When you have more wins than any driver in the history of the sport, there is a certain expectation other teams will be taking aim at you every race. Drivers on the Air National Guard Hydroplane Series going into the Seattle race this weekend are especially focused on keeping Dave Villwock from getting his third win of the season.

 Villwock has been nearly unstoppable, winning the APBA Gold Cup in Detroit and last week in Tri-Cities, Wash. And if Villwock hadn’t spun out his Spirit of Qatar boat and caused a crash in the final of the season opener in Madison, Ind., he would be perfect on the season.

 Asked what he thought about the other 12 teams focused on ending his winning streak, the 57-year-old driver from Auburn, Wash., was amused.

 “What’s new?” Villwock said with a laugh. “What’s different about that? It goes with the territory.”

 The drivers will have extra incentive—at least financially—to win at Seafair this weekend. Organizers, thanks to AT&T and LG, are putting up a $25,000 purse that will be split evenly between the winning driver and the winning owner. It’s prize money that hasn’t been seen in the sport since the 1970s. Teams on the Air National Guard Hydroplane Series equally share a pool of money at each race.

 Hoping to cash in is Steve David, who is looking for his second win of the season. He was declared the winner in Madison after his Oh Boy! Oberto boat tangled with Villwock and the race was ended because it was late into the day.

 David says he has the boat that can beat Villwock and that the Oh Boy! Oberto is better suited for the shorter 2-mile course on Lake Washington.

 

“Our boat has never been great on the bigger courses but on the 2-mile course it has been very good,” David said. “This is a course where we’ve excelled on and at the end of the weekend it’s going to get down to the two old titans.”

Kip Brown and the Miss Red Dot are having a breakout season and are narrowly trailing the Spirit of Qatar team in the national high point standings. Brown has won all five preliminary heats he’s raced in in Madison and Tri-Cities. Like the other drivers, they would like to keep Villwock from collecting another cup.

 “He’s been the fastest (boat) for a long time,” Brown said. “That being said, it doesn’t make it any less frustrating for us. Personally, the Miss Red Dot hasn’t been that competitive in year’s past. Now that we’re close it makes it a little more frustrating. I can’t put the hammer down any more unless I put my foot through the bottom of the boat.”

 For rookie driver Scott Liddycoat, it’s the first time on the big stage at Seafair with the Air National Guard Series. Liddycoat has been busy representing his team’s sponsor, Valken Sports, at various functions that are part of Seafair. But Liddycoat and his teammate, Jeff Bernard, will get some time to relax and plan to take a boat out on the lake to do some tubing.

 “When you are running a limited hydroplane it’s not quite the same atmosphere,” Liddycoat said. “This feels as close as you can get to a NASCAR event on the water.”

 In a testament to the hype surrounding the Seafair Festival, KIRO TV will show the races live on Sunday and the television ratings in the Seattle area rival a regular season football game by the Seattle Seahawks. All the heats will also be streamed live on www.h1unlimited.com during the weekend.

 Racing starts on Friday with the “Fast Lap Friday” qualifying session followed by preliminary heats on Saturday and Sunday. The Albert Lee Cup final will take place at approximately 4:40 p.m. PDT on Sunday.

A 13 boat field is expected to compete in the Albert Lee Cup at Seafair.

 

		TEAM ROSTER
	2011 Albert Lee Cup at Seafair
#	Boat Name	Driver	Hometown	Owner	Hometown
1	Oh Boy! Oberto	Steve David	Lighthouse Pt. FL	City of Madison, Indiana	Madison, IN
5	Graham Trucking	Jeff Bernard	Kent, WA	Ted Porter	Decatur, IN
7	Valken.com	Scott Liddycoat	Suffolk, VA	Danny, Chris & Josh Porter	Decatur, IN
9	Miss VisitTRI-CITIES.COM	Jon Zimmerman	Maple Valley, WA	Lori & Mike Jones	Kent, WA
11	Stevenson Roofing presents	JW Myers	Burien, WA	Scott & Shannon Raney	Edmonds, Wa
	Peters & May
17	Silver Cloud Inns Present	Kip Brown	Maple Valley, WA	Nate Brown	Preston, WA
	Miss Red Dot
21	Albert Lee Appliance	Brian Perkins	North Bend, WA	Greg & Brian O’Farrell	Maple Valley, Wa
22	Great Scott! Presents	Mike Webster	Reading, PA	Steve & Sue Webster	Reading, Pa
	Campaign WSU
25	Miss PROCRAFT	Dr Ken Muscatel	Seattle, WA	Dr Ken Muscatel	Seattle, WA
57	Formulaboats.com  Presents	N. Mark Evans	Chelan, WA	Emily Porter	Decatur, IN
	Todd Hoss
88	Degree Men	J. Michael Kelly	Bonney Lake, WA	Billy & Jane Schumacher	Seattle, WA
96	Spirit of Qatar	Dave Villwock	Auburn, WA	Sven & Erick Ellstrom	Seattle, Wa
100	Beacon Plumbing	Greg Hopp	Snohomish, WA	Fred Leland	Kirkland, Wa