Miss Madison

Image:MissMadisonHydroplane2007.jpg 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 [http://homestreet.com/miss-homestreet 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

class="toccolours collapsible" width="100%"
style="text-align:center;" |Miss Madison Racing Hulls
style="text-align:center;" |(1961–present)
{| style="text-align: left"
style="background:#cccccc;"

!style="text-align: left;background:#B0C4DE"|HULL #

!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Years

!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Wins

!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Powerplant

!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Formerly

!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Notes

align=left| 11961-1963style="text-align:center;" |0Allison V-12U-79 NitrogenDestroyed in 1963 Gold Cup trials
align=left| 21963-1971style="text-align:center;" |3Allison V-12U-79-2 Nitrogen Too1971 Gold Cup champion
align=left| 31972-1977style="text-align:center;" |0Allison V-12- |
align=left| 41978-1988style="text-align:center;" |1Allison V-12Pay 'n Pak and Atlas Van Lines|
align=left| 51988-1990style="text-align:center;" |1Allison V-12- |
align=left| -1991-2006style="text-align:center;" |2Lycoming Turbine- |
align=left| 61988style="text-align:center;" |0Allison V-12Risley'sIs the Cooper family U-3 hydroplane, borrowed for one race.
align=left| 72007–2023style="text-align:center;" |12Lycoming 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.
align=left| 82018-presentstyle="text-align:center;" |1Lycoming TurbineMiss 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=

class="wikitable"
style="background:#CCCCCC;"

! 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=

class="wikitable"
style="background:#CCCCCC;"

! 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. [https://www.homestreet.com/miss-homestreet 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){{cite web |url=http://www.h1unlimited.com/ |title = H1 Unlimited – Home of the World's Fastest Boats}}

Goodman Real Estate

2022-present (U-91)

=Sponsors by Year and Hull=

class="wikitable"
style="background:#CCCCCC;"

! 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

rowspan=2|2021

| 0706

| Goodman Real Estate, HomeStreet Bank (U-1)
Guntersville and Madison Only

1806

| HomeStreet Bank (U-1)
Tri-Cities and San Diego Only

rowspan=2| 2022

| 1806

| HomeStreet Bank (U-1)

0706

| Goodman Real Estate (U-91)

from http://www.namba.com

Drivers

Drivers of Miss Madison since 1961.

class="wikitable" style="text-align: right"
style="background:#cccccc;"

!style="text-align: left;background:#B0C4DE"|Driver

!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Year

align=left| Marion Cooper1961-1963
align=left| Morlan Visel1963
align=left| Buddy Byers1963-1965
align=left| Jim McCormick1966, 1969-1971
align=left| Ed O'Halloran1967-1968
align=left| Charlie Dunn1972-1973
align=left| Tom Sheehy1973, 1982
align=left| Milner Irvin1974, 1978-1981, 1984
align=left| Jerry Bangs1975
align=left| Ron Snyder1976, 1982–84, 1986–88
align=left| Jon Peddie1977-78
align=left| Andy Coker1985-1986
align=left| Jerry Hopp1986, 2000
align=left| Mitch Evans1988
align=left| Mike Hanson1988-98
align=left| Todd Yarling1999
align=left| Charley Wiggins2000
align=left| Nate Brown2000
align=left| Steve David2001-2013
align=left|Jon Zimmerman2011 (Back-up driver for the Gold Cup while Steve David was recovering from injuries from Madison)
align=left| Jimmy Shane2014-22
U-6 (2019)
align=left| Jeff Bernard2019-22
Second boat (2019, 2022-), Primary (Gold Cup, 2021)
align=left| Dylan Runne2023
U-6
align=left| Andrew Tate2023
U-91

References

{{Reflist}}