Friday, September 14, 2007
Speed meets sunshine in lovely San Diego
The first day of qualifying is here at the last race of the 2007 ABRA Schedule - a race which, sadly, almost didn't happen. Whispers all summer long abounded about San Diego possibly not being run because of a lack of a title event sponsor. Thanks largely to the efforts of Dr. Ken Muscatel, and probably some others I'm not aware of, this race will be pulled off but not without some casualties.
The biggest snafu lied in the potential boat count at San Diego, mainly due to a non-guarantee of appearance money to the fleet. What looked like a possible fourteen boat field dwindled quickly to eight, and eventually back up to ten. It turns out that both Mike Jones' U-9 and Nate Brown's U-17 were never planning on making it to San Diego to begin with, and initially Ted Porter was not bringing either the U-5 or the newly repaired U-1, but team manager Mike Weber confirmed that Porter changed his mind and both hulls would be there. In addition, Mike Allen would return to the cockpit of the U-1 after nursing his injuries. But what is a huge disappointment are decisions by both Ed Cooper and Fred Leland not to attend - directly attributed to the non-guarantee appearance money. This is truly a shame, not just for Cooper and Leland but for the fans at San Diego, fans all over the country who can't make it there, and the ABRA as a whole racing organization.
I touched on this a couple of weeks ago with some thoughts about what direction the sport is heading. It's not easy from any angle you look at it. In this scenario at San Diego, one certainly can't find fault with either Cooper or Leland for not hauling their boats all the way to San Diego. Neither have signed contracts with race sponsors, and if any local sponsors are found it's usually done after they pull into the pits but never a guarantee that they'll have one. How many times has Leland pulled one, two, and sometimes three boats to races filling out a field? Ed Cooper certainly gets a nod for his chances for winning in San Diego, especially with the caution the other entries have to endure with the chance of salt water screwing up their turbines - the U-3 doesn't have that problem as the only piston powered boat in the fleet. Even so, for all they both have done for this sport, they can't be faulted for staying home. Without a big - heck, even a small time - sponsor backing you to take the load of travel expenses, it's a lot to ask when there's no guarantee you'll get any kind of money.
So whose fault is it that we're at this juncture in San Diego? Well, I think it's hard to place blame anywhere, but it's certainly something that just can't continue to exist, for obvious reasons. Firstly, there will be little sentiment to go back to San Diego next year without at least some reasonable assurances that this won't happen again. And - with only six races on the calendar as it is - the ABRA can't afford to lose any races when they're trying valiantly to expand the schedule to feature ten races and land a TV contract. Now, I'm not involved with any race committees looking for sponsorship, but I was involved in media (primarily radio) for over 30 years so I have some thoughts on who could be approached as sponsors. I always felt that a strong portion of the Southern California lifestyle has been overlooked as potential sponsors. Mainly, you see a lot of foreign cars in Southern California. I know this because I lived there years ago. You heard and saw more dealership ads for foreign cars than domestic. And what kind of foreign cars have a strong dealership presentation in San Diego? Well, both Toyota and Honda. I'm sure these dealerships have a united multi-county association just as other dealers in other cities across the country do. Why not take a page out of what Detroit has done with the Chrysler/Jeep Superstores? Or try at a corporate level like Seattle has done with Chevrolet.
Those are just a few suggestions, but others could include the Black Angus Steakhouses in the San Diego area, perhaps hitting up the franchises for a combined effort to sponsor the race. Years ago Jack-In-The-Box restaurants was the title sponsor - think they'd sit still if the race committee brought aboard Burger King for one year? Especially when Jack-In-The-Box is based in San Diego? Other sites have adopted Madison, IN's idea of individual heat sponsors to lower the cost of a title sponsorship, and that seems to be working rather well. A quick trophy presentation with the sponsor introducing the winning driver, and the driver thanking the sponsor for their involvement. Great for the fans, great for the sponsor, great for the race committee - everyone wins.
By the way, I realize some of the things I've said here are not necessarily original, and in all likelihood have probably been tried by responsible people to accomplish the goals of the race committees. So, I'm only thinking out loud. Selling yourselves is an important aspect of obtaining a client's business, and many radio and television ads have been obtained not just in the traditional "business lunch", but often by entertaining the client, such as taking them to sporting events. Well, how about if a race committee member can take a potential event sponsor to another race and showing them how they could be showcased? Yes, I know that means spending money to do that, but dolling out a few hundred for a potential of receiving several thousand can be a wise investment. It's worth thinking about anyway.
The race committee can't be the only ones to perform, however. Again - as I touched upon a few weeks ago - the ABRA has a responsibility to get ALL owners on board to race at ALL their scheduled events, and not just a few, Every race has to be considered of equal importance, and believe me, networks will have this on their minds when weighing in all the factors to the sport's credibility as they determine whether to provide a TV package. They, in turn, have this package they just signed up to do to sell to their own sponsors. A small turnout of boats at the early races doesn't make sense when there's several more showing up halfway through the season. Professional organizations strive to look professional at every stage. NASCAR wouldn't have nearly the clout they developed without establishing firm guidelines. They too, many years ago, dealt with regional fields and therefore remained relegated to regional coverage. Not that they didn't do well with that, but for it to truly grow nationally (and internationally) they had to get out of what they had always done. Ratings have slipped some since their peak of about four years ago, but demand has not changed, either for television packages or at the individual race tracks. There may be some resistance, but somehow there needs to be a unified commitment to have full fields at all races. They're ALL important - none should be skipped by any team.
OK, that said ... here's the field that will compete this weekend at one of my favorite race courses - Mission Bay in San Diego, California:
U-1 FORMULABOATS.COM II / Mike Allen
U-5 FORMULABOATS.COM I / Jeff Bernard
U-6 OH BOY! OBERTO – MISS MADISON / Steve David
U-10 MISS AHERN RENTALS / David Bryant
U-13 SPIRIT OF DETROIT / J. Michael Kelly
U-16 MISS ELAM PLUS / Dave Villwock
U-21 MISS ALL ACCESS / Brian Perkins
U-25 SUPERIOR RACING / Dr. Ken Muscatel
U-37 MISS BEACON PLUMBING / Jean Theoret
U-48 MISS LAKERIDGE PAVING / David Williams
Dave Villwock and ELAM will admittedly be hard to beat on this, the fastest race course of the circuit. Their high point lead is so insurmountable that it's actually anti-climatic and will be wrapped up in the first heat of racing. BUT - that doesn't mean the overall racing will be dull and without drama. The OBERTO crew gave Steve David a lot to be confident of after their win in Seattle, and the best money is on either of these two to come away with the victory. David Bryant and AHERN RENTALS along with Jean Theoret in BEACON PLUMBING lead as the best of the rest, certainly capable of pulling off an upset. Both of the FORMULABOATS and SPIRIT OF DETROIT have good speed but consistency has been a problem for the former BUD boats, despite the talents of both Mike Allen and Jeff Bernard. J. Michael Kelly - in my opinion, the next future star of this sport - drives gutsy but his 20 year old boat would have to have a lot of breaks to make a win possible. But, it got a lot of breaks and ended up winning the Gold Cup two years ago, so anything's possible. Nobody has any realistic ideas of either the ALL ACCESS with Brian Perkins, SUPERIOR RACING with Ken Muscatel, or LAKERIDGE PAVING with David Williams pulling off any surprises, but all three teams have shown signs in recent races of being more than just a field filler - certainly at Seattle.
Some quick "scuttlebutt" (to borrow a term from UD's "Thunderboat"):
Fred Leland has sold another hull to the LAKERIDGE PAVING team. The word is they'll prepare it as a backup hull to their present entry. Limited racer Mike Webster has purchased the previous Ed Cooper hull that ran prior to the present U-3, and after an off-season of "lightening up and strengthening the hull", will compete in 2008. The racing team's new number will be U-22. Nothing confirmed as far as I know, but strong rumors have surfaced that Dr. Ken Muscatel has sold the boat that he had raced the past two seasons - Jim Harvey's experimental new hull that debuted in 2003. Mike Eacrett, who had a brief career as an unlimited pilot back in the mid 90's, is the reported buyer. Eacrett has been racing in the G limited class with assistance from former BUDWEISER crew chief Ron Brown, who was instrumental in working with Harvey on the boat and reportedly is the boat's designer. So - if this indeed is true, it might be interesting to see that boat return. Definitely erratic, but J. Michael proved that it can run with the best of them at times. There were earlier rumors that Ray Forsman's new boat might make an appearance at San Diego, but that now appears unlikely. Many fans are anxious to see this new entry hit the circuit, as it will add one more piston powered craft to the fleet - a supercharged Allison will be the powerplant. Maybe next year.
That will do it for now - I'll report on qualifying and other news as it becomes available. The final heat will be streamed live through Hydroinsider.com, and I understand that the guys from Madison at wjbnlive.tv are also planning on streaming live, possibly the whole race.
Here's best wishes for a safe, fast, and competitive weekend!
