PRESIDENTS CUP 2004

On May 2^nd Classic Thunder held its 2004 Presidents Cup race on Lake Pleasant in Bothell. The event was sponsored by RC-Hydos.com. We also got help from the Knights of Columbus, who provided us with the use of their parking lot and restrooms for the day. The location could not have been more perfect. Beautiful surroundings, great weather and water, a good crowd of family and friends, cool spectators, not to mention fabulous racing action and a lot of fun. We couldn’t have asked for more. The day started with a really neat flag ceremony presented by Pack 553 Cub Scout Wolf den #3. Thanks to den leader, Jim Hedges and scouts John, Alex, Josh and Andre. They did a great job presenting the colors for the National Anthem and then led us in our Pledge of Allegiance. It was a great way to start off the day. It just got better and more exciting from there.

GALE IV TOPS DIV.1 AT CT PRESIDENTS CUP!

11 boats made up a hungry group of Division 1 competitors. Before the day was over, they would all get their fill and we would have a feeding frenzy on our hands.

Pete Schille’s Mr. P’s took the first bite and won Heat 1A ahead of Chris Cootsona’s Waferers Club Lady, "Battery"Dave Sacry’s Short Circuit and Mike Krone’s Hurricane IV.

Heat 1B saw Bob VandenAkker put his Miss US 5 out front for a win followed by Dave Helton’s Miss Burien, Doug Tulip’s Checkerboard Bardahl and Gary Simpson’s Miss Exide. Bob would have his hands full racing two boats in Division 1 and acting as a backup driver in Division 2.

Mitch Dillard’s Gale IV won Heat 1C over Bob’s Notre Dame. Jeff Howard brought the Miss Budweiser home third after running an extra lap for striking a buoy.

Gale IV turned around and won Heat 2A. Miss US 5 finished second ahead of Miss Burien. Miss Exide was unable to start the heat.

Heat 2B saw Miss Budweiser redeem herself with a win over Short Circuit, Checkerboard Bardahl and Hurricane IV.

Heat 2C was won by Mr. P’s ahead of Waferers Club Lady. Notre Dame spun a coupler and was unable to start the heat.

Heat 3A was an impressive battle between Miss Budweiser and Mr. P’s. They battled closely until the very end. Mr. P’s was able to hold off the Bud and take the win. Checkerboard Bardahl was third. Miss US 5 finished fourth after being penalized for jumping the gun at the start.

Notre Dame rebounded for a win in Heat 3B over Hurricane IV, Miss Burien and Short Circuit.

Heat 3C saw the Waferers Club Lady cash in with a win over Gale IV. The heat also saw a nasty blowover of the Miss Exide in the front stretch. The boat suffered some minor damage, but should be back for more racing without too much work.

Notre Dame became the trailer in the Final Heat by defeating Short Circuit, Miss Burien and Hurricane IV in the Consolation Heat. Checkerboard Bardahl was disqualified and received a race penalty for causing a collision, which damaged the Miss Burien. Bob’s Miss US 5 had already qualified for the Final on points. After winning the Consolation, Bob chose to scratch her in favor of the Notre Dame. That moved the Notre Dame up to start the Final on the front row and moved the Consolation’s second place boat Short Circuit into the Final as the trailer. Shirley Mendleson would have been proud, Bob.

The spectators at Lake Pleasant were greeted with one of the best Final Heats of racing that this club has seen in the past ten seasons. That’s saying a lot. Mr. P’s, Gale IV, Miss Budweiser, Waferers Club Lady and Notre Dame proved to be very evenly matched. Mr. P’s and Gale IV hit the line together while Bud, Waferers Club and Notre Dame followed a fraction of a second behind. Short Circuit followed as the trailer. Gale IV led slightly up the backstretch with Mr. P’s right on her side. Bud, Waferers and the Dame were all over each other battling for third. Mr. P’s challenged and overtook the Gale entering turn 1 on lap two. Gale bobbled slightly coming out of the turn and Mr. P’s extended its lead to a few boat lengths up the backstretch. Meanwhile, just behind them the dicing continued for third, with the Bud managing to hold a slim lead over Waferers and Notre Dame. Gale IV chipped away at Mr. P’s lead and was again within striking distance at the end of lap four. Mr. P’s entered turn 1 with Gale IV threatening and slid out just a little. Gale IV managed to maneuver inside in lane one and move along side. She overtook Mr. P’s with a burst of speed up the inside and held a precarious lead up the backstretch on the final lap. Gale IV came into turn two in lane one with about a roostertail’s lead, but pushed wide on the exit. Mr. P’s grabbed the inside and made a run for the line. Gale IV carried good speed off the corner and finished strong just ahead of the challenging Mr. P’s. Close behind them was the Miss Budweiser, who was able to separate a little from Waferer’s Club and Notre Dame. Dave Sacry’s Short Circuit finished sixth from the trailer spot. Bob VandenAkker brought Notre Dame home fifth. Chris Cootsona’s Waferers Club Lady finished fourth. Jeff Howard finished a close third with Miss Budweiser. Pete Schille ran a very close second with Mr. P’s. However, the day would belong to Mitch Dillard and Gale IV after a fantastic dual that had us all on the edge of our seats. Congratulations to Mitch Dillard’s Gale IV, winner of the 2004 Classic Thunder Presidents Cup in Division 1!

PRESIDENTS CUP DUST SETTLES. COORS DRY COMES OUT ON TOP IN DIV 2!

The Division 2 competition for the Presidents Cup was full of thrills right to the end. Six boats showed up to battle for the win.

Pete Schille’s Stroh Light continued its perfect season in Heat 1A, but was challenged by a very fast Pride of Pay’n Pak driven by Craig Mullen. Craig got a bad start, but was able to get within striking distance on the final corner. However, she tatood the point buoy in turn two trying to make a difficult move for the inside lane. This was a very fast heat for the two lead boats. The Pak settled for second in this one, having lapped the third place Atlas Van Lines driven by rookie John Dyer.

Heat 1B saw Mitch Dillard’s Coors Dry outdistance Jeff Howard’s Dewalt Tools for the win. Dave Helton’s American Speedy Printing was unable to start.

Heat 2A was won by Stroh Light over the Coors Dry. Stand-in driver Bob VandenAkker rolled Craig Mullen’s Pride of Pay’n Pak in turn two and was unable to finish.

A more punctual American Speedy Printing took Heat 2B over a late starting Dewalt Tools and Atlas Van Lines.

Coors Dry took Heat 3A over the Dewalt Tools and Atlas Van Lines. This heat marked the last rookie start for driver John Dyer. Congratulations John, you’ve now qualified to start on the front line. Good job!

Heat 3B saw the previously undefeated Stroh Light bolt to the lead, only to be crippled by a slipping coupler on the second lap. She did not finish. The heat went to the Pride of Pay’n Pak with American Speedy Printing taking second.

The top five boats earned their way to the Final Heat. Craig Mullen was able to return to the lake in time to take the wheel of his Pride of Pay’n Pak. You won’t believe what happened after that.

As expected, the very fast Stroh Light and Pay’n Pak hit the start, led through the first turn and darted down the backstretch with the Coors Dry and Dewalt Tools right on their tails. American Speedy Printing followed close behind. Just as things were getting interesting, Pow! The Stroh Light tagged the backstretch buoy? I couldn’t believe it either. Stroh Light was still side by side with the Pak at the end of the straightaway with the Coors and Dewalt still breathing on them both. Then, Woosh! Over goes the Pak with a blowover at the end of the backstretch. Coors Dry took a reflex right and then broke left around the entrance buoy. Dewalt Tools wasn’t so lucky. Murphy’s law took over and dropped the Pak down right in her path. No way to avoid this one. Bam! Over the top the Dewalt went, damaging her rudder and leaving her upright, but without steering in the middle of turn two. "Dead boat" calls and instructions rang out from the unfortunate drivers. American Speedy slowed, navigated around the situation and then curiously came to a stop on the outside of turn two. Meanwhile, the Coors Dry and Stroh Light continued running. Stroh Light already had a penalty lap for hitting a buoy and completed laps without incident. American Speedy eventually got going again. Coors Dry ran well and completed the remaining 4 laps with no problems. We’re not done yet. After finishing, Coors Dry took a wide turn around the backside of the fountain in turn one to allow plenty of room for the Stroh to continue on her penalty lap. Having finished, the Coors pulled to the infield as the Stroh passed up the backstretch. The Stroh continued around the upside down Pak, but did not account for the Dewalt, who was still sitting in turn one. The Stroh was able to spot her in time to come off throttle, but coasted up on to the deck of the Dewalt. Jeff Howard’s Dewalt Tools was awarded third place, as she was the only boat left that hadn’t been disqualified from the heat. Dave Helton’s American Speedy Printing came around to finish in second place. Almost lost in all the action was Mitch Dillard’s Coors Dry, which powered to its first victory to cap off an impressive day of racing. Congratulation to Mitch Dillard’s Coors Dry, winner of the 2004 Classic Thunder Presidents Cup in Division 2!

Now this was a pretty crazy set of circumstances to keep track of. They will influence our next race, so lets reflect on what actually happened as a result of the Final Heat in Division 2. First, the Pride of Pay’n Pak blew over and caused an accident with the Dewalt. The Pak received a Race Penalty and was disqualified from the heat. She will have to make three trailer starts as a result. Next, the Stroh received a penalty for striking a called dead boat. She was disqualified from the race and will make three trailer starts too. Fortunately, the damage to the Dewalt was minimal. The damage to the Pak was a little more extensive, but Craig was confident that a little epoxy would fix her right up. The Stroh was pretty much unmarked and everyone came away from the race in good spirits. If you race long enough, these things happen. What a day of racing!

We had a great time at the Presidents Cup and everyone I spoke to during and after the race had a smile on their face and spoke of how much they were enjoying the day. The place was so relaxing that we sometimes got caught up talking to each other and taking in the scenery. Several times we had to remind each other to start the clock for the next heat of racing. I love racing there. As always, I would like to thank the members of Classic Thunder and their families and friends for being a part of it all. We would all like to thank the owner and staff at Lake Pleasant RV Park for hosting the event. Thanks again to the Knights of Columbus for their help and Andy Kunz of RC-Hydros.com for providing their sponsorship. Thanks to Cub Scout Den#3 for their flag presentation. Special thank you to Bob VandenAkker for coordinating this event. I know it was a lot of extra work for him and we all appreciate it. Oh yes, then there’s Judy. Lynda and I both thank you for the birthday balloons. All of you have chipped in and made racing in Classic Thunder a really cool experience. I hope you’re having as much fun with it as I am. Time to get the boats repaired and prepared because next up is the Harmsworth Trophy Race sponsored by Bill McGraw at Coulon Park in Renton on Sunday, May 16^th. This event will have a match-racing format where we will be racing one on one against each other all day long in Division 1. It should be wild. The format in Division 2 will be the same as we’ve been running in other races. Hope to see you all there.

Sincerely,

Mitch Dillard

Classic Thunder Commissioner