One of unlimited hydroplane racing’s most successful owners
Succeeded late husband as team owner in 1981
First spouses to be inducted separately
Seven consecutive Gold Cup titles (1981-88)
24 victories (1981-88)
Oversaw transition from piston-power to turbines
Before her husband, 1989 Inductee Bill Muncey, perished in a 1981 racing accident in Acapulco, he asked Fran, should anything happen to him, to continue the race team. She not only fulfilled his wish, but carried on with astonishing success. Over the next seven years she amassed one of the greatest records as a team owner in the sport’s history. She hired 1995 inductee Chip Hanauer to drive after seeing him at her late husband’s funeral and Jim Lucero, one of the sport’s winningest crew chiefs, to build a new hull. From 1981-88, Fran Muncey led Bill Muncey Enterprises to 24 wins and a record seven straight Gold Cups, in the process successfully transitioning the organization from piston-powered to turbine boats. "Fran Muncey, above any other person, showed the most leadership when she stepped up," a grateful Hanauer told the Seattle Times in 1999. When Muncey sold her team at the end of 1998, it marked the first time in three decades the Muncey name was not part of the sport it became synonymous with.