Chip Hanauer

Lee Edward "Chip" Hanauer (born July 1, 1954, in Seattle) is the third most successful Unlimited Hydroplane racer in history. He has won the APBA Gold Cup a record 11 times and was the driver of one of the most famous boats in APBA history, the Miss Budweiser, in the early to mid-1990s. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1995 as their youngest inductee. In 2005, he was inducted into the International Motorized Vehicles Hall of Fame. In 1991, he temporarily left the waters for auto racing only to return a season later.

Hanauer was born on July 1, 1954, in Seattle. He grew up with a poster of the international Grand Prix auto racing star Jim Clark of Scotland on the wall of his boyhood bedroom. But finances and his home in Seattle, Washington – a major center of boat racing – dictated that he start in small hydroplanes. Hanauer graduated cum laude from Washington State University in 1976, also the year of his racing debut. Hanauer worked as a teacher of emotionally disturbed children, but became a full-time hydroplane driver in 1978, first winning a race in 1979 in Ogden, Utah. He continues to volunteer his time at a home for disadvantaged children in Seattle. He also volunteers as a transporter for Disabled American Veterans, picking up disabled veterans from their homes and driving them to appointments at the VA Medical Center in Seattle.

Awards

Hanauer was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1995.