Villwock retired following the 2012 season with 67 career victories – the most by any driver in the history of the sport.  He joined Schumacher racing as a consultant and became team manager during the 2013 season. On July 16, team owner Billy Schumacher announced that Villwock would be the team’s driver for the Tri-Cities and Seattle races, adding, “People asked me, “You have the best driver in the history of the sport on your team and he doesn’t drive the boat?  What’s wrong with this picture?”

Following the 2013 season, Villwock oversaw an extensive rebuild of Schumacher’s 37 Beacon Plumbing and says, “We are pretty confident in the changes we made but it will need some adjusting.  We learned about propellers last season.  It should be a safer, more stable ride and that should equate to more speed.”

The team’s game plan for the Columbia Cup is to get the boat setup dialed in before the sponsor’s home town race in Seattle – The Albert Lee Cup at Seafair. They will be testing four new propellers and two new turbine engines from associate sponsor Whispering Turbines.

At Ellstrom Racing, former Oberto crew chief Mike Hanson heads up the team putting the finishing touches on the new Spirit of Qatar that will make its maiden voyage Friday morning with Kip Brown at the wheel.

Brown says, “This thing is awesome.  Mike Hanson’s craftsmanship is just spectacular.  It really is the state of the art race boat Erick said it would be.”

Ellstrom has said the new technology in the boat will not be obvious and many little things have been done that should combine to make a big difference.

Brown concurs, saying, “Most of the changes are pretty subtle.  There are some things you can see in the running surfaces and a few other places that are new technology but the boat won’t look much different on the water.”

Brown won the 2013 Gold Cup in the 95 Spirit of Qatar owned by Our Gang Racing of Preston, Washington.  That team represented the Qatar sponsorship while the new 96 was being constructed.  OGR is back to their 17 number and will make their 2014 debut at the Columbia Cup with Jeff Bernard driving.

Two other teams will join the series in the third race of the season after skipping the Eastern swing.  They are Leland Unlimited’s 100 driven by Dave Warren and Kelly Stocklin’s 18 Bucket List Racing.

Stocklin’s boat is a former G boat, slightly smaller than the other unlimiteds and designed to run with automotive power.  In 2012, Stocklin secured a waiver from H1 to run the smaller boat with a smaller turbine engine and qualified it as an unlimited at the Tri-Cities race on the Columbia River.

The five teams seeing competition for the first time in 2014 will be joining a fleet that showed tremendous speed and reliability in the first two events of the season.  New Oberto driver Jimmy Shane posted some of the fastest speeds in the history of the APBA Gold Cup in putting his name on one of the most prestigious trophies in all of motorsports.

In the season opener at Madison, Indiana, J. Michael Kelly, Shane’s replacement in the 1 Graham Trucking, looked very quick and stood at the top of the podium after apparent winner Shane was penalized for getting to the start line too soon.

Asked how he feels after two races with his new team, Shane said, “We feel pretty good!  We’ve won every heat we’ve been in except the Final Heat in Madison and our name is on the Gold Cup.  I’m getting comfortable in the boat and it’s really fast and loose.  I especially like the fast part!”

Jones Racing’s 9 Les Schwab Tires/Team Red Dot is being repaired in the team’s shop in Enumclaw, Washington after a spectacular blow over accident at the Gold Cup.  Driver Jon Zimmerman suffered only a chipped tooth but damage to the boat was more extensive.  Crew chief Jeff Campbell and the team have been putting in long hours hoping to have the boat ready for the Columbia Cup.

Other teams off to a fast start include Kelly’s team mate Cal Phipps in the 7 Graham Trucking II with two podium finishes and Greg and Brian O’Farrell’s 21 GoFastTurnLeft Racing with Jamie Nilsen and Brian Perkins sharing the driver’s seat.  Perkins scored a second place finish at the Gold Cup. Nilsen will do the driving in the Tri-Cities with Perkins taking over in Seattle.

 H1 Unlimited race teams will be arriving in the Neil F. Lampson pit area on Thursday, with three scheduled to make a stop at the Columbia Center Mall from 4-6 pm to meet with fans and media.

Testing, qualifying and the Legends Casino Dash for Cash are scheduled for Friday with racing getting underway on Saturday. The winner of the 2014 HAPO Columbia Cup will be determined during the running of the winner take all championship final heat beginning at 4:40 pm PDT on Sunday.

Mike Webster	Jamie Nilsen	Jeff Bernard
Jon Zimmerman	Greg Hopp	Tom Thompson
Kelly Stocklin	David Warren

2014 HAPO Columbia Cup Boat Roster   

#	Boat Name	Driver	Hometown
1	Graham Trucking	J. Michael Kelly	Bonney Lake, WA
6	Oberto	Jimmy Shane	Covington, WA
7	Graham Trucking II	Cal Phipps	Sterling Heights, MI
9	Les Schwab Tires –	Jon Zimmerman	Maple Valley, WA
	Team RedDOT
11	Peters & May	Tom Thompson	Cambridge, MD
12	Miss DiJulio	Greg Hopp	Lake Stevens, WA
17	Our Gang Racing	Jeff Bernard	Maple Valley, WA
18	Bucket List Racing	Kelly Stocklin	Edmonds, WA
21	Lakeridge Paving	Jamie Nilsen	Federal Way, WA
		Brian Perkins	North Bend, WA
22	Ranch & Home presents	Mike Webster	Reading, PA
	Payne West Insurance
37	Beacon Plumbing	Dave Villwock	Monroe, WA
96	Spirit of Qatar	Kip Brown	Black Diamond, WA
100	Leland Unlimited	WITHDRAWN

 

 

EVENT SCHEDULE

 

Thursday, July 24, 2014 4:00 – 6:00
Hydros at the Mall, Columbia Center Mall, Kennewick

Friday, July 25, 2014
8:00am Park opens
8:15am 1 Liter Hydroplane Testing
9:10am Grand Prix Hydroplane Testing
10:10am H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Testing
11:30am HAPO Over the River Air Show
1:40pm 1 Liter Hydroplane Testing
2:15pm Grand Prix Hydroplane Testing
3:00pm H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Qualifying
4:00pm Vintage Hydroplane Dash
4:20pm 1 Liter Hydroplane Dash
4:40pm Grand Prix Dash
5:05pm Legends CasinoDash for Cash
6:00pm Castle Catering Speed & Feed (by invitation only)

Saturday, July 26, 2014
8:00am Park opens
8:15am 1 Liter Hydroplane Testing
9:00am Grand Prix Hydroplane Testing
9:45am H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Testing
11:30am HAPO Over the River Air Show
Noon Drivers Autograph Session at the Stage
1:40pm 1 Liter Hydroplane Heat #1
2:05pm Vintage Hydroplane Heat #1
2:15pm Pilots Autograph Session at the Stage
2:35pm Grand Prix Hydroplane Heat #1
3:05pm Atomic Screenprinting H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Heat 1A
3:35pm Atomic Screenprinting H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Heat 1B
4:05pm 1 Liter Hydroplane Heat #2
4:35pm Vintage Hydroplane Heat #2
5:05pm Grand Prix Unlimited Heat #2

Sunday, July 27, 2014
7:00am Park opens
7:30am Church Service at the Stage
8:00am Joint Hydroplane Testing
9:20am Vintage Hydroplane Testing
10:00am Opening Ceremonies
10:15am Connell Oil H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Heat 2A
10:40am Connell Oil H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Heat 2B
11:05am Grand Prix Hydroplane Heat #3
11:30am HAPO Over the River Air Show
1:40pm 1 Liter Hydroplane Final Heat
2:10pm Frontier Communications H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Heat 3A
2:35pm RebathTri-Cities H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Heat 3B
3:10pm Plumbers & Steamfitters UA Local 598 Grand Prix Hydroplanes Thunder Cup
3:35pm H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Provisional
4:00pm Vintage Hydroplane Heat #3
4:40pm HAPO Columbia Cup for H1 Unlimited Hydroplanes
5:30pm Event Awards Ceremony

HAPO Over the River Air Show Daily Schedule

Air National Guard MX-S John Klatt Air shows
Douglas DC-3 Historic Flight Foundation
Alpha Jet Mark Peterson
T-33 Shooting Star Gregory Colyer
TF-51 Mustang Mark Peterson
Sukhoi-29 Renny Price
All Women Skydivers/Wing Suits Misty Blues