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Graham Trucking Cup Unlimited Light Hydroplane Race at Seafair Lake Washington, Seattle, Washington SUNDAY, AUGUST 8, 2004 In a battle of the "old salts", veteran campaigners Jerry Hopp and George Woods Jr. dueled for the Graham Trucking Cup at Seafair. Hopp, driving his UL-1 Mike's Hard Lemonade took the lead from Vince Xaudaro in turn number one and drove to victory. Woods was a bit behind at the start but pulled to within a half roostertail length by the end of lap 2 and was gaining. But Hopp drove masterfully for the victory, while Wood's UL-72 Graham Trucking - Security Race Products entry got a bit out of shape heading toward turn number two on the last lap, forcing Woods to slow and settle for 2nd place. At the trophy presentation Woods praised Hopp saying "I was waiting for Jerry to make a mistake and he didn't. He drove a perfect race!" Winning speed for the Final Heat was 110.262 miles per hour. Both Hopp and Woods won two heats on the weekend with one second so they each collected 1100 heat points. But Hopp qualified faster so his ULHRA points lead increased by 7 points, and now the UL-1 is 395 points is from of the UL-72. Third place went to Vince Xaudaro in the UL929 Western Cascade Tank & Truck - Baker Equipment Co.- Neuvant Aerospace. Xaudaro won the start, but Hopp took the lead going through turn number 1 on the inside lane. In the 8 boat final, Michael Flaherty in UL-51 Miss Boat Electric took 4th, followed by Kevin Aylesworth in UL-5 Baker Equipment Co. in 5th, Kerry Beynon in UL-6 BCS Racing in 6th, Harold Mills in UL-40 Thunder Valley Racing in 7th, and in the debut of a nearly totally brand new UL-17 Miss Ted's Red Apple Market, Rick Bridgeman took 8th. Alternatve for the Final was Paul Becker in the UL-14 Aurora Rents Presents Miss Software Prototype. Becker took 4th in the "B" Main, just missing a spot in the Final. The "B" Main was won by Kerry Beynon, followed by Harold Mills and Kevin Aylesworth. That put Beynon and Mills on the 7 boat front line for the final, with Aylesworth the "trailer" one roostertail length behind. It was a rugged weekend for the San Diego based Freedom Racing Team. The UL-5 lost its primary engine in Saturday morning testing and they spent the rest of the day putting together their backup engine in order to compete in the"B" Main on Sunday. It was a historic weekend for the Unlimited Lights. For the first time since ULHRA Inc. was formed, the "Lights" competed on Seafair Sunday, with the "B" Main and Final Heats carried live on KIRO TV Channel 7, Seattle as well as the Infinity Broadcasting radio stations in Seattle, led by AM 1090 KYCW. Also, Harold Mills, driver of the UL-40 Thunder Valley Racing entry became the first African American to race in the 54 year history of Seafair. Plus, a driver who'd been in the first Unlimited Lights race in Phoenix AZ in 1995, racked up his first "pole" qualifying run. Paul Droullard, in the Carter Volkwagen, Saab, Subaru, American Eagle ran a very impressive 117.280 lap on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, head gasket failure shortly after that run led to engine damage that couldn't be repaired to race at Seafair. Still it was quite an accomplishment for the team that spent 4 years constructing the "Eagle" and they continue to make progress with each outing. Droullard says they'll be ready to run at Speedfest in Olympia, WA this coming weekend, August 14th & 15th. John Lynch
"Voice" of the Unlimited Lights
Seattle Seafair Saturday, 7 August, 2004 The Unlimited Lights' 12-boat field, all hoping to get in Sunday's Graham Trucking Cup, turned in some spectacular qualifying runs on Friday and Saturday, and showed very respectable heat speeds today. After 4 heats of racing, the top 5 are assured a front-line position in tomorrow's Final. George Woods, Jr. has 800 points in the UL 72. He won his first heat handily, but in 2B, he barely held off team-mate Michael Flaherty in the UL 51 by just a half-boat length to gain the win. Jerry Hopp, UL 1, with a 116mph qualifying run yesterday, took a 2nd and a 1st for 700 points. Also at 700 is Vince Xaudaro in the 929. Rick Bridgeman, in the totally rebuilt UL 17, rounds out the top 5 with 427 points. The remaining teams will enter the B Main, vying for a spot in the Final. The top 2 will get on the front row and 3rd place will start a rooster-tail behind. Paul Becker (UL 14) and Harold Mills (UL 40) are tied at 394. Kerry Beynon (UL 6) just took the start a few feet early in the first heat, but came back to win 3rd against Hopp and Xaudaro in the 2nd, so he has 352 points. Joe Turner, driving the UL 18, got a great round of applause as he finished 4th in 2B, after a DNS earlier. Ron Doumont in his very first UL race, also garnered applause as he finished 6th in 2A, after faltering in 1B. Kevin Aylesworth, UL 5, threw a rod in qualifying and has now installed a new motor for tomorrow's B Main. Paul Droullard, top qualifier at 117.280, suffered the old "M in M" (Metal in the Motor) but does expect to compete in the B Main also. And another Lights' driver made the news today, as Steve Hook won his first Unlmited Heat. Congratulations to one our guys. Seafair has placed all the Lights on the West side of the Pit area, so communication and launching have gone very well. Good Luck to all tomorrow (and Bonne Chance to Mr. Doumont). Patricia M. Darling, reporting
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