Saturday, July 28, 2007
Hot and muggy at Tri-Cities
Columbia Cup action for Saturday is all wrapped up. Heat 1-A saw Jeff Bernard in the U-5 FORMULABOATS.COM lead the field across the line with Steve David a close second in the O BOY! OBERTO, along with David Bryant in the TODD HOSS MORTGAGE, and J. Michael Kelly in the SPIRIT OF DETROIT. Rookie driver Jimmy Shane, filling in for Mike Allen in the team's backup U-1 FORMULABOATS.COM, trailed as required for a rookie. What a strange heat - turns out both Bernard and David jumped the gun, allowing Bryant to claim the lead, and he held it throughout the three laps. SPIRIT OF DETROIT finished second, with rookie Shane ecstatic taking a third in his first unlimited heat. David finished a disappointing fourth, with Bernard fifth. I'm sure after all the Gregory team has been through, they must be a bunch of happy campers.
I know I've never been a driver, and it's easy to be an "expert" from the shoreline, but geez ... don't these guys time their own starts instead of looking at each other? That used to bug me when Muncey raced, too. Everyone always looked for where Muncey was instead of timing their own starts. Dean Chenoweth didn't, though. He was a master at the clock start. So was Jim Kropfeld, Chip Hanauer, to name a few more. But the last couple of years ... man, I don't know.
Heat 1-B drew together Greg Hopp in the MIRAGEBOATS.COM, Darth and the ELAM PLUS, Ken Muscatel in SUPERIOR RACING, and rookie Brian Perkins in the brand new FREEDOM RACING. As expected, ELAM took off and hid from the field once exiting the first turn. But again - another gun-jumping. Darth said it clearly after the win "Guys are going to lose points this weekend doing that." I hate it when he's right, but of course, he is. Muscatel bogged down on the first lap and eventually restarted, but that allowed Perkins to move into second. Muscatel held off Greg Hopp for third, who had to run an extra lap and ultimately finished fourth.
Heat 1-C only saw three hydros entered, as the LAKERIDGE PAVING with Dave Williams never left the pits, and the new U-17 RED DOT apparently never intended to run. Not sure what or why - I must have missed the announcement. BEACON PLUMBING, the U-9 CONOVER INSURANCE, and Jimmy King in the U-3 all started legally albeit a little late. BEACON took the lead out of the first turn with the U-3 charging. Just as they drew together, a few pops and some choking happened and the U-3 went dead. Theoret kept the BEACON PLUMBING at a comfortable pace for the win, followed by Chris Bertram with CONOVER INSURANCE in second.
I must say - I'm enhoying the heck out of the live stream coming from Tri-Cities today. For those of us unable to make the trip, it's a wonderful experience to watch! One more thing ... it was 97 degrees at the conclusion of 1-C - sure hope the A/C is working in the cockpits. Wow!
Till tomorrow ...
