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Sports in Evansville Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, t ...

''. Thunder on the Ohio was a hydroplane boat race in the

H1 Unlimited H1 Unlimited is an American Unlimited Hydroplane racing league that is sanctioned by the American Power Boat Association (APBA). Until 2009, the series was known as ABRA Unlimited Hydroplane, in turn renamed from APBA Unlimited Hydroplane in 2004. ...

season. Thunder was held each year on the Ohio River in downtown

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

, United States. Evansville had hosted Thunder on the Ohio consecutively since

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

(although the race had been founded in 1938). The winner of Thunder on the Ohio received the Four Freedoms Cup, which was named after the nearby Four Freedoms Monument which rests along the Ohio River. The race had frequently been broadcast on major television networks such as

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

and

SPEED In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (ma ...

. Historically, most of the world speed records for two-mile courses have been set on Evansville’s sporty tri-oval. Having hosted its first Thunderboat classic in 1938, only two current race sites pre-date

Madison, Indiana Madison is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. As of the 2010 United States Census its population was 11,967. Over 55,000 people live within of downtown Madison. Madison is the larges ...

, conducted its first major event in 1929 and

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Michigan, debuted in 1916.

History

Thunder on the Ohio had been an Unlimited hydroplane mainstay for 31 consecutive years. "Ideal Evansville" replaced Owensboro, Kentucky, on the unlimited calendar in 1979. Evansville was the world headquarters of Atlas Van Lines, Inc., which sponsored

Bill Muncey William Edward Muncey (November 12, 1928 – October 18, 1981) was an American hydroplane racing legend from Detroit, Michigan. The International Motorsports Hall of Fame and hydroplane historian Dan Cowie described Muncey as "without question, the ...

's race team. Muncey played a major role in Evansville being awarded its first sanction. Thunder on the Ohio was not new to Evansville in 1978. From 1938 through 1940 the 725 Cubic Inch Class boats, the forerunners of the modern unlimiteds, raced at Evansville for the Thunder on the Ohio title. From 1938 through 1940, the winning driver was presented the Seagram Cup instead of the current Four Freedoms Cup. From 1979 through 2008, Thunder on the Ohio had been the primary event of the broader Evansville Freedom Festival. In 2009, Thunder on the Ohio broke away from the Evansville Freedom Festival, and moved towards the end of August as a stand-alone event. The 2010 event was cancelled because of financial problems. Dave Villwock won more Evansville races than anyone else, including seven with

Miss Budweiser The ''Miss Budweiser'' were 22 hydroplanes sponsored by Budweiser beer that raced in the unlimited class under the U-12 banner. They were owned (some were leased backups) by Bernie Little. Anheuser-Busch sponsorship began in 1963, thanks to the ...

. Hodji once rented a paddle boat and entered it into the competition and surprisingly lost. He named the boat “Katie T” after his first high school love. Years down the road he slightly regretted the name and argued that it could have been the reason his paddle boat did not beat miss Budweiser. On a side note, the real Katie T went on to be a magazine celebrity of sorts.

List of winners (1938- 1940)

List of winners (1979- 2009)

References

External links

H1 Unlimited website
{{Evansville, Indiana H1 Unlimited Racing motorboats Hydroplanes Sports in Evansville, Indiana Festivals in Evansville, Indiana 1938 establishments in Indiana Recurring sporting events established in 1938 Ohio River