Unlimited Hydropage

U-25 Comes back to Sayres pits after one year absence

For 15 years during the 1980s and early 90s, Seattle radio station KISW (99.9 FM) presented the Miss Rock unlimited hydroplane during races in the Tri-Cities and during Seafair. But since 1995, KISW has been out of the sport, and it has been missed.
A fan-favorite, the Miss Rock drew quite a following. It even influenced the “U-number” (a registration number on the boat) that Fred Leland picked for the hull, running as the U-99.9. More than a decade later, Leland still campaigns one boat as the U-99.
Last week in the Tri-Cities, several long-time Miss Rock fans told team members — wearing black Hawaiian-style shirts in the pits — of their excitement of the return of the black boat.
Some of the quotes included:
“We’re glad you’re back!”
“It’s good to see the Miss Rock again.”
“Go Miss Rock!”
Others stopped team members in the park, simply to share memories of driving across Seattle, or even the state, to take advantage of the invitation to “sign Miss Rock’s bottom”, in a radio station promotion. One of Leland’s boats was put on display in Seattle, and fans were encouraged to sign the hull.
Marketing geniuses promoted KISW through the boat, and its owners and drivers, in print ads and appearances. All that promotion created the legend that clearly still lives.
It all started on August 4, 1980, when Steve Montgomery — then of KISW’s sales department — teamed up with Doug McIntosh to give Miss Rock her creation. McIntosh had the old Miss Timex, and though it had been sitting for more than a year, McIntosh thought they could get it ready to go for Seafair — which was a week away.
“To say the boat was nowhere near seaworthy would be a major understatement,” Montgomery said. “Some of the running hardware was still on the hull. Some was missing. There was no sign of an engine. It was out in the Seattle weather for over a year and it was not pretty. Small animals were living in the weeds growing out of the sponsons.”
There were immediate questions: Will it float? Where will we get a motor, gearbox, crew, truck, etc.?
McIntosh’s sons built an engine, and took care of the rest of the questions. Montgomery got the boat painted. By Thursday of race week, the painting crew was getting the now famous Miss Rock logo on the boat. The boat was moved into the pits on Friday — without an engine —and another surprise popped up.
Montgomery had thought McIntosh was the owner of the boat. But he wasn’t. Brian Keogh of Detroit was one of the owners, and when he was contacted and approved of what was happening with his boat, he said he wanted to drive it.
To Montgomery’s surprise, the first Miss Rock later made its first appearance in the Seafair Parade (with an engine in the boat). The boat did not qualify for the 1980 Seafair race, but it did serve as a nice 30-foot billboard for the station.
The next year, KISW sponsored Bob Miller’s Turbo-Allison U-29, and proclaimed Seafair “Miller Time” in print ads. In 1983, KISW started a long relationship sponsoring Leland’s boats. One year, the boat was damaged by a fire, and Leland told the station he couldn’t put it in the Seafair Parade. But KISW still wanted the boat in line, so Leland towed the ashes through the parade and later that year, KISW’s Christmas card included a picture of the charred boat with the caption, “Miss Rock roasting on an open fire.”
After surviving one station ownership change in the late 1980s, another new owner in the 90s wasn’t favorable to continuing the sponsorship. However, in 2003, KISW approached Silver Dollar Casinos to ask about sharing the sponsorship of Muscatel’s U-25.
Its history of wacky marketing ploys and commitment to the sport were major attention-getters for the station, and the legacy started by the Miss Rock continues in 2003.
Loud cheers from the shores of the Columbia River in Tri-Cities proved it last week. So did the comments team members heard from fans throughout the park.
It’s great to have the Miss Rock back.

U-25 Back in Sayres Pits
Dr. Ken Muscatel and the Superior Racing Team were in the pits last year. Even Silver Dollar Casinos was there. But the U-25 wasn’t. After a major accident in Tri-Cities a week earlier put the boat on the shelf for the last two races of the season, Muscatel borrowed a boat from Fred Leland and competed in the General Motors Cup. The last time the “official” U-25 was in the Seattle pits was 2001, when Muscatel drove it to third place in the provisional heat, and 33 points on the day. It was the first year that Superior Racing Team had run the current hull, and the first year that Silver Dollar Casino was the title sponsor of the boat.