3:13 PM, 7/15/01 The
Unlimited Light Final!
It was an interesting final to say the least. Fans were treated to close competition and solid sponson to sponson entertainment. Five penalties were accessed during the race The UL-21, UL-72 and UL-110 jumped the gun at the start. The UL-929 was penalized for bearing out. The UL-14 was penalized for changing lanes. The UL-72 made it into the final thanks to the help of Charley/Milt Wiggins and the UL-10 team. They were short a heavily damaged front canard wing. Wiggins had one and the two teams began traveling toward each other, one from Detorit and the other from Gadsden, Alabama. They met in Kentucky and the UL-72 team made the run back to Detroit. A quick bit of inter-team teamwork saved the day. 5:12 PM, 7/14/01 Your line-up for the final! UL-15, UL-21, UL-38,
UL-72, UL-929, UL-14, UL-110, UL-23 4:49 PM, 7/14/01 Points following today's racing!
3:00 PM, 7/14/01
Unlimited Lights Heat 2B
Unlimited Lights Heat 2A
1:54 PM, 7/14/01 Here's your draw for
Heats 2A and 2B: Heat 2B will be the "Race for Taste" heat! 1:30 PM, 7/14/01
Unlimited Lights Heat 1B
1:15 PM, 7/14/01
Unlimited Lights Heat 1A
5:45 PM, 7/13/01
Unlimited Light Automotive Gold Cup Results
Dave Bender took hold of this race and took home this year's Automotive Gold Cup in a great show of Unlimited Light firepower. Excitement wasn't limited to the running of the race either. Phil Bononcini's UL-72 Pocket Mechanic/Budweiser appeared to be washed down just prior to the start then ran into engine trouble as he found himself unable to restart. While Phil was encountering problems, he UL-23 Emerald Ballroom scrambled to get into position to join the race, but was unable to start by the one minute gun. The UL-110 Miss CompAir missed a buoy and sustained a bit of damage going through the wake of a passing UL. It was a good day for the "Restaurant Boats" as this mini fleet within a fleet finished first, second, fourth and fifth. The first place boat of Dave Bender has looked solid and remains a contender for the national high points. He's second in points going into the weekend, suffered from a broken skidfin in Valleyfield and proved once again that he's here to race this weekend. Our second place finisher is a new addition to this year's fleet. It's a Detroit based boat and looked solid at the recent Niagara race. Dave Bartush's boat looks equally solid this weekend. Jerry Hopp, Bill and Happy Rands and the UL-15 Happy Go Lucky team will return to the winner's podium for the second year in a row. Sponsored throughout the season by Freddie's Club Casinos, this team won at Tastin' n Racin'. The former Alamo hull is still looking great in competition! 12:05 PM, 7/13/01 Running in today's Automotive Gold Cup are the UL-72, the UL-110, the UL-15, the UL-38, the UL-21, the UL-13, the UL-929 and the UL-23. The UL-102 will be the first alternate for the race. 11:15 AM, 7/13/01 Here's a quick rundown of your top qualifiers this morning...
NM-55 is racing by invitation and will not score points or position based on qualification. 10:30 AM, 7/13/01 They say pictures are worth a thousand words. Here's about 9,000 words...
We're going to make our way to Bell Isle, but have been unable to get over so far. Look for photos from "the other Lights pits" later today. Talking with Bob Larimore, "We are sponsored here
in Detroit by the Emerald Ballroom. The vinyl looks terrific and we will be featured in the
Automotive Gold Cup as well as the Restaurant race on Saturday. Everything is
looking good and we are proud to have them onboard. They took Zak and
JDub out to dinner last night. They are a nightclub and feature touring groups
in concert on Thursdays, seating 1500 people. Sounds neat!" 3:45 PM, 7/12/01
Scenes from around the Light pits include... 11:33 AM, 7/12/01 We haven't made it over to the island (aka Bell Isle) this morning, but here are a few photos of the UL's we've spotted on the mainland... 11:04 AM, 7/12/01 - Schedule for the weekend!
9:14 AM, 7/12/01 Mark Burkhardt ... UL-13 Beach
Grill Yesterday, this select group of boats met with "the Vinyl Guy" who put together the look for these seven Restaurant boats. These Unlimited Lights are sponsored and themed after local restaurants for the weekend. It's a great new promotion put together for the UL's this year. The seven boats will run their heats together while the rest of the fleet makes up alternate flights. The eight boat final will run as usual by points earned in heats. The Automotive Gold Cup, a stand alone event, will be run at 5:00 PM, Friday afternoon. The five boats with the highest points from last year are automatically seeded and Jim Garza will choose the other three boats. This is a great promotion the Detroit organizers are setting up for us and we hope to see the concept expanded in 2002! Competition between the restaurants as part of this promotion is expected to be fierce.
Providing you coverage for Detroit - Chuck
Moore |
