A quick look back.

By Cindy Moore, Administrator, Unlimited Lights Racing Series

The winter meetings started off early Friday morning (a tough thing to do in Vegas!) with a "where we've been, where we're going" styled speech by Dr. Ken Muscatel followed by the introduction of Bo Darling as the new Director of Marketing/Chief Operating Officer.  Dr. Muscatel pointed out our strengths and reminded all in attendance of the good things going on in boat racing and pointed to everyone in attendance as being responsible for that success.

Attending from the Unlimited Light camps were:  Patty Darling, Carl Haas, Randy and Tracy Haas, Charley Wiggins, Dick and Shirley Sanders, Bob and Rita Larimore, Mike McLellan, Gene Bender, Paul Droullard, JW Myers, Jerry Hopp, and Doug McIntosh.

We had some really good meetings and covered a lot of ground during them.  Patty Darling established a Rules Committee consisting of Charley Wiggins, Joe Frauenheim, Don Melillo and myself.  The charge of the Rules Committee is to study, refine, and suggest revisions to the ULRS Rules.  Another committee created during the meeting was the Technical Committee, chaired by Bob Larimore.  This committee is designed to assist teams in updating or building equipment to race in the unlimited lights series.  The final committee chartered during the meeting was the Hospitality Committee.  This group will assist with hospitality tents for sponsors and keeping the series on track and upbeat (they're already experts at this!).

The meetings were capped off with a black-tie banquet, crammed-packed with entertainment and awards.  Entertainers included an Elvis impersonator, Las Vegas Showgirls, an area band and some absolutely stirring video footage of the Madison movie filming.  This looks to be an exciting film in the making and I for one can't wait to see the finished product.  David Williams, Dr. Ken Muscatel and everyone associated with the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum deserve a lot of praise for the effort they've put into getting those classic hulls ready and out on the water.  

During the awards portion of the evening, there were some outstanding performances noted among the UL ranks.  ULRS Driving Champion Bo Schide was honored along with this year's ULRS Series Champion, the UL-16 Alamo.  Rookie of the Year honors went to JW Myers and Team Haas garnered an Outstanding Achievement award for their perfect attendance at every ULRS event since the series inception.  Empire Power Systems took home the ULRS Sponsor of the Year award and VNode.com was presented with the Outstanding Media Coverage award.  In terms of race sites, the San Diego, Ralphs/Food4Less Bill Muncey Cup was awarded the Race Site of the Year award while the Detroit, Chrysler-Jeep APBA Gold Cup won the Outstanding Race Site Promotion award.  Finally, Management Team of the Year honors went to the Norfolk, Virginia is for Lovers Cup.  Finally we would like to tip our hat to WORX 96.7 FM in Madison, IN (Outstanding Radio Coverage award) and Jody Moore of the Tri-City Herald (Outstanding Newspaper Coverage).  These were the official awards handed out, but honestly they barely touch all the outstanding contributions that took place during the season.  We thank everyone who took part in helping the Unlimited Lights Racing Series and especially all the ULRS sponsors who do so much to keep this sport on the water.

Even though it was an end of the year bash, I think it also signaled a new beginning.  I know for the Unlimited Lights there is clearly a promising future ahead.  The series has experienced tremendous growth over the last year and has really caught the attention of the public.  I am extremely excited to be onboard for the new season and I can hardly wait to get the racing underway!

The Beacon is a product of the Unlimited Lights Racing Series.
Editors: Patty Darling, Cindy Moore, Charles Moore

For more information please contact chuck@ulrs.org.