Graham Trucking Cup at Desert Thunder II this weekend! (05-13-08)

 

Graham Trucking of Seattle, Washington, continues to be one of the most active sponsors in the sport. Howard Amon Park in Richland plays host to the Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Association’s 2nd Annual event called the Graham Trucking Cup at Desert Thunder II.  This marks the third ULHRA event this year with title Sponsorship from Graham Trucking who also will sponsor the Graham Trucking Thunder Cup in Tri-Cities WA at the end of July immediately followed by the annual Graham Trucking Cup at Seafair in Seattle in August.  Graham Trucking also sponsors a top contender, the UL15 Unlimited Light hydroplane driven by Greg Hopp. Robert Graham, President of Graham Trucking, Inc. said, “I am honored to be part of this Richland event and to help continue its success”.

 

Fifteen Unlimited Lights are expected to compete as teams battle for points to qualify for the Seattle event.  Due to pit area space limitations at Seafair only 14 UL teams will qualify for that event and the next 4 ULHRA races will determine the lineup. 

 

2007 Unlimited Lights Series Champion and Rookie of the Year Kayleigh Perkins and her UL-72 Miss Boat Electric team head into Desert Thunder II with the points lead after a perfect 5 for 5 heats in at Phoenix AZ three weeks ago.  She leads Greg Hopp in the UL-15 Pump Tech presents Graham Trucking G.T. – Happy Go Lucky by 400 points and Paul Becker in the UL-14 Miss Critical Logic by 500 points.  Each UL heat of racing includes 400 points for first, 300 for second, 225 for third, 169 for 4th, 127 for 5th and 95 points for 6th.  If fifteen UL teams enter the event there will be 3 heats of five boats each in the first two heat sections on Saturday. 

 

Both categories of Lighter-than-LIGHTS hydroplanes will also compete both Saturday and Sunday.  The 4-cylinder and 8- cylinder stock hydros are expected to total about 15 teams.  One entry, the E-25 Straitthunder.com, will see recently un-retired race hydroplane driver Mark Evans of Chelan, Washington behind the wheel, at least on Saturday.  Mark is returning to racing this year after a hiatus and healing period following a bad blow-over accident in Detroit in 2003. 

Among the Unlimited Light teams making their 2008 season debut include:

 

UL-40 King & Bunny’s driven by Brian Perkins who won with this boat at Issaquah in 2006 and picked up two heat race wins in 2007 while substituting.  Last year Perkins drove a turbine for the former U-21 team and recently was named to drive the U-50 turbine in 2008.  Brian is the older brother of UL-72 driver Kayleigh Perkins.

 

UL-98 Miss Atomic Screen Printing is the “hometown favorite” owned by Kennewick business owners Greg & Lora Walden and driven by second year Unlimited Lights driver Charles Xaudaro.  Charles is the younger brother of Vince “X-Man” Xaudaro who will compete with a “new” UL-929 this year in a joint effort with Wilmot Racing.  Vince’s hydroplane is the former UL-21 that debuted supercharged engines in UL racing back in 2001.  The Xaudaro-Wilmot team will be racing naturally aspirated engines. 

 

This weekend won’t be their season debut, but it will be a racing debut for Muncey Racing’s UL-00 Trafficade Work Zone Services.  The Muncey team, driven by Wil Muncey, is campaigning two boats this year as a single entry.  On larger race courses their “big red boat”, which is the former UL-23 Pegasus of former UL owner Bob Larimore will be entered and Richland is its first time out in Muncey red.  Last time on the water the J.W. Myers driven UL-23 qualified third at San Diego at better than 113 mph.  The “lil red boat” which the Munceys have campaigned since 2006 ran on the shorter, tighter race course at Phoenix three weeks ago and picked up first and second place finishes for a total of 700 points.

Bob Smets out of Oregon is expecting to continue his team’s improvement shown at Phoenix in the UL-20 Smetco-Overtime.  Smets will compete this weekend with a brand new 509 cubic in carburetor fed V-8 engine.  That means nearly 200 more horsepower for the Smets owned team.

 

Kip Brown, nephew of turbine team owner and retired driver Nate Brown will make his Unlimited Lights’ debut in the UL-8 Boat Trader.com, one of two “tandem wing” hydroplanes in the UL series.  Bob & Kathleen Baker acquired this hull a year ago from former owners Kevin Aylesworth and Jeffrey Johnson out of southern California.

 

The winning team at Port Angeles to end the 2007 season changed hands.  Mark Echols drove the then UL-33 for now retired owners Bob & Janet Estes to victory on the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  Now, J. Craig Fletcher’s Celtic Racing team will compete with the renumbered UL-13 with Fletcher behind the wheel entering his third season of UL racing.

 

Four-time UL race winner Michael Flaherty has changed teams and picked up his first heat victory for his new team at Phoenix.  The UL-11 Roxy 94.5 presents Power Punch Oil Lubricants is a supercharged hydroplane that was a former winner and record holder on the Grand Prix circuit.  Flaherty drove the UL-8 last season after two years with the UL-72. Team owner Darren Bartels and crew that includes Flaherty’s father John, and former UL-72 Crew Chief Scott Main have made strong strides with this program since it had an abbreviated debut at Silverdale WA last August.

 

Adding to the thunder of Desert Thunder II will be ULHRA’s Thunderboat series.  These “larger than UL” hydroplanes with more powerful supercharged engines head to Richland with R.W. Dick Lynch leading the points race with 1400 in the G-13 Jet Chevrolet.com – Tempo.  Phoenix race winner David Warren in the G-329 Block Head Machine presents My Town Motors trails just 200 points behind.  They’ll be joined by Dustin Echols in the G-17 Schucks Auto Supply and Mike Eacret in the G-24. 

 

Howard Amon Park is one of the finest sites from which to watch hydroplane racing.  The expansive grass park with plenty of shade trees is situated about 30 feet above the water line of the Columbia River and provides marvelous viewpoints across the entire front straightaway.  Vendor booths will be on hand with good eats and soft drinks. KONA Radio 610AM will provide live coverage of the race both days. ULHRA Video will web cast the event at www.ulhra.org with audio provided by KONA Radio.  Admission is free.

 

John Lynch

P.R. Director and “Voice” of ULHRA Racing.

With contributions from Debi Muncey, Muncey Marketing

 

 

 

Racing for Seattle at Richland?!!!!  (05-08-08)

 

Absolutely. 

 

Bottom Line:  If you want to race in the Unlimited Lights’ event at Seafair in Seattle, you must first race at the Unlimited Lights’ events BEFORE Seafair in Seattle. 

 

The ULHRA 2008 season continues on May 17th & 18th at Howard Amon Park in Richland WA.  Desert Thunder II is expected to attract up to 30 race teams in three Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Association series and that by itself is quite an endorsement of this second year event.  However, there’s a prize down the road that teams in the Unlimited Lights Racing Series specifically are seeking and that’s a ticket to the Graham Trucking Cup at Seafair this August.

 

Because of the growth in teams competing in the Unlimited Lights series there are far more teams with the capability and desire to race at Seattle than there is pit space available.  So, after weeks of discussion, consideration and debate, the ULHRA Board of Directors earlier this year instituted a qualifying system for the 14 available UL positions at Seafair.

 

Bonus Points were awarded to those teams that competed at the Trafficade Work Services presents the Unlimited Lights at Firebird near Phoenix AZ in late April, and at the Lake Trash.com ULHRA exhibition event at Pickwick Landing in Tennessee first weekend in May. A total of 10 UL teams have received bonus points and they have the advantage for 10 of the 14 positions available at the Graham Trucking Cup Seattle event.  The first 10 “slots” go to teams with the most participation points plus bonus points. Bonus points were offered only for the first two events of the year due to the length of travel required to participate. UL Participation Points are offered at each ULHRA race and with each consecutive race entered the number of Participation Points offered increases.  For example, the 9 UL teams that entered the Phoenix event each received 30 participation points.  If they race at Richland, they earn an additional 60 participation points.  If they miss a race then their next ULHRA sanctioned event is worth 30 points.

 

What about competition points…….those 400 first place, 300 second place, 225 third place and so on points?  Competition Points determine the series champion and the 4 remaining slots available at Seafair.  Now, as John Houseman used to say in those old Smith Barney commercials, teams that want to race at Seattle will have do things “the old fashioned way….they  eaarnnn it!”  Thus, competition for those four “competition points positions” at Seattle between the teams that did not go to Phoenix and Pickwick Landing should be very keen at the next four races. For that and many other reasons there will be an excellent field competing at Richland WA, May 17 & 18.  That’s good for the fans of hydroplane racing, and so is this:  Admission is free!  

 

In the UL season standings after one race it looks just like last season ended; Kayleigh Perkins leading Greg Hopp.  However, Paul Becker has shown he’ll be quite competitive and there are a host of other challengers looking to make an impact such as the new “rides” for Vince “X-Man” Xaudaro and Wil Muncey and the improved performance for Bob Smets who brings a bigger more powerful engine with him to Richland. Brian Perkins should be formidable. J. Craig Fletcher will have his season debut in his new entry; the former UL-33 that was driven to victory at Port Angeles last September by Mark Echols.  Plus there will be a host of other challengers; up to 15 in the Unlimited Lights’ series, alone.

 

The two day event, May 17 & 18 will be broadcast live on KONA 610AM Information Radio serving Richland, Pasco, Kennewick and the surrounding area.  Desert Thunder will also be video streamed around the world here at www.ulhra.org  

 

John Lynch

P.R. Director and “Voice” of ULHRA Racing.

 

 

GEICO hydroplane flips at Firebird Raceway but still manages to win
 
CHANDLER, Ariz. -- Talk about getting a win the hard way -- Bud McKay, from Belfair, Wash., flipped the GEICO of Lakewood Presents the Namron Racing Team's hydroplane in heat four but still managed to win the Trafficade presents Unlimited Lights at Firebird 8-Cylinder Lighter-Than-LIGHTS race April 27.
 

"The hull has a crack on the top deck, the engine cowling took a big hit and was pieced together with duct-tape and the distributor is shot, but I did have some good news," said McKay when interviewed after the flip. "I managed to save 15 percent off my insurance by calling GEICO of Lakewood, Wash., when I was being towed in."
 
At the start of heat four, McKay piloted the GEICO hull to the inside lane on the tight and dangerous Firebird one-and-a-quarter-mile track. The GEICO hull dove into the first turn after passing through the speed traps at close to 110 mph with Lake Havasu, Arizona's, Mike Schroder on his outside. McKay couldn't hold the GEICO hull through the turn and just missed hitting Schroder by a few inches before both boats were at the apex of the turn.
 
The GEICO hull rode up in the roostertail of Schroder as the boats were both heading into a 25-mph head wind. The GEICO hull then corkscrewed in the wind, hit upside down, and then landed right-side-up.
 
"I thought for sure I hit Mike," McKay said, the two-time defending 8-Cylinder LTL champion. "I had that steering wheel cranked to the left as far as she would go and I had the throttle all the way to the floor. I hoped I could spin the boat out to avoid the collision. But all of a sudden, all I saw was white from Mike's roostertail then the racecourse was where the sky was just a split second ago."
 
Ironically, the damage to the hull was minimal, and McKay with the help of Belfair's Steve Clark, and Rick and Sue Starr, from El Paso, Texas, got the boat ready for the fifth and final heat of the weekend in less than two hours.
 
As McKay came out on the course with the GEICO hull for the final heat after flipping in the previous heat, the fans in the stands erupted in a cheer. But during the warmup session for the final heat, McKay's boat went dead in the water in the middle of turn two when the distributor gave out from being wet when McKay hit the water upside down, causing the race to be stopped before it started. And since the GEICO hull had scored a class-high 1,200 points for the weekend, McKay was declared the overall winner.
 
Clark scored 400 points for the GEICO hull when he climbed in and drove to a first place finish in heat three. McKay drove to a win in heat two and got 300 valuable points with a second place finish in heat one. The Firebird race was deemed a bonus points race and each LTL team earned an extra 100 points for the race -- giving the GEICO hull 1,200 points. Schroder, with 1,000 points, finished second. Kevin Eacret, from Mukilteo, Wash., driving the GEICO of Lakewood II Presents Lil' Miss Boat Electric, took an overall third place LTL finish for the weekend.
 
 It was the first time the Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Association's LTL series was run out of the state of Washington. The next race for the LTL series is May 17-18 at "Desert Thunder II" at Howard Amon Park in Richland, Wash.

 

 

Pickwick Landing Exhibition, presented by LakeTrash.com  

 

Four teams representing ULHRA demonstrated this organization’s brand of hydroplane racing on May 3rd & 4th at Pickwick Landing State Park in Tennessee.  ULHRA’s appearance was made possible by Lake Trash.com and Lake Trash Apparel, the official apparel supplier to the Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Association. The event was the 4th annual Pickwick Challenge Powerboat Race & Festival.  This year the featured series was F1 Champ Boats based out of North Carolina and the event benefited the Carl Perkins Center for the prevention of Child Abuse.

 

Columbus Ohio’s James Deel in the UL-8 “Deel Me In” joined with the Rainbow City AL team of Wiggins Hydroplane Racing, Sadlon Racing from Vero Beach FL and Muncey Racing from Monroe WA.  The Sadlon and Muncey teams were fresh from ULHRA’s season opener the weekend before in Chandler AZ near Phoenix.

 

The Final Heat of the Pickwick Landing exhibition brought the crowd to their feet.  At the start Deel with his Unlimited Light hydroplane, and Cal Phipps driving the Wiggins Services and Supply G-10 Thunderboat were even. Muncey and Sadlon started about a half roostertail length behind.  Deel and Phipps are longtime racing friends and associates and Phipps has driven for Deel in the past.  Both put on an outstanding exhibition of Racing, ULHRA Style for the many thousands in attendance till Deel’s boat went dead in the water at the end of lap #1.  Meanwhile, Muncey and Sadlon were lurking close behind and by the end of lap two, Muncey…..inside of Phipps…….had pulled even going into turn #1.  The UL course was approximately a mile and a half in length with a modified “D” shape.  Muncey was able to challenge all the way through the D till the final turn when Phipps put the hammer down on his 572 cubic inches of supercharged engine and pulled away to nearly a roostertail length victory.  On the relatively short front straightaway, Phipps’ Thunderboat was surpassing 145 mph.

 

The weather was excellent except for a late afternoon blustery wind which the ULHRA teams dealt with successfully. The Muncey engine which was damaged at Phoenix was rebuilt with tremendous help from Contingency Awards Program sponsor Patriot Performance in Gadsden AL, along with the Wiggins Racing Team, and it ran very strongly. Phipps thrilled the crowd with passes close to the shoreline with the supercharged engine at full song.  Sadlon, driving the LakeTrash.com entry made a strong run to finish within a roostertail length of Muncey in the battle for third as the Florida based team continues to improve.

 

Last year two exhibitions were conducted by ULHRA; at Chamberlain-Oacoma SD and at Chandler AZ.  This year those two locations are full race sites on the ULHRA calendar.  Could Pickwick Landing follow in the future?  It’s certainly possible.  Working with the Champ Boat Series proved to be quite successful.  Coordination by the two organizations was excellent; ULHRA’s effort was led by Bo and Patty Darling.  Plus the combination of two distinctly different racing series proved popular with the fans.  ULHRA 3 lap heat “sprints” combined with the Champ Boat 50 lap finale on the European style Champ Boat course to provide an entertaining mix of marine motor racing. ULHRA “Voice” John Lynch was brought in to substitute for regular Champ Boat announcer Steve Michaels who was on assignment at the F1 Champ Boat World Championships in Portugal.

 

James Deel had some tough luck but when he was running, he was running with the usual “full out” effort and talent that race fans have seen from this Ohio racer for better than 4 decades.  A bent propeller shaft caused when a lifting component on the “Deel Me In” failed on Saturday, was straightened by Peden’s Prop Shop of Iuka MS, just about 5 miles from the Pickwick Landing TN race site. Deel was able to run strongly on Sunday till set back first with a failed battery, and then secondly with a broken throttle linkage.  Without those “niggling” problems Deel showed his boat remains a formidable competitor and his presence at ULHRA events is always welcome when his schedule permits.

 

The Pickwick Landing area is a strong motor boating region with Pickwick Dam created by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). An excellent Marina is found at Pickwick State Park.  The no wake zone in the Marina did prove a challenge to the UL teams but they met the challenge.  Marine Sales in Pickwick provided the official tow boats, a squadron of Cobalt Boats which towed the ULHRA hydroplanes out of the Marina to the race course.  Launching from open water rather than from a dock was a first for the hydroplane teams.

 

Next on the ULHRA calendar:  Desert Thunder II.  With up to 15 Unlimited Lights teams along with the Thunderboats series and Lighter than LIGHTS series, race fans may be enjoying 30 teams in competition at Richland WA’s Howard Amon Park.  Admission is free and the race will be held over two days, Saturday & Sunday, May 17 & 18. 

 

John Lynch

P.R. Director and “Voice” of ULHRA Racing

 

 

2008 Thunder & 'LIGHTS

 
2008 Thunder & 'Lights
$4.95 plus $2.50 shipping cost.

To receive a copy of Thunder & 'LIGHTS please mail in a check or money order to

ULHRA
12065 44th Place South
Tukwila, WA 98178

Click here for updates from April 2008