Sunday, July 01, 2007
Ya snooze, ya lose!
I should have known better. First, the final would be at 6:10. Then, it was announced to be moved up to 5:10. Then, it was back to 6:10. So, I should have known better than to take my medicine and take a nap ... sure enough, I woke up and it was over! I tell ya, some people's kids ...
Anyway, thanks to the blog that my nephew, Scott Dunn, keeps up - here's the final results:
1. U-16 MISS E-LAM ELLSTROM PLUS
2. U-37 BEACON PLUMBING
3. U-3 MASTER TIRE
4. U-100 MIRAGEBOATS.COM
5. U-10 MISS AHERN EQUIPMENT RENTALS
6. U-13 SPIRIT OF DETROIT
7. U-6 OH BOY! OBERTO
God was certainly smiling on the racers this weekend. Three accidents in three consecutive heats and everyone came up none for the worse, and damage was minimal. Again, a great tribute to the safety designs of these boats. So ... it's Darth Vader again at Evansville. The season is-a started, gang. And no, I still haven't determined whether the U-16 and U-100 names are correct or not ... anyway, till the next race - Madison, next Saturday, July 6th!
Villwock, ELAM perfect through three heats
Some confusion just before the beginning of the start of Heat 3-B, as there was an about-face on the results of Heat 3-A, which now is proclaimed official. O BOY! OBERTO was declared the winner and MASTER TIRE came in second.
Theoret and Villwock dueled briefly for the inside lane prior to the start of 3-B, but BEACON held it to the starting gun. ELAM led across the line and held the lead till the end. BEACON was second, MIRAGE third, AHERN fourth, and SPIRIT OF DETROIT fifth. The first clean heat from start to finish, thank goodness.
Here's those eligible for the final heat:
ELAM/1,200
MASTER TIRE/1,000
OBERTO/869
MIRAGE/750
BEACON PLUMBING/700
and if there's a 6th boat, it'll be the U-10 MISS AHERN EQUIPMENT RENTALS.
Carnage continues at season opener
Three heats, three blow-overs so far. This is NOT a great way to start the year.
Only 3 hydros answered the starter's gun in Heat 3-A - Jimmy King in MASTER TIRE, Mike Allen in FORMULABOATS.COM 2, and Steve David in the OH BOY! OBERTO. OBERTO led slightly on the first lap as all three dueled side by side until David edged ahead going into corner number 2 on the second lap. Suddenly, another blow-over as Mike Allen and FORMULABOATS.COM crashed. Ironically, this is the same corner where the previous two accidents took place.
Allen got out of the boat ok, and the U-1 is right side up. The boats for 3-B are being lowered in the water as I type this, and 3-A will be re-run after the conclusion of Heat 3-B. Only OBERTO and MASTER TIRE will be eligible to run the restart.
Wow ... enough to make the most seasoned fan bite your nails. Take it easy, guys!
Evansville full of surprises so far
As long as I have this picture posted, maybe I should entertain suggestions of some of the UGLIEST boats to grace the race course ... e-mail me at u-15MyGypsy@yahoo.com if you have some thoughts on this.
Back to business - the draws are in for 3-A and 3-B ... I'm puzzled, because I had a notion that we'd be down 2 boars, overall to eight. Apparently not, as both the U-5 and U-37 are included in the upcoming heat draws, which are:
3-A:
U-1 FORMULABOATS.COM 2
U-3 MASTER TIRE
U-5 FORMULABOATS.COM 1
U-6 OH BOY! OBERTO
U-25 SUPERIOR RACING
3-B:
U-10 AHERN RENTALS
U-13 SPIRIT OF DETROIT
U-16 E-LAM PLUS
U-37 BEACON PLUMBING
U-100 MIRAGEBOATS.COM
I have to say there's certainly been some confusion as to boat names and numbers. Varying sources have ID'd different numbers for SUPERIOR RACING (U-2.25 and U-25), different names for the U-16 (ELAM PLUS and ELAM ELLSTROM PLUS), and the U-100 (MIRAGE RACING and MIRAGEBOATS.COM), But regardless of all that, we'll press on!
Another accident plagues Evansville racing
Gliding to an apparently comfortable lead in Heat 2-B, it wasn't meant to be for Jean Theoret and MISS BEACON PLUMBING. According to reports, the boat did a barrel roll and came down hard on the rear. Theoret got out of the cockpit under his own power, and the boat is being inspected for damage now.
Jimmy King went on to capture the heat win with MASTER TIRE, followed by Greg Hopp in MIRAGE BOATS.COM, and David Bryant in MISS AHERN EQUIPMENT. Mike Allen and FORMULABOATS.COM 2 did not finish. In the re-run of Heat 2-A, Dave Villwock won his second straight heat of the young season with ELAM, while Steve David managed to finish second despite striking a buoy with the OBERTO, and J. Michael Kelley took third with the SPIRIT OF DETROIT. Kelley had also jumped the gun, and Dr. Ken failed to start with SUPERIOR RACING.
Heats 3-A and 3-B are coming up soon, and it's been announced that the final heat will be moved up one hour to 5:10 pm, Evansville time.
Blow-over for Bernard in 2-A
Not a good start to the day ...
Heat 2-A drew the U-5 FORMULABOATS. COM 1 together with U-6 OH! BOY OBERTO, U-25 SUPERIOR RACING, U-13 SPIRIT OF DETROIT, and the U-16 MISS E-LAM ELLSTROM PLUS. In the original draw of Heat 2-A, Jeff Bernard blew over the U-5 FORMULABOATS.COM 1, and Bernard did manage to get out of the cockpit and is being checked over now. The U-5 is upside down currently.
Heat 2-B's lineup features Bernard's team-mate, Mike Allen, in the U-1 FORMULABOATS.COM 2, plus the U-10 MISS AHERN EQUIPMENT, U-100 MIRAGEBOATS.COM, U-37 MISS BEACON PLUMBING, and the U-3 MASTER TIRE.
Not much word on how the accident to Bernard happened, but earlier reports from yesterday are that the course is very fast, and all of the drivers seemed to be pushing it quite a bit. Let's hope that Bernard is ok and that everyone else dials it down a bit and stays safe, More later ...
