KENNEWICK, Wash. – The Tri-City Water Follies are just over two weeks away. We’ve all heard names such as J. Michael Kelly, Andrew Tate, and Corey Peabody.
Two other names synonymous with the history of hydroplane racing are Mitch and Mark Evans. Boat racing has been in the Evans family’s blood for 70 years.
Mitch and Mark Evans’ love of boat racing started with their dad, Norm Evans. Evans tells me his father drove the Miss Seattle and Miss Spokane before taking the helm of the Bardahl.
Norm Evans piloted the Bardahl to victory in the 1958 Apple Cup, starting the brothers’ love for speed and getting their start in boat racing in their early teens.
“Our dad started out in the small inboard classes, like a lot of us do,” Mitch Evans said. “He jumped right into an unlimited pretty early on. We always had a boat around the marina, and all of a sudden, Dad came dragging in this big unlimited one day. He says boys, you’re going to get this thing ready to go, and we’re going to Tri-Cities.”
Mitch won the 1989 Columbia Cup after a driving infraction from another driver. Mitch said winning the Columbia Cup and that championship heat would be with him for the rest of his life.
“The boat ran well,” he said. “I got myself in the right place at the right time and was able to come out with a victory. That was truly fun.”
The storied family is bringing a storied boat back to the Tri-Cities. The Blue Chip. Evans stayed busy restoring the historic boat.
Evans said the boat has a long history. It was built initially as “The Breathless” in 1957 and mainly raced on the West Coast. He says when he and his brother Mark bought it, it was in bad shape.
It took years to restore it, running under “The Breathless Three” until 2018.
Members of the Gordon family, who own a tool company in Detroit, contacted Evans and requested that the boat come to Detroit running as the Blue Chip in the Gold Cup.
“I’d like you to bring the boat back,” said Evans. “We’ll paint it up as the Blue Chip, and we’d like you to run it at the Gold Cup in 2018. So I said, man, what an opportunity.”
Evans said he got it all ready, spending a week with the Gordon family, the owners from the 1960s.
The kids of the Gordon family said they’d never seen a boat race!
Evans says he only runs the blue chip in Tri-Cities and Chelan.
Evans knows what it takes to win a Columbia Cup and predicts that J. Michael Kelly in the Beacon Electric will take the checkered flag this year.
“J. Michael seems to be the one that just out of the blue will come back when he really needs to dig deep,” said Evans. “I think that’s going to be the guy to watch.”
Evans said he loved racing in the Tri-Cities, from the park to the course layout. Mitch and his brother Mark are looking forward to the trip from Chelan to Tri-Cities in a few weeks.
You can catch the water follies on SWX starting July 26 to 28.
