1978 Columbia Cup
Columbia River, Tri-Cities WA, July 30, 1978

The Bud Takes a Sip of Victory Columbia Cup Recap Statistics

HEAT 1A — Bill Muncey in the Atlas Van Lines was first across the line but couldn’t get Milner Irvin in Miss Madison off his tail for four laps. Irvin trailed by less than 2 seconds after four laps but lost ground in the first turn of the fifth and final lap and went dead briefly in the final turn. Bob Saniga in the Miss Bud of Australia had a terrible start — he thought the race was going to start one minute later than it did. He also pulled toward the pits after finishing only four laps but was waved back onto the course and finished the heat in third place. The Squire Shop U-65 never got rolling and died right after the start. Oh Boy Oberto survived two laps before dying.

HEAT 1B — Elliott Dog Ration (U-66) driven by Tom Martin was first across the line but quickly was passed by Miss Budweiser on the inside and the Squire Shop U-64. Barney Armstrong’s Machine (U-96) and Van’s PX trailed. Budweiser held a 12-second lead over Squire Shop after the first lap. Barney Armstrong’s Machine passed the Squire in the second lap. The Squire went dead after three laps. Van’s PX passed Elliott Dog Ration in the third lap and wound up third.

HEAT 2B — The heat was run after Heat 2A was stopped when Hanauer was flipped out of The Squire Shop U-65 and injured.

The Atlas, the Squire Shop U-64 with Bob Miller substituting for the injured Chip Hanauer, and Van’s PX all crossed the line within a second of each other. Muncey in the Atlas held a big lead cat of the first turn and held it. The Squire lost its propeller after half a lap. After Muncey had completed three laps to make it a legal heat, Miller jumped into the water and stop the race to get a tow boat to The Squire. The tow boat didn’t arrive on the scene for several minutes and Muncey kept running and took the checkered flag after five laps. Later, officials declared that the race had ended after three laps. That suited the Van’s PX fine because the boat had died after crossing the finish line in lap three and thus was awarded second place.

Oh Boy Oberto never got started and Barney Armstrong’s Machine died at the starting line of the first lap.

HEAT 2A (restart) — Miss Budweiser barely made it onto the course before the one minute gun and was the lost boat across the line. Elliott Dog Ration was the first boat across followed by Miss Madison and Miss Bud. Miss Bud briefly held the lead coming out of the first turn, but Miss Budweiser quickly caught up and took over in the backstretch. From then on it was a parade.

Championship — The Atlas led across the line and out of the first turn but blew a rod and came to a stop in the backstretch. Miss Budweiser took over and with a first-lap speed of 116.129, the day’s fastest lap, held nearly o 10-second lead over the second-place Miss Madison. Miss Madison and Miss Bud dueled up the backstretch with the Australian boat taking over second place by the end of lap two. It stayed that way until the Miss Bud lost power on the first turn of the final lap. Miss Madison took over second place and Miss Bud hung on to finish third ahead of the lagging Elliott Dog Ration. The other boat in the final heat, Barney Armstrong Machine, which got into the heat as the alternate when Van’s PX wouldn’t start, lost power in the first lap.

(Reprinted from The Seattle Times, July 31, 1978)

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