budweiser, and tries for the world straightaway speed record. we ll race against time and mother nature. we ll see what we re made of. dave doesn t let his nerves show as he gets ready to start the record attempt. one of the problems with setting records, you know you re going to experience things that other people have not. everybody pay attention, the course is live. they average the time over two one-kilometer runs. 9.83. the speed to beat is 198 miles per hour. dave is buckled into the cockpit and hits the gas. here he comes. 213.437 miles an hour. he s on record pace over the first leg. for the second leg he gives it everything he s got. 2.85. 225. 30. he s out of it. he s more than fast enough to break the world record.
bumps without springs or shocks. that s what it feels like to ride this thing. the environment of looking from the outside of a hydroplane, this is a wonderful, graceful vehicle that flies over the water. the truth is, the boat s actually beating the snot out of the driver that s inside. dave fell in love with racing boats as a teenager. while most kids his age were out riding bicycles i started out racing flat-bottom boats a long time ago because that s what my uncle had done. dave, good-bye! it was a lot of fun. it progressed into bigger flat-bottom boats, managed to set a lot of world records and win a lot of championships. from there, of course, it was a natural step to racing hydroplanes. dave soon breaking almost every record in the book. in 2004, he decides to see just how fast he can drive his legendary hydroplane, miss
but the burst of speed also breaks the boat s rudder. okay, everybody, the race is on hold. luckily, dave isn t hurt in this record stunt. broke the rudder bracket. but it s a very different story seven years earlier. dave was at the columbia cup championship in washington state, ready to claim the record for the most consecutive race wins. this would be his 20th win in a row. but as he burst out of the gate, almost instantly the boat has hit two waves in a row. at top speeds, the force is too much and the hydroplane blows over. the top of the boat crashes onto the water. exploding the protective canopy is sitting under, ripping off
his oxygen mask and submerging him in the water. i was unconscious underwater. the safety team got there right away, got me up onto the bottom of the boat. they cleared the airway and. amazingly dave survived. his hand is crushed by the flying metal with the canopy. he ends up losing two fingers on his right hand. it s the type of crash that might deter another driver from racing altogether, but dave is no quitter. i just felt i had something more to give. and for the sport. and things to prove to myself. dave and the team rebuild miss budweiser, redesigning the driver s capsule to make it safer. luckily to date, since we ve done that, nobody s been killed or hurt significantly inside that capsule. years later, dave will have good reason to be thankful for that safer capsule. in the summer of 2009, he
and badder and more extensive than you could possibly imagine. dave says imagine driving your car at 200 miles an hour over two and three foot speed bumps without springs or shocks. that s what it feels like to ride this thing. the environment of looking from the outside of a hydroplane, it likes wonderful, graceful vehicle that flies over the water. the truth is the boat is actually beating the snot out of the driver that s inside. dave fell in love with racing boats as a teenager. while most kids his age were out riding bicycles i started out racing flat-bottom boats, because that s what my uncle had done. dave, good-bye. and it was a lot of fun, and it progressed into bigger flat-bottom boats, managed to set a lot of world records and win a lot of championships. from there, of course, it was a natural step to racing hydroplanes. dave soon breaking almost every record in the book.