For more than three decades, Bob Hughes has served as president of the board of directors of Miss Madison Inc., the corporation that administers the community owned U-6 race team from southern Indiana.
Hughes’ contributions to Unlimited hydroplane racing have not gone unnoticed. 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 and crew chief Mike Hanson, Hughes oversees all aspects of the Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison racing program.
It all started in 1965 when his friend, Tony Steinhardt, asked Hughes for financial and machine shop support for the struggling Miss Madison. Hughes not only obliged but within five years was serving as leader of the team’s governing body.
According to Steinhardt, who still serves on the board, “That boat would have died a long time ago were it not for Bob Hughes.”

Photo by Don Ward Bob Hughes (left) talks with Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison driver Steve David between races during last year’s Madison Regatta.

Miss Madison is the longest continuously active Unlimited team in history. The original boat was a gift to the City of Madison from industrialist Samuel F. DuPont and first entered competition in 1961. Over the years, a total of seven boats have raced as Miss Madison, although one of these was actually a rental.
One day that Hughes says he will never forget is July 4, 1971, when the second Miss Madison (also acquired from DuPont) won the APBA Gold Cup on home waters in Madison with Jim McCormick driving.
“I yelled so much I couldn’t talk the next couple of days.”
The Cinderella story of the hometown boat beating the perennial powers of that era was made into a motion picture, “Madison.” The film enjoyed a limited national release in theaters in April 2005 and later went to DVD.
A prominent Madison businessman, Hughes in 1961 founded Clifty Engineering & Tool Co. He had past experience as a welder for an outfit called Williamson Heater. He later worked for Product Engineering Co. in Columbus, Ind., as a tool and die designer. During his employment with PECO, Hughes dreamed of having his own tool and die business. After much planning, he was on his way, expanding from a small building about the size of a two-car garage to the present facility of enormous size, located at 2949 Clifty Dr., in Madison.
One of the smartest moves that Hughes has made in reference to Miss Madison occurred in 2000 when he negotiated a sponsorship deal with the Oberto Sausage Co. of Seattle. The Oberto family has been the team’s corporate sponsor ever since.
Hughes also deserves praise for his hiring in recent years of Mike Hanson as crew chief and Steve David as driver.
Hanson had occupied the driver’s seat of Miss Madison from 1988 to 1998. Following his retirement from competition, the position of crew chief was a logical next step for him.
David had retired from Unlimited racing in 1999 but in 2001 was persuaded by Hughes to “unretire.” David has been an asset to the Miss Madison team and to the City of Madison, both on and off the race course.
In 2007, the boat completed one of the most successful seasons in its 47-year history.
With David driving, the U-6 scored back-to-back victories in the Chevrolet Cup at Seattle and the Bill Muncey Cup at San Diego. Moreover, the team took second-place honors at the Madison, Detroit and Tri-Cities races, and finished runner-up in National High Points.
This was a major accomplishment considering the boat was brand new and the crew had to work around the clock to be ready in time for the start of the season.
According to Hughes, “As a businessman, I recognize the importance of hiring people that are not only talented but who can also work with other talented people and get results. That describes the Oh Boy! Oberto crew. I’m talking about people like Mike Hanson, Larry Hanson, Pat Furnish, Jimmy Gilbert, Cindy Shirley, Randy Gayle, Trevor Hanson, Matt Sontag, Richard Dunn, Bob Hudson, Travis Johnson, and Steve Dean. They worked on the boat and gave driver Steve David a competitive piece of equipment.”
Hughes also commended his board of directors. These include Vice-Chairman Tony Steinhardt, Secretary Hank Bentz, Team Manager-Treasurer Charlie Grooms, Gayle Mefford, Fred Koehler, Rick Grote, John Humes and myself.
“All played an important part in our successful 2007 season,” Hughes said.
According to Grooms, who works for Hughes at Clifty Engineering, Hughes is “the glue that holds (the Miss Madison team) together. His managerial style is direct and firm. If you take a problem to him, he solves it right away and you move on.”

• Fred Farley is the ABRA Unlimited Historian. He resides in Milton, Ky.