Pheonix 1995

PHOENIX - GILA RIVER CASINO UNLIMITED CUP

Dave Bender's GNH 38 Pay-N-Play seemed able to consume the opposition with ease as the Unlimited Lights -- support series to the Unlimited Racing Commission's 10-race, 1995 tour -- made their official debut at the Gila River Casino Unlimited Cup on Firebird Lake near here.

Bender's Pontiac-powered, Ron Jones-designed hull cruised past 1994 NASBOAT champion Miss Blockbuster Video, driven by Mike Mammano, in Heat 1B, conducted on Saturday of the three-day race weekend. Bender came right back in Heat 2A to pin yet another loss on Mammano and the Grand National Hydro defending champ Pegasus, driven by Mark Weber of Detroit.

In Sunday's final, it was more of the same. Pay-N-Play cruised around the 1.5-mile course at an average speed of 101.906 mph to once again best Weber and Mammano, with Randy Haas of Toledo in the Miss LeRoi International coming home in fourth. Paul Droullard of Seattle, in the Miss Bev-Tek and the only Pacific Northwest entry to make the championship heat, was a DNF.

Only eight boats made the trek to Phoenix, but series organizer Alan Vordermeier Sr. promises a full field for June 1-2-3-4 and the APBA Gold Cup weekend at Detroit.

While they were not strong in numbers, the Lights -- so dubbed by URC Commissioner Bill Doner -- did provide some good side-by-side racing and their big stock-block engines made some dandy noises for the Firebird Lake assemblage, which later watched Miss Budweiser and Chip Hanauer roar to victory in the big boats' portion of the season opener.

Chevrolet was the power plant of choice for the eight-boat Light lineup, with fully five of the entries so powered. There were two Pontiac engines, including runner-up Weber in the Pegasus, and the lone Ford of Miss Blockbuster Video.

HEAT 1A:

200 Pegasus, Mark Weber, Detroit, average: 87.862 mph
150 Hopp Racing, Jerry Hopp, Snohomish WA
DNS Country Boy, Jim Kropfeld, Cincinnati
DNS Hey Baby, Howard LaBrie, Tacoma WA

HEAT 1B:

200 Pay-N-Play, Dave Bender, El Dorado CA, average: 100.106 mph
150 Miss Blockbuster Video, Mike Mammano, Ft. Lauderdale FL
113 Miss LeRoi International, Randy Haas, Toledo
85 Miss Bev-Tek, Paul Droullard, Seattle

HEAT 2A:

200/400 Pay-N-Play, Bender, average: 101.659 mph
150/300 Miss Blockbuster Video, Mammano
113/313 Pegasus, Weber
85/85 Country Boy, Kropfeld

HEAT 2B:

200/285 Miss Bev-Tek, Droullard, average: 83.783 mph
150/300 Hopp Racing, Hopp
113/113 Hey Baby, LaBrie
DNS/113 Miss LeRoi International, Haas

LAST CHANCE:

1. Miss Bev-Tek, Droullard
2. Hopp Racing, Hopp
DNS Hey Baby, LaBrie
DNS Country Boy, Kropfeld

CHAMPIONSHIP:

400/800 Pay-N-Play, Bender, average: 101.906 mph
300/613 Pegasus, Weber
225/525 Miss Blockbuster Video, Mammano
169/282 Miss LeRoi International, Haas
DNF/285 Miss Bev-Tek, Droullard