Dave Villwock conquered one mountain Sunday, and stepped toward a second peak.
Villwock drove his U-16 Ellstrom Elam Plus to a victory in the Chevrolet Cup on Lake Washington, in the unlimited hydroplane race’s 60th year.
It was the 10th win in Seattle for the Auburn driver, pushing him past the legendary Bill Muncey for Seafair victories.
“Wow!” Villwock said. “Double digits. Ahead of Muncey. Pretty cool.”
In fact, Villwock is rapidly climbing the ladder on the list of the sport’s all-time great drivers.
Next on the radar is Chip Hanauer’s career victory total.
The win Sunday was Villwock’s 59th as an unlimited driver, just two behind Hanauer’s 61 and three away from Muncey’s all-time record of 62.
“I think of Muncey, Hanauer, and hopefully me someday, as sort of the Mount Rushmore of this sport,” Villwock said. “So any time you can eclipse one of these records … .”
Muncey died during a 1981 race. Hanauer insists the competitive racing chapter of his life is over.
That leaves Villwock chasing the two icons, much as he has chased Steve David and the U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto in the national high points championship standings for the past two seasons.
Even with his victory on Sunday, Villwock trails the Oberto and David in the season points standings, 5,815-5,566. What was a 599-point lead for David before the weekend now stands at 249.
“We’re still leading, but we now have to have a couple of good weekends in Evansville (Ind.) and Qatar,” David said.
Much of the gap closure took place during the Sunday’s championship final.
Though the Elam Plus beat the Oberto down the backstretch on the first of five laps, David remained in second place.
But David’s boat got light in the second turn and fell about six boat-lengths back.
A lap later, in the same turn, David hit a wave and the Oberto came out of the water again.
“That time, the boat went up in Lane 2 and landed in Lane 6,” David said. “Had we not gotten loose down there, it could have been interesting. Then, we pretty much ran second. But the engine had other ideas.”
On the final lap, the U-1 boat’s engine overheated (likely a nozzle failure), David said.
“When that happens, you pretty much have to back all the way off the throttle,” David said. “Then you baby it to the finish.”
All of which cost David four positions, and he finished sixth. Jimmy King in the U-3 Grandview On The Lake – the only piston-engine boat racing on Sunday – grabbed second.
“We had a good weekend,” said King, who also won a heat on Sunday. “We’ve just got one more spot to go.”
The U-37 Hoss Mortgage Investors, with driver J.W. Myers filling in while Jean Theoret recovers from racing injuries suffered earlier this year, was third.
But once the Oberto failed, Villwock was alone in front.
“He’s real good,” King said. “He’s a smart guy and he drives the hell out of a race boat.”
Chevrolet Cup championship final
LAKE WASHINGTON (2.5-mile course)
Pos.Boat (driver)Avg. mph
1.U-16 Ellstrom Elam Plus (Dave Villwock)137.532
2. U-3 Grandview On The Lake (Jimmy King)133.072
3. U-37 Hoss Mortgage Investors (J.W. Myers)130.322
4. U-5 Formulaboats.com (Jeff Bernard)128.574
5. U-17 USNW Express (Kip Brown)127.290
6. U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto (Steve David)126.703
7. U-7 Graham Trucking (J. Michael Kelly)121.139
Chevrolet Cup points (with qualifying): 1. U-16 Ellstrom Elam Plus 1,525; 2. U-37 Hoss Mortgage Investors 1,285; 3. U-3 Grandview on the Lake 1,177; 4. U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto 1,175; 5. U-5 FormulaBoats.com 991.
2009 ABRA national high points standings: 1. U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto 5,815; 2. U-16 Ellstrom Elam Plus 5,566; 3. U-5 FormulaBoats.com 4,734; 4. U-7 Graham Trucking 3,729; 5. U-37 Hoss Mortgage Investors 3,420.
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