Post
rac e review! Cal
Phipps and the UL10 Parker Paint Presents The Unlimited Light Final in Seattle! Topping last year’s Seafair Unlimited Lights Final Heat would be tough to do, but the eight boats that qualified for today’s Final may have done just that. A great eight wide start was made by the teams, with Kevin Aylesworth in the UL-5 on the inside. Next to him was Dave Bender in the UL-38, then Paul Becker in the UL-14. Cal Phipps in the UL-10 would lead going into the first turn, but coming out it was Dave Bender in the UL-38. This being Bender’s last race, he was certainly the sentimental favorite among many. From the start to the finish, it would be Dave Bender and Cal Phipps battling for the front spot with Kevin Aylesworth and Phil Bononcini fighting for third. Eight boats would enter the race and a full field of eight would take the checkered flag. At the line, it was a sight to see as the UL-38 and the UL-10 were side-by-side not five feet apart. The two gave it their all as Phipps would get light crossing the line and Bender would begin to lose power. Phipps would overtake Bender at the very end of the race for the win. Your order of finish... 1st - UL10 Parker Paint Presents Grand Central
Casino Saturday,
2:15 PM - Unlimited Lights
Heat 2B 1st - UL15 Issaquah Pit Stop and Big O Tires of Issaquah Present
Mike’s Hard Lemonade * Penalized one lap for bearing out during turn one of the first lap. Saturday,
1:00 PM - Unlimited Lights
Heat 2A 1st - UL38
Golden Nugget Casino/Security Race Products Saturday, 1:00 PM - Photo Update!
Saturday, 12:30 PM - Draws for Heat 2A and Heat 2B Heat 2A Heat 2B The UL58 SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and UL40 Front Page 2003 have withdrawn due to damage. Saturday, 11:00 AM - Unlimited Lights
Heat 1B 1st - UL-10 Parker Paint Presents Grand Central Casino
(Cal Phipps) Saturday, 11:00 AM - Unlimited Lights
Heat 1A 1st - UL-72 Graham Trucking
(Phil Bononcini) Saturday, 10:30 AM Update...
While we hold... UL929 Microsoft Office Project
- 94.588 Here's a rundown of the final qualification speeds... 1st - UL-15 Issaquah Pit Stop and Big O Tires of Issaquah Present
Mike’s Hard Lemonade - 114.952 Today we have no clock starts. The lights will be started by a pace boat that will watch the fleet to ensure a line start. Saturday, 10:00 AM - Draws for Heat 1A and Heat 1B Heat 1A Heat 1B Friday, Evening Update...
What's an 1/8 inch worth? Jerry Hopp, owner-driver of the UL15 Issaquah Pit Stop / Big "O" Tires of Issaquah Present Mike's Hard Lemonade, found out directly. The boat leading the ULHRA points standings set the fastest qualifying speed in the lone Friday session for the Unlimited Lights. The speed was 111.789 on lap 1. Nearing the end of lap 2, Hopp's ride went dead in the water. The cause: a snapped propeller shaft. So what's this about an eighth of an inch? That may have contributed to the shaft failure. Many of the teams are now running propeller shafts with a 1 3/8 inch diameter. Hopp Racing has been working to convert the UL15 to a 1 3/8" shaft. But today, they were running their standard 1 1/4" shaft, and it failed. That sent a portion of the shaft, and propeller valued at several thousand dollars to the 160 foot depth of Lake Washington. This will force the UL15 team to convert to 1 3/8" just to make the race on Saturday. Assistance from the Wiggins Racing UL10 team may make it possible for Jerry Hopp to try to defend his 2002 Seattle title. Second on the qualifying ladder is the UL5 Hilton Garden Inn Presents Baker Equipment of Renton. Kevin Aylesworth drove the supercharged Ron Jones tandem wing hull to a speed of 110.474 mph. This is the quickest lap this hull has reached. It was assembled by former owner-driver Howie Labrie of Tacoma WA. Last season the UL5 first appeared at Seattle in what the team admitted was a shakedown cruise. This weekend the Aylesworth led Freedom Racing Team hopes for a shake-up cruise....as in shake up the competition. The big 1 2/3 mile course seems to agree with this supercharged 26 foot Unlimited Light which already surprised the UL fleet with a second place finish on the tight 1 mile course at Valleyfield, Quebec on July 6th. Third fastest was Detroit's Cal Phipps in the Alabama based Wiggins Racing UL10 Parker Paint Presents Miss Grand Central Casino. His speed was 106.144 mph. But later in the session, Phipps turned a test lap a just a tick over 111 mph. Fourth & Fifth fastest were almost a tie with two drivers that have raced deck to deck in this series since it began in 1995. The two are UL72 Graham Trucking driver Phil Bononcini, and UL38 Golden Nugget Casino Presented by Security Race Products driver Dave Bender. The UL38 owner-driver has announced he'll end his 26 years of hydroplane racing this weekend at Seattle. If Bender can go out a winner, he'll wind up with 5 victories in Unlimited Lights competition. His 2002 campaign was his best overall in the series. While he was winless last season, Bender finished 2nd in the driver's standings. Bender qualified at 104.448 mph and Bononcini was slightly quicker at 104.958. Bononcini's teammate, George Woods, driving the UL51 Security Race Products toured the course at 102.506 with an admitted under performing engine. Woods expects to have better performance on Saturday. One would expect nothing less from this 30 year experienced engine builder-tuner-racer. Right behind Woods is the number 2 driver in the ULHRA standings this season, Steve Hook in the UL19 Windows Sharepoint Services. Despite getting very loose at the start-finish line, Hook set a speed of 101.743. Last on the qualifying ladder is the series' newest owner-driver. Paul Becker, a Bellevue WA airline pilot who debuted in the UL14 at this race a year, and took 4th place at Tastin & Racin in Issaquah in June, purchased this race team from Hopp Racing less than 2 weeks ago. he turned a qualifying lap of 90.284 mph. While the big course appears ideal for the UL5, it has never seemed to favor the UL14 which at less than 21 feet in length is one of the shortest in the UL fleet. That size, however, appears to help the Miss Software Prototype's performance on shorter circuits such as next week's Black Lake course in Olympia WA. 4 teams were unable to set a qualifying speed. Kelly Stocklin in Thunder Valley Racing's UL40 Front Page 2003 appeared to have the fastest run of the season for that boat, only to sputter to a stop with a broken prop shaft coupler. The team, as a precaution, is changing engines for the Saturday qualifying and racing. The team spent two days on the dyno for the first time, this week. It appeared they learned some key things, based on the run by the UL40. The motor going into the boat for Saturday's competition is the motor that was dyno'd this week. Meanwhile, Team Manager Eric Burke of the UL929 Microsoft Driver said it appeared they had an ignition or fuel flow malady that prevented Vince Xaudaro from starting a qualifying effort. Subsequent trailer testing may have zeroed in on the problem. UL58 SharePoint Portal Server 2003 of Ping Conflitti and UL18 Relay for Life of Joe Turner did not attempt qualifying runs. The final qualifying session will be at 8:30am Saturday morning on the Ted Jones race course. Heats 1A & 1B will be run Saturday morning with Heats 2A & 2B Saturday afternoon. The Final heat will be in the 4pm hour. Due to the extensive air show schedule at Seattle, there are no Heats 3 A & 3B, and no "B" Main. Check in here throughout the day on Saturday for updates from the Stan Sayers Pits. Plus, we hope to provide our first set of audio play by play feeds, which are to be posted shortly after each heat is completed. John Lynch The pits of Seattle, Washington!
Friday - 4:00 PM - Speeds Under Qualification UL40 Front Page 2003 - Out
and down prior to full lap Friday - 2:35 PM - Qualification Ladder Qualification order is determined by random draw with any passes going to the bottom of the list. The U-18 and the U-58 passed and were placed at the bottom of the list. 1st - UL72 Graham Trucking Friday - 2:30 PM - Official List of Entries
Note: “S” designates Supercharged Engine UL19,
UL40, UL58, UL929 are the Microsoft Entries. Friday - 11:30 AM Last weekend at Tri Cities WA, Unlimited Light race driver, and 2001 ULHRA Rookie of the Year J.W. Myers earned his Unlimited Hydroplane driver qualification. He did so by running 15 laps in a turbine powered Unlimited, with at least 10 of those laps over 130mph. In actuality, nearly all of "J-Dub's" laps in Ken Muscatel's U-25 and Fred Leland's U-100 were above 140 mph. Plus, Myers was able to start one heat in place of UL15 owner-driver Jerry Hopp, who was subbing for his injured son Greg in the U-100. This weekend, another UL pilot will try to earn his qualifications to race in the Unlimited series. Veteran driver of the UL37, John Hogan's Bounty Hunter, Doug Brow, will attempt to qualify another Fred Leland entry, and himself as driver, at the Seattle Seafair event. Brow won the Grand National Hydroplane World Championship in the GNH/UL37 hull in 2002. That hull was acquired in June by Vince Xaudaro and now races as the UL929 Microsoft Office Project. Meanwhile, Jerry Hopp decided to focus his efforts this weekend entirely on defending his 2002 Seafair Seattle victory in the UL15 Issaquah Pit Stop-Big "O" Tires of Issaquah Presents Mike's Hard Lemonade. Myers' and Brow's Unlimited Light teams are idle this season. So they are getting a chance to "show their stuff" in another series in this weekend and demonstrating that for those who may want to drive in the Unlimited class someday, the ULHRA is quickly becoming recognized as an ideal training ground. Plus, the ULHRA series is also attracting top racers from that series, such as Jerry & Greg Hopp and 3 time winner George Woods, demonstrating again the high caliber of racing and the attraction of the various automotive based powerplants utilized in the Unlimited Light series. In other news from the ULHRA this weekend, the orange brigade from San Diego has arrived. Kevin Aylesworth, Kevin Braun and the entire Freedom Racing team are ready to race in Seattle for the first time. Yes, they were here last year in their team debut and put in some laps, but it was essentially a shakedown cruise. This year, they're ready to race with the revitalized UL5 Ron Jones tandem wing hull, and the Glenn Davis-George Woods supercharged engine. The UL5 competes at Seafair as the Hilton Garden Inn of Renton presents Baker Equipment of Seattle. On the big 1 2/3's mile Ted Jones race course, this could be a team to watch closely. And for the first time this season, the ULHRA welcomes Joe & Jackie Bush-Turner and their UL18 Relay for Life entry. It's Joe's second effort in the ULHRA. He entered Seafair a year ago with the former Steve Hook owned hull that began it's racing life over 2 decades ago as a 7 Liter Div II hydroplane, later changed to GNH. Turner has spent a great deal of time over the winter and the first half of this racing season completing updates to the program. The Relay for Life UL18 is recognizing the community based program that raises funds for the National Cancer Society. The Turner's are proud to wear the Relay for Life moniker on the UL18 as they honor the memory of several good friends they have lost to Cancer. Friday - 11:00 AM update - - - Twelve teams complete the fleet With the addition of the UL38 Golden Nugget Casino / S.R.P. (Dave Bender), the UL58 SharePoint Portal Services (Pingree Conflitti) and the UL929 Microsoft Project ( Driver Vince Xaudaro), we now have a full twelve boat field here in Seattle, Washington! Thursday - 7:00 PM update - - - More of the fleet invades Seattle!
Thursday - 3:00 PM - - -
The first few boats arrive in Seattle!
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