January, 2000 An update on the UL-141 Miss Authorized Cellular... We had the chance to speak with Greg Grenier of the UL-141 Miss Authorized Cellular team via e-mail. Greg told us that their team is a little scattered at this time. They have had sponsor interest in getting the team into some new equipment, but that remains a work in progress. At this time the team is unsure about its 2000 plans. Their boat is basically race ready but the death of Greg's brother Rick has had a deep impact on the team. The Miss Authorized Cellular UL/GNH 141 was formally called National Debt, a Detroit based boat that has had an impressive history of wins in the GNH, UL and even GP classes. Along with today's update, Greg sent us a couple outstanding photos. These new shots have been added to their team profile page. Jody Moore (Tri-City Herald motorsports writer and hydro commentator) contacted us by e-mail to give some additional details on LaBrie Racing. They aren't a new entry in the Unlimited Lights. Howie LaBrie has driven the boat in Tri-Cities and Seattle during previous seasons. The boat is a Jones two-winger, and was run as the "Hey Baby!". When Jody last saw it, it was kind of a brown and tan paint scheme. Driver Brad Moser is a familiar name as well. While serving as a crewman on the Winston Eagle team around 1990 or 1991, Moser was put into service as a test driver by the team during at least three different test sessions after Jim Kropfeld left the team and before they hired Mark Tate. In his last test session, the boat lost a prop shaft key on the backstretch in Tri-Cities and blew over. Jody joins us in the hope that LaBrie Racing will be able to join the fleet for the 2000 season. We thank Jody for the update. Jody Moore was honored late last year during the 1999 Hydros Unlimited Racing Awards Ceremony and Banquet for Outstanding Newspaper Coverage! UL-10 Earl's Performance Products update... Curious what Charley Wiggins and the rest of the UL-10 Earl Performance Products team has been up to in the off season? A brief update was just posted on their site. UL-136 Sanders Racing update... For the early word on the team's participation in the Western Divisionals, the Region 10 West Coast races, Lake Havasu plus a driver update, click here to visit the MMS News page. New photos and more on the UL-9 site! Over on Paul Droullard's UL-9 Droullard Motorsports site, we've just added a couple new hull design photos and a news update detailing an R/C model based on Paul's old hull. Click here to go directly to their site. Looking for a few new UL photos on the web? If you stop by Hydro Pics 2000 and click on the Unlimited Lights button, Steve Conner has a series of photos from this year's Columbia Cup. A couple of the photo's have even been designed as animated gif's to simulate the racing. Very sad
news... The UL-3 Miss Vnode.com site has just been updated... If you stop by their site and visit their Photo Gallery page you can check out their "recent photos of the San Diego Race and the Hawaiian Adventure". A great set of shots! Team Pegasus welcomes Jose Cuervo as an associate sponsor! JW Meyers has been busy out west and has landed strong associate sponsorship for Havasu AND for San Diego. At these two events the UL-23 TeamPegasus will be proudly representing Jose Cuervo. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Jose Cuervo for their support and welcome them to the ULRS family! The new UL-23 Team Pegasus site has been updated with new information on the team. They also have a good look at our Government in action! What do we mean by this last statement? You'll just have to stop by the UL-23 site and click on their what's new page for a photo that explains it all. Just below the photo you'll find the new team update. Can't wait to hear about the 2000 season? 1/18/2000 - Tonight we are pleased to bring you the early word on the Lake Havasu's 2000 Mohave Unlimited Hydrofest. Here's the first press release relating to the race!
Hydrofest Tickets on Sale January 21, 2000!! January 17, 2000 - The second annual Empire Power Mohave Unlimited Hydrofest - Co-Sponsored by Budweiser, will return to Lake Havasu on May 18, 19, 20 and 21, 2000. Hydrofest 2000 will be "Racing into the future" with four complete days of family fun in the sun with the best water sport racing in the Arizona and Nevada area. Hydrofest 2000 will again be broadcast nationally and internationally on ESPN 2. To launch the Ticket and VIP viewing packages going on sale January 21, 2000, through the tri-state area at all TicketMaster locations and all Mohave County ticket locations, Lucky 108 FM and the KNACK FM are hosting a "HydroBash Ticket Party" at the Ramada Inn, Lake Havasu City, beginning at 5:00 PM. Special promotions will be going on throughout the evening with ticket and merchandise giveaways. One of the special promotions include the 4-day General Admission tickets on sale during the promotion at the Ramada Inn for $35 for adults and half price for children 7 to 14 years. This 4-day ticket includes an event pit pass and event concert pass. That’s a $10 savings from the TicketMaster price in the tri-state area! Sign-up to win special VIP viewing packages including LogBoom credentials (race course viewing from your own boat), Hydrofest Club Pavilion with start/finish line viewing plus hospitality, Sky Box RV sites at Crazy Horse RV Resort and Campground with spectacular viewing from your own RV site over looking the pits and the entire race course. The new official Race 2000 Hydrofest T-Shirt will also be available for give-aways and purchase. Video presentations at the party will feature the last year ESPN 2 international broadcast of Hydrofest, NWSRA Speed Skiing competition, and Extreme Water Show demonstrations. World Champion Speed Skier and local Lake Havasu native, Ashley Lathrope, will be on hand at 7:00 PM to sign autographs and answer questions. Bill Muncey’s world famous “Atlas Van Lines - Blue Blaster” Unlimited Hydro will be on display. The Ramada Inn, Lake Havasu, will provide snacks throughout the evening and a no-host bar will be available. The public is encouraged to join us for the fun, informative evening and take advantage of great discount opportunities and free give-aways! This family racing festival will again feature the world’s fastest, fire breathing, 3000 horsepower, turbine powered Unlimited Hydroplanes which reach speeds of over 200 miles per hour! Joining the Unlimited Hydros for a second year will be the 160 mph, deep throated big-block automotive powered Unlimited Light Hydros and the ever popular Grand National Inboard Endurance racing class featuring a new group of blown boats. The two mile APBA world record certified course has been redesigned to give closer viewing for the spectators. The new triangular configuration will bring the overall racing action one half mile (2,500 feet) closer to the Crazy Horse RV Resort & Campgrounds and Windsor Beach viewing areas and provide better water conditions for all of the race participants. The 2000 racing program will be expanding by adding an invitation to the always popular Super Stock and KRR Blown Alcohol Flatbottom racing classes. The National Water Ski Racing Association Region 2 has confirmed a four and one half hour National Points Marathon program for the weekend. This extreme racing program will feature men and women racing for one hour and one lap at speeds over 100 mph behind “big blown towboats” with as many as thirty participants on the two mile course at one time. The Hydrofest 2000 exhibit program has been implemented by adding the Classic V-Drive Club of America who have confirmed twenty blown vintage custom V-drives for exhibition throughout the weekend. Tad Whitten’s Xtreme Water Sports Show will feature Sky-Ski acrobatics, a Power Ski Jetboard Ignitor 2000 demonstration and much more. Hydrofest 2000 will introduce another first for the area, a special new class of racing for the kids called the “Mighty Water Mouse.” This new program, created by the American Power Boat Association, is designed to introduce boat racing to young people between the ages of 8 and 14. Kids will be invited to participate in an academic contest in order to win the opportunity to actually race at Hydrofest 2000. There will be a “Pro-Am Challenge” with local celebrities, and a special Colorado River Community “Mayors Cup Challenge.” This special racing program is being presented by the Arizona Republic Newspaper. Also for the family and kids is a new attraction presented by Anderson Chrysler/Jeep, Lake Havasu. It is the “Inflatable Sports Center” with fun, safe interactive games and play areas for all to enjoy. The London Bridge Model Boat Club will be returning again this year with remote control boats for the kids to enjoy in the channel free of charge. For 2000, they have partnered with LaFiesta Leisure Living Center to provide an above ground pool for electric boat races that the kids will enjoy. For the boating enthusiast, the Today’s News Herald is presenting this year’s Hydrofest Havasu Boat Show & Performance Alley displays. Fountain, Advantage, Sleekcraft, Magic, Commander, Conquest, Eliminator, and Donzi are just a few of the power boat manufacturers who plan to attend the expanded format. In addition to the four days and evenings of awesome speed and thunder, Hydrofest 2000 will offer other venues of family entertainment including the first annual “HydroBash Concert Series” featuring three evenings of National Blues and Rock performances including Blues Great Coco Montoya (Alligator Recording Artist), Alex Lighertwood (former lead singer of Santana) and Blues Diva B. J. Sharp (Critique/BMG recording artist), Taste of Mohave food court, beverages gardens, and a variety of merchandise vendors. Robert Brondell 1/19/2000 - Ticket information is now available for this year's Lake Havasu race!
Mohave Unlimited Hydrofest 2000 Tickets: General Admission tickets go on sale at the following tri-state locations January 21, 2000.
Advance General Admission Prices:
VIP Packages:
ULRS Commissioner attends Navy League Breakfast On Wednesday of last week (January 12th), ULRS Commissioner Patty Darling and her husband Bo Darling (UHRA Director of Marketing and Chief Operations Officer) attended a Navy League Breakfast during which the new Admiral in charge of the Abraham Lincoln Battle Group was introduced. He is Rear Admiral Phillip Balisle. Also in attendance were several Seafair, USN, Army, Marines along with the Navy air boss for the Blue Angels. Bob Curran was the Master of Ceremonies for the event. Bob is the same individual that directs our boats on the ship during the annual trip to Hawaii. UL-9 Droullard Motorsports site takes on a new look... A five photo series of the new hull has been added to the UL-9 Droullard Motorsports website. The hull is beginning to take shape as parts are assembled. The current set of photos are the first of many coming over the next couple months. As the boat is built they will continue to update the Hull Design page of the site giving you a behind-the-scenes look at the process. If you haven't been to the site in the last few days, you may want to take a moment and go for a tour. Almost all of the pages have been updated with new information and the site has taken on a fresh new look for the winter months. UL-4 McCormick Racing team update (with photos)! The UL-4 racing team is busy making progress on revamping their Unlimited (originally designed by Ed Karelsen and built by David Williams) into an Unlimited Light for the 2000 season. According to Mike McCormick, team owner and driver, "the decking materials have been ordered and will arrive on February 1st. Kevlar has also been ordered for the reinforced cockpit." Mike stated that the cockpit will be able to take on a vintage look (i.e. Blue Blaster, etc.) if needed at any time. Stay tuned for more updates on the UL-4 hull progress. Here are a few shots of the hull at this point in the redesign process...
Our thanks to Scott Tebbe for sharing the photos and providing the update! UL-136 Sanders Racing Team site adds a driver bio. Over on the Sanders Racing Team site they've just added a short bio on driver Scott Schatz. You can learn how he got his start and what classes he's taken part in over the years. Just stop by http://www.seanet.com/~mms/sanders.htm for all the details. UL-5 McLellan Racing's new display hull. Mike McLellan sent us a photo taken by Jerry Vanson in his backyard last summer. The boat pictured will become the UL-5 McLellan Racing display boat during the upcoming season. Click here to take a look. UL-17 announces a new sponsor! Rick and Shawn Bridgeman are proud to welcome the John Morrell Meat Company as an Associate sponsor for the 2000 racing season. You can visit their new sponsor's website at http://www.johnmorrell.com/ and we encourage everyone to stop by and thank them for join the hydro community! For all the details of this new sponsorship and a brief update on the UL-17 team, stop by McIntosh Marketing Service's News page. More news from McIntosh Marketing Services! Over on Doug McIntosh's MMS site, they've just updated the site with new stories on the UL-5, the UL-3 and the UL-21! Mike McLellan of the UL-5 McLellan Racing Team talks about sponsorship for the team, their new shop, their new display boat, the Kelowna race and an upcoming full feature team website! Sounds like things are really coming along for the Canada1 team. John Hogan of the UL-3 Miss Vnode.com team talks about changes made to the their hull for the 2000 season and continues to enjoy the addition of their new crewmember. Finally, Doug stopped by the UL-21 Thunder Valley Racing shop for an update on their hull. You can read all the details on McIntosh Marketing Service's News Page. Work continues on the new UL-4 McCormick Racing hull! Mike McCormick reports that the UL-4 racing team headquarters was not affected by the recent tornado that damaged large portions of nearby Owensboro, Kentucky. (The team is located in Philpot.) According to Mike, "The boat will be ready for decks by Friday, January 14." We have the rear vertical wings installed. The UL-4 is presently on the floor on casters so that we can move it around the shop. "We are also working on the cockpit, which is low-profile and looks cool!" Further reports on the UL-4 racing team will be forthcoming. Fred Farley reporting on the Powerboat List earlier today. More on the Sanders Racing Team... Speaking with Dick Sanders last night, there's a lot of work being done on the hull to bring it up to UL specifications. The transition includes the cockpit, canopy, escape hatch and steering. We wish the team well as they continue their hard work over the next few weeks. As always, it's a real pleasure to talk with Dick. The Sanders Racing Team launches a web page! You can find the new UL-136 Sanders Racing Team page at http://www.seanet.com/~mms/sanders.htm! The team plans to race in the ULRS as well as the National Modified and Grand National Hydroplane racing circuits. As you will read on their site, "the hull is currently being updated with an enclosed cockpit to conform to ULRS specifications." In the current issue of the APBA Inboard Newsletter there's a great update on the Grand National Hydroplane series. Several GNH teams are working toward joining our fleet next year including Thunder Valley Racing Inc., Hook Racing, the GNH-8 Deel Me In and Sanders Racing. Press coverage of the ULRS continues to grow! January 5 - Today, EZRacer.com picked up our press release. Check their new jet ski and powerboat racing section for all the details. EZRacer plans to carry our series results throughout the 2000 season. January 4 - We applaud the efforts of the APBA as their web coverage of our series continues to grow. They quickly picked up our recent ULRS State of the Sport Report and their new Inboard Newsletter (Winter, 1999 Vol. 10, No. 4) has just published an article on the series titled "Looking Toward 2000!" Racing West also ran with our State of the Sport report and continues to offer our series outstanding press coverage. Our latest release was a lead story on their face page and has been given a more permanent home in their news archives. Over on GoRacing.com, they too added our story within their press release section under the heading "Commish Praises Efforts of 1999 Unlimited Lights Series". We would like to take this opportunity to thank each of these great web resources for their coverage. What's new in the UL-15 Hopp Racing camp? Jerry has returned from California where he was helping out on the filming of the "Madison" movie by doing some of the driving and a lot of mechanical work on the vintage hulls used in the movie. He also used the UL-15 team truck to haul all the back-up equipment for the hydros. In the boat shop in Snohomish, WA work has started on the (3) engines that will be needed for the 2000 racing season. They are in need of a 454 c.i. Chev 4 bolt main block that can be bored out 30/1000. Contact Jerry at (360) 568-7079 if you know the whereabouts of one. Greg has been working 7/12s at Boeing during the holidays and hasn't had much time to help out yet. (Got to pile up that vacation time for the racing season). Greg doesn't have any plans yet as to what his driving responsibilities will be for the 2000 racing season. This update provided by Doug McIntosh of McIntosh Marketing Services. What's new in the UL-49 Hook Racing camp? The UL-49 crew is busy updating their boat to UL specifications. The decks and hardware are off and the new cockpit is being installed. They have just finished up a new engine and are in the process of building a second engine for the 2000 racing season. Steve is working out the details with a sponsor for a transporter for the season. They are hoping to test in April. This update provided by Doug McIntosh of McIntosh Marketing Services. What's new in the UL-72 Pocket Mechanic camp? We have taken the boat off the trailer and set it up on blocks. The Damage from the Hawaii race blow-over was not as extensive as we had feared. With the help of Mike Campbell and Dale VanWeringden we are slowly putting the ends of the two sponsons back on. We have the parts glued back on and are replacing the damaged frames at the present time. Beyond the structural repairs there are the usual mid-winter maintenance projects to accomplish. This is made all the more difficult because the boat was "towed" under by the well-meaning course boat at Hawaii. Salt water is a terrible thing when it isn't kept under the boat. I have delivered the air system, seat belts, and radio system to Al Lapoint to undergo replacement or repair. Joe has had both engines gone through by Gary Pugh. Both have been dyno-ed and appear to be ready for action. The only thing we are working on is the oil pans. We have had engine damage and increased wear ,we believe, due to the oil not returning to the dry sump tank quick enough or in good enough condition. We have tried 7 different pans on the dyno and we think they aren't deep enough. In your typical dragster the pans are 7.5 to 8 inches or even deeper. With our direct drive configuration, the pans are too shallow to allow separation from the crank. If we can get this figured out we'll try to let ,who ever will listen, know about it. (This study has not been cheap.) That's all for now. Phil Bononcini - UL-72 We thank Doug McIntosh of McIntosh Marketing Services for providing us with the update! Click here for updates from December, 1999.
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