JULY 23-25 - www.waterfollies.com

                                                                                     For More Information Contact:
                                                                                          Emily Janikowski (509) 783-4675 or cell (509) 366-2967
                                                                                           emily@waterfollies.com


 

ULHRA Inc. delivers, again.

An exceptional turnout of fans was welcomed by hot sunny skies, and racing that was just as hot at the 39th annual Budweiser Columbia Cup at Tri Cities WA. The event featured the Unlimited Light Hydroplanes competing for the Security Race Products Trophy, and Thunderboats, both turbine and piston, competing in the Budweiser Columbia Cup.

30 ULHRA staff members with a combined 400 plus years of experience in conducting hydroplane races, orchestrated the event smoothly and on time. Further, 4 rookie drivers were qualified to race, and competed in their first heats of Thunderboat (aka Unlimited Hydroplane) competition. It's the largest number of first time drivers to compete in one race since 4 were qualified for the Seafair Trophy race in Seattle WA................in 1956! The four qualified drivers in one weekend were more than have qualified for that series in the past 4 seasons. Each of the first timers demonstrated the talent capable of racing in the Thunderboats, and two reached the Final Heat. The four are outboard veteran J.Michael Kelly, Unlimited Lights veterans Steve Hook and Vince "X-Man" Xaudaro, and inboard veteran R.W. "Dick" Lynch, who previously attempted to qualify at this same race, 3 years ago. Lynch is the brother of the ULHRA announcer, John Lynch

The Tri Cities Water Follies Association turned to ULHRA Inc. to conduct their "independent" race, in much the same manner as was done last month by the Freedom Festival in Evansville IN. ULHRA staff members came together to provide the Tri Cities organization with a workable plan, and successfully carried out that plan, with less than 3 weeks to prepare.

11 Unlimited Lights answered the call, along with 10 Thunderboats, making the 21 boats the largest two series fleet of the season. Further it was the largest turnout of Thunderboats so far in 2004.

In the Security Race Products Trophy, top honors went to George Woods Jr. in the UL-72 Graham Trucking - Red Rocket. Woods overcame an early lead by the "X-Man" Vince Xaudaro in the UL-929 B&B Construction. The somewhat battered 929 held together for a strong second place finish, just ahead of Jerry Hopp in the UL-1 Mike's Hard Lemonade-Happy Go Lucky. Fourth went to Kevin Aylesworth in the UL-5 Baker Equipment Co, while Harold Mills wound up 5th in the UL-40 Thunder Valley Racing. 6th place went to Michael Flaherty in the UL-51 Miss Boat Electric. For heat by heat results from Tri Cities. http://www.ulhra.org/content/results/results-04tri-cities.htm For current standings in both series, http://www.ulhra.org/standings.htm

Al Carstensen made his first UL appearance at the wheel of the UL-6 BCS Racing entry. Carstensen is the second driver from the 3 man partnership to qualify for UL competition, and it was an impressive debut. Despite a DNF in the "B" Main , Carstensen showed plenty of competitiveness, including a 3 lap deck to deck duel in Heat 2A with Jerry Hopp, winding up 2nd less than a roostertail length behind the ULHRA's defending champion.

The "B" Main was won by George Woods Jr, after failing to finish his first heat on Saturday. But by Sunday afternoon the crack UL-72 crew had the Red Rocket flying around the course, and Woods impressively dominated the Final.

One potentially serious incident occurred just prior to the start of Heat 1B. Xaudaro and Mills collided coming down for the start, and Mills was assessed a one minute penalty. Both boats were damaged, but were able to continue racing and didn't miss a heat. Xaudaro was trying hard to be the first Tri Cities native to win on the Columbia River, and he came close

The fans took to the new "D" shaped UL course excitedly, which brought the racing closer to the front straightaway shoreline. With the longer arc of the turns, the drivers had to adjust, but the effect paid off in enjoyment of the Unlimited Lights competition.

Based on their finishing positions in the "B" Main, Paul Becker in the UL-14 Miss Software Prototype was awarded 7th place, and Paul Droullard in the UL-9 Richland Suzuki American Eagle, finished 8th. Droullard again experienced some handling difficulties as the "Eagle" drifted wide at the start of the "B" Main, forcing George Woods off the course. Droullard wound up 2nd on the course in the best run by the UL-9 this season, but the resulting 1 minute penalty relegated him to 5th place. 3 teams qualified from the preliminaries for the final: UL-1, UL-5 and UL-929, while the UL-72, UL-40 and UL-51 advanced from the "B" Main.

In the Thunderboat category, Dave Villwock gained the advantage on the field by getting Lane 1 in the battle for lanes prior to the start of the Final. The veteran Miss Budweiser driver went on to victory and was able to miss a first turn incident that involved Mitch Evans in the Vacationville.com and J.W. Myers in the Llumar Window Film. The contact caused the Llumar to spin out of control, and resulted in serious sponson damage. Myers watched the rest of the race from the infield near the Turn 1 exit pin, and ultimately needed assistance to keep the Llumar afloat for the tow back to the pits. Evans was assessed a penalty and wound up 5th.

Second place went to Steve David in Oh Boy Oberto, and the Madison IN team piled up 1200 points with 4 consistent second place heat finishes. Third went to rookie J. Michael Kelly in Jim Harvey's T-2, Miss APBA and 4th to fellow rookie and Richland WA resident Steve Hook in the Round Table Pizza presents Conover Insurance. Vince Xaudaro in the T-00 Miss Windermere and Dick Lynch in the T-20 Miss Warner Auto Sales did not make the final. Ken Muscatel in the T-25 showed strong competitiveness in the preliminaries and briefly led one heat, but later had to withdraw due to mechanical damage. Greg Hopp in the T-100 Spirit of Tri Cities, presented by Robert Young & Associates picked up two 3rd place finishes, and a did not finish in the 3 preliminaries. Hopp's boat was withdrawn by owner Fred Leland and there was insufficient boats for a Provisional Heat. That move advanced Hook and the T-99 to the Final where the rules specified he start on the outside since there was no Provisional Heat.

Next, the two fleets move on to Seattle for the annual Seafair event, August 6 - 8. The Unlimited Lights will add a 12th boat in the UL-18 Jackie's Purple Thunder, driven by Joe Turner. It'll be Turner's first appearance since the season opener at Tastin n Racin in June. On the Thunderboat side, the T-3 is returning to its Evansville homeport, and the T-20, as of this writing, doesn't have sponsorship to enter. Two teams that did not compete at Tri Cities, the T-10 with Nate Brown driving and the T-16 with Terry Troxell, will keep that field at 10 boats.

John Lynch

"Voice" of the Unlimited Lights

Unlimited Light Final Heat

Place

Driver

Boat

Speed

Points

Total*

1st

UL 72 George Woods Jr. Graham Trucking-Red Rocket

112.720

400

830

2nd

UL 929 Vince Xaudaro B&B Construction of Tri Cities

105.792

300

1017

3rd

UL 1 Jerry Hopp Mike’s Hard Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky

103.995

225

1065

4th

UL 5 Kevin Aylesworth Baker Equipment Company

98.823

169

707

5th

UL 40 Harold Mills Thunder Valley Racing

88.872

127

587

6th

UL 51 Michael Flaherty Boat Electric Company

88.003

95

564

7th**

UL 14 Paul Becker Miss Software Prototype

n/a

71

359

8th**

UL 9 Paul Droullard Richland Suzuki presented by Apollo Spas

n/a

53

338

* Includes Qualifying
** UL 14 awarded 7th place Final Heat points based on B-Main
** UL 9 awarded 8th place Final Heat points based on B-Main

 

Unlimited Light B Main

Place

Driver

Boat

Speed

1st

UL 72 George Woods Jr. Graham Trucking-Red Rocket

104.496

2nd

UL 40 Harold Mills Thunder Valley Racing

95.121

3rd

UL 51 Michael Flaherty Boat Electric Company

91.264

4th

UL 14 Paul Becker Miss Software Prototype

88.149

5th

UL 9 Paul Droullard Richland Suzuki presented by Apollo Spas

72.336

UL 6 Al Carstensen BCS Racing Enterprises

dns

 

Unlimited Light Heat 2 B

Place

Driver

Boat

Speed

Points

Total

1st

UL 72 George Woods Jr. Graham Trucking-Red Rocket

111.058

400

400

2nd

UL 929 Vince Xaudaro B&B Construction of Tri Cities

110.737

300

700

3rd

UL 40 Harold Mills Thunder Valley Racing

96.035

225

450

4th

UL 51 Michael Flaherty Boat Electric Company

93.486

169

469

 

Unlimited Light Heat 2 A

Place

Driver

Boat

Speed

Points

Total

1st

UL 1 Jerry Hopp Mike’s Hard Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky

104.581

400

800

2nd

UL 5 Al Carstensen BCS Racing Enterprises

102.044

300

300

3rd

UL 6 Kevin Aylesworth Baker Equipment Company

98.894

225

525

4th

UL 9 Paul Droullard Richland Suzuki presented by Apollo Spas

92.473

169

338

5th

UL 14 Paul Becker Miss Software Prototype

91.930

127

352

 

Unlimited Light Heat 1 B

Place

Driver

Boat

Speed

1st

UL 929 Vince Xaudaro B&B Construction of Tri Cities

104.484

2nd

UL 51 Michael Flaherty Boat Electric Company

91.015

3rd

UL 40 Harold Mills Thunder Valley Racing

69.947

UL 6 Al Carstensen BCS Racing Enterprises

dnf

UL 17 Rick Bridgeman Ted's Red Apple Market

dns

 

Unlimited Light Heat 1 A

Place

Driver

Boat

Speed

1st

UL 1 Jerry Hopp Mike’s Hard Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky

101.377

2nd

UL 5 Kevin Aylesworth Baker Equipment Company

100.528

3rd

UL 14 Paul Becker Miss Software Prototype

89.709

4th

UL 9 Paul Droullard Richland Suzuki presented by Apollo Spas

83.629

UL 72 George Woods Jr. Graham Trucking-Red Rocket

dnf

 

Unlimited Light Qualifying

Place

Driver

Boat

Speed

Points

1st

UL 1 Jerry Hopp Mike’s Hard Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky

121.187

40

2nd

UL 72 George Woods Jr. Graham Trucking-Red Rocket

119.617

30

3rd

UL 6 Al Carstensen BCS Racing Enterprises

112.319

23

4th

UL 929 Vince Xaudaro B&B Construction of Tri Cities

109.731

17

5th

UL 5 Kevin Aylesworth Baker Equipment Company

105.823

13

6th

UL 40 Harold Mills Thunder Valley Racing

100.137

10

7th

UL 14 Paul Becker Miss Software Prototype

97.375

7

UL 9 Paul Droullard Richland Suzuki presented by Apollo Spas

dnq

0

UL 17 Rick Bridgeman Ted's Red Apple Market

dnq

0

UL 51 Michael Flaherty Boat Electric Company

dnq

0

UL 117 Ron Doumont Escapius Maximus

dnq

0

 

Thunderboats Final Heat

Place

Boat

Driver

Speed

Points

Total*

1st

T 1 Miss Budweiser Dave Villwock

135.939

400

1640

2nd

T 6 Oh Boy! Oberto Steve David

133.250

300

1217

3rd

T 2 Miss APBA J. Michael Kelly

126.864

225

834

4th

T 99 Round Table Pizza Presents Conover Insurance Steve Hook

120.131

169

697

5th

T 3 Vacationville.com Mitch Evans

112.632

127

1357

T 8 Llumar Window Film JW Myers

dnf

0

848

* Includes Qualifying

 

Thunderboats Heat 3 B

Place

Boat

Driver

Speed

Points

Total

1st

T 3 Vacationville.com Mitch Evans

135.685

400

1,200

2nd

T 6 Oh Boy! Oberto Steve David

134.494

300

900

3rd

T 100 Spirit of Tri Cities Presented by Robert Young & Associates Greg Hopp

127.873

225

450

4th

T 00 Windermere Real Estate Vince Xaudaro

119.566

169

296

 

Thunderboats Heat 3 A

Place

Boat

Driver

Speed

Points

Total

1st

T 1 Miss Budweiser Dave Villwock

145.126

400

1200

2nd

T 2 Miss APBA J. Michael Kelly

117.314

300

596

3rd

T 8 Llumar Window Film JW Myers

112.468

225

825

4th

T 99 Round Table Pizza Presents Conover Insurance Steve Hook

106.926

169

521

T 20 Miss Warner Auto Sales Dick Lynch

dnf

0

394

 

Thunderboats Heat 2 B

Place

Boat

Driver

Speed

Points

Total

1st

T 3 Vacationville.com Mitch Evans

141.022

400

800

2nd

T 6 Oh Boy! Oberto Steve David

139.817

300

600

3rd

T 25 Silver Dollar Casino presents Miss Rock Ken Muscatel

131.796

225

394

4th

T 2 Miss APBA J. Michael Kelly

131.344

169

296

5th

T 99 Round Table Pizza Presents Conover Insurance Steve Hook

123.085

127

352

 

Thunderboats Heat 2 A

Place

Boat

Driver

Speed

Points

Total

1st

T 1 Miss Budweiser Dave Villwock

149.409

400

800

2nd

T 8 Llumar Window Film JW Myers

148.496

300

600

3rd

T 100 Spirit of Tri Cities Presented by Robert Young & Associates Greg Hopp

130.971

225

225

4th

T 20 Miss Warner Auto Sales Dick Lynch

123.165

169

394

5th

T 00 Windermere Real Estate Vince Xaudaro

120.253

127

127

 

Thunderboats Heat 1 B

Place

Boat

Driver

Speed

Points

1st

T 3 Vacationville.com Mitch Evans

135.054

400

2nd

T 6 Oh Boy! Oberto Steve David

134.675

300

3rd

T 99 Round Table Pizza Presents Conover Insurance Greg Hopp

131.488

225

5th

T 25 Silver Dollar Casino presents Miss Rock Ken Muscatel

127.664

169

7th

T 2 Miss APBA J. Michael Kelly

119.486

127

 

Thunderboats Heat 1 A

Place

Boat

Driver

Speed

Points

1st

T 1 Miss Budweiser Dave Villwock

145.790

400

2nd

T 8 Llumar Window Film JW Myers

144.567

300

3rd

T 20 Miss Warner Auto Sales Dick Lynch

118.554

225

4th

T 100 Spirit of Tri Cities Presented by Robert Young & Associates Greg Hopp

dns

0

 

Thunderboats Qualifying

Place

Boat

Driver

Speed

Points

1st

T 1 Miss Budweiser Dave Villwock

163.162

40

2nd

T 3 Vacationville.com Mitch Evans

161.146

30

3rd

T 8 Llumar Window Film JW Myers

158.646

23

4th

T 6 Oh Boy! Oberto Steve David

147.468

17

5th

T 2 Miss APBA J. Michael Kelly

145.962

13

6th

T 100 Spirit of Tri Cities Presented by Robert Young & Associates Greg Hopp

145.725

10

7th

T 99 Round Table Pizza Presents Conover Insurance Steve Hook

141.443

7

8th

T 20 Miss Warner Auto Sales Dick Lynch

138.462

5

9th

T 25 Silver Dollar Casino presents Miss Rock Ken Muscatel

138.164

0

10th

T 00 Windermere Real Estate Vince Xaudaro

132.236

0

 

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