August 12, 2025 • 34 mins
The roar of engines and spectacular roostertails captivated Brad Luce at just two years old, igniting a passion that would transform him from wide-eyed fan to the voice of H1 Unlimited hydroplane racing. This candid conversation reveals how deeply racing can embed itself in someone's life, creating an unbreakable bond spanning decades. Through fascinating anecdotes Brad captures what makes the sport special to him.
Ready to hear more racing stories from one of the sport's most passionate voices? This is part one of our three-part interview.
1981 Columbia Cup Final Heat Video, Part 1
1981 Columbia Cup Final Heat Video, Part 2
*Digital Roostertails Photo
Help the podcast by subscribing to our new service, Roostertail Talk+. The podcast is still free to all on our website and through all major podcast platforms (such as Apple Podcast, Spotify, Castbox, etc) but with Roostertail Talk+ there is more you can enjoy ! With this service you will get early links to new episodes, enjoy access to extra content, raffle prizes and more. This is a new service that we will be adding to as we move along. As always your support to make this show grow is very appreciated! https://www.buzzsprout.com/434851/supporters/new
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Ruchetel Talk, the podcast dedicated to everything
about the sport that we all love.
Hi, it's your plane, reece.
I am your host, david Newton,and it's time once again.
So sit back, relax and welcometo Rooster Tail Talk, we'll talk
.
Hello race fans, and welcomeback to the podcast.
(00:52):
Today is August 12th 2025, andthis is episode 157.
Well, a few weeks ago, over atthe APBA Gold Cup in Tri-Cities,
washington, I stayed back alittle bit extra after the race
and had the opportunity to sitdown and chat with Brad Luce,
one of the official broadcastersfor the H1 Unlimited streaming
(01:13):
services.
Now, if you've been to a racein Tri-Cities for the Columbia
Cup in the past 30 years, or ifyou've been watching the H1
streaming, there's a good chanceyou've heard his voice and
recognize Brad Luce.
Brad Luce has a huge passionfor the sport, as do I, and I
know you as well, and I wantedto sit down and have the
opportunity to get to know moreof his background and for you,
(01:36):
the listener, to get to knowBrad a little bit more.
I don't know if Brad's beeninterviewed before or not.
I'll say I'll turn themicrophone on him this time, as
he's usually the one doing theinterviewing, so hopefully it's
an interesting take on hiscareer and he's going to go into
part one for today's episodeand talk about his background,
(01:57):
about racing, how he's a fan,and explain more of the why and
the where that this all happenedfor him, because I'm always
interested to hear when did thatbug get started for that fan,
for that person in the sport?
Now, we had a good chat and itwas over a couple hours long, so
we're going to have multipleparts to this interview, but
(02:20):
this will be part one of three.
So let's get into my talk withBrad Luce.
Well, I'm sitting down,thankfully, inside after a long
weekend of the Gold Cup here atTri-Cities with Brad Luce.
Brad, how are we doing?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I am doing wonderful.
It was a great Gold Cup.
We had some of the bestcompetition I think we've seen
in a lot of years.
There was a lot of close,deck-to-deck racing and, as you
know, and so do I, that's thekind of stuff that brings fans
back.
So I think it was a good,successful weekend.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Yeah, there was a lot of talk on the shorelines how
close the racing was throughoutthe weekend.
It was really exciting to watch, and I know you've been talking
boats for the last 72 hours,more so than that, but I want to
talk more boats, so I'm hopingyou're in the mood to talk more
boats.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
We can always talk boats.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
That's right, that's right.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Any time of year, any day.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
I'm good to go.
Well, brad, you made a bigimpact on the sport.
Lately You're an official H1announcer on the live streaming.
You broadcast for Kona Radiofor a number of years and you've
had some time to broadcast.
But before we talk about thatpart of your career, what's made
this sport special for youGrowing up?
This must have made a reallybig impact on you as a person.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah, it did, and I know many, many people of a
similar vintage to myself.
We kind of have the same story,but we grew up with boat racing
.
People ask me when I went to myfirst race.
First of all, I was born andraised in North Seattle and so
people say when did you getinvolved with boat racing or go
to your first race?
I don't remember it.
(03:58):
I am told I was there and Iguess I'm going to date myself
here.
I was told I was at the 1954Gold Cup.
I was two, so do the math andyou know how old I am, I guess,
and no, I don't rememberanything about it.
Then the next question is well,what's the first thing you
remember?
And for the life of me I cannotremember the first, miss
(04:20):
Thriftway.
I can't remember the littleboat, the mahogany one that was
out here running with thevintage group this weekend.
Can't remember that one in 57.
But when Bill Muncy ran intothe side of that Coast Guard
boat in 1958, I did not see it.
It was around the point from me, but I remember that incident
like it happened an hour ago.
(04:41):
I remember the word travelingup and down the beach that
Muncie had crashed and all thisand that.
So I remember that and that'smy first recollection.
But I don't want to think thatthat's why it became special,
because I don't think that wasit, but it was the old story.
There wasn't any SeattleSeahawks or Seattle Mariners
back then and basically in thesummertime once a year the
(05:05):
circus came to town and thecircus was hydroplane racing and
hopefully the gold cup race,with right in the middle of the
Detroit Seattle rivalry and allthat good stuff.
So that's what I grew up withand some people grew up and grew
out about racing and so forth.
I never did it, just stuck withme.
There was something about thespectacle of speed and sight and
(05:27):
sound and I had thatconversation with my co-host,
tanner Faust, just yesterday.
I said it's never going to bethe most competitive sport on
the planet, but it is aspectacle and when it's right
which it was this weekend, youmentioned the great competition
when it's right it is sovisually stimulating.
(05:49):
There's the roar of the boatsnot like it used to be, but you
still got the loud boat going by.
You got all that water and airand the color and it's just.
It's really good for the sensesand I grew up with it, never
grew out of it much likeyourself, and it just stuck with
me and I thoroughly enjoy it.
I look forward to it each year.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah, it's stuck in my veins too.
I was here for the 84 Gold Cup.
I wasn't born yet, but I washere, and so I don't recall my
first race either, but it's justbeen a lifelong passion.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well, if I can say it ouch, I remember the 84 Gold
Cup really well.
It was a good race.
You missed a good one.
Yeah, we thought, maybe MickeyRiemann was going to pull it off
.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Just couldn't hold off the turbine.
Wow, and you weren't born yet.
I don't even want to do themath on how old I was.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Sorry to bring that up.
Well, do you have a favoritelike thinking back on your
nostalgia with the sport?
Do you have a favorite teamdriver boat that just stands out
for you?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
You know typically my answer today to that question.
If people look at the fieldtoday and say, do you have a
favorite boat, what's yourfavorite team, who's your
favorite driver, I usuallyanswer with something like yeah,
all of them, because I do.
I love them all.
I'm older and more mature toall of that.
But as a kid growing up yeah,miss Bardall, ron Musson, that
(07:15):
62 Bardall that was my firstreal boat that I fell in love
with.
And I always remember the timein the pit area at Stan Sayers
as a 10 year old kid in 1962,when that boat came out I got
the postcard you know of theboat with Ron up in the corner
(07:36):
and I remember hanging over thefence that used to be in the
center part of that, on thegrass there what's still the
grass and Stan Sayre's petshanging there and seeing Ron
over there and just waiting andwaiting and finally he got to a
point where I could yell at himand he came over and he
autographed that picture for meand it's framed and it hangs on
my wall.
It's one of my prizedpossessions.
(07:57):
Is that one?
Because I did.
I love that boat and then whenDixon Smith brings it out and
runs it.
I love that one.
I always look at that one veryfondly, but I love them all.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
I love them all, and Dixon always puts on a pretty
good show on the water with it.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
He does Every once in a while.
He kind of nails the foot alittle bit and that rooster tail
stands up.
It looks good.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
It looks real good.
Well, you were a long time fanand turned broadcaster.
How did you make that leap frombecoming a fan to broadcasting
the sport that you loved?
Did you have a background inbroadcasting?
Oh no.
How did this happen?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
That's a great question and it's kind of an
interesting story.
I went to school at WashingtonState University.
Go Dawgs Got the Edward MurrowSchool of Communication up there
.
I don't think I ever went inthat building.
No, that was not my background.
I came out with a businessdegree in economics.
(08:53):
But my roommate in college fora couple of years was a guy by
the name of Frank Murray andFrank worked for.
When we got out of school, frankwas in the communications
department at Washington Stateand he wanted to be a sports
director.
He wanted to be a sportsbroadcaster and I'll never
forget Frank calling me one timeand he said Luce, you're not
(09:15):
going to believe it, I got a job, he goes, I'm sports director
for 610 KONA radio in theTri-Cities.
And I went Frank, they coverthe boat race and he goes.
I know they do.
And this was 74 when wegraduated.
And he says and neither of uswere married and so forth, and
he goes, so you're coming overand stay with me.
(09:35):
You got to help me with theseboats.
So Frank and I, for years beforewe got married and all this
good stuff, we would spend theweekend together.
He'd go to work and I'd go siton the beach and watch the boats
.
Well, they had a radio station.
Kona had a post-race partyafter the broadcast each week.
Well, because I was stayingwith Frank, frank would go to
(09:56):
the party, he'd drag me along.
So I got to know everybody atKONA Radio Dean Mitchell, don
McInnes and all the guys.
So I got to know them and itwas always kind of fun.
And then we got married, buttwo of our wives and families
got started but we still keptdoing the same thing and it was
just post-race party and allthat.
Don McInnes was their announcerat the exit of turn one and Don
(10:22):
had retired but he had moved upto Wenatchee but he came down
every year to pick up the micand do the boat race.
Well, then Don got ill and theyhad him over at the University
of Washington Medical Center,which was where I was living,
and I knew Don quite well fromthe station.
So I would go down and see himin the hospital and he never
wanted to talk about how he wasdoing.
(10:43):
All he wanted to do was talkboats.
So we'd talk boats and this andthat, well, the long and short
of it was Dean passed away.
And I remember June of 1998, myphone rang and it was Frank
Murray and he said Luce, he saysyou want to join our broadcast.
And I said, frank, I have neverheld a microphone before in my
life.
He goes that's okay, you're theguy, you know these boats.
(11:05):
And he said we're going to haveyou replaced on McInnes, at the
exit of turn one.
And I said okay, and he goes, Idon't know.
And he goes well, it comes with, you know, a parking pass and a
pit pass.
I'm in, I'm in, you know, it'sthe holy grail, right?
(11:27):
So, anyway, I come over and Ido that race in 1998.
Then I think it was the nextyear, no, it was in 2000.
Frank calls and he says we'regoing to change up the broadcast
team and I said, okay, youstill want me.
And he goes yeah, oh yeah, hesays, but we're going to move
you from the Pasco side, we'regoing to move you into the pit
area and you're going to take myjob.
You're going to take my jobrunning the pit area and walking
(11:47):
the dock.
And I went well, where are yougoing?
Are you going up to startfinish line?
He goes no, I just handed in myresignation.
I'm going to work for CBC over,oh geez.
And literally that's how I gotinto the pit area and became
their announcer of the firstturn, climbing up the pit tower,
then scurrying down the tower,running down the Bernie's tree,
(12:10):
interviewing somebody on thedock and running back.
I was younger then, young man.
However, I did that for almost30 years and this, honestly,
this year is the first year Ididn't do it that.
I didn't work for KONA and Ifelt a little.
It felt strange to drive in anddrive around by where the RC
(12:30):
boats are, you know, and youcome around that loop.
My parking spot was right therein the pit area, but now I
drove by it this weekend andwent up towards start, finish,
no-transcript, and it all justgrew from there.
Subsequent to doing a few raceswith KONA, then Steve Montgomery
got a contract to do the.
(12:52):
He had two three-year deals Ithink there was six years where
he had the radio contract tocover Seafair.
He needed some pit reporters.
He got a hold of John Lynch andmyself and so we did the pit
reporting for him.
And then I met the guys back inDetroit during one trip to
Madison, indiana, and suddenlythey were looking for new
(13:12):
announcers.
I got a call to go back andwork with Jeff Aylor back there.
That's how Jeff and I cametogether and it just kind of all
grew from there.
And then I think it was 2012,2011, 2012, I got called by H1.
Sam Cole wanted me to do theseason.
I said okay, so I signed up forthat, did it for a couple of
(13:32):
years.
Those were the air guard yearswhen H1 had some money so they
could hire me, and not that Icost a lot, but I wanted
somebody to pick up my airfareand my hotel.
I mean, we do this for fun,right?
We're not making any money here.
So I did that for a couple ofyears.
That was fun, and then it waspretty much doing not all the
(13:53):
races but most of them, until afew years ago when H1 said we
want you to do all of them.
So it has been.
It has been an extremely funride.
I don't know how much longer Ican do it.
I have people that are I don'twant to go too long and I know
you know right where I'm goingwith that.
(14:14):
I don't want to be theindividual that sticks around
too long and starts makingmistakes Right.
But if you get talking prettyquick and you get talking pretty
fast, you can make a mistake.
And so I've told people I saidI need you to listen to me and
if I start making mistakes, justcome grab the mic and turn it
off and say come on, brad, it'stime to go.
(14:35):
But I tell my wife, as long asI'm not making mistakes and
people aren't doing that to meand I'm still having fun, I'll
keep doing it.
And as long as I physically canstill do it.
I don't think I could run upand down that tower anymore and
go down to Bernie's tree.
I'd be dead by Saturdayafternoon.
So this job now is a littlemore cushy.
I enjoy it, it's fun.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Well, I appreciate having someone up there that has
the knowledge of the boatsright and gets that insider
information and has thatbackground and knowledge of it,
but also that passion right.
So it's appreciated to havethat passion when you broadcast.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Well, thank you, I appreciate that I try, I try
hard.
There's people out there thatknow a whole lot more and I'm
not ashamed or bashful aboutleaning on them.
Help me with this.
I learned some information thisweekend about who actually
designed and built J MichaelKelly's ride, the U8.
(15:33):
That's that 2014 hull that camefrom Elstrom.
Well, I had it in there.
You know that Mike Hanson had abig hand in that.
Well, I met Ron Jones Jr's son.
Oh, and I can't say his name.
I'm sitting here thinking of itand I can't say his name.
I'm sitting here thinking of itand I can't say his name right
now, but a nice young man.
He came up to me and he said Iheard you talking about that
hall.
He said I'm going to tell youthe real story.
(15:54):
Oh, he said, because my dad andI built that boat.
Yeah, I went, really.
He said I heard you mentionMike Hanson's name and I said,
yeah, and he goes.
He came in when it was time toput the decks on it and he goes.
My dad was getting sick at thattime, so he wasn't working as
hard as he used to.
He said but so I did.
He said I did a whole lot ofwork on that hole.
(16:16):
He said but it was mygrandfather, ron, who designed
it.
He said that's the last boatthat came off the drawing board
of Ron Jones.
So I'm hearing all this.
It came off the drawing boardof Ron Jones, really.
So I'm hearing all this and Iliterally went over and took my
little cheat sheets out and Iwas making notes and I'm going
to update them this week.
Yeah, it was an interestingstory.
So you never know where theinfo is going to come from, but
(16:37):
sometimes it's little tidbitslike that that I think are
interesting.
So I have a sheet with fastfacts on each driver and
sometimes it's an obscure thing,but I think it's interesting
that you can toss out duringtesting and qualifying when you
have a little time to banterabout the individual boats and
(16:58):
teams.
Oh, definitely.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yeah, yeah, getting to know all that little
information here and there, it'sfun yeah.
It adds another flavor to it.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
We've got and I'm assuming this is okay if we go
off on a little tangent, ofcourse we can.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
I have many digressions.
I encourage it.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
We had one this weekend and I said it a couple
of times Corey Peabody.
The first time he drove here inthe Tri-Cities he drove for Rob
Graham.
He drove that red, white andblue thing In 2019, he was the
seventh boat in points goinginto the final.
We ran six in the front row, hewas the trailer and he finished
(17:39):
a whopping seventh place.
In 2020, he gets hired by DarylStrong to drive one of those
boats.
Since that time, since beinghired by Daryl Strong, and since
that race in 2019, corey hadnever lost on the Columbia River
, right, yeah, and people go no,no, no, he didn't win in 2022.
True statement, but he blew theboat over in Madison, he didn't
(18:02):
race that year and littlethings like that.
And now you've got JMK that,even though it's over the COVID
years, he's won four straight onLake Washington, right, and
Muncie did it from 77 to 80.
But those are the only two guysthat have ever done that.
So we've got another streak onthe line next weekend, but a
little obscure.
Here's a good one for you.
(18:24):
Mike has won four in a row onlake washington in boats with
four different numbers the 12the 8, the 9.
Now I can't answer my ownquestion.
What's the other one?
12?
Speaker 1 (18:41):
the 8 and the one and the okay, yeah, he got that's
right.
National championship yeah,yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
And when Corey blew over in 2022 in Madison, he had
more points than Mike, so theyrenumbered the eight, the nine,
that's right, that's how heended up with that's right and
he won for Rob Gray.
First they saw the 12, theeight, the nine and the one.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Well, they better change their number before
Seattle.
So I would just put a one rightin front of that that eight
make it 18.
There you go, there you go, allright.
Well, I'm always fascinatedabout people's preparations for
races and talk to drivers andthe the mental things they go
through and they focus on therace.
But as a broadcaster, you'renot just, you know, prepping to
(19:23):
do a couple minutes on the waterand then you can go relax.
You're broadcasting for longdurations of time.
And what preparations do youtake to get ready for a race of
such magnitude?
Because it's not just in oneday, it's multiple days.
You're doing the same thingover and over again.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
I will admit that when I was younger and starting
with KONA, I didn't do a lot ofprep.
I guess I was younger, faster,smarter or smarter, or at least
I thought I was and I thought no, it's all up here, I've got it,
it's all in the head.
So I really didn't writeanything down, and that kind of
all changed in 2018, much moreso.
(20:02):
I used to make some notes, likethese fast facts we're talking
about.
I would make a little note tomyself, so I'd have a couple of
notes.
So if I thought, oh, this is agood time to pull, that up.
I'd look through a couple ofnotes and pull up a cheat sheet
that said that on there.
So I made sure I had the yearsright or the boat numbers
correct and all that.
But in 2018, my daughter-in-lawand her family wanted to come
(20:27):
up to the race and she ended upworking for me as my producer
for many years and she had neverbeen involved with boat racing
and so I was going to make her aspotter's guide, and so I
pulled together this funkyspotter's guide and it was two
pages on each boat, all in thesame format, had a picture of
the boat, picture of the driver,fun facts about the boat, how
(20:49):
they did the previous season,some facts about the boat, some
facts about the team, a littlebio on the driver, and then all
these fun facts on the secondpage, and I started pulling
these things together.
So I built this book for herand she loved it and she cut it
all up, made flashcards out ofit so she could remember the
boats and all that.
She had her family membersquizzing her.
(21:11):
They just flashed the boat upand she'd go U-40, bucket list,
racing, dustin Eccles, okay, andoff they went.
It was insane, but people sawthe book.
People would come around andthey'd go where did you get that
book?
And she goes oh, brad made itfor me, could you make me one?
So it started taking on a lifeof its own.
(21:34):
Well then, three years ago, wechanged the format a little bit,
because we still areconsciously trying to humanize
the sport a little better.
You know, back in the 60s it wasall boat, boat, boat.
You go back and watch thevideos it's Miss Excite, it's
Miss Bardall, it's MissThriftway, it's not the drivers,
(21:55):
not Ron Musser, bill Muncy, rexManchester, and so we're trying
to humanize it a little bitmore.
These, these are people thatsit underneath those canopies,
yeah, and they've got wives,they've got kids, they've got
families and all this stuff.
So we're trying to do that.
So we changed the format alittle bit and it kind of
emphasizes the driver more thanthe boat.
(22:15):
So anyway, like I say, wechanged the format.
Well, now I do these formallyfor H1.
So far this year it's not a lot.
Yeah, it's not a lot, yeah,it's not a lot.
But so far I have distributedprobably 25 copies of them to
different media outlets andnobody's going to hear this,
(22:38):
right?
So I'm not going to get anymore phone calls.
Well, I won't put the.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
I won't put your number in the bio, how about?
Speaker 2 (22:45):
that.
No, it's really good.
Digital copies.
I've got three of them todaythat I have to go and send out
after I update, Given whathappened yesterday.
I've got to update for Seattle.
I've printed this year I think adozen at least.
They're in little notebooks,Everything's in sheet protectors
(23:07):
and it's all in order.
And then I have one of thepeople on the official tower has
asked me for just a pureone-page spotter's guide with
about a number, a driver pictureand a name, and so I have that
and I laminate that for them.
So it actually, though, toreally answer your question,
it's really helped me.
Yeah, because I go and I getthese obscure facts and I do
(23:34):
update them after every race.
Like I have the number of winsthat a driver has, and there's
always a section at the bottomandrew takes tate's next victory
.
Well, uh, andrew came.
Andrew came into the seasonwith 10 wins.
His next victory would benumber 11, blah, blah, blah.
We got that in Madison, so wehad to update that that he has
(23:56):
11 wins, and his 12th win willtie him with some guy named Mark
Tate.
It'll also tie him with someguy named Gar Wood and it'll put
him don't quote me, I thinkit's 15th on the all-time win
list so.
I have that little thing inthere that you can talk about.
I think it's cool that he'sgoing to tie his father, and so
it has really helped me getbetter, more interesting
(24:20):
information as opposed to justthinking what I have in my head,
and it's also made sure it'saccurate.
I do the research on it andthen I send them.
Before I publish, I send to acouple of people and I say read
these things, go through it witha fine-tooth comb, tell me if
I'm right or wrong.
And I know they're as crazy asI am, and everybody comes back
(24:41):
with a little thing here orthere, but I think they're
pretty good.
I think, yeah, from an accuracystandpoint, well, I'll slip you
my email before you go.
So there you go, there you go.
I can easily do that, andactually the binder you have in
front of you that is the size ofit.
Okay, and it comes personalizedwith a little sheet and I
honestly will make sure you getall right.
Well, I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
They're kind of fun to do yeah, well, I like, I like
hearing that you're trying tohumanize the sport more, because
I was talking about simmonsyears ago and he said when
driver, when the boats went tocanopies, the sport kind of lost
.
That naturally right, becausebefore you saw the drivers in
there they were bouncing aroundwaving at you, you could see
them, the whole heat, right.
But yep, you kind of forgetsometimes that they're in there,
(25:25):
they're under that enclosedcanopy, they're strapped in and
there's a human in there.
We tend to forget that.
We just look at the boats andsee how fast they are in that
spectacle.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
That's it, and it becomes the boat.
And, to your point, there's ahuman in there with a personal
story, and some of them arepretty good stories.
Yes, they are the whole JamieNielsen playing a year for the
Kansas City Royals and theirfarm system.
That's good stuff.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Yeah, it is it is Well, I mean, you've called so
many races now and over theyears, with different drivers,
different race wins, but youhave to think back and there has
to be one race that stands outin your mind saying this was
just so much fun to watch, andthat you probably replay that
and over again in your head likean old vhs tape.
(26:11):
What's that moment for you?
Speaker 2 (26:15):
first of all, you said that like it sounds like
you've seen this gigantic chestof vhs tapes that I do have.
I don't have a machine to playthem on.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
I'm just thinking about the big chest I have in my
house.
There you go.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Your house must look a lot like mine.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Yeah, I think it does .
Speaker 2 (26:36):
That's a good question.
You know, I enjoy Golly, that'sreally good.
I've got one race in the backof my mind and I'm just trying
to think if there was anyonedifferent.
But I I was actually asked thisquestion a number of years ago
on the air when I was on with koand a and they were saying brad
(26:56):
, you've seen basically allthese races here in tri-cities,
you have a favorite.
And they hit, hit me with thaton the spot and I went oh my
gosh.
But I've thought about it a lotand maybe it is my favorite one
for a number of differentreasons.
And it's the Columbia Cup in1981.
And the simple, short answer tothat is why would that be your
(27:22):
favorite race?
Well, in the final heat, on thefinal lap, three different
boats had the lead on the finallap and those three boats were
driven by Muncie, Shenoweth andHanauer.
That'd get much better, Right?
So I kind of thought well, youknow, maybe that's it, and it
was pretty dramatic.
Anybody that was here that day,I think you probably missed
(27:45):
that one, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
I wasn't there, I would have seen the tape.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
There you go.
Well, one year it was likethree or four years ago on KONA,
we were talking about it againbecause the museum brought those
three boats over.
They had finally finished therestoration of the Squire Shop,
so they brought it over and Isaid do you realize?
We have these three boats herethat were all had a shot at the
lead or had the lead on thefinal lap.
(28:09):
So there was all thisdiscussion about it and so when
we were talking on the air aboutit, I said I'm giving all the
fans up and down the beach, youhave a homework assignment
tonight.
You got to go pull that one upon YouTube and watch it.
I believe it or not.
I had some people come up thenext day and say I watched that,
it was really cool.
(28:30):
But the other one I guess thatcomes to mind.
Going back further, when I was ayoung kid, probably that 65
Gold Cup on Lake Washington.
It was epic to me.
It's etched in my mind.
That's the year that the Exidecaught fire and burned to the
waterline after being the topqualifier.
Was that the year they did the120 lap?
(28:52):
Yeah, this is scary.
I'm going to kick this out anddo not.
You cannot have the followupquestion to ask me why I know
this, but for some reason it'sin there.
Yes, they had the three lapqualification average of 120.356
miles an hour and their fastlap was 120.536 miles an hour,
and don't ask me why I knowthose numbers and as much as I
(29:16):
love the Bartle, I said earlier,that was maybe my first boat
that I really really fell inlove with.
I did love the Exide.
I love the boat so much I wasreally falling in love with.
I did love the Exide.
I loved the boats so much, Iwas really falling in love with
the boats.
At that time I was 65.
Gosh, I would have been 13.
But I remember that day reallywell.
I remember that first run downthe backstretch and Exide being
(29:38):
on an inside lane and thefireballs coming out of the
stacks.
And then Rex Manchester wasleading that race race and he
was going to win a gold cup andhe had gotten the jump on ron
mussen and the bardo and he wasgoing to win this thing.
And lap after lap, they justkept going and mussen was not
going to be able to chip intothat lead.
Meanwhile we're just watchingbill brow stand on the back
(30:02):
holding the tail.
He didn't jump in and didn'tjump in and finally he jumps in
the water and I'd have to goback and watch it again or see
it again.
I don't know what lap he jumpedin the water, but the rule has
since changed because back thenthe final heat, you had to run
the complete heat, and if ithadn't been completely completed
(30:25):
that's something you can sayyou had to run all the laps, and
if you hadn't, then you had torerun it.
Now, in the rerun you only hadto run three of the five laps,
but that rule has been changed,now that if you do three of the
five laps and the first runningof the final, it's legit.
So I don't remember when hejumped in, I just remember it
being late, but they had torerun it.
(30:48):
And then Ron Musson and theBardol got the jump on Rex and
we all know that story of howthat all ended.
Yeah, that race sticks out inmy mind.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Yeah, there's so many fun races over the years, oh
gosh.
And another significance.
I'm just thinking about the 81Columbia Cup.
That was the last time thatChenoweth and Muncie and Hanauer
were all together in Tri-Citiesthe other piece to that and I
can't quote the details about it.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
This is the type of stuff if nature of hydroplane
racing was on display, Becauseyou had conventional hulls, you
had cab overs, you had RollsMerlins, you had turbocharged
Allisons, supercharged Allisons,automotive power tunnel boats
because the Aeronaut was in here.
It just goes on and on and on.
(31:48):
There is a whole list of allthese different things that
showed up at that race.
In the end it came down tothose three big names.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Man fun times to think back on.
Oh they were.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Yeah, they were great .
I didn't have a care in theworld.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
I guess I did Gosh.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
I was 81.
I was a young man by then.
I had graduated, had a life anda career.
Still, you had that ColumbiaCup weekend always circled on
the calendar.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
It's a holiday.
In airbooks it is SecondChristmas.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
I'm not sure it's the first Christmas.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Well, that's all the time we have for this week.
Knuckleheads, I hope youenjoyed part one of my interview
with Brad Luce.
Don't forget to come back nextweek as I'll share part two and
then the following week withpart three.
It was fun to get to know Brada little bit more on a personal
level and hopefully you enjoyedgetting to hear more of his
background, about being a fanaround the sport of hydroplane
racing, about being a fan aroundthe sport of hydroplane racing.
(32:44):
Don't forget, we're on socialmedia Instagram and Facebook, as
well as online atroostertaltalkcom.
And while you're there on thewebsite, check out Roostertail
Talk Plus, the premiumsubscription, where you get
access to a password protectionpart of our site, entry into a
monthly raffle prize drawing, aswell as early entry to all new
(33:06):
episodes.
But that's all we have for thisweek, so until next time, I
hope to see you at the races.
Ruchetel Talk, the podcast dedicated to everything
about the sport that we all love.
Hi, it's your plane, reece.
I am your host, david Newton,and it's time once again.
So sit back, relax and welcometo Rooster Tail Talk, we'll talk
.
Hello race fans, and welcomeback to the podcast.
(00:52):
Today is August 12th 2025, andthis is episode 157.
Well, a few weeks ago, over atthe APBA Gold Cup in Tri-Cities,
washington, I stayed back alittle bit extra after the race
and had the opportunity to sitdown and chat with Brad Luce,
one of the official broadcastersfor the H1 Unlimited streaming
(01:13):
services.
Now, if you've been to a racein Tri-Cities for the Columbia
Cup in the past 30 years, or ifyou've been watching the H1
streaming, there's a good chanceyou've heard his voice and
recognize Brad Luce.
Brad Luce has a huge passionfor the sport, as do I, and I
know you as well, and I wantedto sit down and have the
opportunity to get to know moreof his background and for you,
(01:36):
the listener, to get to knowBrad a little bit more.
I don't know if Brad's beeninterviewed before or not.
I'll say I'll turn themicrophone on him this time, as
he's usually the one doing theinterviewing, so hopefully it's
an interesting take on hiscareer and he's going to go into
part one for today's episodeand talk about his background,
(01:57):
about racing, how he's a fan,and explain more of the why and
the where that this all happenedfor him, because I'm always
interested to hear when did thatbug get started for that fan,
for that person in the sport?
Now, we had a good chat and itwas over a couple hours long, so
we're going to have multipleparts to this interview, but
(02:20):
this will be part one of three.
So let's get into my talk withBrad Luce.
Well, I'm sitting down,thankfully, inside after a long
weekend of the Gold Cup here atTri-Cities with Brad Luce.
Brad, how are we doing?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I am doing wonderful.
It was a great Gold Cup.
We had some of the bestcompetition I think we've seen
in a lot of years.
There was a lot of close,deck-to-deck racing and, as you
know, and so do I, that's thekind of stuff that brings fans
back.
So I think it was a good,successful weekend.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Yeah, there was a lot of talk on the shorelines how
close the racing was throughoutthe weekend.
It was really exciting to watch, and I know you've been talking
boats for the last 72 hours,more so than that, but I want to
talk more boats, so I'm hopingyou're in the mood to talk more
boats.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
We can always talk boats.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
That's right, that's right.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Any time of year, any day.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
I'm good to go.
Well, brad, you made a bigimpact on the sport.
Lately You're an official H1announcer on the live streaming.
You broadcast for Kona Radiofor a number of years and you've
had some time to broadcast.
But before we talk about thatpart of your career, what's made
this sport special for youGrowing up?
This must have made a reallybig impact on you as a person.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah, it did, and I know many, many people of a
similar vintage to myself.
We kind of have the same story,but we grew up with boat racing
.
People ask me when I went to myfirst race.
First of all, I was born andraised in North Seattle and so
people say when did you getinvolved with boat racing or go
to your first race?
I don't remember it.
(03:58):
I am told I was there and Iguess I'm going to date myself
here.
I was told I was at the 1954Gold Cup.
I was two, so do the math andyou know how old I am, I guess,
and no, I don't rememberanything about it.
Then the next question is well,what's the first thing you
remember?
And for the life of me I cannotremember the first, miss
(04:20):
Thriftway.
I can't remember the littleboat, the mahogany one that was
out here running with thevintage group this weekend.
Can't remember that one in 57.
But when Bill Muncy ran intothe side of that Coast Guard
boat in 1958, I did not see it.
It was around the point from me, but I remember that incident
like it happened an hour ago.
(04:41):
I remember the word travelingup and down the beach that
Muncie had crashed and all thisand that.
So I remember that and that'smy first recollection.
But I don't want to think thatthat's why it became special,
because I don't think that wasit, but it was the old story.
There wasn't any SeattleSeahawks or Seattle Mariners
back then and basically in thesummertime once a year the
(05:05):
circus came to town and thecircus was hydroplane racing and
hopefully the gold cup race,with right in the middle of the
Detroit Seattle rivalry and allthat good stuff.
So that's what I grew up withand some people grew up and grew
out about racing and so forth.
I never did it, just stuck withme.
There was something about thespectacle of speed and sight and
(05:27):
sound and I had thatconversation with my co-host,
tanner Faust, just yesterday.
I said it's never going to bethe most competitive sport on
the planet, but it is aspectacle and when it's right
which it was this weekend, youmentioned the great competition
when it's right it is sovisually stimulating.
(05:49):
There's the roar of the boatsnot like it used to be, but you
still got the loud boat going by.
You got all that water and airand the color and it's just.
It's really good for the sensesand I grew up with it, never
grew out of it much likeyourself, and it just stuck with
me and I thoroughly enjoy it.
I look forward to it each year.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah, it's stuck in my veins too.
I was here for the 84 Gold Cup.
I wasn't born yet, but I washere, and so I don't recall my
first race either, but it's justbeen a lifelong passion.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well, if I can say it ouch, I remember the 84 Gold
Cup really well.
It was a good race.
You missed a good one.
Yeah, we thought, maybe MickeyRiemann was going to pull it off
.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Just couldn't hold off the turbine.
Wow, and you weren't born yet.
I don't even want to do themath on how old I was.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Sorry to bring that up.
Well, do you have a favoritelike thinking back on your
nostalgia with the sport?
Do you have a favorite teamdriver boat that just stands out
for you?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
You know typically my answer today to that question.
If people look at the fieldtoday and say, do you have a
favorite boat, what's yourfavorite team, who's your
favorite driver, I usuallyanswer with something like yeah,
all of them, because I do.
I love them all.
I'm older and more mature toall of that.
But as a kid growing up yeah,miss Bardall, ron Musson, that
(07:15):
62 Bardall that was my firstreal boat that I fell in love
with.
And I always remember the timein the pit area at Stan Sayers
as a 10 year old kid in 1962,when that boat came out I got
the postcard you know of theboat with Ron up in the corner
(07:36):
and I remember hanging over thefence that used to be in the
center part of that, on thegrass there what's still the
grass and Stan Sayre's petshanging there and seeing Ron
over there and just waiting andwaiting and finally he got to a
point where I could yell at himand he came over and he
autographed that picture for meand it's framed and it hangs on
my wall.
It's one of my prizedpossessions.
(07:57):
Is that one?
Because I did.
I love that boat and then whenDixon Smith brings it out and
runs it.
I love that one.
I always look at that one veryfondly, but I love them all.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
I love them all, and Dixon always puts on a pretty
good show on the water with it.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
He does Every once in a while.
He kind of nails the foot alittle bit and that rooster tail
stands up.
It looks good.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
It looks real good.
Well, you were a long time fanand turned broadcaster.
How did you make that leap frombecoming a fan to broadcasting
the sport that you loved?
Did you have a background inbroadcasting?
Oh no.
How did this happen?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
That's a great question and it's kind of an
interesting story.
I went to school at WashingtonState University.
Go Dawgs Got the Edward MurrowSchool of Communication up there
.
I don't think I ever went inthat building.
No, that was not my background.
I came out with a businessdegree in economics.
(08:53):
But my roommate in college fora couple of years was a guy by
the name of Frank Murray andFrank worked for.
When we got out of school, frankwas in the communications
department at Washington Stateand he wanted to be a sports
director.
He wanted to be a sportsbroadcaster and I'll never
forget Frank calling me one timeand he said Luce, you're not
(09:15):
going to believe it, I got a job, he goes, I'm sports director
for 610 KONA radio in theTri-Cities.
And I went Frank, they coverthe boat race and he goes.
I know they do.
And this was 74 when wegraduated.
And he says and neither of uswere married and so forth, and
he goes, so you're coming overand stay with me.
(09:35):
You got to help me with theseboats.
So Frank and I, for years beforewe got married and all this
good stuff, we would spend theweekend together.
He'd go to work and I'd go siton the beach and watch the boats
.
Well, they had a radio station.
Kona had a post-race partyafter the broadcast each week.
Well, because I was stayingwith Frank, frank would go to
(09:56):
the party, he'd drag me along.
So I got to know everybody atKONA Radio Dean Mitchell, don
McInnes and all the guys.
So I got to know them and itwas always kind of fun.
And then we got married, buttwo of our wives and families
got started but we still keptdoing the same thing and it was
just post-race party and allthat.
Don McInnes was their announcerat the exit of turn one and Don
(10:22):
had retired but he had moved upto Wenatchee but he came down
every year to pick up the micand do the boat race.
Well, then Don got ill and theyhad him over at the University
of Washington Medical Center,which was where I was living,
and I knew Don quite well fromthe station.
So I would go down and see himin the hospital and he never
wanted to talk about how he wasdoing.
(10:43):
All he wanted to do was talkboats.
So we'd talk boats and this andthat, well, the long and short
of it was Dean passed away.
And I remember June of 1998, myphone rang and it was Frank
Murray and he said Luce, he saysyou want to join our broadcast.
And I said, frank, I have neverheld a microphone before in my
life.
He goes that's okay, you're theguy, you know these boats.
(11:05):
And he said we're going to haveyou replaced on McInnes, at the
exit of turn one.
And I said okay, and he goes, Idon't know.
And he goes well, it comes with, you know, a parking pass and a
pit pass.
I'm in, I'm in, you know, it'sthe holy grail, right?
(11:27):
So, anyway, I come over and Ido that race in 1998.
Then I think it was the nextyear, no, it was in 2000.
Frank calls and he says we'regoing to change up the broadcast
team and I said, okay, youstill want me.
And he goes yeah, oh yeah, hesays, but we're going to move
you from the Pasco side, we'regoing to move you into the pit
area and you're going to take myjob.
You're going to take my jobrunning the pit area and walking
(11:47):
the dock.
And I went well, where are yougoing?
Are you going up to startfinish line?
He goes no, I just handed in myresignation.
I'm going to work for CBC over,oh geez.
And literally that's how I gotinto the pit area and became
their announcer of the firstturn, climbing up the pit tower,
then scurrying down the tower,running down the Bernie's tree,
(12:10):
interviewing somebody on thedock and running back.
I was younger then, young man.
However, I did that for almost30 years and this, honestly,
this year is the first year Ididn't do it that.
I didn't work for KONA and Ifelt a little.
It felt strange to drive in anddrive around by where the RC
(12:30):
boats are, you know, and youcome around that loop.
My parking spot was right therein the pit area, but now I
drove by it this weekend andwent up towards start, finish,
no-transcript, and it all justgrew from there.
Subsequent to doing a few raceswith KONA, then Steve Montgomery
got a contract to do the.
(12:52):
He had two three-year deals Ithink there was six years where
he had the radio contract tocover Seafair.
He needed some pit reporters.
He got a hold of John Lynch andmyself and so we did the pit
reporting for him.
And then I met the guys back inDetroit during one trip to
Madison, indiana, and suddenlythey were looking for new
(13:12):
announcers.
I got a call to go back andwork with Jeff Aylor back there.
That's how Jeff and I cametogether and it just kind of all
grew from there.
And then I think it was 2012,2011, 2012, I got called by H1.
Sam Cole wanted me to do theseason.
I said okay, so I signed up forthat, did it for a couple of
(13:32):
years.
Those were the air guard yearswhen H1 had some money so they
could hire me, and not that Icost a lot, but I wanted
somebody to pick up my airfareand my hotel.
I mean, we do this for fun,right?
We're not making any money here.
So I did that for a couple ofyears.
That was fun, and then it waspretty much doing not all the
(13:53):
races but most of them, until afew years ago when H1 said we
want you to do all of them.
So it has been.
It has been an extremely funride.
I don't know how much longer Ican do it.
I have people that are I don'twant to go too long and I know
you know right where I'm goingwith that.
(14:14):
I don't want to be theindividual that sticks around
too long and starts makingmistakes Right.
But if you get talking prettyquick and you get talking pretty
fast, you can make a mistake.
And so I've told people I saidI need you to listen to me and
if I start making mistakes, justcome grab the mic and turn it
off and say come on, brad, it'stime to go.
(14:35):
But I tell my wife, as long asI'm not making mistakes and
people aren't doing that to meand I'm still having fun, I'll
keep doing it.
And as long as I physically canstill do it.
I don't think I could run upand down that tower anymore and
go down to Bernie's tree.
I'd be dead by Saturdayafternoon.
So this job now is a littlemore cushy.
I enjoy it, it's fun.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Well, I appreciate having someone up there that has
the knowledge of the boatsright and gets that insider
information and has thatbackground and knowledge of it,
but also that passion right.
So it's appreciated to havethat passion when you broadcast.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Well, thank you, I appreciate that I try, I try
hard.
There's people out there thatknow a whole lot more and I'm
not ashamed or bashful aboutleaning on them.
Help me with this.
I learned some information thisweekend about who actually
designed and built J MichaelKelly's ride, the U8.
(15:33):
That's that 2014 hull that camefrom Elstrom.
Well, I had it in there.
You know that Mike Hanson had abig hand in that.
Well, I met Ron Jones Jr's son.
Oh, and I can't say his name.
I'm sitting here thinking of itand I can't say his name.
I'm sitting here thinking of itand I can't say his name right
now, but a nice young man.
He came up to me and he said Iheard you talking about that
hall.
He said I'm going to tell youthe real story.
(15:54):
Oh, he said, because my dad andI built that boat.
Yeah, I went, really.
He said I heard you mentionMike Hanson's name and I said,
yeah, and he goes.
He came in when it was time toput the decks on it and he goes.
My dad was getting sick at thattime, so he wasn't working as
hard as he used to.
He said but so I did.
He said I did a whole lot ofwork on that hole.
(16:16):
He said but it was mygrandfather, ron, who designed
it.
He said that's the last boatthat came off the drawing board
of Ron Jones.
So I'm hearing all this.
It came off the drawing boardof Ron Jones, really.
So I'm hearing all this and Iliterally went over and took my
little cheat sheets out and Iwas making notes and I'm going
to update them this week.
Yeah, it was an interestingstory.
So you never know where theinfo is going to come from, but
(16:37):
sometimes it's little tidbitslike that that I think are
interesting.
So I have a sheet with fastfacts on each driver and
sometimes it's an obscure thing,but I think it's interesting
that you can toss out duringtesting and qualifying when you
have a little time to banterabout the individual boats and
(16:58):
teams.
Oh, definitely.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yeah, yeah, getting to know all that little
information here and there, it'sfun yeah.
It adds another flavor to it.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
We've got and I'm assuming this is okay if we go
off on a little tangent, ofcourse we can.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
I have many digressions.
I encourage it.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
We had one this weekend and I said it a couple
of times Corey Peabody.
The first time he drove here inthe Tri-Cities he drove for Rob
Graham.
He drove that red, white andblue thing In 2019, he was the
seventh boat in points goinginto the final.
We ran six in the front row, hewas the trailer and he finished
(17:39):
a whopping seventh place.
In 2020, he gets hired by DarylStrong to drive one of those
boats.
Since that time, since beinghired by Daryl Strong, and since
that race in 2019, corey hadnever lost on the Columbia River
, right, yeah, and people go no,no, no, he didn't win in 2022.
True statement, but he blew theboat over in Madison, he didn't
(18:02):
race that year and littlethings like that.
And now you've got JMK that,even though it's over the COVID
years, he's won four straight onLake Washington, right, and
Muncie did it from 77 to 80.
But those are the only two guysthat have ever done that.
So we've got another streak onthe line next weekend, but a
little obscure.
Here's a good one for you.
(18:24):
Mike has won four in a row onlake washington in boats with
four different numbers the 12the 8, the 9.
Now I can't answer my ownquestion.
What's the other one?
12?
Speaker 1 (18:41):
the 8 and the one and the okay, yeah, he got that's
right.
National championship yeah,yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
And when Corey blew over in 2022 in Madison, he had
more points than Mike, so theyrenumbered the eight, the nine,
that's right, that's how heended up with that's right and
he won for Rob Gray.
First they saw the 12, theeight, the nine and the one.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Well, they better change their number before
Seattle.
So I would just put a one rightin front of that that eight
make it 18.
There you go, there you go, allright.
Well, I'm always fascinatedabout people's preparations for
races and talk to drivers andthe the mental things they go
through and they focus on therace.
But as a broadcaster, you'renot just, you know, prepping to
(19:23):
do a couple minutes on the waterand then you can go relax.
You're broadcasting for longdurations of time.
And what preparations do youtake to get ready for a race of
such magnitude?
Because it's not just in oneday, it's multiple days.
You're doing the same thingover and over again.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
I will admit that when I was younger and starting
with KONA, I didn't do a lot ofprep.
I guess I was younger, faster,smarter or smarter, or at least
I thought I was and I thought no, it's all up here, I've got it,
it's all in the head.
So I really didn't writeanything down, and that kind of
all changed in 2018, much moreso.
(20:02):
I used to make some notes, likethese fast facts we're talking
about.
I would make a little note tomyself, so I'd have a couple of
notes.
So if I thought, oh, this is agood time to pull, that up.
I'd look through a couple ofnotes and pull up a cheat sheet
that said that on there.
So I made sure I had the yearsright or the boat numbers
correct and all that.
But in 2018, my daughter-in-lawand her family wanted to come
(20:27):
up to the race and she ended upworking for me as my producer
for many years and she had neverbeen involved with boat racing
and so I was going to make her aspotter's guide, and so I
pulled together this funkyspotter's guide and it was two
pages on each boat, all in thesame format, had a picture of
the boat, picture of the driver,fun facts about the boat, how
(20:49):
they did the previous season,some facts about the boat, some
facts about the team, a littlebio on the driver, and then all
these fun facts on the secondpage, and I started pulling
these things together.
So I built this book for herand she loved it and she cut it
all up, made flashcards out ofit so she could remember the
boats and all that.
She had her family membersquizzing her.
(21:11):
They just flashed the boat upand she'd go U-40, bucket list,
racing, dustin Eccles, okay, andoff they went.
It was insane, but people sawthe book.
People would come around andthey'd go where did you get that
book?
And she goes oh, brad made itfor me, could you make me one?
So it started taking on a lifeof its own.
(21:34):
Well then, three years ago, wechanged the format a little bit,
because we still areconsciously trying to humanize
the sport a little better.
You know, back in the 60s it wasall boat, boat, boat.
You go back and watch thevideos it's Miss Excite, it's
Miss Bardall, it's MissThriftway, it's not the drivers,
(21:55):
not Ron Musser, bill Muncy, rexManchester, and so we're trying
to humanize it a little bitmore.
These, these are people thatsit underneath those canopies,
yeah, and they've got wives,they've got kids, they've got
families and all this stuff.
So we're trying to do that.
So we changed the format alittle bit and it kind of
emphasizes the driver more thanthe boat.
(22:15):
So anyway, like I say, wechanged the format.
Well, now I do these formallyfor H1.
So far this year it's not a lot.
Yeah, it's not a lot, yeah,it's not a lot.
But so far I have distributedprobably 25 copies of them to
different media outlets andnobody's going to hear this,
(22:38):
right?
So I'm not going to get anymore phone calls.
Well, I won't put the.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
I won't put your number in the bio, how about?
Speaker 2 (22:45):
that.
No, it's really good.
Digital copies.
I've got three of them todaythat I have to go and send out
after I update, Given whathappened yesterday.
I've got to update for Seattle.
I've printed this year I think adozen at least.
They're in little notebooks,Everything's in sheet protectors
(23:07):
and it's all in order.
And then I have one of thepeople on the official tower has
asked me for just a pureone-page spotter's guide with
about a number, a driver pictureand a name, and so I have that
and I laminate that for them.
So it actually, though, toreally answer your question,
it's really helped me.
Yeah, because I go and I getthese obscure facts and I do
(23:34):
update them after every race.
Like I have the number of winsthat a driver has, and there's
always a section at the bottomandrew takes tate's next victory
.
Well, uh, andrew came.
Andrew came into the seasonwith 10 wins.
His next victory would benumber 11, blah, blah, blah.
We got that in Madison, so wehad to update that that he has
(23:56):
11 wins, and his 12th win willtie him with some guy named Mark
Tate.
It'll also tie him with someguy named Gar Wood and it'll put
him don't quote me, I thinkit's 15th on the all-time win
list so.
I have that little thing inthere that you can talk about.
I think it's cool that he'sgoing to tie his father, and so
it has really helped me getbetter, more interesting
(24:20):
information as opposed to justthinking what I have in my head,
and it's also made sure it'saccurate.
I do the research on it andthen I send them.
Before I publish, I send to acouple of people and I say read
these things, go through it witha fine-tooth comb, tell me if
I'm right or wrong.
And I know they're as crazy asI am, and everybody comes back
(24:41):
with a little thing here orthere, but I think they're
pretty good.
I think, yeah, from an accuracystandpoint, well, I'll slip you
my email before you go.
So there you go, there you go.
I can easily do that, andactually the binder you have in
front of you that is the size ofit.
Okay, and it comes personalizedwith a little sheet and I
honestly will make sure you getall right.
Well, I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
They're kind of fun to do yeah, well, I like, I like
hearing that you're trying tohumanize the sport more, because
I was talking about simmonsyears ago and he said when
driver, when the boats went tocanopies, the sport kind of lost
.
That naturally right, becausebefore you saw the drivers in
there they were bouncing aroundwaving at you, you could see
them, the whole heat, right.
But yep, you kind of forgetsometimes that they're in there,
(25:25):
they're under that enclosedcanopy, they're strapped in and
there's a human in there.
We tend to forget that.
We just look at the boats andsee how fast they are in that
spectacle.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
That's it, and it becomes the boat.
And, to your point, there's ahuman in there with a personal
story, and some of them arepretty good stories.
Yes, they are the whole JamieNielsen playing a year for the
Kansas City Royals and theirfarm system.
That's good stuff.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Yeah, it is it is Well, I mean, you've called so
many races now and over theyears, with different drivers,
different race wins, but youhave to think back and there has
to be one race that stands outin your mind saying this was
just so much fun to watch, andthat you probably replay that
and over again in your head likean old vhs tape.
(26:11):
What's that moment for you?
Speaker 2 (26:15):
first of all, you said that like it sounds like
you've seen this gigantic chestof vhs tapes that I do have.
I don't have a machine to playthem on.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
I'm just thinking about the big chest I have in my
house.
There you go.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Your house must look a lot like mine.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Yeah, I think it does .
Speaker 2 (26:36):
That's a good question.
You know, I enjoy Golly, that'sreally good.
I've got one race in the backof my mind and I'm just trying
to think if there was anyonedifferent.
But I I was actually asked thisquestion a number of years ago
on the air when I was on with koand a and they were saying brad
(26:56):
, you've seen basically allthese races here in tri-cities,
you have a favorite.
And they hit, hit me with thaton the spot and I went oh my
gosh.
But I've thought about it a lotand maybe it is my favorite one
for a number of differentreasons.
And it's the Columbia Cup in1981.
And the simple, short answer tothat is why would that be your
(27:22):
favorite race?
Well, in the final heat, on thefinal lap, three different
boats had the lead on the finallap and those three boats were
driven by Muncie, Shenoweth andHanauer.
That'd get much better, Right?
So I kind of thought well, youknow, maybe that's it, and it
was pretty dramatic.
Anybody that was here that day,I think you probably missed
(27:45):
that one, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
I wasn't there, I would have seen the tape.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
There you go.
Well, one year it was likethree or four years ago on KONA,
we were talking about it againbecause the museum brought those
three boats over.
They had finally finished therestoration of the Squire Shop,
so they brought it over and Isaid do you realize?
We have these three boats herethat were all had a shot at the
lead or had the lead on thefinal lap.
(28:09):
So there was all thisdiscussion about it and so when
we were talking on the air aboutit, I said I'm giving all the
fans up and down the beach, youhave a homework assignment
tonight.
You got to go pull that one upon YouTube and watch it.
I believe it or not.
I had some people come up thenext day and say I watched that,
it was really cool.
(28:30):
But the other one I guess thatcomes to mind.
Going back further, when I was ayoung kid, probably that 65
Gold Cup on Lake Washington.
It was epic to me.
It's etched in my mind.
That's the year that the Exidecaught fire and burned to the
waterline after being the topqualifier.
Was that the year they did the120 lap?
(28:52):
Yeah, this is scary.
I'm going to kick this out anddo not.
You cannot have the followupquestion to ask me why I know
this, but for some reason it'sin there.
Yes, they had the three lapqualification average of 120.356
miles an hour and their fastlap was 120.536 miles an hour,
and don't ask me why I knowthose numbers and as much as I
(29:16):
love the Bartle, I said earlier,that was maybe my first boat
that I really really fell inlove with.
I did love the Exide.
I love the boat so much I wasreally falling in love with.
I did love the Exide.
I loved the boats so much, Iwas really falling in love with
the boats.
At that time I was 65.
Gosh, I would have been 13.
But I remember that day reallywell.
I remember that first run downthe backstretch and Exide being
(29:38):
on an inside lane and thefireballs coming out of the
stacks.
And then Rex Manchester wasleading that race race and he
was going to win a gold cup andhe had gotten the jump on ron
mussen and the bardo and he wasgoing to win this thing.
And lap after lap, they justkept going and mussen was not
going to be able to chip intothat lead.
Meanwhile we're just watchingbill brow stand on the back
(30:02):
holding the tail.
He didn't jump in and didn'tjump in and finally he jumps in
the water and I'd have to goback and watch it again or see
it again.
I don't know what lap he jumpedin the water, but the rule has
since changed because back thenthe final heat, you had to run
the complete heat, and if ithadn't been completely completed
(30:25):
that's something you can sayyou had to run all the laps, and
if you hadn't, then you had torerun it.
Now, in the rerun you only hadto run three of the five laps,
but that rule has been changed,now that if you do three of the
five laps and the first runningof the final, it's legit.
So I don't remember when hejumped in, I just remember it
being late, but they had torerun it.
(30:48):
And then Ron Musson and theBardol got the jump on Rex and
we all know that story of howthat all ended.
Yeah, that race sticks out inmy mind.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Yeah, there's so many fun races over the years, oh
gosh.
And another significance.
I'm just thinking about the 81Columbia Cup.
That was the last time thatChenoweth and Muncie and Hanauer
were all together in Tri-Citiesthe other piece to that and I
can't quote the details about it.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
This is the type of stuff if nature of hydroplane
racing was on display, Becauseyou had conventional hulls, you
had cab overs, you had RollsMerlins, you had turbocharged
Allisons, supercharged Allisons,automotive power tunnel boats
because the Aeronaut was in here.
It just goes on and on and on.
(31:48):
There is a whole list of allthese different things that
showed up at that race.
In the end it came down tothose three big names.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Man fun times to think back on.
Oh they were.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Yeah, they were great .
I didn't have a care in theworld.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
I guess I did Gosh.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
I was 81.
I was a young man by then.
I had graduated, had a life anda career.
Still, you had that ColumbiaCup weekend always circled on
the calendar.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
It's a holiday.
In airbooks it is SecondChristmas.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
I'm not sure it's the first Christmas.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Well, that's all the time we have for this week.
Knuckleheads, I hope youenjoyed part one of my interview
with Brad Luce.
Don't forget to come back nextweek as I'll share part two and
then the following week withpart three.
It was fun to get to know Brada little bit more on a personal
level and hopefully you enjoyedgetting to hear more of his
background, about being a fanaround the sport of hydroplane
racing, about being a fan aroundthe sport of hydroplane racing.
(32:44):
Don't forget, we're on socialmedia Instagram and Facebook, as
well as online atroostertaltalkcom.
And while you're there on thewebsite, check out Roostertail
Talk Plus, the premiumsubscription, where you get
access to a password protectionpart of our site, entry into a
monthly raffle prize drawing, aswell as early entry to all new
(33:06):
episodes.
But that's all we have for thisweek, so until next time, I
hope to see you at the races.
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