Miss Madison

Miss Madison, in the colors of Oberto Sausage Company in 2007. The hull was used until the end of 2023. The 2018 hull was completed and the livery is different.

Miss Madison is an H1 Unlimited hydroplane team. It is the only community-owned Unlimited hydroplane in the world. It is based out of Madison, Indiana, a small town of 12,000 residents on the Ohio River which annually hosts the Madison Regatta. The story of the boat and city are the subject of the 2001 film Madison.

Traditionally running under the U-6 banner, for 2024 they will field a new boat for the 2024 season, U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate. The number refers to the 1991 founding of the sponsor..

History

The team was started in 1960 when industrialist Samuel F. Dupont donated one of his hydroplanes to the town in 1961 to be run in the American Power Boat Association races. The town's boat is registered as "U-6" (for APBA Unlimited class, #6) in high-points unlimited hydroplane racing since 1961, which makes them the longest-running team in the sport, although the team will change numbers if required by H1 Unlimited regulations that state the defending national champion use the U-1 designation. Through 2008 the U-6 team has used only 7 different hulls, although number 6 was used for only one race in 1988 when the new 5th Miss Madison hull crashed at San Diego in 1988. The Miss Madison team leased the U-3 Risley's hull from owners Ed Cooper, Sr., and Ed Cooper, Jr., for the final race of the year in Las Vegas. The U-3 was officially the U-6 Miss Madison at this one event. The 2nd-to-last hull was built in 1988 by Ron Jones Marine in Seattle, Washington. The hull was first used as a piston-engined boat powered by a V-12 Allison aircraft engine. It was later redesigned for a Lycoming turbine engine, the same type of engine used in the Chinook helicopters. The championship winning U-1 Miss HomeStreet sponsored racing hull was built in 2007 for the H1 Unlimited hydroplane series. A new U-6 debuted in 2018. It was originally built in 2003 but was never completed following Bernie Little's death. That hull was acquired by HomeStreet in 2017 and debuted at the end of the 2018 season. During the 2019 season, the team ran two boats, with the 2007 hull as the U-1918 (for sponsor Oberto Specialty Meats' founding year) and the 2018 hull as the U-6. The second hull was renamed after a sponsorship and management deal, it is now known as the U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate. The two hulls were raced until 2023.

For 2024, one hull will be raced (the 2018 boat) and will carry U-91 (1991 founding year) of Goodman Real Estate.

Hulls

Miss Madison Racing Hulls
(1961–present)
HULL # Years Wins Powerplant Formerly Notes
1 1961-1963 0 Allison V-12 U-79 Nitrogen Destroyed in 1963 Gold Cup trials
2 1963-1971 3 Allison V-12 U-79-2 Nitrogen Too 1971 Gold Cup champion
3 1972-1977 0 Allison V-12 - -
4 1978-1988 1 Allison V-12 Pay 'n Pak and Atlas Van Lines -
5 1988-1990 1 Allison V-12 - -
- 1991-2006 2 Lycoming Turbine - -
6 1988 0 Allison V-12 Risley's Is the Cooper family U-3 hydroplane, borrowed for one race.
7 2007–2023 12 Lycoming Turbine - After the 2018 hull began racing, Miss Madison continued to field the old hull in West Coast races during the 2019 season as the U-1918 Oberto Specialty Meats (referencing the date of the brand's founding). It was the first time there were two Miss Madison boats in a single regatta. Was the U-91 Goodman Real Estate (again referencing its founding, 1991) since 2021.
8 2018-present 1 Lycoming Turbine Miss Budweiser (T-7) (never completed) An unfinished boat formerly owned by Joe Little following his father's death in 2003, the boat was built in Tukwila, WA at the Little shop. HomeStreet Bank acquired the boat when they acquired Hydroplanes, Inc., the Little family shop, and finished the hull in 2018. During the 2019 season, this boat was the U-6 when Miss Madison fielded two boats. In years after the team is the national champion, it carried U-1. When the team downsized in 2024, the boat became the primary boat, now carrying U-91 for its sponsor.

Wins

The Miss Madison had only a handful of wins in its history prior to joining the H-1 Unlimited series. The team has won ten (2008-10, 2012, 2014-17, 2019, 2021) National High Point Championships for the racing season. The single biggest individual victory occurred in 1971, when the Gold Cup (the World Series of hydroplane racing) was held in Madison for the first time. U-6 went on to win the Atomic Cup in Tri-Cities, Washington, that same year, and finished second nationally in overall points for the 1971 season.

Other major victories occurred when she won in 2001 and 2010 in Madison for the home town fans. Miss Madison has won in Guntersville, Alabama in 1965, Lake Ozark, Missouri in 1983, San Diego, California in 1993, Thunder on the Ohio in Evansville, Indiana in 2005, and the Columbia Cup in Tri-Cities, Washington in 2008 and 2009. Two wins in 2007 coming in Seattle at the Seafair Cup, and San Diego, California.

National High Point Championships

Year Driver
2008 Steve David
2009 Steve David
2010 Steve David
2012 Steve David
2014 Jimmy Shane
2015 Jimmy Shane
2016 Jimmy Shane
2017 Jimmy Shane
2019 Jimmy Shane
2021 Team only Jeff Bernard (1) and Jimmy Shane (2-4)
2022 Jimmy Shane

Gold Cup Championships

Year Driver
1971 Jim McCormick
2014 Jimmy Shane
2015 Jimmy Shane
2017 Jimmy Shane
2019 Jimmy Shane
2021 Jimmy Shane

Sponsorship

As with any racing team, sponsors have been important to keep teams running. Miss Madison has had many title sponsors through the years. Many of them have been large companies. The boat, racing under the official number U-6, started out as just the Miss Madison and remained that way for a very long time. Sponsorships became a big part of the team after 1988 when the new hull was beginning its racing career. Miss Madison has been sponsored by Mazda, Holset, Kelloggs Frosted Flakes, Jasper Engines and Transmissions, DeWalt Tools, Oberto Sausage Company. HomeStreet Bank began sponsorship starting in 2016. Oberto returned for selected races in 2019 for the second hull. Goodman Real Estate took over in 2021 for selected races, and the team became full-time in 2022.

History of Miss Madison Sponsors Hamm's Beer 1975 Miss Lynnwood 1976 Armstrong's Machine 1977 Starvin Marvin 1977 Dr. Toyota 1980 Frank Kenney Toyota 1981-82 Miss Rich Food Plan Service 1982-83 American Speedy Printing 1984-85 The Ching Group 1985 Holset Miss Madison 1986-90 Holset Miss Mazda 1989-90 Kellogg's 1992-94 Jasper Engines & Transmissions 1995 DeWalt Tools 1995-97 Powerball 1998 Oberto Beef Jerky 2000–15, 2019 (U-1918) Homestreet Bank 2016-present (U-6)[1] Goodman Real Estate 2022-present (U-91)

Sponsors by Year and Hull

Year Hull Number Name
1961 5879 Miss Madison
1962 5879 Miss Madison
1963 5879 Miss Madison
1963 6079 Miss Madison
1964 6079 Miss Madison
1965 6079 Miss Madison
1966 6079 Miss Madison
1967 6079 Miss Madison
1968 6079 Miss Madison
1969 6079 Miss Madison
1970 6079 Miss Madison
1971 6079 Miss Madison
1972 7206 Miss Madison
1973 7206 Miss Madison
1974 7206 Miss Madison
1975 7206 Miss Madison / Hamm's Bear
1976 7206 Miss Madison / Miss Lynnwood
1977 7206 Miss Madison / Barney Armstrong's Machine / Starvin’ Marvin
1978 7325 Miss Madison (Hull originally U-25 Pay’n Pak)
1979 7325 Miss Madison
1980 7325 Dr. Toyota
1981 7325 Frank Kenney Toyota-Volvo
1982 7325 Frank Kenney Toyota-Volvo / Rich Plan Food Service
1983 7325 Frank Kenney Toyota-Volvo / Rich Plan Food Service
1984 7325 American Speedy Printing
1985 7325 American Speedy Printing
1986 7325 Holset - Miss Madison
1987 7325 Holset - Miss Madison
1988 7325 Holset - Miss Madison
1988 8803 Miss Madison (Leased from Cooper's Express)
1988 8806 Holset - Miss Madison / Risley's Holset - Miss Madison
1989 8806 Holset - Miss Madison / Holset Miss Mazda
1990 8806 Holset - Miss Madison / Holset Miss Mazda
1991 8806 Gaylord's at Kilohana / Valvoline Miss Madison / Kellogg's Frosted Flakes
1992 8806 Kellogg's Tony the Tiger
1993 8806 Kellogg's Frosted Flakes
1994 8806 Powerball / Miss Madison
1995 8806 Jasper Engines and Transmissions / Dewalt Tools
1996 8806 Dewalt Tools
1997 8806 Dewalt Tools
1998 8806 Miss Madison
1999 8806 Miss Madison (White)
2000 8806 Miss Madison (Yellow) / Oh Boy! Oberto
2001 8806 Oh Boy! Oberto
2002 8806 Oh Boy! Oberto
2003 8806 Oh Boy! Oberto
2004 8806 Oh Boy! Oberto
2005 8806 Oh Boy! Oberto
2006 8806 Oh Boy! Oberto
2007 0706 Oh Boy! Oberto
2008 0706 Oh Boy! Oberto
2009 0706 Oh Boy! Oberto (U-1)
2010 0706 Oh Boy! Oberto (U-1)
2011 0706 Oh Boy! Oberto (U-1)
2012 0706 Oh Boy! Oberto
2013 0706 Oh Boy! Oberto (U-1)
2014 0706 Oberto
2015 0706 Oberto (U-1)
2016 0706 HomeStreet Bank (U-1)
2017 0706 HomeStreet Bank (U-1)
2018 0706 HomeStreet Bank (U-1) (except San Diego)
2018 1806 HomeStreet Bank (U-1) (San Diego)
Miss Madison had acquired Bernie Little's hydroplane racing assets)
2019 1806 HomeStreet Bank (U-6)
Entire 2019 season
2019 0706 Oberto Specialty Meats (U-1918)
Tri-Cities, Seattle, and San Diego Only
2021 0706 Goodman Real Estate, HomeStreet Bank (U-1)
Guntersville and Madison Only
1806 HomeStreet Bank (U-1)
Tri-Cities and San Diego Only
2022 1806 HomeStreet Bank (U-1)
0706 Goodman Real Estate (U-91)

from http://www.namba.com

Drivers

Drivers of Miss Madison since 1961.

Driver Year
Marion Cooper 1961-1963
Morlan Visel 1963
Buddy Byers 1963-1965
Jim McCormick 1966, 1969-1971
Ed O'Halloran 1967-1968
Charlie Dunn 1972-1973
Tom Sheehy 1973, 1982
Milner Irvin 1974, 1978-1981, 1984
Jerry Bangs 1975
Ron Snyder 1976, 1982–84, 1986–88
Jon Peddie 1977-78
Andy Coker 1985-1986
Jerry Hopp 1986, 2000
Mitch Evans 1988
Mike Hanson 1988-98
Todd Yarling 1999
Charley Wiggins 2000
Nate Brown 2000
Steve David 2001-2013
Jon Zimmerman 2011 (Back-up driver for the Gold Cup while Steve David was recovering from injuries from Madison)
Jimmy Shane 2014-22
U-6 (2019)
Jeff Bernard 2019-22
Second boat (2019, 2022-), Primary (Gold Cup, 2021)
Dylan Runne 2023
U-6
Andrew Tate 2023
U-91

References

  1. ^ "H1 Unlimited – Home of the World's Fastest Boats".