Jeff Ayler (WORX 96.7 FM) and Randy Haas (UL-110 Miss CompAir)
speaking on the evening of 4/13/00.

JA:  Joining us on the phone is a hot shoe from up in Toledo, Ohio; Randy Haas.  Randy good evening.

RH:  Good evening!

JA:  How are things up in Toledo, Ohio as you prepare for the 2000 season?

RH:  Everything's going pretty good.  We're keeping busy right now as we try to get everything ready for the new season.

JA:  If people do not know, the Haas family acquired Ned Allen's UL-16 last year.  You guys are wanting to start the millennium off in a good way. 

RH:  We've been working hard at it.  We built a new boat for last year.  I guess I don't know how we did it, but we ended up with Ned's boat this year.

JA:  You mention you built that new boat last year.  Will that be a back up hull for you this year?

RH:  No, we are going to start out with the new hull this year.  We've done a lot of work on it out in Vegas with the York Unlimited team.  I damaged the boat pretty good last year.  We're going to start the year off with that hull and see how it works.  You never know.  We may end up with the UL-16 hull.

JA:  That's kind of surprising.  You mean you are going to stick with the boat you raced last year?  I think you know in the back of your mind that you have a tried and true hull to bring out if the other one doesn'tt work.

RH:  Yea, we came along last season.  We won Seattle and Hawaii last year so toward the end of the year it started working pretty good.

JA:  Randy that was a big win for you there on Lake Washington in Seattle.  I had an opportunity to see that race on tape.  Boy you had a great battle with Phil Bononcini in the Pocket Mechanic.  That was an outstanding final.

RH:  Yes it was and I think I surprised a lot of people.  I think everybody thought it was just going to be an easy run between the Alamo and the Earl's Performance Boat.  I think we gave them a little surprise up there.

JA:  What did it mean for Randy Haas to win on Lake Washington in Seattle?

RH:  It was great.  We'd worked so hard all year.  The first race out of the box we blew the boat over backwards.  Everybody worked so hard... you know my wife and Mike Osier, the crew and my dad.  It was never ending.  A win anywhere would have been great, but there were so many people up there and that was one of the premiere spots.  It was unbelievable.

JA:  Randy the ULRS is in its fifth year now.  It's the sister series of the Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Series.  We mentioned Seattle and I think the three races that are the cream of the crop are Seattle, Detroit and Madison.  Any win on those historic rivers or lakes is pretty special.

RH:  Well yea it sure is.  We've been with the Unlimited Lights since day one.  We are the only team to run every event since the induction of the Unlimited Lights.  Seattle was our first win so it really made it special.

JA:  You mentioned you'd been with the series since its inception.  Randy when did you get started in boat racing?  You're out of the state of Ohio.  There's been some good boat racers from that state; Jim Kropfeld, Ron Snyder, Bo Schide.  I think you are right up there with them.

RH:  I started in 1989.  The first time I got in one we started in a 6 liter hydroplane in '93.  We won everything and I got inducted into the hall of champions.  That's when we decided to move up.  

JA:  Sometimes some of these boat racing drivers are in the wrong place at the wrong time.  That's what Ron Snyder told me happened to him.  How about you?

RH:  Well, I haven't had any serious accidents other than I blew over in Lake Havasu at the beginning of the year.  I blew over again in San Diego last year.  Fortunately the boat did a 360 and landed right side up so I really haven't been in any bad accidents.

JA:  You mention that 360 last year.  Did the hull continue to run after that or did you go dead in the water?

RH:  The motor was still running.  I turned it right and left and it seemed like it was all right.  I continued running another lap and a half.  It had busted the water pickup off the rudder.

JA:  So are you and George Stratton trying to start some kind of club in the light series?  He did that with the Wildfire a few years back in Kelowna.

RH:  He was at the end of the race and he went back into the pits.  We were at the first lap of that race.  I was next to Charley Wiggins when I went over.  I'm on a mission.

JA:  You're on a mission of course.  George Straton has moved up to the Unlimiteds.  He'll drive the U-5 Appian Jeronimo.  Randy I think this series is really an up and coming series in boat racing.  What's your thoughts on the future of the Unlimited Lights Racing Series?

RH:  I think as long as the guys keep building boats and we keep putting on a good show, I think we are going to continue to grow and grow.  Television time will be there for us.  I think it's going to be all right.

JA:  You mention the television time.  Good radio time especially right here on WORX 96.7 and of course my hats off to Chuck and Cindy Moore down in Lexington.  They've done a great job with that ULRS website on the internet.  They're really promoting the class.  Randy the automotive power plant... your thoughts on that.  They've been mentioning that could go to the unlimiteds with some teams.  What's your thoughts on automotive power in the unlimiteds?  Can it happen?

RH:  I don't know.  You know they tried to do a lot of homework in the past trying to run two engines tied together.  I don't know.  Somebody is just going to have to do a lot of homework in order to make it work unless they lighten the boats up.

JA:  Randy you mentioned your dad who's a co-owner with you in the Miss CompAir.  I know it's definitely a family operation with the UL-110...

RH:  The owners my wife, Tracey, my father, Carl, my father-in-law, Jabu and then we've got a fellow named Mike Osier.  He's out of Orange California, Anaheim area.  He's with us every weekend also. 

JA:  Earlier this evening we had Phil Bononcini and JW Myers on, of course competitors of yours on the water.  I've asked them what their all time favorite unlimited hydroplane driver was growing up.  Who's yours?

RH:  Well, you know what, I don't know if I've got one person who's a favorite driver.  I'm the kind of the guy who goes down all the aisles and talks to all of them.  I hang out with all of them.  You know you've got to give your respects to Chip Hanauer.  Chip's right up in there as a top driver.  You know you've got Dave Villwock who's moving up.  You can't take anything from Dave.  He does a pretty good job himself.

JA:  Well Randy we appreciate the telephone call tonight from Toledo, Ohio.  Randy's the driver of the UL-110 Miss CompAir.  You'll start out the season with the new hull that debuted last year, but you've got that UL-16 Alamo in your stable as a backup boat if you need it this year.  Thanks for the call and good luck this year on the series.

RH:  Okay.  Thank you.