Phil Bononcini following his win in Lake Havasu!

Jeff Ayler and Tim Torrance talk with Phil Bononcini
following his win in Lake Havasu on WORX 96.7 FM.

Jeff Ayler: We have the Unlimited Light Final winner out there in Lake Havasu on the phone line with us. Phil Bononcini congratulations!

Phil Bononcini: Hey, was that something or what? That was my first final heat win in an Unlimited Light and I am so excited.

Jeff: Well tell us about it. How did you do it?

Phil: I tell you what, in the third heat our boat was just not working right. I got the inside lane during that heat, but the boat just would not accelerate. The crew took it and in an hour changed the prop, changed the timing, tightened up a bunch of stuff and sent me back out there. I got lane one again and Charley and I went deck-to-deck for about a lap. It was close. I don't know, I just kept my foot down. You know, this is usually the time when I would catch a buoy or a penalty, but it didn't happen today.

Jeff: Phil, Jeff Ayler here. Congratulations on that win over Charley Wiggins. Where was Randy Haas and the Miss CompAir?

Tim Torrance: Well we had him and now we don't have him. That was Phil Bononcini, the winner of the Unlimited Lights final in the UL-72 Pocket Mechanic. Wow, what a run there for Phil Bononcini.

Jeff: Congratulations to Mr. Bononcini in the Pocket Mechanic. It sounded like he had a good duel going with Charley Wiggins in the UL-10 Earl's Performance Products. That was our first time trying to get a Light driver live on the air with the win after getting out of the boat. We want to thank Cindy Moore for the help on that. We appreciate all her work with the Unlimited Lights. I tell you what Fred, that's a big win for Phil Bononcini.

Fred Farley: Yes, Phil Bononcini and his partner Joe Frauenheim are a couple of great sportsmen. I'm delighted that they won it. I also want to congratulate the designer/builder Ron Jones. This is his most recent Unlimited Light creation. It's similar to the Earl's Performance Products which is also a Ron Jones hull. That hull (Phil's) was badly damaged in Honolulu last year and the master Ron Jones put it back together through the winter. I congratulate Ron, Phil and Joe.

Tim: Okay, I think we have Phil Bononcini on with us again. Are you there?

Phil: Yea, I'm here.

Tim: Phil we were talking about the race and how you beat Charley Wiggins. Jeff Ayler was wanting to know where was Randy Haas in all this mess?

Phil: I think Randy got lane three so I really couldn't tell. My understanding was that Charley was six or seven boat lengths back at the end. Charley just came over here like the true gentleman that he is and gave me a big hug and congratulated me.

Tim: I tell you what Phil, a great performance from the UL-72 and you mentioned just before we got cut off that you had a problem earlier that the crew got fixed. Can you explain again what that was?

Phil: I think we were just a hair down on power at low RPM's. I can't explain it so we shifted over to a smaller prop and let the engine wind up a little bit. This time I ran to the start a little further back and it took a while to get up to full speed, but somehow it got there right on time. Charley and I went deck-to-deck for about a lap or more. Ah man it was a good boat race. I'd love to have seen that boat race.

Tim: I tell you what, I hope the guys from ESPN2 will have that one on because it sounds like that would be a dandy one to watch.

Phil: They'll have it on there.

Tim: That's going to be great. I know from the seat that you had, it was a tremendous boat race and Phil Bononcini we want to congratulate you.

Phil: I sure appreciate you guys. I know my family back home is listening on the internet. Keep up the good job!

Tim: Thank you very much Phil Bononcini.

Phil: Okay bye.

Tim: That was Phil Bononcini in the UL-72 Pocket Mechanic. The winner of today's Unlimited Light final heat. Jeff Ayler, Mr. Bononcini put together a fine performance. When you go head to head against Charley Wiggins you have got to be on your best game.

Jeff: Phil's first career win in the Unlimited Light class. He gave Randy Hass a good run last year at Lake Washington. Randy and Phil battled it out in that Unlimited Light final with Randy coming out on top. Now Bononcini starts the new millennium off in a positive way with a craft that, at last year's Hawaii race, ended up upside down after a crash. Good luck to Bononcini and the crew the rest of the year. Their next race will be at the Tastin' N Racin' event in Issaquah Washington.

Tim: Coming up in a couple weeks and it will be upon us. Fred Farley you talked about the Tastin' N Racin' event, do you know the dates for it?

Fred: June 3rd and 4th.

Tim: June 3rd and 4th is coming up. I tell you what, it will be here before you know it. After that the Unlimited Lights will not race in Evansville this year, but they will be here in Madison. We are certainly looking forward to the Light boats being here. They always put on a good show.

Fred: I'm so happy with the Pocket Mechanic win. They have been with the sport all these years. They earned this one. Congratulations.

Tim: You know earlier we were talking about the Budweiser and their dominance. Charley Wiggins and Bo Schide just dominated the racing last year. The series comes back this year with the first race of the season and Phil Bononcini puts that UL-72 out in front. I'm sure it's going to be the first of many good races this year for the Unlimited Lights

Fred: I know it will be. I just can't wait to watch the ESPN2 broadcast. I want to see those two Jones boats running deck-to-deck. I can't wait to see that.

Tim: It will be a thing to see!

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