Classic Thunder 2006 Presidents Cup

2006 PRESIDENTS CUP

On June 4^th Classic Thunder held its 2006 Presidents Cup at Coulon Park in Renton, WA. We expected dicey conditions at the normally torturous body of water. We weren’t disappointed. The lumps and bumps were certainly there and, along with a formidable wind, made for some wild racing. Before the day’s end, Coulon would claim its share of victims. 13 Division 1 boats and 12 Division 2 boats would start. Unfortunately not all of them would be with us at the end. The Mark Beaty’s Lite All-Star suffered a broken strut and Dave Sacry’s Circus Circus had a speed controller fail in their first heat. In each of the first two heats of Division 2 competition, we only had one finisher. However, things got better from there. Drivers should be commenced for keeping boats off of each other and for making adjustments during the day.

Other Division 2 drivers and boats in attendance were Pat Malaspina’s Blue Blaster Atlas Van Lines, Mike Schultz’s Oh Boy! Oberto, Mike Krone’s Island Security Systems and Tony Minalia’s Holset Miss Madison. Mike Schultz driving the Griffon Budweiser won the Consolation Heat and advanced into the Final Heat as the trailer.

Pat Malaspina did a great job recording a play by play of the Division 1 Final Heat for us and here is an edited transcript of that recording. Thanks Pat.

“Here we have the Final Heat in Division 2 from a windy Coulon Park on Sunday, June 4^th. With about 20 seconds ‘til the start, the mill begins. Here comes the Brent Hall’s Bubble Bud. Pete Schille’s Miss KYYX moves up in lane one, Jeff Howard’s Elam in about lane 3, Mitch Dillard’s Trendwest is picking up the tail end along with the 72 Atlas Van Lines of John Dyer in lane 5. Rounding out the field is the Griffon Bud as the trailer. Here they come around for the start with the KYYX in lane one on the inside, Trendwest in lane 2 with the Elam and Bubble Bud battling it out just behind. Up the backstretch it’s the KYYX followed closely by the Trendwest, Elam, Bubble Bud and Atlas. At the end of lap one it is the KYYX, followed by the Elam and Trendwest, Bubble Bud and Atlas Van Lines. Elam has gone over in the front stretch! Trendwest is really pushing it up the backstretch, but the Bubble Bud is closing in. The Trendwest may have hit a buoy at the exit of turn two, but not hard enough to knock the ball off. KYYX is still in the lead at the end of lap 3, now followed closely by the Trendwest. The Atlas Van Lines is in third followed by the Bubble Bud. The Griffon Bud has gone dead in the north turn! KYYX and Trendwest continue to battle it out with KYYX holding a slight lead going into the final lap. KYYX with about a three-boat length lead going up the backstretch with the Trendwest closing in. He may be able to catch him, but can he find a way around? These boats are really flyin and OH!, the KYYX has spun out! Then OH! Mitch spun out in the Trendwest! But they’re both now back up on plane and coming around for the finish. It’s the Trendwest, lane 5 finish, followed by the KYYX. The Atlas has an extra to complete. The Bubble Bud comes around to finish lap 5 and taking third. So it’s the Trendwest, KYYX, Bubble Bud, with the Atlas in fourth place. Good race!”

Some of the competitors in Division 1 included Clint Crain’s Parco O-Ring Miss, Dave Sacry’s Short Circuit, Mike Krone’s Hurricane IV, Jeff Howard’s Miss Budweiser, John Dyer’s Great Lakes 2, Dale Schroeder’s Miss US1 and Dan Clark’s Tahoe Miss. Pat Malaspina’s Miss Thriftway advanced to the Final Heat after winning the Consolation Heat.

Dan Clark was nice enough to record a play by play of the Division 1 Final Heat for us and here is an edited transcript for your enjoyment. Thanks Dan. Excellent job.

“The boats in the Final Heat for Division 1; Mitch Dillard’s 54 Miss US, Pete Schille’s Cabover Bardahl, Dale Van Wyk’s Miss Seattle, 66 Miss US with Brent Hall driving that one and the Checkerboard Bardahl. Mark Beaty is going to be driving that one. The trailer is Pat Malaspina’s 60 Miss Thriftway. The lake conditions are as usual, windy and gusty with rollers. There’s a big black cloud coming overhead. 1:15 until the start of the Division 1 Final and all boat will be in the water to start the mill if Mitch doesn’t fall in headfirst. He successfully has now launched his boat at 1 minute. 30 seconds left now, boats are moving out into the first turn. Here we go, coming around we’ve got Mitch’s US in the front, followed by Brent’s US, Cabover Bardahl, Miss Seattle, Checkerboard Bardahl and the Thriftway as the trailer. On the second turn of the mill lap now, the boats are slowing down, they’re a little ahead and we may have somebody jump. I’m not sure we didn’t have a couple of boats over! We’re gonna have to check. Cabover Bardahl’s in the lead. Mitch’s US is coming up on the outside. Brent’s US and Dale’s Miss Seattle are fighting it out for third and then comes the Checkerboard and Thriftway. End of lap one, the Cabover Bardahl in the lead followed by the Miss US, Mitch Dillard at the controls. Miss Seattle is third, Thriftway is fourth. Some confusion down in the first turn, but here comes the end of the second lap. Cabover Bardahl still in first with the US still right on his tail. We believe we now have a dead boat. Yep, it’s Mitch Dillard’s boat, but it’s back up and running now after a blowover. He’s still in second, but the Thriftway is now charging up on him from the outside, as is the Miss Seattle. The Cabover Bardahl has a commanding quarter lap lead. We still don’t know if he jumped the gun or not, we haven’t heard. End of lap 3. Here comes Mitch Dillard and Pat’s Thriftway, who is in third at the end of the 3^rd lap, then Miss Seattle, Brent’s Miss US, then the Checkerboard up in sixth. The Cabover is now into the north turn at the exit buoy and now he’s standing on it. We’ve got the Checkerboard Bardahl moving into the infield. Cabover is now done with 4. Dillard’s still in second. Checkerboard’s back under way. Thriftway’s still in third, then Miss Seattle and the Brent’s Miss US. Here, we’re going to find out there’s a penalty on this lap. Pete’s coming around in the Cabover, throttling down a little bit. Mitch is roaring around on the outside. Cabover is the winner, there was no penalty. Nobody jumped. Mitch Dillard’s US finishes second. Thriftway is third. Brent’s Miss US crosses followed by Dale’s Miss Seattle and the Checkerboard Bardahl, who cut a buoy and has one more lap. It appears Brent’s Miss US also has run an extra penalty lap as he’s coming around again now for a finish. That means Miss Seattle finishes fourth with Brent’s US in fifth. Now the Checkerboard comes around in sixth. That’s a race! All boats started! All boats finished!”

Thanks to everyone for a great day of racing. Next up is the Mapes Mile High Race at Angle Lake Park in Seatac, WA on Sunday, June 25^th. This race will mark the halfway point of the 2006 racing season. Where has all the time gone? See you there for some more CT action. In the interim, stay tuned for more information on the Tastin and Racin display and exhibition on Saturday, June 10^th and the Biringer Farm/Strawberry Festival Pig out display we’re putting on Saturday, June 17^th. Your participation would be appreciated. Thanks.

Mitch Dillard

Classic Thunder Commissioner