2007 George Stratton Memorial

The Commish Does It Again!

Double Division Wins!

You couldn’t ask for a better day at Coulon Park to kick off the 2007 season. 30 boats in all showed up for the George Stratton Memorial and it was a day of thrills and spills. Congratulations to our Commissioner Mitch Dillard, as he won both Division 1 and 2 with his brand new Slo Mo IV and always hard running Trendwest. We need to somehow stop Mitch’s season opening ritual of working on a boat ‘til 4:00 in the morning before its first race, because all he does is win with this formula! This race showed that there are a lot of great races ahead in the season with a lot of great running boats and drivers.  

Division 2 highlights:

No such thing as an “easy draw” in Div 2, this class is going to be crazy fast all season! Mark Beatty showed us why he will be a force to be reckoned with, as his beautiful Beacon Plumbing grabbed two 1^st place finishes ( and a third after shaking the Circus Circus off its back! ). Pete Schille’s new Winston Eagle (lobster boat) took two 1^st place and a third, even without its tails! Brent  Hall’s Bubble Budweiser also grabbed a 1^st and two 2^nd’s loosing his tail in 3C. Mitch Dillards’s Trendwest was having a great day with three podium finishes, as was Jeff Howard’s new Appian Jeronimo with three podiums also.

Five boats advanced to the Final from the prelims, all within 60 points of each other! They were the Beacon Plumbing of Mark Beatty’s, Pete’s Winston Eagle, Mitch’s Trendwest, Brent’s Bubble Bud, and Jeff Howard’s Appian Jeronimo. Mike Krone’s Design 360 won the consolation heat and became the sixth boat. It was a great start as all the boats entered the first turn packed together. In mid turn the Appian Jeronimo disappeared, going completely underwater with only the tips of her tails showing! But she popped up fast and joined the pack. Mitch had the Trendwest flying and out in front with the Winston and Beacon Plumbing fighting for second and the Appian, Bubble Bud, and Design 360 giving chase. By the third lap, the Trendwest was still holding first with the charging Appian second, Winston Eagle and Beacon battling for third and Design 360 holding off Bubble Bud. On the final lap it was Trendwest with the victory, Appian second, Winston Eagle third, the Design 360 took forth, getting by the Beacon Plumbing who hooked in the final turn.  The Beacon took fifth, and the Bubble Bud was sixth. Congrats to Mitch, Jeff, and Pete for their 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place finishes in the Division II George Stratton Memorial Final!

Division 1 highlights:

We witnessed the first time a gearbox has been used in our club, as Mike Krone ran his Dutchman in Div1 with a stock 700SC motor through his homemade “Kroney” turbo trans gearbox and won heat 1-A! Dale Schroeder had a great day with the Value Mart posting two 1^st place and a 2^nd place in his preliminary heats, great job Dale! Veteran pilot Bob VandenAkker was showing his stuff with a couple 1^st’s and a 2^nd  place with his always hard to beat Notre Dame. The battle of the day was in heat 2A, between Dale VanWyk’s Miss Seattle and Mitch Dillard’s new Slo Mo IV as they went at it deck to deck for three laps before the Miss Seattle unfortunately caught air and stuffed a sponson in a violent barrel roll. Miss Seattle was fine though, as she went on to win heat 3B in her usual fashion.

The Div 1 final featured Bob and his Notre Dame, Dale Schroeder and Value Mart, Mitch and Slo Mo IV, Pete Schille and the Pizza Pete, Mike and his Dutchman, and Dave Sacry with his new Mariner Too. It was a clean start, with the boats together, but going into the first turn the leading Notre Dame stuffed in the corner.  She took on more water than she could handle and had to pull to the infield. The Slo-Mo came out on the back straight  with the lead with the Dutchman in second and Pizza Pete third, Value Mart and Mariner Too following. The Value Mart ended its stellar day airborn and upside down while the Dutchman, looking at a podium finish, was struck by bad luck as her gearbox loosened on her last lap and ended its day.  Mitch and Slo Mo would not be denied as she held and pulled from the pack unrivaled. The Pizza Pete was able to hold off a charging Mariner Too for second place. Congrats to Mitch, Pete, and Dave for their 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd place finishes in the Division 1 George Stratton Memorial Final!

Special thanks to Pete Schille Motorsport Art for providing the beautiful George Stratton Memorial art work that was given as prizes, and to everyone who showed up to make this a great event! See ya at the Diamond Cup on May 6th!

Jeff Howard