Hydro Prop Commentator Hanauer Fired Because Of Politics

Hydro-Prop Commentator Hanauer Fired Because Of Politics?

Published June 9, 2003

The SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER’s Holly Cain reports that hydroplane racing league Hydro-Prop series commentator Chip Hanauer, who broadcasted events on ESPN in the past two years, “has been relieved of (his) duties.”  While Hydro-Prop officials “insist it’s just part of a revamped broadcast, Hanauer wonders if it isn’t politically motivated.”  Hanauer: “Part of the reason this sport is in the shape it is now is because if anyone says anything that isn’t with the status quo, they have to be muzzled. … For years I’ve been a big proponent of changing formulas and going to piston power from the turbines, but they see it as such a threat to what they have now.”  Hydro-Prop Chair Bart Garbrecht said that the series’ TV package is “undergoing a makeover with a new, three-year contract with Speed Channel for this season’s five-race slate” (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 5/28).