[July 15, 2011] Villwock ready to set hydro record Tweet Jul 01, 2011 (Tri-City Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Dave Villwock never takes anything for granted. So until he gets that next victory -- the one that puts him on the top by himself -- he doesn't have too much to say about it. Villwock has 62 career victories among unlimited hydroplane drivers, tying him with the late Bill Muncey. The retired Chip Hanauer is one back at 61. With six scheduled races in the H1 Unlimited circuit this year -- the first one runs today through Sunday in Madison, Ind. -- it's a good bet Villwock will get at least one win. "Who knows?" Villwock asked Thursday night. "I was pretty happy to get to 62. I was happy to get to 61. That was kind of cool. I went to work with Circus Circus and Chip had 46 wins at that time. I thought that was a lot." Driving the U-96 Spirit of Qatar again this season -- the Ellstrom family's rocket on the water -- Villwock will be the circuit's favorite, along with Steve David and the U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto. David and Oberto are the three-time defending national champions. But Villwock has another thing in his favor this year: H1 has decided to go back to letting drivers battle for starting lanes. Last season, drivers were pre-assigned lanes before each heat race. Villwock is one of the best at fighting for lanes. He has charts in his motorhome that he studies. He knows exactly where he should be at on any course at any time leading up to that race's start. So this will be old hat for him. "We've already been to all of these places -- flag start, clock start," said Villwock. "We've grown the sport by growing the competition. And it's reasonably competitive. I hope we don't lose that. I don't care what (the start) is as long as everybody is not yelling at each other." What makes Villwock so good as that he's also worked as a crew chief. So he knows when something's wrong as a driver and can tell his crew what the problem is. "That's the secret in all racing: it's how quickly you can get fast," he said. "It's important to know your machine." Another advantage Villwock had was working with Hanauer. "Chip had developed a relationship with Muncey," Villwock said. "I worked with Chip and I got to learn a lot of little things that he learned from Bill. I got to learn a lot from Chip." Villwock also watched old 8 millimeter film of Hanauer, Muncey and Jim Kropfeld as to how they drove. "Dean (Chenoweth) was also pretty good to watch," he said. Whether he can get that victory this weekend in Madison is anybody's guess. The course has been shortened to 1 2/3 miles because of construction on the bridge. In normal years, the hydros race under the bridge. But for the next two years, they can't. If the Columbia River is considered a super-speedway -- the Talladega of NASCAR, if you will -- this revised Madison course would be considered a little Bristol. Villwock agrees. "It may be worse than that," he said. "I have no idea. We've run the 1 2/3 mile course before. But this is a river. The last time we did this on a river we destroyed two boats. They just took a pounding." And it all begins today. To see more of the Tri-City Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tri-cityherald.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]