Detroit 2000 Full Event Coverage

Sunday in the pits

Chrysler Jeep Unlimited Lights Final
Team Driver Sponsor/Name Speed (mph) Remarks
UL-72 Phil Bononcini Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic not available
UL-110 Randy Haas Miss CompAir not available
UL-15 Jerry Hopp Happy Go Lucky not available
UL-141 Greg Grenier Authorized Cellular not available
 
Due to the UL-10 flip, speeds were unavailable for the final.

A look back on Sunday's full coverage

5:39 PM update...

Here are your results for the Dave Czerwinski Memorial Heat from earlier this afternoon:

1st ... GP-7 Casino de Montreal with Gene Theoret driving
2nd ... GP-59 Baby Doll with Mario Maraldo driving
DNF ... GP-55 First Automotive with Ken Brodie driving

3:30 PM update...

An update on Charley Wiggins...
Charley walked onto the rescue boat under is own power.  He was then evaluated by the trauma unit and released.  He has a bruised right hand.  It is doubtful that he will drive in the Chrysler-Jeep APBA Gold Cup.

3:04 PM update...

The Dave Czerwinski Memorial Heat is underway at this time.

Unlimited Lights Final...
Going into the start, the UL-72 Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic was in first.  The UL-110 and UL-10 dueled for second up until Charley's flip (he is fine ... see the 2:50 update for details).  We are coming up on the next Unlimited heat here in about seven minutes so here is the quick order of finish...

1st ... UL-72 Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic
2nd ... UL-110 Miss CompAir
3rd ... UL-15 Happy Go Lucky
4th ... UL-141 Authorized Cellular

The Unlimited Lights Final was one for the record books.  Enough laps had been run for it to count before the incident.  Jerry Hopp will now drive the U-6 Miss Madison in the Gold Cup for Charley.

2:50 PM update...

The Unlimited Light heat ran so close to Unlimited 3B that I remained in the pits to cover both at once.  The UL-10 did flip during the heat, but I want to immediately explain that Charley Wiggins is fine.  The UL-10 Earl's Performance Products was running in second place behind the UL-72 Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic charging toward the lead going into the first turn when the UL-10 cart wheeled, did a full 360 and landed right side up.  Charley's brother-in-law Mitch Moore immediately heard from him over the radio and Charley was up and out of the boat just moments later.  He is currently in the middle of the river on a rescue boat sitting up talking with medical personnel.  Let me again stress that Charley is fine.  I will return with the full results momentarily.

1:35 PM update...

The storm broke up before it made it to us and we are back on the clock! 

1:00 PM update...

We are on an indefinite hold at this time.

12:46 PM update...

The UHRA patrol boats have been pulled back in.  We've heard that there is some nasty weather headed our way and they are clearing the river.

12:30 PM update...

Nothing new to report.  The autograph session has ended and the drivers have made their way back to the pits.  Fans are enjoying photos with the boats and drivers as the teams relax and everyone is taking a wait and see attitude toward the afternoon.

11:59 AM update...

That noon evaluation of the course has taken place and, regrettably, things look a bit worse.  We are now on an additional one hour delay and there will be another course evaluation at 1:00 PM.  

Be sure to stop by Madison, Indiana's WORX 96.7.  Jeff Ayler, Tim Torrance and the entire WORX crew are doing an on-line radio show covering today's event.  Jeff Ayler just called in to the media room here in Detroit and is hoping to line-up a few driver interviews later today.

Current wind speed here on the course... 19 mph.  The vintage boats are out again keeping a show on the water.

11:31 AM update...

The race committee is on the move to see if they can't get the Playboy/Cigarette boat out onto the water.  

11:10 AM update...

We are under a delay.  The drivers are on their way to sign autographs.  The delay is in effect until further notice and the situation will reevaluated at 12:00 PM.

10:29 AM update...

During a morning driver's meeting, the Unlimited Lights have been told to remain within fifteen minutes of "ready to run".  We may be forced to only run a final today.

The 5-Liters have been out on the water.  No word yet on how the schedule for the morning will be adjusted based on course conditions.

7:53 AM update...

Conditions are rough on the course.  No rain at this point, but the wind is up.

Here's your draw for the Unlimited Light Heat 2A & 2B...

Unlimited Light Heat 2A: 
UL-23 Bertolini Construction
UL-110 Miss CompAir
UL-10 Earl's Performance Products
UL-102 McGregor/Edward E. Jones
GP-55 First Automotive

Unlimited Light Heat 2B: 
UL-141 Authorized Cellular
UL-72 Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic
UL-15 Happy Go Lucky
UL-6 Andiamo-Showtime Racing *
GP-7 Casino de Montreal
GP-59 Baby Doll

* The UL-6 withdrew overnight with engine problems following yesterday's race.

Saturday in the pits

Chrysler Jeep APBA Gold Cup Unlimited Light Heat 1A
Team Driver Sponsor/Name Speed (mph) Remarks
UL-10 Charley Wiggins Earl's Performance Products 90.912
GP-55 Ken Brodie First Automotive 87.773
UL-23 JW Myers Bertolini Construction 85.212
UL-15 Jerry Hopp Happy Go Lucky N/A
UL-6 Patrick Sankuer Jag Helicopter DNF

Chrysler Jeep APBA Gold Cup Unlimited Light Heat 1B
Team Driver Sponsor/Name Speed (mph) Remarks
GP-7 Gene Theoret Casino de Montreal 93.261
GP-59 Mario Maraldo Baby Doll 85.172
UL-72 Phil Bononcini Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic 81.990
UL-102 Scott McGregor McGregor/Edward E. Jones 78.679
UL-141 Greg Grenier Authorized Cellular 73.456
UL-110 Randy Haas Miss CompAir DNF

A look back on Saturday's full coverage

12:27 PM update...
Here are your results from Unlimited Light Heat 1B...
The Automotive Gold Cup winning UL-72 Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic started slow and looked to be well positioned for the launch of the race, but the boat was beat to the gun as the race got underway.  The UL-110 Miss CompAir went down prior to the finish.  In the end both the UL-102 and the UL-72 also went down but they did managed to finish.  Both boats appeared to lose power during the heat.  It appears several hulls on the Belle Isle side are getting weeds in the intake and overheating during the race. 

Final order of finish...
1st ... GP-7 Casino de Montreal
2nd ... GP-59  Baby Doll
3rd ... UL-72  Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic
4th ... UL-102  McGregor/Edward E. Jones
5th ... UL-141 Authorized Cellular
DNS ... UL-110  Miss CompAir

12:10 PM update...

Here are your results from Unlimited Light Heat 1A...
This time out it was a good start for the Lights as Charley Wiggins in the UL-10 Earl's Performance Products charged out to the lead racing close to JW Myers in the UL-23 Bertolini Construction with the GP-55  First Automotive running a close third.  Trailing behind the leaders came the UL-6  Jag Helicopter and the UL-15  Happy-Go-Lucky.

Final order of finish...
1st ... UL-10 Earl's Performance Products
2nd ... GP-55 First Automotive
3rd ... UL-23 Bertolini Construction 
4th ... UL-15 Happy-Go-Lucky
DNF ... UL-6 Jag Helicopter

The UL-6 went down in lane six late in the race

9:42 AM update...

Here's the draw for Unlimited Lights Heat 1A and 1B:

Heat 1A:
UL-15  Happy-Go-Lucky
UL-6  Jag Helicopter
UL-10  Earl's Performance Products
UL-23  Bertolini Construction
GP-55  First Automotive

Heat 1B:
UL-110  Miss CompAir
UL-102  McGregor/Edward E. Jones
UL-141  Authorized Cellular
UL-72  Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic
GP-7  Casino de Montreal
GP-59  Baby Doll 

Friday in the pits

Unlimited Lights Results:
HYDRO-PROP Chrysler Jeep APBA Automotive Gold Cup
Team Driver Sponsor/Name Speed (mph) Remarks
UL-72 Phil Bononcini Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic 80.605
UL-15 Jerry Hopp Happy-Go-Lucky 73.713
UL-141 Greg Grenier Authorized Cellular 70.118
UL-10 Charley Wiggins Earl's Performance Products 87.143
UL-110 Randy Haas Miss CompAir DNF
UL-102 Scott McGregor McGregor/Edward E. Jones DSQ
UL-23 JW Myers Bertolini Construction DNS
UL-6 Patrick Sankuer Andiamo-Showtime Racing DNS

A look back on Friday's full coverage

11:53 update...

We have a bit of additional information to share on the Automotive Gold Cup...
As we reported earlier, the UL-72 Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic took the win earlier today, but there are a few other stories to tell from the race.

The UL-72 started back from the pack and actually trailed the UL-141 for the first two laps of the race.  As the UL-72 worked to catch Greg Grenier in the UL-141 Authorized Cellular, the UL-141 made a hard left turn and powered back into the turn it had just exited.  What happened?  The hull missed a buoy and had to go back and catch it to avoid penalty.  Be the time the boat made it back into the race, Greg found himself trailing the UL-15 and taking home a third at the end.

The UL-102 was out on the course, but was off the pace and didn't make it to the start/finish time in the required 30 seconds.  As such they were disqualified.  A herd break for Scott McGregor and the UL-102 team.  

Did you know that the UL-102 is Charley Wiggins former High Pressure hull?  Scott acquired the hull from the Wiggins family to race with the fleet last year.

Here are some lap speeds from the race...

UL-72 Pocket Mechanic 74.133 88.152 82.288 79.121
UL-15 Happy-Go-Lucky 72.642 75.448 71.150 75.820
UL-141 Authorized Cellular 84.867 81.964 50.795 74.762
UL-10 Earl's Performance Products 92.549 95.248 84.776 85.806
UL-110 Miss CompAir 96.701 95.089   ---   ---

7:06 PM update...

We will return with photos and some additional wrap-up on the day's action this evening!

6:30 PM update...

Here is you full final order of finish,
1st ... UL-72 Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic driven by Phil Bononcini
2nd ... UL-2 Happy-Go-Lucky driven by Jerry Hopp
3rd ... UL-141 Miss Authrized Cellular driven by Greg Grenier
4th ... UL-10 Earl's Performance Products driven by Charley Wiggins
DSQ ... UL-102 McGregor/Edward E. Jones driven by Scott McGregor
DNF ... UL-110 Miss CompAir driven by Randy Haas
DNS ... UL-6 Andiamo-Showtime Racing driven by Patrick Sankuer
DNS ... UL-23 Bertolini Construction driven by JW Myers

The UL-23 did make it away from the dock, but was not able to make the start.

5:32 PM update...

Here is your order of finish for this year's Chrysler Jeep Automotive APBA Gold Cup!  The UL-72 Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic takes the win.  It was Charley Wiggins in the UL-10 Earl's Performance Products and Randy Haas in the UL-110 Miss CompAir at the start with a solid deck-to-deck fight.  Phil Bononcini and the UL-72 was back off the lead.  This worked to his advantage as both the UL-10 and the UL-110 jumped the gun and were penalized a lap.  Shortly after the announcement of the penalty, the UL-110 Miss CompAir blew an engine and went down in the water.

Your final order of finish,
1st ... UL-72 Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic driven by Phil Bononcini
2nd ... UL-2 Happy-Go-Lucky driven by Jerry Hopp
3rd ... UL-141 Miss Authrized Cellular driven by Greg Grenier
4th ... UL-10 Earl's Performance Products driven by Charley Wiggins

4:57 PM update...

The Automotive Gold Cup has been pushed back five minutes and will run at 5:20 PM.

3:42 PM update...

At 5:15 PM we are scheduled to run the Chrysler Jeep Automotive Gold Cup.

3:30 PM update...

Both the UL-10 Earl's Performance Products and the UL-15 Happy-Go-Lucky have had some testing time on the water.

3:12 PM update...

JW Myers in the UL-23 Bertolini Construction took to the water. 

Team Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Lap 5
UL-23 Bertolini Construction 86.522 92.119 87.474 90.514 89.584

2:33 PM update...

Patrick Sankuer's UL-6 Andiamo/Showtime has joined us this afternoon increasing the Unlimited Light hull count to eight.  Patrick's team hails from Chesterfield, Michigan.

The Unlimited Light Driver's meeting just took place.  The meeting itself was brief and somber.  A newscast running in the background mentioned the tragic wreck in NASCAR this afternoon that cost the life of diver Kenny Irwin.  The announcement had a clear impact on everyone in the room.  We send our thoughts and prayers to the Irwin family and friends.

11:57 AM update...

Here are some times for the UL-72 Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic...

Team Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Lap 5
UL-72 Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic 74.221 74.119 97.997 94.300 77.573

11:54 AM update...

The UL-72 Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic is out testing/qualifying at this time.

11:07 AM update...

Here's a list of the Lights that are with us so far this weekend...
UL-10 Earl's Preformance Products - Charley Wiggins
UL-15 Happy-Go-Lucky - Jerry Hopp
UL-23 Bertolini Construction - JW Myers
UL-72 Budweiser/Pocket Mechanic - Phil Bononcini
UL-102 McGregor/Edward E. Jones - Scott McGregor
UL-110 Miss CompAir - Randy Haas
UL-141 Authorized Cellular - Greg Grenier

Thursday in the pits!

11:18 PM update...

In terms of the Unlimited Lights, we are expecting about ten hulls here this weekend.  The UL-141 Authorized Cellular, the UL-15 Graham Trucking and the UL-110 Miss CompAir were here throughout the afternoon.  The UL-110 is parked on Bell Isle.  As we were calling it a day, the repaired UL-23 Team Pegasus pulled into the pits.  Scott McGregor and Charley Wiggins were here this afternoon and the UL-10 Earl's Performance Products and the UL-102 McGregor Propulsion hulls are on the way.  We know that Phil Bononcini and the UL-72 Pocket Mechanic is headed this way as well.  We'll keep you updated as the hulls continue to arrive tomorrow morning.