Chip Hanauer biography
Chip Hanauer, byname of Lee Edward Hanauer, (born July 1, 1954, Seattle, Wash., U.S.), American powerboat racer who dominated hydroplane racing within the Eighties and ’90s.
As youngsters, Hanauer and his mates would tow picket planks behind their bicycles and fake they had been driving hydroplanes. He started racing powerboats on the age of 9, when he purchased a racing boat with $250 he had earned from a paper route and babysitting. At age 10, Hanauer positioned fifth nationally within the Junior Stock hydroplane class for 9- to 12-year-olds. He received his first American Power Boat Association (APBA) nationwide championship at age 18 within the 145 class, and he gained three extra championships the following yr. He began racing hydroplanes, the largest racing boats, in 1976, the yr of his commencement from Washington State University. Hanauer taught emotionally disturbed youngsters till he grew to become a full-time powerboat racer in 1978, and he received his first hydroplane race in Ogden, Utah, in 1979.
Hanauer’s first huge alternative got here in 1982, when he joined the Atlas Van Lines crew to interchange Bill Muncey, who had been killed in a 1981 accident. Hanauer received 5 races—together with a come-from-behind victory for his first Gold Cup, the equal of auto racing’s Indianapolis 500—and ended the yr together with his first nationwide and world championships. In 1983 he was the quickest qualifier for all 10 races held that yr and received 3 of them. Hanauer, a pioneer, drove the primary turbine-powered boat, which broke the one-lap file by 7 mph (11 km/hr) at 140.8 mph (226 km/hr) in 1984; he launched the closed cockpit a yr later. The closed cockpit, which grew to become necessary, helps forestall drowning in blow-over accidents (the sort that killed Muncey), wherein an excessive amount of air beneath the entrance of the boat causes it to tip over backward.
In 1991 Hanauer left boats for auto racing. The prestigious Miss Budweiser crew lured him again to the water in 1992, nonetheless. The following yr he received his seventh nationwide championship for hydroplanes and captured his ninth victory within the Gold Cup, breaking Muncey’s file of eight. He repeated as Gold Cup champion in 1995. In 1996 Hanauer—who had suffered quite a few accidents all through his profession and was nearly unable to talk for a number of years—left the game. He returned in 1999, nonetheless, and received his eleventh Gold Cup. After the 1999 season Hanauer retired. His profession totals included 61 victories, one fewer than the file set by Muncey. Hanauer was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1995.
After his retirement, Hanauer labored as commentator and as a motivational speaker. He was additionally concerned in varied charities.