1960: 1st – Nitrogen donated to the city by Sam DuPont in late 1960. In 1963, the boat piloted by Morlan Visel, crashed during trials for the Gold Cup in Detroit. Visel was seriously injured and the boat destroyed. The wreckage was returned to Madison were usable parts were salvaged. The boat was kept at Madison Consolidated Schools with the intent of rebuilding the missing sponson and using it as a display boat. The restoration did not happen and the boat was stored in the Chautauqua barn. The barn was moved to the Madison State Hospital grounds on Madison’s hilltop. The barn and it’s contents, including the hydroplane, were destroyed in the April 3, 1974 tornadoes.
1963: 2nd – The Nitrogen Too was purchased by the city after the accident. It debuted at the 1963 Madison Regatta with George “Buddy” Byers driving. Byers steered the boat to the first race win for the team at the 1965 Guntersville Dixie Cup. Jim McCormick captured 2 wins in the hull in 1971, the historic APBA Gold Cup victory in Madison and a win in Tri-Cities, WA. This hull appears in Madison the Movie as the “wrecked” Miss Madison. It was later sold and is currently owned by Randy Muller of Seattle. A restoration is ongoing at the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum in the Seattle area.
1972: 3rd – In 1972, a new boat was purchased. Built by Gale Enterprises, it’s design was similar to the Atlas Van Lines hull. The boat was nicknamed the Hurrin’ Hoosier. After it’s retirement by the Miss Madison team in 1977, the boat was idle for a few years. After Bill Muncey’s death at the Acapulco race in 1981, the boat was repainted as the Atlas Van Lines. It was part of a national tour honoring Bill. The boat was then owned for a number of years by Bob Williams, the founder of the original Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum in Seattle. It has been listed for sale on eBay and has been rumored to be in Alabama or South Carolina, still for sale and painted as the Atlas Van Lines on the trailer.
1978: 4th – In 1978, the team acquired the former PAY’N’PAK and converted it from Rolls Royce Merlin to Allison power. As Miss Madison, the hull had 1 victory at the 1983 Lake of the Ozarks Missouri Governor’s Cup with Ron Snyder at the wheel. It has been restored as the PAY’N’PAK and frequently runs in vintage hydroplane exhibitions.
1988: 5th – A new Miss Madison hull was designed by Ron Jones, Jr. and built in 1988. It debuted at the Tri-Cities race and was part of the famous double flip at San Diego later in the season. In 1993, Mike Hanson drove the hull from the trailer starting position in the final heat to a win in San Diego. Steve David piloted this hull to 2 additional victories, 2001 at Madison Regatta and 2005 at Evansville, Indiana. Miss Madison, Inc. retired the hull at the conclusion of the 2006 season. It was used at times for display, then sold to Webster Racing in 2011 and raced as the U-22. Webster sold the boat to Dave Bartush and is presumed to be in his Detroit warehouse.
2007: 6th – A new hull was constructed by the Miss Madison team led by Mike Hanson and was ready in 2007 ushering in a new era of success for Miss Madison Racing. Drivers Steve David (2001-13) and Jimmy Shane (2014-22) piloted this hull to a combined 8 National Championships (2008, ‘09, ‘10, ‘12, ‘14, ‘15, ‘16, ‘17) and 25 wins including 4 APBA Gold Cup victories with this hull. In 2017, the team announced plans to built a new boat that tested at Tri-Cities, WA in 2018 and saw its first competition the next weekend in Seattle. In 2019, Miss Madison ran 2 boats for the 3 western races on the circuit with the 2007 hull competing at Tri-Cities, Seattle and San Diego with Oberto Sausage Company as sponsor. The hull competed in 2021 at Guntersville and Madison and ran the entire seasons in 2022 and 2023 for sponsor Goodman Real Estate.
2018: 7th– The new hull constructed by Dale VanWeiringen, Dan Hoover, Mike and Larry Hanson along with the Miss Madison team raced in Seattle and the season finale in San Diego in 2018. In 2019, Jimmy Shane captured the first race wins for the new hull sponsored by HomeStreet Bank in Guntersville, AL and the APBA Gold Cup in hometown Madison, IN. The hull has accumulated 9 race wins, 2 APBA Gold Cup titles and 4 H1 Unlimited National Championships through the 2024 season.
