Team Profile: Miss Madison Racing

The community-owned Oh Boy! Oberto/Miss Madison race team claimed first-place honors in the National High Point Championship for the third year in a row in 2010.

Community-owned by the City of Madison, Indiana, 2012 is the Miss Madison team’s 52nd consecutive year of competition. No other team can match the Miss Madison’s record for consecutive seasons of participation. Under the sponsorship of Oberto Meat Products of Kent, Washington, since 2000, Miss Madison has, since 1961, played host at the annual Madison Regatta.

The Miss Madison team has four victories on the hometown Ohio River race course. These include the 1971 American Power Boat Association Gold Cup with driver Jim McCormick, and the 2001, 2010 & 2011 Indiana Governor’s Cup contests with Steve David behind the wheel. The 2011 win came at a high price however, having been awarded to the U-1 after a massive collision with the U-96 Spirit of Qatar in the final heat. Steve David was lucky to emerge with only a couple broken ribs after one of the most dramatic and terrifying accidents in Unlimited hydroplane history.

Eight different hulls have raced as the Miss Madison in the past 51 years, although one of these was a rental.

Miss Madison has sixteen first-place trophies on the shelf. The team’s first major triumph was the 1965 Dixie Cup at Guntersville, Alabama, with George “Buddy” Byers as driver. Steve David has accumulated the most race wins (11) at the wheel of the Miss Madison.

Representative Owner: Bob Hughes

Representing the population of Madison, Indiana, on behalf of the Oh Boy! Oberto/Miss Madison is Robert D. Hughes. For over three decades, Hughes has served as President of the board of directors of Miss Madison, Inc., the corporation that administers the community-owned race team. Hughes won the Unlimited Sportsman of the Year Award in 1983 and the prestigious Gar Wood Award in 2003. Together with team manager Charlie Grooms, Hughes oversees all of the Miss Madison Racing program.

Crew Chief: Mike Hanson

The only former unlimited driver who has transcended to crew chief role. Hanson’s former driving skills make him a perfect person to oversee boat set-up, race strategy and communicate with driver Steve David while he is on the race course. Hanson began driving in the SUTHPHEN SPIRIT and has driven for MISS BUDWEISER, KELLOGG’S FROSTED FLAKES, DeWALT, JASPER ENGINES, and JONES RACING. In 2001 Hanson won the Gold Cup while driving U-9 TUBBY’S GRILLED SUBMARINES, his most memorable hydroplane experience. An avid fisherman, Hanson is married to wife Tonya and their children Aubree and Trevor help out on the team.

Team Manager: Charlie Grooms

Charlie Grooms has been with the team for more than three decades,  starting by washing parts when his uncle, Jon Peddie was named the team’s driver in 1977. Over the years he graduated through the ranks to become crew chief. When Mike Hanson retired from driving, Grooms became Team Manager allowing Hanson to move into the Crew Chief position. Grooms oversees all aspects of the team including sponsorships, logistics, budgeting, personnel and other administrative duties. When not racing, Grooms runs Ladder 51, a company that produces flame grilled chicken wings. Grooms, a resident of Madison, Ind. is married to wife Nancy and they have three children, Codi, Cati, and Cortni.