But danny and the mechanic quarreled over the set up to the car, and again oakes missed the race. A passenger on maess boat frantically waves his arms and repeatedly screams hey. Danny foster1 mike ellingson1 ray feltman1 jalopy feature wins 19581959 1963 1. It was so big that the drivers cockpit had to be removed and rebuilt to hang from the. The race inspired a hollywood motion picture released in 2005, titled madison. Posted on february 02 2016 these days, if theyve heard the name at all, most people associate guy lombardo with music. Meteoric rise and tragic death of a midget champion posted in midgetmadness forum.
Handwritten text along the bottom edge of the photo. Drag racing pictures of front engine fuel dragsters. Driver danny foster is sitting on the deck in his racing gear. Danny foster races the miss pepsi v to victory in 1947. To succeed, lombardo needed a new boat, and a body of water suitable for record breaking speeds, or so he said. Fosters first taste of boat racing came as a riding mechanic with driver dan area in the hispanopowered miss golden gate in the california gold cup class in the 1930s.
Danny baker races in ferrari challenge world finals i. In 1938, foster served as riding mechanic with driver dan arena of the hispano powered miss golden gate. Louis disbrow was successful on the racing circuit, but a black cloud in his past hung over him for the rest of his life. As motorboat racing is a dangerous sport, many individuals including drivers, crew members, officials and spectators have been killed in crashes related to the sport, either in a race, in qualifying, in practice or a private testing session. Danny foster racing career profile driver database. I hope this helps with the understanding as to where these great boats came from. Foster was unlimited racings first superstar in the years following world war ii.
With only the one usac race to his credit, danny caruthers, driving one of his fathers potent sescochevypowered midgets, tackled the full usac schedule in 1971. In three unusually close qualifying rounds friday, andrew tate of walled lake qualified first, at 163. We are still trying to get some documentation to help identify the age of individual boats. The race boat driver injured saturday in a crash at the lake of the ozarks shootout is on the road to recovery. Articles published for high performance powerboat enthusiasts. This list is the most simple, yet eloquent example of why i felt a drag racing archive was so necessary. Tempo snorted angry smoke rings from her exhausts, shot ahead a few yards and died. Jimmy foster born march 1, 1977 in ormond beach, florida is a former nascar driver.
He won 12 features in his first full year of midget racing in usac, and was just 21 years old, but eldon danny caruthers will ever be remembered for what. We had arrived at lipship performance, miamis exclusive cigarette dealership and the semieponymous stomping grounds of former champion raceboat driver phil lipschutz. Walkers hydroplane boat the spirit of america, was one of the fastest on the water. Seasons spanning over two years for example 2014 championships have their race results accounted for in the year the championship ends. Leroy voeltz1 kenny hawkins1 bill hahn1 leon wichael1 gordon twedt1 palmer atwood1 leonard bohlman1 jerry meyers1 jim ross sr1 jess twedt1 ed arends1. Foster won all three heats and decisively outperformed the favored guy lombardo in tempo vi. Frequented by the most successful tunnel boat designers, racers, drivers, builders. Steve david moves quickly, shakes things up to save hydroplane. Royal marines cleared of mistreating subordinates at. Balchs mechanic was a close friend with ed winfield, probably one of the top mechanics and innovators in motorsports racing. A pleasure boat, rosemary, is tied up at the dock at the left of the picture, and a man on the boat is assisting foster with a dock line. Foster and arena finished second in the 1938 apba gold cup race at detroit. Boat driver skaggs killed, lodi newssentinel, june 8, 1970 hydroplanes plunge kills veteran driver, bend bulletin, june 8, 1970 oregon death index charles l. It was hot, and the wind had picked up, just like that stunning summer afternoon on the detroit river 40 years ago to the day.
Foster was unlimited hydroplane racings first superstar in the years following world war ii. He remembers sneaking into the pits on the detroit river as a kid to watch such local heroes as wild bill cantrell, danny foster and thompson test and race. Most drivers ive seen that i guess were made by doug driver himself, have an impression on the transom eg. At 58, lipschutz is stocky and bearded with a suntoughened face that creases easily into the cobwebbed patterns of a nearconstant grin.
A dashboard camera captured an outofcontrol driver swerving on i195 in what became a terrifying drive for many. That first year, 1947, miss peps v was the season champion, winning seven out of eight races including the american power boating associations gold cup. Tate gets pole for gold cup, second for presidents cup. On the fifth try, the boat caught the proper beat and foster was off to the races. Top fuel drag boats accelerate from 0 270 miles per hour 430 kilometres per hour in just 3. Experts share secrets on performance challenges on tunnel boats and modified tunnel vee hulls. At californias legendary ascot speedway, caruthers broke a 10yearold track record in qualifying that was held by hall of famer jimmy reece.
The last twin engine gale boat named gale vi but was really a vii. They called the new boat miss peps v and hired danny foster to race it. Two drivers died in a fiery crash the year before fosters 1965 debut. Drag racing in memoriam drag racing, drag racing photos. The unlimited hydroplane hall of fame unlimited hydroplane racings honor society by bob senior. Corporals philip beer, 34, and danny foster, 30, were said to have been complicit in the provision of forfeits such as being whipped and forced to shave off body hair. He began to impress people with his skills with a motor. Capsule training all drivers and riders of inboard boats with restraint capsules are required to successfully complete an apba approved inboard capsule training program. Danny foster was to the 1940s and 50s what bill muncey was to the 1960s and 70s and what chip hanauer was and is to the 1980s and 90s. Thus began a collaboration with former rival danny foster, who proved much more than just a gifted driver. List of fatal accidents in motorboat racing wikipedia. Dashcam captures outofcontrol driver on new jersey.
Each of those and the many others weve lost made a unique and worthy contribution to all that is drag racing today. How this racer went from a murder trial to the indy 500. The apba gold cup originally known simply as the gold cup, a speedboat race is an american hydroplane boat race, named for the american power boat association. Not without reason guy lombardo and his royal canadians sold hundreds of millions of records in their heyday, and from 1924 to 1976 they were synonymous with new years eve. Color slide of the hydroplane winston eagle from the gold cup race on the. A twotime gold cup winner, foster was to the 1940s and 50s what bill muncey was to the 1960s and 70s and what chip hanauer was to the 1980s and 90s. Clearly, lombardo was not ready to retire from racing. The following numbers are a summary of the more detailed information available in the career details further below on the page. Information on each race, as well as the articles, the detroit boat club and a new. Dd500061, i guess referring to a driver 500, boat number 61. He was a parttime driver on the busch series from 19971999 before competing in the busch series, foster was an avid competitor at florida tracks, winning more than 200 races by the age of 15. Rogers memorial trophy american speedboat championship. But race organizers, boat owners and drivers all say they have deployed some solutions.
You know, says nierob, there was a great piece in that race that we had abc sports produce on danny, and it was really about the jet setting racer character. A 29 foot allisonpowered les staudacher creation, tempo vii debuted at the 1955 detroit memorial with former lombardo nemesis danny foster in the drivers seat. Dave villwock is second, with ten, and bill muncey third, with eight. The apba gold cup is an american hydroplane boat race, named for the american power boat. Fosters unlimited driving career began in 1946, behind the wheel of albin fallons miss great lakes at the presidents cup in washington, d.
Remembering danny foster hydroplane and raceboat museum. Dannys first boat racing contact was with the california gold cup class of the 1930s. Foster, danny power boats 2005 inductees hall of fame. And, by 1966, when foster would find himself taking much of the blame for causing a metalshearing 16car wreck that killed. Madison has hosted the madison regatta annually since 1951, although the race was also contested in the 1930s. It was an epic boat race, said tom death looking out at the. The winner was the italian count theo rossi in alagi, powered by an isottafraschini engine.
In the midst of the excitement of the ferrari finali mondiali at daytona international speedway, scuderia corsa drivers raced their 458 challenge cars to podium three times last weekend claiming second place in the world finals ferrari challenge title capping an impressive season in the trofeo pirelli class, wei lu captured a secondplace finish in. Like the engine itself, danny foster was also a product of world war ii where he had been a fighter pilot. Danny was a natural born race driver, and an even better mechanic. Danny sullivans spin and win indy 500 made him unequaled. Foster s first taste of boat racing came as a riding mechanic with driver dan area in the hispanopowered miss golden gate in the california gold cup class in the 1930s. Kyle walker crashed his racing boat two weeks ago at more than 200 miles an hour and lived to tell about it.
In 1938, foster served as riding mechanic with driver dan arena of the hispanopowered miss golden gate. Fisherman sues after dramatic boat crash caught on video. Meteoric rise and tragic death of a midget champion. The team took an overall fifth despite being rammed by another boat at the start of the race. Danny sullivan was born in louisville, kentucky in march 1950. One glorious summer for danny caruthers speed sport. Fosters first taste of boat racing came as a riding mechanic with driver dan area in the hispanopowered miss golden gate in the california gold cup class in. Bring drivers in through the lower classes and into the big boats.
Painted lettering and graphics on the sides of the hydroplane show the name of the driver, danny foster, as well as the crossed burgees of dossins of detroit and the dyc detroit yacht club and the number g99. To become fully qualified to race, the new driver must get signatures from four 4 qualified drivers in hisher class and at least one referee heshe has raced under. Driver, danny foster, seated in the cockpit of the hydroplane, miss peps v. On the fifth try, the boat caught the proper beat and foster was off to the races, in this case to. Race boat driver recovering from crash at shootout finish. The indiana governors cup more commonly known as the madison regatta is an h1 unlimited hydroplane boat race held annually on independence day weekend on the ohio river in madison, indiana. But race organizers, boat owners and drivers all say they. On board, driver danny foster grimly tried to start tempos allison engine. The seated man in the foreground resembles the boats driver danny foster. About 1954 fred alter showing off miss bardahl notice the open exhaust pipes that give this away as a rollsroyce v12. Lombardo and band presided over the iconic ball drop in times square, and their version of.