10 unlimited hydroplanes to battle for the Columbia Cup this weekend

This is the week. Boat race weekend.

What has always been the Tri-Cities’ biggest sporting event, the HAPO Columbia Cup, begins Friday with qualifying and finishes Sunday afternoon with the Columbia Cup final.

In between, there will be four different classes of racing and a total of 28 boats that will hit the water.

Race director Aaron Stephens has confirmed 10 unlimited hydroplanes, another seven Grand Prix World hydros, five more 5-liter boats and, finally, six vintage boats.

Unlimited hydroplane racers

▪ The U-1 Jones Racing team, owned by Mike and Lori Jones, is back in the Tri-Cities and will try to defend its Columbia Cup title.

Andrew Tate is back to drive the boat, but crew chief Jeff Campbell isn’t supposed to be. We say that because while the team missed out on Guntersville, Campbell was in Madison to help out.

The team is expected to race both in Tri-Cities and Seattle.

So far they took second in Madison and are seventh overall.

▪ The U-3 Go3 Racing team will make its season debut in the Tri-Cities.

Owner Ed Cooper Jr. has the only piston-powered boat in the fleet, and he won’t run it unless he finds sponsorship money.

He gets that in the Tri-Cities, thanks to Charlie Grigg, who owns Grigg’s Department Store and the Ace Hardware stores in the Tri-Cities.

Once again, Grigg has spearheaded the effort to bring the U-3 to the Tri-Cities from Evansville, Ind.

Veteran Jimmy King will once again be the driver.

▪ The U-7 Spirit of Detroit, owned by Dave Bartush from Michigan, will be driven by Canadian Bert Henderson.

The team has been a pleasant surprise after the first two races, finishing on the podium both times.

So far, they took third in Guntersville, third in Madison and are third overall.

▪ The U-6 Miss HomeStreet Bank, owned by the city of Madison, Ind., and driven by standout driver Jimmy Shane.

The team is off to a great start by winning both races.

The fact that Mike and Larry Hanson are back to help the team — both former crew chiefs — makes the team so much better.

In fact, the U-6 already has a 1,081-point lead ahead of the runner-up in the national high points standings — the U-12 — after just two races.

The U-6 will be the favorite this weekend.

So far, they took first in Guntersville, first in Madison and are first overall.

▪ The U-11 J&D’s presents Reliable Diamond Tools features the family-operated team owned by Scott and Shannon Raney. Driver Tom Thompson from Maryland was let go by the Raneys last week, and replaced by Jamie Nilson.

The Raneys’ boat gets faster every year but hasn’t yet cracked the upper echelon of teams.

So far, they have taken sixth place in Guntersville, fifth place in Madison and are sixth overall.

▪ The U-12 Graham Trucking.

Team owner Rob Graham decided after missing much of the 2018 season, that he’d bring the team out for the entire 2019 circuit.

J. Michael Kelly is once again driving the boat, and for him it’s like second nature.

So far, they took second in Guntersville, fourth in Madison and second overall.

▪ The U-98 Graham Trucking American Dream. Graham’s second boat in the fleet, purchased from the Stacey Briseno estate after her tragic death last September.

Graham wanted to make sure the boat stayed in the fleet, and he’s put rookie Corey Peabody behind the wheel.

So far, they took fifth in Guntersville, sixth in Madison and are fourth overall.

▪ The U-99.9 KISW will be making its debut this week.

Owned by Brian and Greg O’Farrell, the boat has a new hull.

Brian Perkins is once again the driver.

▪ The U-440 Bucket List Racing, owned by Kelly and Sharon Stocklin, and driven by Dustin Echols.

It’s the smallest boat on the circuit at 28 feet.

Stocklin started it out as an experimental G Class automotive powered boat that was eventually converted into turbine power.

So far they have taken fourth place in Guntersville, seventh in Madison and are fifth overall.

▪ The U-1918 Oberto just tested on Lake Washington last Thursday in Seattle.

Larry Oberto, the son of Art Oberto, struck a deal with the Miss Madison team to run its backup boat at both the Tri-Cities and a week later in Seattle.

It’s a good boat too, winning a number of races and national high-points titles.

It also adds to the boat count.

Jeff Bernard will be the driver, although Columbia Cup race director Aaron Stephens said Bernard has been out of the unlimited circuit long enough that he’ll have to requalify as a driver this coming weekend on the Columbia River.

Hydro racing details

• Here is the H1 Unlimited schedule for the coming weekend: Qualifying on Friday starts at 1:30 p.m.; heat races on Saturday are set for 1:50 p.m., 2:15, 4:20, and 4:45.

Sunday’s schedule has more preliminary heats are 10:55 a.m., 11:20, 2:25 p.m., and 2:50.

The final is set for 4:30 p.m.

The Water Follies organization pays more money to H1 to use the Gold Cup format, which adds that fourth set of preliminary heat races.

• Stephens said the six vintage boats are broken up into categories.

“We have three picklefork boats in the 1977 U-00 Atlas Van Lines, the 1982 U-00 Atlas, and the 1973 U-25 Pay N’ Pak,” said Stephens. “Then we have three shovel-nose boats, with the 1957 U-77 Miss Wahoo, the 1962 Miss Bardahl, and the 1957 U-80 Blue Chip.”

• Fans can get an up close look at a number of unlimiteds and Grand Prix boats Wednesday, July 24, at the Columbia Center Mall parking lot.

Hydros on the Mall returns from 4-7 p.m. Admission is free.

Along with the boats this year, people can see a classic car and motorcycle exhibition, featuring Mid-Columbia Mopars, PNW Mustangs Club and the Rattlesnake Mountain HOG Chapter from 5-7 p.m.

This year’s event also includes kids face painting, Columbia Center mall retailers sponsoring a runway with games and activities, and a food court with food and refreshments from food trucks and restaurants.

A beer garden also is planned.

Race fans are encouraged to stop by the mall tent and register to win weekend passes to the races.

The next day, the teams will enter the Lampson pits to get set up for the weekend.

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This is the team to beat at this weekend’s Columbia Cup races — and some teams that can

Three weeks ago, Jimmy Shane pulled off the rarest of feats when he had a perfect weekend in Madison, Ind.

The 33-year-old driver of the U-6 Miss HomeStreet was top qualifier, won all four of his preliminary heat races, then took the American Power Boat Association Gold Cup final victory for his 19th career H1 Unlimited hydroplane title.

“I’ve had probably five perfect weekends in my (unlimited) career,” said Shane. “It’s extremely hard. Even during Guntersville, I made a driving mistake in a heat race, and I jumped the gun. Having a perfect weekend is one of those things you just can’t take for granted.”

Shane, the Miss Madison Racing team, and the citizens of Madison, Ind. – who own the U-6 boat – are taking nothing for granted this season.

“We’ve had a little bit different start to the season compared to last year,” admitted Shane.

And even after victories in the first two races of the season – Guntersville, Ala., and Madison – Shane knows that anything can happen as the H1 fleet comes to the Tri-Cities this weekend for the HAPO Columbia Cup

All he has to do is look at last season, which was the first time in five seasons he and his team did not win the national high-points title. And it was the first time Shane himself hadn’t won the national title: He won it in 2013 with the U-5 Graham Trucking team, and from 2014-17 with the Madison team.

The 2018 problems began when then-crew chief Dan Hoover died of suicide in February.

That obviously devastated the Madison team members, and it set everything back. The team had to be reconfigured, some with new or different assignments.

The plan to unveil a new hull, which Hoover was spearheading, was pushed back to mid-season in the Tri-Cities – not always the best time to do that.

But things looked hopeful after the first two races.

After a close loss to Andrew Tate in the U-9 Jones Racing team in Alabama in the final – by mere feet – Shane bounced back to win the hometown race in Madison.

A tough 2018

Yet everything fell apart in the Tri-Cities, as Shane and the team were disqualified in a few heats, thanks to problematic turbines.

“Last year was a culmination of a lot of things: Dan, a new team, a new boat. There was a lot going on,” said Shane. “And we had a couple of engines last year that were very troublesome. They were very fast, but they cost us points.”

Bad enough that the HomeStreet team was all but eliminated from repeating as season champs after the Tri-Cities race, even with three races left in the season.

Coming into the Columbia Cup last season, Tate and the U-9 had 3,200 points, while Shane and the HomeStreet were at 2,760.

After Tri-Cities (in which Tate won, snapping Shane’s Columbia Cup win streak at four), Tate led Shane 5,280 to 3,360.

It was over. Tate just needed to finish the remaining races, which he did.

Since last season, though, the HomeStreet team has stepped things up.

“There is more focus and drive to what the team’s goals are,” said Shane. “Last year, we got stretched thin. But now, we definitely are coming to be prepared for each race as we’ve ever been. And we’re taking it one race at each time. That means qualifying, then the preliminary heats, and then the final.”

New leadership

Last year’s crew chief, Cindy Shirley, stepped down from the position in April, citing expanding professional responsibilities in her full-time position as director of the Office of Research for the University of Washington Bothell.

Since then, the Madison team has looked to two former crew chiefs, brothers Mike and Larry Hanson, to lead the team.

The team has never officially named Mike Hanson as crew chief, although he is listed on the team website as such.

“But Mike has definitely taken on that role with the team,” said Shane. “We’re a team. It’s a just a title.”

And so far, so good.

It helps HomeStreet’s cause that the Jones Racing team and driver Tate – now with the U-1 designation for being defending champion — could not make it to Guntersville for the opener, thanks to no available sponsorship money.

But Shane and the HomeStreet team have already compiled 4,025 season points.

J. Michael Kelly and the U-12 Graham Trucking are in second with 2,944 points. That’s 1,081 behind the leader.

Tough competition

Still, Shane takes nothing for granted.

“The U-1 definitely showed their strength in the final heat in Madison,” said Shane. “If we were not inside of Andrew at the start of the race we probably wouldn’t have won.”

And now the fleet adds three more teams this weekend to try to take down Shane: the U-3 Grigg’s presents Miss Ace Hardware and driver Jimmy King; the U-99.9 Darrell Strong presents Payne West Insurance (a new hull making its debut) with driver Brian Perkins; and the U-1918 Oberto Super Salami (the Madison team backup boat) and driver Jeff Bernard.

“It’s a great sign to see 10 boats in the pits,” said Shane. “It’ll be a rocking weekend.”

It’ll be fast too.

Tri-Cities hydro venue has long been compared to the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. It’s one of the fastest tracks in NASCAR.

“Tri-Cities is an amazing course, with the current, the size of the course, and the speed,” said Shane.

It also has one of the tougher turns in the H1 circuit.

“That turn 1, the water just collects there with the boat wakes,” Shane said. “Every time I go in there I cringe.”

Shane admits the Roostertail turn in Detroit is the roughest turn in the circuit. But Tri-Cities’ Turn 1 is next. However, with Detroit not hosting an unlimited race this year, Tri-Cities gets the top nod.

“On the other hand, turns 3 and 4 (the west end of the course) in Tri-Cities are the best turns in the H1 circuit,” Shane said.

The HomeStreet team will be coming into this weekend full of confidence.

“What makes me happy is seeing our team achieve our goals. And I mean all of our goals,” Shane said. “Work well together. Having fun. Enjoying the races. And winning makes it very easy. One thing we have is resources to throw at the boat, such as gearboxes, propellers, engines.”

Shane believes those resources will get him, HomeStreet Bank, the Madison race team, and the city of Madison back on top again.

“Our mission is to win the title again,” he said. “It definitely is a year of redemption.”

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Blistering showdown set for 54th Columbia Cup


KENNEWICK, Wash. (July 24, 2019) –Ten H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Series teams will take to the Columbia River for the 54th annual Columbia Cup sponsored by HAPO in Tri-Cities, Washington. The fast waters of the 2-1/2 mile racecourse, one of the longest and fastest courses on the summer circuit is shaping up to be the most competitive race of the season.

Last year’s winner and first time winner of the HAPO Columbia Cup race, Andrew Tate (Walled Lake, Mich.), driving the National Champion U-1 “Delta/RealTrac”, will defend the HAPO Columbia Cup against Jimmy Shane (Maple Valley, Wash.) in the U-6 “Miss HomeStreet”, winner of the first two races of the season.

The 29-year-old Tate, the youngest driver in the field, missed the season opener and placed a disappointing fifth at the Madison Regatta’s Gold Cup trophy race at the beginning of the month. Tate was unavailable for comment.

In the past seven years, Shane has won the HAPO Columbia Cup race five times. Shane, now in his eleventh year driving an H1 Unlimited hydroplane, is having a notably different season than 2018 where he stumbled at several races, ending the year with one victory and losing the National Championship to Tate.

“This is refreshing after last year’s season where we were behind the eight-ball at this point,” Shane said. “This is about as good as it gets coming into this race; we won the first two races and set two course records with our new boat. The Miss HomeStreet team couldn’t have had a better start to the season.”

Shane said he is “looking forward to coming to Hydro Town” for another exciting weekend of racing in the H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Series. Shane who has 4025 series points coming into this weekend’s boat race leads the field. He has a 1,081 point lead over his closest competitor, J. Michael Kelly (Bonney Lake, Wash.), driver of the Milton, Washington based U-12 “Graham Trucking” hydroplane.

Kelly and his team have had two strong races prior to this weekend. In Guntersville, Alabama’s Southern Cup race in June, he placed second behind Shane and finished third in the Madison Regatta’s APBA Gold Cup trophy race in Madison, Indiana.

Kelly acknowledges he needs to score valuable points to stay in the hunt for the title of National Champion, which ends in September after the San Diego Bayfair race. “We are in the hole right now and need to gain some ground in points,” Kelly said. He added that he and his team “have had good success” on the Columbia River racecourse in the past.

His first H1 Unlimited hydroplane race was here in the Tri-Cities in 2004 where he finished third. He has also placed second numerous times here. He said, “We could use a win, our team has been working hard since our last race and we would like to see it pay off with a win here.”

Kelly said the race will pose different challenges with the expected warm weather and the large field expected to churn up the race water but said, “we have a good set-up and this boat really likes this race course.”

Sure to keep pressure on Kelly will be a newcomer to this race and the only Canadian driver, Bert Henderson (Brockville, Ontario, Canada), in the U-7 “Boitano Homes.” Henderson, who until this season had only raced his boat on the Detroit River, is only trailing Kelly by 325 points. “I am super pumped. I can’t wait to be on the big 2-1/2 mile racecourse in Hydro Town, USA,” he said. “We are more prepared now than we were at the first two races. Our team has made some changes and we are prepared for the very competitive field,” Henderson said.

Another unexpected challenger this season has been 40-year-old rookie driver, Corey Peabody (Kent, Wash.), driver of the second entry of owner Rob Graham (Mercer Island, Wash.). Peabody is a childhood neighbor of Kelly, now his teammate, drives the U-98 “Graham Trucking American Dream” and sits fourth in high points.

In the off-season, Rob Graham purchased the aging race boat that was built and raced by the late Fred Leland. As a tribute to Leland, Graham duplicated the spirit of his early H1 Unlimited hydroplane sponsorship with Leland by duplicating the race boat’s livery. Graham first sponsored a hydroplane in 1996 and became an owner three years ago.

Fans will be watching closely the U-11 “J&D’s presented by Reliable Diamond Tool” after the team made a rare mid-season driver change. Jamie Nilsen (Gig Harbor, Wash.) last drove an H1 Unlimited hydroplane here at the Columbia Cup in 2014 on board the U-21 “Lakeridge Paving.” Last week Nilsen was named the Unlimited Racing Group team’s new driver. Nilsen who has been driving in the Grand Prix World hydroplane class of hydroplanes the past few seasons replaces Tom Thompson (Cambridge, Maryland).

According to the rule book, Nilsen will have to re-qualify as a H1 Unlimited driver since he has sat out of the series for more than two years. A former professional baseball player and Central Washington University graduate, Nilsen will be required to make 15 laps on the 2-1/2 mile course, with ten of those laps over 130 m.p.h. and start a minimum two preliminary heat races on the outside. “Our team’s goals are to get me re-qualified and to get comfortable in the race boat,” Nilsen said. “We will slowly increase our performance as we go and despite having to re-qualify as a driver we will find a way to get in the final at Tri-Cities.”

This year, the U-440 “Bucket List Racing” team driven by Dustin Echols (Monroe, Wash.) have found speeds the boat previously had not achieved but have been a little beaten up as a result of those faster speeds. The faster speeds have caused increased stress on some of the mechanical parts causing some mechanical issues but the team has made the necessary fixes and has assured their fans they have the bright orange boat on the right track.

An unknown in the race will be Brian Perkins (North Bend, Wash.) in the brand new U-99.9 “Darrell Strong presents PayneWest Insurance.” Although Perkins is a veteran driver, he will be behind the wheel of boat that will be christened on Friday after ten years in development. The team sat out the first two races in order to prepare for the boat’s first race.

Also joining the fleet for their first race of the season is Jeff Bernard (Kent, Wash.) in the U-1918 “Oberto Super Salami.” Bernard’s hull is the former “Miss HomeStreet” and along with Shane’s boat, is operated by the Miss Madison Racing team owned by the City of Madison, Indiana.

Finally, the sport’s only WWII powered piston-powered hydroplane, U-3 “Griggs presents Ace Hardware” is sure to make a loud presence at the race with what is expected to be their only race of the season. Jimmy King (Memphis, Mich.), the oldest driver in the field at age 55-years-old is scheduled to drive.

Qualifying begins for the 54th annual HAPO Columbia Cup race on Friday, July 26, 2019 at 1:30 pm (PDT) followed by preliminary heats races on Saturday, July 27 and Sunday July 28. The winner-take-all HAPO Columbia Cup final race is scheduled for Sunday at 4:20 pm. Tickets can be purchased at WaterFollies.com.

H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Series National High Points (prior to Columbia Cup)

1. U-6 “Miss HomeStreet” Jimmy Shane 4,025 points
2. U-12 “Graham Trucking” J. Michael Kelly 2,944
3. U-7 “Boitano Homes” Bert Henderson 2,619
4. U-98 “Graham Trucking American Dream” Corey Peabody 1,949
5. U-440 “Bucket List Racing” Dustin Echols 1,863
6. U-11 “J&D’s presented by Reliable Diamond Tool” Jamie Nilsen* 1,834
7. U-1 “Delta/RealTrac” Andrew Tate 1,447
* points earned by Tom Thompson

SCHEDULE:
Friday, July 26, 2019
8:00 AM Park Opens
8:00 AM to 9:00 AM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Testing
9:45 AM to 10:45 AM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Testing
11:00 AM to 1:00 PM HAPO Over the River Air Show
1:30 PM to 3:35 PM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Qualifying
5:00 PM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Dash for Cash Race

Saturday July 27, 2019
8:00 AM Park Opens
9:45 AM to 11:00 AM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Testing
1:45 PM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Preliminary Heat 1A
2:10 PM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Preliminary Heat 1B
4:15 PM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Preliminary Heat 2A
4:40 PM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Preliminary Heat 2B

Sunday, July 28, 2019
7:00 AM Park Opens
8:00 AM-9:00 AM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Testing
10:25 AM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Preliminary Heat 3A
10:50 AM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Preliminary Heat 3B
2:20 PM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Preliminary Heat 4A
2:45 PM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Preliminary Heat 4B
4:25 PM H1 Unlimited Hydroplane HAPO Cup winner-take-all final
4:55 PM Top Three Drivers Photo Opportunity

H1 Unlimited hydroplanes are the fastest racing boats. With deep history, the 116 year-old sport ‘s majority of hydroplanes are powered by turbine-engines that produce 3,000 horsepower, allowing the H1 Unlimited hydroplanes to reach speeds of nearly 200 mph, producing a massive 60-foot tall, 300-foot long wall of water called a roostertail behind them. With very few restrictions, these majestic Hydroplanes race in front of shorelines and riverfronts packed with fans on bodies of water throughout the United States. For additional information on the 2019 H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Series, visit the Series’ web site at www.H1Unlimited.com or download our H1 Unlimited app at your app store.

2019 H1 UNLIMITED HYDROPLANE RACING SERIES SCHEDULE
June 22-24 • Guntersville HydroFest • Guntersville, Ala. • Winner Jimmy Shane/ U-6 “Miss HomeStreet”
July 5-7 • Madison Regatta • Madison, Ind. • Winner Jimmy Shane/ U-6 “Miss HomeStreet”
July 26-28 • HAPO Columbia Cup• Kennewick, Wash. • Columbia River
August 2-4 • HomeStreet Bank Cup • Seattle • Lake Washington
September 13-15 • HomeStreet Bank BayFair • San Diego • Mission Bay

http://www.h1unlimited.com/2019/07/b...-columbia-cup/

Miss HomeStreet driver Jimmy Shane stays hot, qualifies fastest at Columbia Cup

Jimmy Shane and the U-6 Miss HomeStreet Bank team showed the rest of the HAPO Columbia Cup field Friday that they had better bring their best this weekend if they plan to win this race.

Shane went out in qualifying Friday and hit a 161-plus mph qualifying lap – pretty impressive considering the afternoon heat isn’t conducive to fast speeds, nor was the sticky water of the Columbia River.

That easily put Shane at least 3 mph faster than Andrew Tate and the U-1 Delta/Realtrac, which finished second at 158.233 mph.

“We always want to go as fast as we can in qualifying,” said Shane. “We’ll go out again. We’ve got to learn some stuff out there.”


No one is sure if anything was learned later in the day, but Shane did move up his qualifying speed to 163.573 mph.

And he did it despite the wonky water, which is usually smooth when one boat is on the river qualifying.

“The water looks nice from the shoreline,” said Shane. “But there were some weird rollers out there. I don’t know if the current is down or what. But the water is really awkward out there.”

Tate, who won the Columbia Cup last year as well as the national high-points championship, agreed on the weird water situation.

“Wonky is a good word,” said Tate. “HomeStreet is obviously running real well. But we’re all playing on the same golf course.”

J. Michael Kelly drove the U-12 Graham Trucking to the third-fastest qualifying speed, with a 155.881 mph top lap.

“It’s all right,” Kelly said. “It could’ve been faster. With the water, though, we had some sponson-to-sponson walking, which is hard on the speed.”

Altogether, nine of the 10 boats entered qualified for the weekend’s racing.

After the top three, the remaining qualifiers were:

• The U-11 Reliable Diamond Tool presents J&D Hydraulics and driver Jamie Nilsen at 154.588;

• The U-1918 Oberto Super Salami and driver Jeff Bernard at 152.021;

• The U-3 Grigg’s presents Miss Ace Hardware and driver Jimmy King at 148.079;

• The U-440 Bucket List Racing and driver Dustin Echols at 146.129;

• The U-98 Graham Trucking American Dream and driver Corey Peabody at 132.139;

• And the the U-7 Spirit of Detroit/Boitano Homes and driver Bert Henderson, who finished with the minimum of 130 mph after multiple fuel flow violations.

Only one race team failed to get out on the water for qualifying, and that was the U-99.9 Darrell Strong presents PayneWest Insurance and driver Brian Perkins.

Perkins had taken the brand-new hull out in testing on Friday morning, but coming back to the pits, the escape hatch underneath the boat opened and then was ripped off by the river water.

It was somewhere near the Lampson Pits dock, and divers were at the ready Friday evening to search for it after the race course was closed.

“The boat ran fine once we got going,” said team owner Greg O’Farrell. “It’s the just not being prepared thing. I own a paving contracting business with 100 employees and over 1,000 pieces of equipment. This boat was race-ready by Wednesday.”

But the team also ruined a gearbox in testing before the escape hatch incident occurred.

“That hatch has been off over 100 times and it fit,” said O’Farrell, who sent his son back to Seattle on a plane to get a backup that – alas, would not fit the new boat.

“I was so upset about it earlier today that I was thinking about going to get our backup boat,” said O’Farrell.

Instead, he’ll hope the divers can find it in the river Friday night.

With the first two sets of heats scheduled for Saturday, teams now get into game plan mode, trying to figure out strategy for the weekend.

“For us, it’s get back to basics again,” said Kelly. “I kind of have to find a way to the inside lane to beat the faster boats. Although in 2017 I won from the outside, so it can be done.”

For Tate, it’s forgetting about trying to repeat as national champions – especially after missing the season opener in Guntersville, Ala.

“I think we’re obviously out of the points race right now,” Tate said. “But we’re racing for wins. Here in the Tri-Cities, in Seattle and San Diego. That’s our goal.”

Oberto team looks good

Jeff Bernard drove the U-1918 Oberto Super Salami boat to a fast lap of 159-plus in the first round of the qualifying ladder on Friday.

Considering the veteran just got back into the boat last week in a test session on Lake Washington, that opened some eyes in the pits.

However, in his third lap, Bernard said the boat had a fuel-flow violation – which disqualified the whole outing.

No matter. Bernard went back out about 30 minutes later and got the boat qualified.

“The boat is perfect,” said Bernard. “We’ve been working our way up to this point.”

Lest anyone forget, the hull is the backup boat of the U-6 Miss HomeStreet Bank.

Owned by the city of Madison, Ind., and managed by Charlie Grooms, the boat and team are back in the H1 Unlimited circuit because Grooms wanted another boat in the fleet.

He approached Larry Oberto of the Seattle-based Oberto family, who agreed to come on board to sponsor the team and boat for the season’s final three races here in the Tri-Cities, next week in Seattle and in San Diego in September.

Oberto was excited.

“We’ve reunited the old Madison boat,” he said. “We’ve reunited one of the best partnerships there has been in the sport.”

This is fact. This hull, teamed with the Madison crew and either drivers Jimmy Shane or Steve David, won four consecutive national championships from 2013 to 2017.

U-3 team has a better weekend start

Ed Cooper’s piston-powered U-3 Grigg’s presents Miss Ace Hardware spent the first day of qualifying in the Tri-Cities in 2018 by hurting two engines.

On Friday, this time around, that didn’t happen.

“We ran this morning, then changed a propeller,” said Cooper. “We ran it a second time in testing. Then we changed a propeller this afternoon before qualifying and we were 4 to 5 mph faster than the second run.”

Jimmy King qualified at 148.079 mph. Then the team set the boat back on the trailer and was done for the day.

“Last year, we hurt two engines,” said Cooper. “Today was a great day. We ran one motor. At the end of the day, the engine is in great shape.”

U-11’s Nilsen gets off to great start

Jamie Nilsen got the call to drive the U-11 Reliable Diamond Tools presents J&D Hydraulics last week when team owners Scott and Shannon Raney made the decision to change drivers, letting Tom Thompson go.

Nilsen impressed the Raneys with a fourth-best qualifying speed of 154.588 mph. He also completed enough laps to become a qualified unlimited driver.

“It’s a good start,” said Scott Raney. “I told him, ‘Go learn what the boat’s about.’ We’re on a crawl, walk, run plan. We’re going to continue to make the boat better for him.”

Nilsen knows there is work ahead.

“We’ve got a big learning curve,” admitted Nilsen, who has driven an unlimited before and still drives a smaller Grand Prix West boat. “Unlimiteds are totally different animals than limiteds. It’s the difference between driving a freight train and a sports car.”

Saturday’s schedule

This is always subject to change, but Saturday’s schedule has Heat 1A set for 1:50 p.m., with Heat 1B at 2:15 p.m.

Heat 2A is set for 4:20 p.m., while Heat 2B is scheduled for 4:45 p.m.

There will be numerous Grand Prix West, 5 Litre, and Vintage boat races throughout the day also.

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J. Michael Kelly takes Columbia Cup win over Tate, Shane in Tri-Cities final

KENNEWICK, Wash. (July 28, 2019) –J. Michael Kelly from Bonney Lake, Wash., drove his U-12 “Graham Trucking” unlimited hydroplane to victory in the Columbia Cup after holding off his nearest competitor, Andrew Tate from Walled Lake, Mich., in the U-1 “Delta/Real Track” for five laps on the Columbia River’s 2-1/2 mile race course on Sunday.

Prior to the start, Kelly had to settle for lane two after Jeff Bernard from Kent, Wash., in the U-1981 “Oberto Super Salami,” grabbed lane one.

But that didn’t fluster Kelly and he went deck-to-deck with Tate for several laps after the start until Kelly began to slightly pull way from Tate by several boat lengths.

“I felt comfortable in lane two,” Kelly said. “The start was close. I gave the gas an extra burp and it got me a little too close (to the starting line). But we got through that lane 2 clean.”

Bernard fell back by a quarter of a lap, but had to fend off Bert Henderson in the U-7 “Boitano Homes.” Jimmy Shane slipped into fifth with his U-6 “Miss HomeStreet” hydroplane.

Brian Perkins in the U-99.9 “Darrell Strong presents PayneWest Insurance” dropped back with Corey Peabody in the U-98 “Graham Trucking American Dream.”

Kelly and Tate continued their battle as Tate tried hard to keep it close. At the end of five laps, Kelly won by several boat lengths.

“We’ve been struggling,” said Kelly after the win. “We have a good boat, but we were unable to get over that hump. We’ve just been throwing stuff at that boat all weekend. And whatever our guys (crew) have put in there it just gets faster. And I have to tell you, this is some of the most fun I’ve ever had racing this weekend.”

“It’s really hard to pass anyone in unlimited hydroplane racing,” Tate admitted.

A second challenge developed for third and fourth, as fifth-place position driver Shane began closing ground on Bernard and Henderson. By the last lap, Shane passed Henderson and as he closed in on the finish line, had passed Bernard by only a few feet, ending the race in third.

“I just got washed down in that first turn,” said Shane. “But I was back too far on the start. I thought maybe those guys were early to the start, but I was off on my timing starts. All weekend long I was hitting my timing marks. And then I’m off the final. And that first turn got really ugly.”

The final order of the 54th annual HAPO Columbia Cup had Kelly the winner, in the U-12 “Graham Trucking,” second place went to Tate in the U-1 “Delta/RealTrac,” and third was Shane in the U-6 “Miss HomeStreet.”

Bernard had to settle for fourth in the U-1918 “Oberto Super Salami.” The field was rounded off with Henderson in the U-7 “Boitano Homes” in fifth, Perkins in the U-99.9 “PayneWest Insurance” was sixth, and last place was Peabody in the U-98 “Graham Trucking American Dream.”

Pure and simple, Tate said, “J. Michael just nailed that start.”

Heat 3A:
Jamie Nilsen, in the U-11 “J&D’s presents Reliable Diamond Tool”, turned right after heading out on the course before the race and shut things down for a DNS. Shane, in the U-6 and starting in lane 2, hit the first turn ahead of Tate and the U-1 in lane 1. Shane came out ahead on the Pasco side of the river and was never threatened for the victory. Tate pushed Shane for about a half lap before settling into second.
Brian Perkins in the U-99.9 sat in fourth for much of the race. But on the final lap, he passed Bert Henderson in the U-7 to place third. Henderson wound up fourth.

Heat 3B:
Lot happening in this race. First, Dustin Echols had to shut his U-440 “Bucket List Racing” hydro down during the pre-race milling period, collecting a DNS. Then, Kelly in the U-12 crossed the starting line too soon and was assessed a 1-minute penalty. That gave Jimmy King in the U-3 “Miss Ace Hardware” a chance for a first-place finish. And he would have had it, but on the final lap the boat threw a propeller and did some serious damage to the boat. Instead, King got a DNF and the team had to withdraw from the race. That gave Bernard in the U-1918 the heat-win. Peabody in the U-98 finished second, while Kelly ended up in third.

Heat 4A:
Shane won again in the U-6, but he had to overtake Kelly in the U-12 on the first lap. Kelly had made it into the first turn and came out ahead of the pack. But after Shane took the lead, he built a four-boat length lead by the third lap. Kelly finished second, while Tate – who stayed out of the fray from the start – was third in the U-1. Bernard, driving the U-1918, placed fourth, while Nilsen finished fifth in the U-11.

Heat 4B:
Just a three-boat race, as both the U-3 and the U-440 withdrew from the race after their third-round heat races. Henderson had this one from the get-go, getting to the first turn ahead of the field and out again in the U-7. Perkins in the U-99.9 finished second, while Peabody was third in the U-98.

54th Annual HAPO Columbia Cup Final

1st – U-12 “Graham Trucking,” J. Michael Kelly, Maple Valley, Washington, 149.546 mph
2nd – U-1 “Delta/RealTrac,” Andrew Tate, Walled Lake, Michigan, 147.526 mph
3rd – U-6 “Miss HomeStreet,” Jimmy Shane, Maple Valley, Washington, 138.856 mph
4th – U-1918 “Oberto Super Salami,” Jeff Bernard, Kent, Washington, 138.436 mpg
5th – U-7 “Boitano Homes,” Bert Henderson, Brockville, Ontario, 137.880 mph
6th – U-99.9 “PayneWest Insurance,” Brian Perkins, North Bend, Washington, 128.335 mph
7th – U-98 “Graham Trucking American Dream,” Corey Peabody, Kent, Washington, 125.488 mph

Fastest Lap: Lap three, “Graham Trucking,” 151.739 mph

Preliminary Heat 3A Results:

1st – U-6 “Miss HomeStreet,” Jimmy Shane, Maple Valley, Wash., 148.384 mph
2nd – U-1 “Delta/RealTrac,” Andrew Tate, Walled Lake, Mich., 144.591 mph
3rd – U-99.9 “Darrell Strong presents PayneWest Insurance,” Brian Perkins, N. Bend, Wash. 140.600 mph
4th – U-7 “Boitano Homes,” Bert Henderson, Rockville, Ontario Canada, 139.622 mph
DNS U-11 “J&D’s Reliable Diamond Tool,” Jamie Nilsen, Gig Harbor, Wash.

Fastest Lap: Lap 2, “Miss HomeStreet,” 153.762 mph

Preliminary Heat 3B Results:

1st – U-1918 “Oberto Super Salami,” Jeff Bernard, Kent, Wash., 142.054 mph
2nd – U-98 “Graham Trucking American Dream,” Corey Peabody, Kent, Wash., 121.456 mph
3rd – U-12 “Graham Trucking,” J. Michael Kelly, Bonney Lake, Wash., 121.340 mph *
DNF U-3 “Griggs presents Miss Ace Hardware,” Jimmy King, Michigan
DNS U-440 “Bucket List Racing,” Dustin Echols, Monroe, Wash.

* Jumped the start, one minute penalty
Fastest Lap: “Graham Trucking,” lap one, 153.762 mph

Preliminary Heat 4A Results:

1st – U-6 “Miss HomeStreet,” Jimmy Shane, 151.154 mph
2nd – U-12 “Graham Trucking,” J. Michael Kelly, 148.680 mph
3rd – U-1 “Delta/RealTrac,” Andrew Tate, 141.427 mph
4th – U-1918 “Oberto Super Salami,” Jeff Bernard, 137.812 mph
5th – U-11 “J&D’s,” Jamie Nilsen, 126.990 mph

Fastest Lap: Lap two, “Miss HomeStreet” 152.785 mph

Preliminary Heat 4B Results:

1st – U-7 “Boitano Homes,” Bert Henderson, 143.040 mph
2nd – U-99.9 “PayneWest Insurance,” Brian Perkins, 137.059 mph
3rd – U-98 “Graham Trucking American Dream,” Corey Peabody, 129.644 mph

Fastest Lap: Lap two, “Boitano Homes,” 144.411 mph