Flaherty wins the race; Hopp wins the Title.
It was the closest
finish in Unlimited Lights history. 83 points
decided the ULHRA Team and Driver titles for
2005, and those extra 83 points were held by
Greg Hopp and the UL-1 Mike's Hard
Lemonade-Happy Go Lucky.
Heading into the 3rd
annual Victoria Express Strait Thunder Regatta
at Port Angeles WA, Michael Flaherty knew what
he had to do. Driving the UL-72 Miss Boat
Electric, Flaherty trailed Hopp by 350 points.
The 2004 Rookie of the Year knew it would take a
virtual perfect weekend to have a chance, and
that's what the team did. 4 Heats, and 4 Heat
victories for 1600 points. The only flaw for
the team was not running a strong qualifying
lap, earning only 7 points for 7th place in
qualifying while Hopp earned 40 points as the #1
qualifier. That made the gap 383 points going
into the first heat section.
Hopp and Flaherty
both won their first heat so into the second
heat section the gap remained 383 points. Then
Hopp & Flaherty were matched in Heat 2A.
Flaherty won with Hopp in second. The gap then
was 283 points. In Heat 3, Flaherty again was
victorious with Hopp in second, with the gap now
down to 183 points. Flaherty had to win the
Final Heat, which he did in rough seas
with uncommon swells out of the northeast
angling across the 1 mile Strait of Juan De Fuca
race course. But Hopp also had a mission and
that was to finish no worse than third. He took
his 3rd consecutive second place finish of the
weekend to wrap up the 2005 title by a mere 83
points. Plus, Greg Hopp won his first ever
Driver's Championship, by the same 83 points
over Michael Flaherty. In the previous two
seasons when Hopp Racing won the title, because
Greg and father Jerry Hopp shared the driving
duties neither was in contention for the driving
title. This year, following twin knee
replacement surgery in the spring, "Grandpa"
Jerry Hopp managed the team and had son Greg
drive every points scoring heat race.
Third place, and
another strong outing, solidified 5th place in
the final standings for Thunder Valley Racing's
UL-40 Miss Red Dot Corporation driven by Harold
Mills. For Mills and the team, the 5th place
season finish are career bests in Unlimited
Lights competition. 4th place went to "The
Little Boat That Could", the UL-136 Wyatt's
Diamond Jewelers Presents La Cucaracha IV out of
San Diego, driven by Monroe Washington's Wil
Muncey. It was Muncey's second appearance in
Unlimited Light racing, but most certainly won't
be his last. The other two Final Heat
participants, Kerry Beynon in the UL-6 BCS
Enterprises, and Vince "X-Man" Xaudaro in the
UL-929 Conover Insurance, both were stopped by
large swells that swamped their engines, and
they did not start the Final Heat.
John Lynch
"Voice" of the
Unlimited Lights
Port Angeles UL
Final
|
Place |
Boat |
Driver |
Name |
Avg Speed |
Points |
|
1st |
UL 72 |
Michael Flaherty |
Miss Boat
Electric |
75.408 |
400 |
|
2nd |
UL 1 |
Greg Hopp
|
Mike’s Hard
Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky |
74.547 |
300 |
|
3rd |
UL 40 |
Harold Mills
|
Miss Red Dot
Corporation |
70.523 |
225 |
|
4th |
UL 136 |
Wil Muncey |
Wyatts Diamond
Jeweler |
64.713 |
169 |
|
dns |
UL 929 |
Vince Xaudaro
|
Conover
Insurance |
|
0 |
|
dns |
UL 6 |
Al Carstensen |
BCS Racing
Enterprises |
|
0 |
Port Angeles 8 cyl Mod
Final
|
Place |
Boat |
Driver |
Name |
Avg Speed |
Points |
|
1st |
NM 5 |
Rod Bourke |
Miss I.R.S.
Environmental |
94.118 |
400 |
|
2nd |
NM 33 |
Bob Estes |
Instigator |
57.517 |
300 |
|
dns |
NM 88 |
Brent Harnack |
|
|
0 |
Port Angeles 8 cyl
Final
|
Place |
Boat |
Driver |
Name |
Avg Speed |
Points |
|
1st |
E 83 |
Wil Muncey |
Wyatt's Diamond
Jewelers presents Elaine's American Maid |
39.565 |
400 |
Port Angeles 4 cyl
Final
|
Place |
Boat |
Driver |
Name |
Avg Speed |
Points |
|
1 |
S 6 |
Kayleigh Perkins |
Baker Equipment
Presents Miss Breezy |
59.71 |
400 |
|
2 |
S 32 |
Charles Xaudaro |
Wynot |
53.125 |
300 |
Port Angeles 4 cyl
Heat 3
|
Place |
Boat |
Driver |
Name |
Avg Speed |
Points |
|
1st |
S 6 |
Kayleigh Perkins |
Baker Equipment
Presents Miss Breezy |
57.305 |
400 |
|
2nd |
S 32 |
Charles Xaudard |
WyKnot |
53.284 |
300 |
|
dns |
S 35 |
Eric Christensen |
Baker Equipment
Presents 3 Day Appraisal |
|
0 |
Port Angeles UL
Heat 3
|
Place |
Boat |
Driver |
Name |
Avg Speed |
Points |
|
1st |
UL 72 |
Michael Flaherty |
Miss Boat
Electric |
74.888 |
400 |
|
2nd |
UL 1 |
Greg Hopp
|
Mike’s Hard
Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky |
72.228 |
300 |
|
3rd |
UL 136 |
Wil Muncey |
Wyatts Diamond
Jeweler |
67.426 |
225 |
|
4th |
UL 40 |
Harold Mills
|
Miss Red Dot
Corporation |
64.823 |
169 |
|
5th |
UL 929 |
Vince Xaudaro
|
Conover
Insurance |
63.745 |
127 |
|
6th |
UL 6 |
Kerry Beynon |
BCS Racing
Enterprises |
61.438 |
95 |
Port Angeles UL
Heat 2B
|
Place |
Boat |
Driver |
Name |
Avg Speed |
Points |
|
1 |
UL 929 |
Vince Xaudaro
|
Conover
Insurance |
80.006 |
400 |
|
2 |
UL 6 |
Al Carstensen |
BCS Racing
Enterprises |
75.551 |
300 |
|
dns |
UL 58 |
Bob Smets |
Union Dooz |
|
0 |
Port Angeles UL
Heat 2A
|
Place |
Boat |
Driver |
Name |
Avg Speed |
Points |
|
1 |
UL 72 |
Michael Flaherty |
Miss Boat
Electric |
91.937 |
400 |
|
2 |
UL 1 |
Greg Hopp
|
Mike’s Hard
Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky |
85.381 |
300 |
|
3 |
UL 40 |
Harold Mills
|
Miss Red Dot
Corporation |
79.045 |
225 |
|
4 |
UL 136 |
Wil Muncey |
Wyatts Diamond
Jeweler |
72.045 |
167 |
|
dnf |
UL 559 |
Joe Souza |
7 Cedar Casino
Presents Outlaw |
|
0 |
Port Angeles UL
Heat 1B
|
Place |
Boat |
Driver |
Name |
Avg Speed |
Points |
|
1st |
UL 72 |
Michael Flaherty |
Miss Boat
Electric |
78.303 |
400 |
|
2nd |
UL 136 |
Wil Muncey |
Wyatts Diamond
Jeweler |
76.378 |
300 |
|
3rd |
UL 18 |
Joe Turner
|
Pacific Rim
Brewing Company presents Baker Equipment |
75.348 |
225 |
|
4th |
UL 559 |
Joe Souza |
7 Cedar Casino
Presents Outlaw |
60.630 |
169 |
Port Angeles 8 cyl Mod Heat 1
|
Place |
Boat |
Driver |
Name |
Avg Speed |
Points |
|
1 |
NM 5 |
Rod Bourke |
Miss I.R.S.
Environmental |
81.898 |
400 |
|
2 |
NM 33 |
Bob Estes |
Instigator |
70.326 |
300 |
|
3 |
NM 88 |
Brent Harnack |
|
66.900 |
225 |
Port Angeles UL
Heat 1A
|
Place |
Boat |
Driver |
Name |
Avg Speed |
Points |
|
1 |
UL 1 |
Greg Hopp
|
Mike’s Hard
Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky |
81.031 |
400 |
|
2 |
UL 40 |
Harold Mills
|
Miss Red Dot
Corporation |
76.425 |
300 |
|
3 |
UL 929 |
Vince Xaudaro
|
Conover
Insurance |
72.756 |
225 |
|
4 |
UL 6 |
Kerry Beynon |
BCS Racing
Enterprises |
ntt |
169 |
|
5 |
UL 58 |
Bob Smets |
Union Dooz |
57.351 |
127 |
Port Angeles UL
Qualifying
|
Place |
Boat |
Driver |
Name |
Speed |
Points |
|
1st |
UL 1 |
Greg Hopp |
Mike’s Hard
Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky |
93.047 |
40 |
|
2nd |
UL 929 |
Vince Xaudaro
|
Conover
Insurance |
84.539 |
30 |
|
3rd |
UL 40 |
Harold Mills |
Miss Red Dot
Corporation |
83.199 |
23 |
|
4th |
UL 136 |
Wil Muncey |
Wyatts Diamond
Jeweler |
82.446 |
17 |
|
5th |
UL 6 |
Kerry Beynon |
BCS Racing
Enterprises |
80.584 |
13 |
|
6th |
UL 58 |
"Ping" Conflitti
|
Union Dooz |
79.558 |
10 |
|
7th |
UL 72 |
Michael Flaherty |
Miss Boat
Elecrtric |
72.786 |
7 |
