Evansville 1996

Evansville 1996

PONTIAC THUNDER ON THE OHIO, Evansville

ACDelco stepped up to sponsor the ULRS events on the mighty Ohio River and a field of nine boats responded to the call. Due to time constraints, the first heat was split into two sections, but a full gang of eight boats took up the chase in Heat 2 -- and that was one of the season highlights, with Mark Weber continuing to drive toward an overall championship in Bob Larimore's (boat with many names) Miss Pontiac. Seven of the eight finished and Weber's heat average of 103.860 mph was a scorcher, as he nosed out Charley Wiggins in the High Pressure entry from Gadsden, Ala.

Dennis Macy had earlier finished second to Wiggins in Heat 1B, while Randy Haas snared Heat 1A. But it was all Macy in the final, roaring to his initial lifetime victory in the seven-litre class, as he drove around Mark Weber and outfinished Randy Haas, Phil Bononcini and John Grigg Jr. as well. An unfortunate result saw Wiggins bounced from a second-place finish due to a one-minute penalty for lane encroachment. The championship heat results:

1. Dennis Macy, The Menace, Garden City MI; 2. Mark Weber, Miss Pontiac, St. Clair Shores MI; 3. Randy Haas, Miss Leroi, Toledo OH; 4. Phil Bononcini, Pocket Mechanic, Redmond WA; 5. John Grigg Jr., Wanna Bee Racing, New Haven MI; 6. Charley Wiggins, High Pressure, Gadsden AL; DNF--Tony Stalder, Miss K.C., Milford OH; Butch Nace, Nace's Ace, Cincinnati OH. Winner's Average Speed--102.666 mph.