Seven Victories in 1998 By Dave Villwock
By Fred Farley, APBA Unlimited Historian
Miss Budweiser driver Dave Villwock has joined an exclusive fraternity in Unlimited racing history. Dave is one of the very few drivers who have won seven races in a single season.
Dave Villwock: 1998 - (1) Evansville, IN (2) Detroit, MI (Gold Cup) (3) Norfolk, VA (4) Tri-Cities, WA (5) Seattle, WA (6) Madison, IN (7) San Diego, CA George Henley (driver of Pay 'n Pak): 1974 - (1) Washington, DC (2) Owensboro, KY (3) Tri-Cities, WA (4) Seattle, WA (Gold Cup) (5) Dayton, OH (6) San Diego, CA (7) Madison, IN Bill Muncey (driver of Atlas Van Lines): 1979 - (1) Miami, FL (2) Evansville, IN (3) Detroit, MI (4) Madison, IN (Gold Cup) (5) El Dorado, KS (6) Tri-Cities, WA (7) Seattle, WA Chip Hanauer (driver of Miss Budweiser): 1992 - (1) Miami, FL (2) Detroit, MI (Gold Cup) (3) Evansville, IN (4) Madison, IN (5) Tri-Cities, WA (6) Kansas City, MO (7) Honolulu, HI
Bill Cantrell (driver of My Sweetie) is reputed to have won seven races in 1949. And indeed he did. But three of those wins were multi-class one-heat free-for-all races, which don't count in modern records.The definition of a "major race" is one that is scheduled for at least two heats with at least four Unlimiteds making a legal start.
Bill Cantrell 1949 - (1) Detroit, MI (Gold Cup) (2) Red Bank, NJ (National Sweepstakes) (3) Red Bank, NJ (Red Bank Gold Cup) (free-for-all) (4) Detroit, MI (Silver Cup) (5) Buffalo, NY (free-for-all) (6) Louisville, KY (free-for-all) (7) New Martinsville, WV (Cantrell also won the first heat of the President's Cup at Washington, DC, The two remaining heats were cancelled due to inclement weather. The race was officially declared "No Contest" by the APBA.)© Fred Farley. For reprint rights to this article, please contact the author at <fredf@hotmail.com>
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[Note: press reports of the time (New York Times, September 20, 1949) note that the day after the President's Cup race, the decision was reversed and My Sweetie was declared the winner, --LF]
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