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Lynch Line July 2007
There was a time when the Stan Sayers Pit Area in Seattle was the model for other race sites. Time does march on and as happens with facilities as they age, be they pit areas, race tracks or athletic stadiums, situations and circumstances can change as well. In Seattle what once a spacious facility is now extremely tight, as a result of diversification in the pit facilities, and growth in the respective racing series'.  In
Seattle, the Stan Sayers Pit area is much different than it
was in 1961 when a score of Unlimited hydroplanes were there
to race. Then, it was strictly pit area and boat ramp and
finger piers. Today the City of Seattle's Parks Dept has
added facilities including a pair of rowing houses to expand
the usage of that property throughout the year. As a result
space for hydroplanes has been reduced while the number of
entries has increased. It may feel like "Sardine City" but
the teams will make it work. The entries at Seafair's
Chevrolet Cup and the Graham Trucking Unlimited Lights Cup
are at record levels. It's possible that between ULHRA and
ABRA there could be as many as 35 racing hydroplanes in the
pits on August 3, 4 & 5 so, with less space and more boats
the key question is, can they all fit in there? Answer?
They will find a way. Why so many teams? It's Seattle! Seafair and ULHRA have been working closely to achieve maximum results from reduced space. The Powerboats NW Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Series will have 14 entries, plus the new North American Challenge Cup Series for Thunderboats (G) and Grand Prix hydroplanes will have 6 entries. Imagine; 20 ULHRA teams, and still there are more that will be left out because "there's no more room at the Inn". You don't have to imagine. That's the way it is this year. Because of the space limitations ULHRA decided that the Top 14 teams by points would qualify for the Graham Trucking Unlimited Lights Cup. Many teams made the trek east to Valleyfield (Montreal) Quebec in order to be in the Seattle field. Three teams attempted to gain enough points to get into the Top 14 for the Seattle race (they did not succeed) and two other teams went to maintain their place in the Top 14 (they did succeed). With so many teams based in the Seattle vicinity this race always has a good turnout. Combine that fact with the explosive growth of the UL series the past couple of years and the debut of the NACCS program, the fleet has expanded beyond the capacity of the Sayers Pit Area. Thus the top 14 teams in UL points are in the field. Yes, points do matter.  Greg
Hopp has two wins on the season with the UL-1 Graham
Trucking G-T / Happy Go Lucky, and Patrick Haworth won his
home town race at Valleyfield, near Montreal in the UL-72
Miss Boat Electric. Several other teams are certainly
capable of a win. Michael Flaherty, who won at Seattle last
year now drives the UL-8 Boat Trader.com presents Baker
Equipment and that team keeps improving. Another team on an
upward swing is the brand new Ron Jones Jr. built Schucks
Auto Supply UL-17 driven by Dustin Echols. The winner at
Seattle in 2003, Cal Phipps, returns to Seattle now driving
the UL-40 King & Bunny's Appliances. Ryan Mallow in the
UL-19 Five Star Racing Team picked up two wins in 2006 and
is certainly capable of standing atop the podium in
Seattle.  Certainly
a lot of attention will be paid to 19 year old Kayleigh
Perkins. With 4 preliminary heat victories so far in the
UL-72 Miss Boat Electric Ms Perkins has shown she belongs in
Unlimited Lights racing after graduating from the "Lighter
than LIGHTS" series for limited inboard hydroplanes. Dustin
Echols' father Mark Echols drives the UL-33 Miss Graham
Trucking. After losing their #1 engine at Spring Training
this team has shown they are improved from a year ago. Now
with their #1 engine back on board a win at Seattle for the
Bob & Janet Estes owned team is certainly achievable. This
is the boat that Cal Phipps drove to victory in Seattle in
2003. Look
who leads the Driver's standings for the first time in his
career; none other than the "X-Man". Vince Xaudaro and his
First Tech Credit Union presents Microsoft Office Project
2007 is off to his best start ever and this team is a real
threat to win at Seattle. Xaudaro has one career win, at
Evansville in 2005. Paul Becker gets better each time out in
the UL-14 Compuware's Miss Critical Logic and that boat has
won in Seattle previously, 1999 with Randy Haas driving.
The successful "living on the edge" award, if we had one, would go to Oregon's Bob Smets and his UL-20 Smetco Overtime. Business responsibilities kept Smets at his Oregon company instead of racing in eastern Canada. With only 525 points on the season it appeared Smets was in jeopardy of losing his #14 position in the points and not racing at Seattle. But, despite three teams throwing everything they had to take his slot, Smets retains position 14 and his first ever entry at the Graham Trucking Unlimited Lights Cup. One of the more successful elements of the 2007 ULHRA racing season began as one of the most controversial; the new starting line procedure. For those not aware of the change made last January here's a brief summation. In order to improve the competitiveness of naturally aspirated (carburetor) engine teams vs the supercharged teams, when both types are drawn into the same heat, supercharged engine teams must start in lanes outside the carburetor teams. Plus, the "blower teams" must hold their starting line lane for one complete lap. In addition, the score-up buoy was moved. This is the spot where teams set their starting lane, before the start. Traditionally this has been done on the backstretch. Now the ULHRA teams "score-up" at the starting line then complete one lap to the Start. Depending on the size of the course the score-up timing mark can be set by the referee at 1:00 minute or 1:15 or longer which keeps teams running at a representative speed and not falling off-plane. As a result UL heats have been more competitive from start to finish this year, providing a more entertaining program for race fans. The difference was demonstrated in stark contract at the recent Regates de Valleyfield. While the Unlimited Lights ran their new starting procedure, the NACCS teams started in the traditional method with a 30 second "score-up" on the backstretch. Some may believe that "trolling" up the backstretch off-plane is OK for 5 Liter and smaller boats. Good or bad it is a rather common practice in the smaller classes, but it doesn't work for 27 foot, 4,000 pound, 16 hundred horsepower racecraft. At Seattle, both the UL's and the NACCS teams will start with the ULHRA protocol. Ahead of the Seattle race are a couple events that ULHRA will be participating. Since the 20 teams racing at Seafair were not invited to compete at Tri Cities, several ULHRA teams will be in the Seafair Torchlight Parade on Friday night July 27th in Downtown Seattle, including the two teams sponsored by Graham Trucking. In addition, the public is invited to the second annual Hydro Mania, Tuesday July 31st at the Seattle Center where a number of ULHRA teams will be on display. Thursday August 2nd is "move-in" day at the Stan Sayers Pits and the ULHRA teams will be on the water early Friday morning, August 3rd. Seattle has always been the busiest weekend for yours truly. This year in order to continue to build upon our live webcast program I've elected to drop out of a great radio show and crew. Joining Steve Montgomery, Ron Jones Sr., Brad Luce and Mark Allen the past few years on Seattle's AM1090 has been a personal highlight. Those four will continue, and Michael McDonnal from KONA Radio in Tri Cities WA has been brought in to take my place. You'll still hear my race calls but Michael will handle the pit reporting duties and will do an excellent job. Meanwhile I'll be working with webmaster and technical guru of ULHRA's live webcast, Ed Nelson, to give you more updates on this site of the racing at Seattle in addition to the live webcasts. Enjoy Seattle's Seafair weekend from anywhere in the world, right here.  Looking
ahead, the race at Silverdale will be conducted two weeks
after Seattle on August 18th & 19th. Due to the tide tables
those days racing will be earlier in the day, concluding
around 3pm both days. One thing that will be a benefit to
race fans is an increased access to the teams at
Silverdale. Upon the conclusion of each race day, fans will
be allowed into the pit area to view the hydroplanes and
meet the teams up close. Silverdale, which is situated
across Elliott Bay from Seattle in Kitsap County provides
excellent viewpoints of the race site and the racing each
year has been excellent. So, note on your calendar that
racing doesn't end at the Graham Trucking Unlimited Lights
Cup. See you in Silverdale in mid August, then San Diego in
mid September, and "where champions are crowned" in Port
Angeles WA at the end of September.John Lynch P.R. Director and "Voice" of ULHRA Racing
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