Driver: Steve David

Owner: Citizens - City of Madison, IN

MISS MADISON, THE GOLD CUP CHAMPION - PART II
By Fred Farley - APBA Unlimited Historian

Race day, July 4, 1971, dawned bright and warm with ten qualified boats prepared to do competitive battle. A crowd of 110,000 fans literally choked the small Mid-Western town of 13,000. The river conditions were good, but MISS M was down to her last engine, having blown the other in trials. This put the U-6 people at a distinct disadvantage, because, at that time, the Gold Cup Race consisted of four 15-mile heats instead of the usual three.

The race was less than thirty seconds old when HALLMARK HOMES disintegrated in a geyser of spray and sank in the first turn of Heat 1-A, after encountering the roostertail of ATLAS VAN LINES I. HALLMARK pilot Leif Borgersen escaped injury, but his boat was totaled.

MISS MADISON was drawn into Heat 1-B along with TOWNE CLUB, MISS TIMEX, THE SMOOTHER MOVER, and ATLAS VAN LINES II. During the warm-up period, SMOOTHER MOVER joined HALLMARK HOMES at the bottom of the river when her supercharger blew and punched a hole in the MOVER’S underside.

MISS M had the lead at the end of lap one but was then passed by ATLAS II. On lap three, the Fred Alter-chauffeured TOWNE CLUB began to challenge MISS MADISON for second place. McCormick and Alter see-sawed back and forth for several laps and brought the crowd to its feet. MISS M managed to outrun the TOWNE CLUB and hang on for second place pointsbehind the front-running ATLAS II.

For the second round of preliminaries, MISS MADISON matched skills with MISS BUDWEISER, NOTRE DAME, and ATLAS I in Heat 2-B. Bill Muncey reached the first turn first with ATLAS I, followed by MISS M. BUDWEISER and NOTRE DAME were both watered down by Muncey's roostertail, causing both to go dead in the water. ATLAS I widened its lead over the field down the first backstretch and in the ensuing laps, while MISS MADISON settled into a safe second. MISS BUDWEISER immediately restarted to follow MISS M around the course in third place. NOTRE DAME also managed to restart but only after being lapped by the field.

At the end of 15 miles, Muncey and ATLAS I received the green flag instead of the checkered flag, indicating a one lap penalty for a
foul against MISS BUDWEISER and NOTRE DAME in the first turn for violation of the overlap rule. This moved MISS MADISON from second to first position in the corrected order of finish. MISS BUDWEISER was given second place, and ATLAS I wound up officially in third after running seven laps before NOTRE DAME could finish six.

After another random draw, MISS M found herself in Heat 3-B along with ATLAS II, NOTRE DAME, and PRIDE OF PAY ‘n PAK.

As Bill Muncey was preparing to drive ATLAS I before Heat 3-A, he received word that Referee Bill Newton had put him on probation for the next three races of the season. The probation had resulted not only from the foul against the field in Heat 2-B but also from the cumulative effect of similar infractions by Muncey in 1970 at Seattle and San Diego. The consequence of the probation was that any further violations by Muncey would result in an indefinite suspension from racing.

Unperturbed, Muncey made a good start in Heat 3-A and was chasing Dean Chenoweth and MISS BUDWEISER down the first backstretch when ATLAS I sheared off her right sponson and started taking on water. Bill frantically tried to steer his wounded craft toward the bank on the Kentucky side of the river but was unable to do so. ATLAS VAN LINES I rolled over on its side about 100 feet from shore and slipped beneath the surface, forcing Muncey to abandon ship. Now, three boats rested at the bottom of the Ohio.

Terry Sterett and ATLAS II entered the first turn of Heat 3-B in the lead and stayed there, but MISS MADISON kept nipping at their heels. PRIDE OF PAY ‘n PAK, running in third, tried to overtake MISS M, but the U-6 pulled away to maintain second position. On the last lap, MISS MADISON came on hard to finish only two seconds behind ATLAS II and four seconds ahead of PAY ‘n PAK.

After three grueling sets of elimination heats, the five qualifiers for the final go-around comprised ATLAS II with 1100 accumulated points, MISS MADISON with 1000 points, PRIDE OF PAY ‘n PAK with 869, TOWNE CLUB with 750, and MISS BUDWEISER with 700.

As the sun started to set on that historic July 4, the race for the Gold Cup and the Governor’s Cup boiled down to ATLAS VAN LINES II and MISS MADISON. MISS M had to make up a deficit of 100 points in order to win the championship. To do this, the U-6 would have to finish first in the final 15-mile moment of truth. This appeared rather unlikely since the combination of Terry Sterett and ATLAS II had bested the team of Jim McCormick and MISS MADISON in each of their four previous match-ups that season, twice on the Ohio River and twice the previous weekend on the Detroit River.

As the field took to the water for the last time, some of the hometown fans hung on to the hope that perhaps ATLAS II would fail to start and thereby allow the local favorite to win the big race by default. But that was not to be. As McCormick wheeled MISS M out onto the 2½-mile course, there was Sterett, starting up and pulling out of the pit area right behind him. Thus, as the final minutes and seconds ticked away, the die was cast. If McCormick hoped to achieve his first career victory on this day, he would have to earn it--the hard way.

Meanwhile, the ABC “Wide World Of Sports” television crew members, who were there taping the race for a delayed national broadcast, decided among themselves that Terry Sterett was a shoo-in for the title.  Accordingly, they set up their camera equipment in the ATLAS II’s pit area in anticipation of interviewing the victorious Sterett when he returned to the dock.

All five finalists were on the course and running. Moments before the one-minute gun, MISS MADISON was observed cruising down the front straightaway in front of the pit area. Then, abruptly, McCormick altered course, making a hard left turn into the infield. He sped across course, making a bee-line for the entrance buoy of the upper corner. His strategy was obvious. McCormick wanted the inside lane to force the other boats to run a wider--and longer--course.

As the field charged underneath the Milton/Madison Bridge, four of the five boats were closely bunched with Fred Alter’s TOWNE CLUB on the extreme outside, skirting the shoreline. MISS MADISON had lane one; ATLAS VAN LINES II had lane two and was slightly in the lead when the starting gun fired.

Sprinting toward the first turn, PRIDE OF PAY ‘n PAK spun out. ATLAS II made it into and out of the turn in front with MISS MADISON close behind on the inside. As the field entered the first backstretch, the order was ATLAS, MADISON, BUDWEISER, PAY ‘n PAK, and TOWNE CLUB.

Then McCormick made his move. After having run a steady conservative race all day long, “Gentleman Jim” slammed the accelerator to the floor. The boat took off like a shot and thundered past Terry Sterett as if his rival had been tied to the dock.

The partisan crowd screamed in unison, “GO! GO! GO!” Even hardened veterans of racing were dumbfounded. An aging, under-powered, under-financed museum piece was leading the race and leaving the rest of the field to wallow in its wake.

McCormick whipped MISS M around the upper turn expertly and sped under the bridge and back down the river to the start/finish line. It was one down and five laps to go. The ATLAS, the BUDWEISER, and the PAY ‘n PAK were closely bunched at this point as they followed MISS MADISON around the buoys.

The crowd was going absolutely wild. In lap two, McCormick increased his lead. And, in lap three, he extended his advantage even more. It dawned on the “Wide World Of Sports” crew that an upset was in the making.  Frantically, the ABC-TV technicians scrambled out of the ATLAS pit area and hustled their camera gear over to the MISS MADISON’S pits.

Out on the race course, Sterett had shaken free of BUDWEISER and PAY ‘n PAK and was going all out after MISS M. He was fast on the straightaways, but not as fast as McCormick. The ATLAS cornered well, but not as well as the U-6.

MISS MADISON was running flawlessly, her 26-year old Allison engine not missing a beat. Jim McCormick was driving the race of his life. Together, the boat and driver made an inspired combination. Bonnie McCormick, Jim’s wife, who had averted her eyes during the first few laps, was now concentrating fully on the action, cheering her husband on at the top of her lungs.

MISS M received the green flag, indicating one more lap to the checkered flag and victory. By now, the community-owned craft had a decisive lead. Sterett was beaten, and he knew it. The ATLAS pilot could only hope against hope that a mechanical problem or a driving error would slow the MISS M down.

But that didn’t happen. McCormick made one last perfect turn. The MISS M’s roostertail kicked skyward. The boat streaked under the bridge, past Bennett’s dock, and over the finish line, adding a new chapter to American sports legend, as pandemonium broke loose on the shore.

Firebells rang, automobile horns sounded, and the spectators went out of their minds with delight. Everybody, it seemed, was a U-6 fan and, whether they lived there or not, a Madisonian. Even members of rival teams were applauding the outcome of this modern day Horatio Alger story.

MISS MADISON had beaten ATLAS VAN LINES II by 16.3 seconds in the Final Heat and was 4.2 seconds swifter for the overall 60 miles. McCormick and Sterett had tied with 1400 points a piece in the four heats of racing.  According to Unlimited Class rules, a point tie is broken by the order of finish in the last heat of the day. So, the U-6 won all the marbles.  These included an engraved plate, that would say MISS MADISON, to be added to the rows of gleaming testimonials to the conquests of Gar Wood, George Reis, Danny Foster, Stan Sayres, Bill Muncey, and others.

It was the biggest day in the history of Madison, Indiana. It was Unlimited hydroplane racing at its best. It was a victory for the
amateur, for the common man, a triumph that everyone could claim as his own. And not since the SLO-MO-SHUN days in Seattle during the 1950s had such an outpouring of civic emotion occurred at a Gold Cup Race with people celebrating in the streets until 10 o’clock that night.

Deliriously happy MISS MADISON crew members carried pilot McCormick on their shoulders to the Judges’ Stand. Veteran boat racer George N. Davis, a mentor of McCormick’s during Jim’s 280 Class career, wept unashame dly at this, his protege’s, moment of triumph.

After receiving the Gold Cup from 1946 winner Guy Lombardo and the Governor’s Cup from Indiana Governor Edgar Whitcomb, a tired but happy McCormick explained his race strategy to the assembled legion of awe-struck media representatives. “We planned to take it easy in the early heats, and then let it all hang out in the finals.”

McCormick was the first to give credit where credit was due. He quickly acknowledged that without the mechanical prowess of his volunteer pit crew, victory would have been impossible. “These guys have been working their hearts out getting ready for this. They deserve all the credit.”

The MISS MADISON crew received the Markt A. Lytle Sportsmanship Trophy at the Gold Cup Awards Banquet, where tribute was also paid to the two former HARRAH’S CLUB team members - Volpi and Adams - for their invaluable help in winning “the big one”.

“Gentleman Jim” McCormick, who had achieved his “Impossible Dream," was the hero of the day, and he gratefully acknowledged the enthusiasm of the crowd. For several hours after the trophy presentation, McCormick, still in his driving suit, remained at the Judges’ Stand, signing his name for one and all. “Let the people come,” he said. “I’ll sign autographs as long as I can write.” It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

As the spectators and participants drifted back to their own lives, one thought was uppermost in the minds of many: “Was it all a dream, or did today really happen?”

Yes, it did happen. And it happened again three weeks later on the Columbia River at the Tri-Cities, Washington. That’s when MISS MADISON driver McCormick, and crew members Steinhardt, Stewart, Humphrey, Hand,and Willey made the incredible seem commonplace. They won the sixth annual Atomic Cup Race and, in so doing, moved from second to first place in the National Season Points chase.

Entering the Final Heat in fourth place in regatta points with two second place finishes, MISS M was again lightly regarded as a title
threat. The boat’s nitrous oxide system (which gives the craft an added burst of speed coming off the corners) had failed to function during the first two heats. In fact, the crew wasn’t even certain if the engine was going to start for the finale. But, in McCormick’s words, “We got it all together,” and not a moment too soon.

Most attention centered on Billy Schumacher in the PRIDE OF PAY ‘n PAK and Bill Muncey in the now repaired ATLAS VAN LINES I, who led the field with only 100 points separating them. The futuristic PAY ‘n PAK looked especially formidable that day and seemed on the verge of coming into her own. Although, many experts were still siding with ATLAS I to win due to that boat’s superior record on the Eastern tour.

Again, MISS MADISON moved to the inside lane before the start and stayed there. The first corner was tight with four of the five finalists closely bunched. MISS M exited the first turn in the lead with NOTRE DAME, PRIDE OF PAY ‘n PAK, and ATLAS VAN LINES following in close pursuit and MISS TIMEX trailing. So evenly matched were the first four boats that they appeared as one long continuous roostertail down the first backstretch.

MISS MADISON finished the initial lap one fifth of a second ahead of PAY ‘n PAK and two fifths of a second ahead of NOTRE DAME with Billy Sterett, Jr. As the boats went through the first turn of lap two, MISS M started to pull away, while PAY ‘n PAK dueled with NOTRE DAME. The PAK moved away from Sterett on the second backstretch as NOTRE DAME lost power and slowed way down. Schumacher tried to challenge front-running McCormick but, in so doing, blew his engine and went dead in the water.

Meanwhile, ATLAS VAN LINES had gone past the ailing NOTRE DAME and then moved into second place. By this time, MISS MADISON had an enormous lead and was putting added distance between herself and the ATLAS. Jim McCormick was flat out-driving his more powerful and heavily financed rival. Now no longer considered an upset threat to win, the U-6 was making it all look easy.

At the checkered flag, MISS MADISON had a full 22 second lead over ATLAS VAN LINES. Then came NOTRE DAME, followed by MISS TIMEX, which was lapped by MISS M on the leader’s last time around the course.

In winning the Atomic Cup, MISS MADISON became the first Tri-Cities champion to do the honors with an Allison engine as opposed to a Rolls-Royce Merlin. MISS M also became the first Allison powered craft since 1966 to score consecutive race victories in the Unlimited Class.

“This is really sweet,” beamed a jubilant McCormick. “This should prove to some race fans that our Gold Cup win wasn’t a fluke.”

The MISS MADISON team’s triumph was now complete. “We’re number one!”, they proudly proclaimed. At long last, they stood at the very top of the racing world. In a sport dominated by millionaire owners and large corporate sponsorships, no one could afford to take the low budget U-6 for granted on the race course.

Many years have come and gone since those brief shining moments in July, 1971, when MISS MADISON found her place in the annals of boat racing history and legend. To this day, she remains one of the most popular champions of all time.

Following her back-to-back victories on the Ohio and Columbia Rivers, MISS M competed in three more races. She blew an engine and didn’t finish at Seattle but quickly regained her commendable form at Dexter, Oregon, where MISS MADISON took a strong second place to PRIDE OF PAY ‘n PAK, the experimental craft that had finally gotten its act together.

The PAY ‘n PAK was not significantly faster on the straightaway than the other top Unlimited hydroplanes of post-1950 vintage. But, with her low profile/wide afterplane design, the PAK could corner more efficiently than any previous boat in history. Handled by Billy Schumacher, PRIDE OF PAY ‘n PAK became the first to reach a speed of 121 mph on a 3-mile course at the 1971 Seattle Seafair Regatta.

The boat of the future had arrived as the first in a new and faster generation of Thunderboats. The handwriting was on the wall. Inside of two years, every boat would have to be a PAY ‘n PAK design to be competitive.

In the twinkling of an eye, MISS MADISON was obsolete. The days of the box-shaped hull with the narrow transom and the shovel-nosed bow were gone forever. The craft that had debuted so many years earlier as NITROGEN TOO had seen its better days. It was time to make way for the new generation of world class race boats.

On the last day of her career, September 26, 1971, MISS M took an overall third in the Atlas Van Lines Trophy Race at Lake Dallas, Texas, with a victory in Heat 2-A over Season High Point winner MISS BUDWEISER.  The U-6 also tied down enough points to secure second place in the 1971 National Standings and thereby duplicate her 1964 accomplishment for overall performance during the season.

MISS MADISON’S year-end box score read 26 heats started, 24 finished, six in first place, thirteen in second, four in third, and one in
fourth. This brought her all-time career total to an unprecedented 163 heats started, an even 150 finished, 26 in first place, 53 in second, 46 in third, 21 in fourth, three in fifth, and one in sixth.

During the finale at Lake Dallas, the MISS M’s deck started to work itself loose. McCormick kept her going at a safe conservative pace, finished the heat, and brought the aging U-6 back to the dock for the last time.

A new MISS MADISON represented the Ohio River town on the Unlimited tour, starting in 1972. Another MISS M carried on the tradition, beginning in 1978, followed by another in 1988. And while each of these boats represented their 13,000 owners well, it is still the 1963-71 hull that inspires awe.

Now, when a new breed of Unlimited Class competitors takes to the water, MISS MADISON, the Gold Cup Champion, will not be at the starting line with her engine roaring and roostertail flying. Presently owned by Dr. Ken Muscatel, MISS M is scheduled for restoration by the U-6 crew and others who honor the memory of July 4, 1971.

MISS MADISON’s racing days are over. But her fame will endure.

(NOTE: The author is indebted to David Greene and Philip Haldeman, both of the APBA Unlimited Historical Committee, for their editorial assistance in the preparation of this article.)