,” the 28-year-old Tate said after the race.

With the win, the U-9 Delta/Realtrac becomes the oldest race hull ever to win an H1 Unlimited hydroplane race. The hull is 26 years old. It first ran as the 1992 Coors Dry and is two years younger than its driver.

Crew chief Jeff Campbell said the last lap scared him. “I thought we had him covered but Shane snuck up on us. I am so excited. We had a perfect weekend, we scored every point we could earn, and I just got to hug the Mayor.”

Campbell said his crew wasn’t real happy with him because he had the crew change gearboxes about eight times this weekend. In the end his judgment paid off, and his team provided the 10,000 fans along the Lake Guntersville shoreline with a race they are not going forget any time soon.

Second place finisher Shane said, “It was an amazing final heat.”

Third place went to U-11 Reliable Diamond Tool presents J&D’s (134.370 MPH average) driven by Tom Thompson (Cambridge, Md.), fourth went to U-21 Payne West Insurance (124.260 MPH average) driven by Brian Perkins (North Bend, Wash.).