Villwock and U-16 Ellstrom Miss Elam Plus snags 10th Chevrolet Cup hydro unlimited trophy at Seafair

By Shawn Skager • August 3, 2009 3:20 am
The Miss Ellstrom Elam Plus will compete for points and titles at the Columbia Cup and Chevrolet Cup this weekend and next.
The Miss Ellstrom Elam Plus will compete for points and titles at the Columbia Cup and Chevrolet Cup this weekend and next.

For the second year running Dave Villwock is the winner of the Seafair Chevrolet Cup, piloting his U-16 Ellstrom Miss Elam Plus to a victory in the Unlimited finals. The win marks Villwock’s 10th Chevrolet Cup win, erasing the previous record held by hydro legend Bill Muncey.

Villwock grabbed the first place finish on Lake Washington by blowing away the rest of the field, including the U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto driven by national points leader Steve David. The U-1 suffered engine problems and finished sixth in the finals. Villwock still trails David 5,815 points to 5,566 in the season high points race.

After accumulating the most points in the preliminary heats Villwock chose the inside lane in the Unlimited finals and quickly took the lead. Jimmy King, driver of the Evansville, Ind.-based U-3 Grandview of the Lake took second place in the race with the sole piston-powered Unlimited on the circuit.

The win was the 59th career win for Villwock, who trails career win leader Muncey by three wins and Chip Hanauer by two wins.

Villwock will have two more chances to tie Hanauer this season, Aug. 23 in Evansville, Ind. and Nov. 12-14 in Qatar.

American Boat Racing Association chairman Sam Cole and Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani of Qatar signed the agreement that will take racing to the Middle East this winter during a break in the action at the Chevy Cup today.