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March 2006
The season is not far away and activity
is heating up!
Spring Training, ULHRA's annual
pre-season test session returns to Kennewick WA on the Columbia
River, home of the annual race at the end of July. This year's test
session will be on Saturday, May 20th with test runs taking place
much of that day with both Unlimited Lights and Thunderboats from
our American Challenge Cup Series participating. Lighter than LIGHTS
teams also may be testing that day and the program is open to the
public. Between UL and ACCS, at least 10 teams and probably more
will be on hand.
 There will be teams debuting new drivers
this season. They include Thunder Valley Racing and title sponsor
Red Dot Corporation. 21 year old "young gun" Brian Perkins takes
over for the departed Harold Mills. This could be an interesting
combination for a reason most people don't consider. For Thunder
Valley, that organization comprised of lifelong friends and
associates have always had driver's who were their contemporaries.
Nick Badolato, the original driver, was an original member of the
ownership group. His successor, Kelly Stocklin was a longtime
member, and Harold Mills was in the same general age bracket. Now,
Perkins comes along, roughly 30 years junior to the majority of TVR
personnel. It could be an interesting mix of young & old, new blood
and grizzled veterans, and a different perspective from out of the
cockpit. The past two seasons with Mills driving, Red Dot
technology assisting in upgrading the 1989 vintage wooden GP hull,
and Chuck Dow's reliable engine package, Thunder Valley has seen the
fastest speeds ever by this hull. This year, if some off season
"hull tuning" works and the team gains a couple more miles per hour,
it should be very interesting to watch what the group calls The
Fabulous 40.  Elsewhere on this website you may have
seen the announcement that Steve Hook is stepping out of the UL-19
ride, owned by Tom Eckenberg. Hook, like Harold Mills, hasn't ruled
out a return to the series. In Mills case, now that he's retired
from his "real job", he left the 40 ride due to the personal costs
of being on the circuit while on a reduced income. In Hook's case
it's the opposite. His career has taken a big jump and he just
won't have the time. With that departure, expect plenty of driver
interest in the UL-19. That's a team, with a new hull that has a
great deal of potential. And here's a tip to those drivers
interested. Money always talks. Competing on the Unlimited Lights
series is an expensive proposition. Drivers who follow the
recommendations of many experts and develop their own sponsorships
might have a "leg up" on the UL-19 seat. That applies to any such
opportunity in a touring professional series, be it ULHRA, Inc. or
another program.
The history of Unlimited Lights
competition has been predominantly Owner-Drivers. Three time ULHRA
Champion, retired driver Phil Bononcini remains a co-owner. Jerry &
Greg Hopp, who have combined to win the last 3 championships are
co-owners. Last season 25 drivers scored points, including owners
like Vince X-Man Xaudaro, Paul Droullard, Kevin Aylesworth, Paul
Becker and Joe Turner.
Of those 25 drivers, 15 were also owners. Ultimately as this series grows and expands there will be growth in the number of drivers who are not team owners. The drivers who can acquire sponsorship that they can represent well, are the ones who will develop excellent opportunities to race here.
The owner-driver element is an outgrowth
of amateur racing from where this series evolved. In the
professional ranks, roles become more defined because they must.
Drivers represent their team and sponsors to the media and fans as
well as study, practice, coordinate with the team and drive to win.
Crew Chiefs have to direct a crew and all work done on the boat and
follow strict timelines in order to be ready to race, in addition
with communicating with the driver. Owners must coordinate with
sponsors and race officials and their team on a wide variety of
issues every race weekend and away from the race course. When all 3
jobs are combined in the same person things can get missed and that
results in opportunities lost. Those are just a few reasons why the
owner-driver-crew chief combo is hard to find in professional
motorsports and will be more difficult to find in the future here in
ULHRA. That's the natural progression of a touring professional
series.
Another natural progression will occur
in the future but is rather foreign in hydroplane racing. That is
the establishment of multi boat teams. Thunder Valley ran a 2 boat
program in 2001 and briefly in 2002 but abandoned the idea due to
costs and limited personnel. Brodie Motorsports intended to run a
two boat program this year until they discovered damage to one of
their craft that's beyond repair. Pingree Conflitti ran a two boat
program at a few events but found the same result as Thunder
Valley. While there can be cost savings by sharing various
components, it's a large undertaking and each hydroplane really
needs its own dedicated crew. Then there's the old bromide uttered
by many including the late and legendary Bernie Little. "We don't
want to compete against ourselves".
Well, in NASCAR, Jack Roush competes
against himself 5 times a weekend and has 2 of the last 3
championships to show for that effort. Rick Hendrick does that 4
times a weekend. Tony Stewart won last year as part of the 3 car Joe
Gibbs team. Yes, NASCAR is in a different financial universe
compared to ULHRA but the concept is the same. Not only do teams
share certain hardware, financial and personnel resources, they also
share certain intellectual resources such as setups for various race
courses. Multiple teams also provide their sponsors multiple
opportunities. The Title Sponsor of one team is also a major
associate sponsor of the other team(s). In many instances, business
relationships that didn't exist previously, develop between sponsors
of a multi entry team. It's an incredibly difficult chore to build
a successful Unlimited Light or Thunderboat ACCS team. However, it
can also be like millionaires say (so I've heard!) that once
you've reached millionaire status once, doing so again is easier.
This column thinks the first successful
multi-boat teams will occur from astute marketing efforts by current
or future single boat teams. What teams always need to remember is,
their title sponsorship term is finite. Bernie Little's 41 year
relationship with Budweiser is unique. In another 10 years, Kenny
Bernstein's Budweiser dragster deal could approach that record but
those two deals are so far from the norm there's nothing else
currently close.....nor is there likely to be. What that means
is teams that are always looking forward will constantly be
recruiting new team Title Sponsors. That's a means of protecting
themselves in the case of an unexpected and late departure by a
Title Sponsor. The added benefit is a team just might close a deal
while their existing sponsor is still under contract. When that
happens, there's your next multi-boat team. There is the sport of
hydroplane racing and there's also the business of hydroplane
racing. Those who are successful on the business side are the ones
you see today and will see in the future atop the standings.
  Thunderboats ACCS has commitments from 4
teams for Spring Training and a fifth team for a video appearance.
The G-13, driven by George Woods Jr. and Dick Lynch, the rebuilt
G-17 driven by Rick Bridgeman, the updated G-329 driven by David
Warren, and the brand new Michael Eacrett owned and driven, Ron
Brown modified G-24 will also be on hand.
In Alabama, the G-10 of Milton & Charley Wiggins and driven by Cal Phipps can't attend Spring Training but will be testing ahead of the May 20th date and providing video of that test. You'll be able to watch it all, live on the Internet here at www.ulhra.org
Looking ahead, ULHRA Inc will soon be
announcing a new sponsorship program that can benefit all teams in
all three of the ULHRA racing series'. That announcement is just
days, if not hours, away. Check this site for that announcement.
John Lynch
"Voice" of the Unlimited Lights,
Thunderboats ACCS and Lighter than LIGHTS.
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