Union Dooz UL-58 on ebay.
Pingree Conflitti of Michigan, owner-driver of the UL-58 Union Dooz has put his racing program up for auction on ebay. Details of the turnkey racing package are available here "For Sale"
The auction closes at 10:00pm Eastern time - 7:00pm Pacific Time, Saturday night May 10.
|
Racing for Seattle at Richland?!!!!
Absolutely.
Bottom Line: If you want to race in the Unlimited Lights’ event at Seafair in Seattle, you must first race at the Unlimited Lights’ events BEFORE Seafair in Seattle.
The ULHRA 2008 season continues on May 17th & 18th at Howard Amon Park in Richland WA. Desert Thunder II is expected to attract up to 30 race teams in three Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Association series and that by itself is quite an endorsement of this second year event. However, there’s a prize down the road that teams in the Unlimited Lights Racing Series specifically are seeking and that’s a ticket to the Graham Trucking Cup at Seafair this August.
Because of the growth in teams competing in the Unlimited Lights series there are far more teams with the capability and desire to race at Seattle than there is pit space available. So, after weeks of discussion, consideration and debate, the ULHRA Board of Directors earlier this year instituted a qualifying system for the 14 available UL positions at Seafair.
Bonus Points were awarded to those teams that competed at the Trafficade Work Services presents the Unlimited Lights at Firebird near Phoenix AZ in late April, and at the Lake Trash.com ULHRA exhibition event at Pickwick Landing in Tennessee first weekend in May. A total of 10 UL teams have received bonus points and they have the advantage for 10 of the 14 positions available at the Graham Trucking Cup Seattle event. The first 10 “slots” go to teams with the most participation points plus bonus points. Bonus points were offered only for the first two events of the year due to the length of travel required to participate. UL Participation Points are offered at each ULHRA race and with each consecutive race entered the number of Participation Points offered increases. For example, the 9 UL teams that entered the Phoenix event each received 30 participation points. If they race at Richland, they earn an additional 60 participation points. If they miss a race then their next ULHRA sanctioned event is worth 30 points.
What about competition points…….those 400 first place, 300 second place, 225 third place and so on points? Competition Points determine the series champion and the 4 remaining slots available at Seafair. Now, as John Houseman used to say in those old Smith Barney commercials, teams that want to race at Seattle will have do things “the old fashioned way….they eaarnnn it!” Thus, competition for those four “competition points positions” at Seattle between the teams that did not go to Phoenix and Pickwick Landing should be very keen at the next four races. For that and many other reasons there will be an excellent field competing at Richland WA, May 17 & 18. That’s good for the fans of hydroplane racing, and so is this: Admission is free!
In the UL season standings after one race it looks just like last season ended; Kayleigh Perkins leading Greg Hopp. However, Paul Becker has shown he’ll be quite competitive and there are a host of other challengers looking to make an impact such as the new “rides” for Vince “X-Man” Xaudaro and Wil Muncey and the improved performance for Bob Smets who brings a bigger more powerful engine with him to Richland. Brian Perkins should be formidable. J. Craig Fletcher will have his season debut in his new entry; the former UL-33 that was driven to victory at Port Angeles last September by Mark Echols. Plus there will be a host of other challengers; up to 15 in the Unlimited Lights’ series, alone.
The two day event, May 17 & 18 will be broadcast live on KONA 610AM Information Radio serving Richland, Pasco, Kennewick and the surrounding area. Desert Thunder will also be video streamed around the world here at www.ulhra.org
John Lynch
P.R. Director and “Voice” of ULHRA Racing.
|
GEICO hydroplane flips at
Firebird Raceway but still
manages to win
CHANDLER, Ariz. -- Talk about
getting a win the hard way --
Bud McKay, from Belfair, Wash.,
flipped the GEICO of Lakewood
Presents the Namron Racing
Team's hydroplane in heat four
but still managed to win the
Trafficade presents Unlimited
Lights at Firebird 8-Cylinder
Lighter-Than-LIGHTS race April
27.
"The hull has a crack on the top
deck, the engine cowling took a
big hit and was pieced together
with duct-tape and the
distributor is shot, but I did
have some good news," said McKay
when interviewed after the flip.
"I managed to save 15 percent
off my insurance by calling
GEICO of Lakewood, Wash., when I
was being towed in."
At the start of heat four, McKay
piloted the GEICO hull to the
inside lane on the tight and
dangerous Firebird
one-and-a-quarter-mile track.
The GEICO hull dove into the
first turn after passing through
the speed traps at close to 110
mph with Lake Havasu, Arizona's,
Mike Schroder on his outside.
McKay couldn't hold the GEICO
hull through the turn and just
missed hitting Schroder by a few
inches before both boats were at
the apex of the turn.
The GEICO hull rode up in the
roostertail of Schroder as the
boats were both heading into a
25-mph head wind. The GEICO hull
then corkscrewed in the wind,
hit upside down, and then landed
right-side-up.
"I thought for sure I hit Mike,"
McKay said, the two-time
defending 8-Cylinder LTL
champion. "I had that steering
wheel cranked to the left as far
as she would go and I had the
throttle all the way to the
floor. I hoped I could spin the
boat out to avoid the collision.
But all of a sudden, all I saw
was white from Mike's
roostertail then the racecourse
was where the sky was just a
split second ago."
Ironically, the damage to the
hull was minimal, and McKay with
the help of Belfair's Steve
Clark, and Rick and Sue Starr,
from El Paso, Texas, got the
boat ready for the fifth and
final heat of the weekend in
less than two hours.
As McKay came out on the course
with the GEICO hull for the
final heat after flipping in the
previous heat, the fans in the
stands erupted in a cheer. But
during the warmup session for
the final heat, McKay's boat
went dead in the water in the
middle of turn two when the
distributor gave out from being
wet when McKay hit the water
upside down, causing the race to
be stopped before it started.
And since the GEICO hull had
scored a class-high 1,200 points
for the weekend, McKay was
declared the overall winner.
Clark scored 400 points for the
GEICO hull when he climbed in
and drove to a first place
finish in heat three. McKay
drove to a win in heat two and
got 300 valuable points with a
second place finish in heat one.
The Firebird race was deemed a
bonus points race and each LTL
team earned an extra 100 points
for the race -- giving the GEICO
hull 1,200 points. Schroder,
with 1,000 points, finished
second. Kevin Eacret, from
Mukilteo, Wash., driving the
GEICO of Lakewood II Presents
Lil' Miss Boat Electric, took an
overall third place LTL finish
for the weekend.
It was the first time the
Unlimited Light Hydroplane
Racing Association's LTL series
was run out of the state of
Washington. The next race for
the LTL series is May 17-18 at
"Desert Thunder
II" at Howard Amon Park
in
Richland, Wash.
Pickwick Landing Exhibition,
presented by LakeTrash.com
Four teams representing ULHRA
demonstrated this organization’s
brand of hydroplane racing on
May 3rd & 4th
at Pickwick Landing State Park
in Tennessee. ULHRA’s
appearance was made possible by
Lake Trash.com and Lake Trash
Apparel, the official apparel
supplier to the Unlimited Light
Hydroplane Racing Association.
The event was the 4th
annual Pickwick Challenge
Powerboat Race & Festival. This
year the featured series was F1
Champ Boats based out of North
Carolina and the event benefited
the Carl Perkins Center for the
prevention of Child Abuse.
Columbus Ohio’s James Deel in
the UL-8 “Deel Me In” joined
with the Rainbow City AL team of
Wiggins Hydroplane Racing,
Sadlon Racing from Vero Beach FL
and Muncey Racing from Monroe
WA. The Sadlon and Muncey teams
were fresh from ULHRA’s season
opener the weekend before in
Chandler AZ near Phoenix.
The Final Heat of the Pickwick
Landing exhibition brought the
crowd to their feet. At the
start Deel with his Unlimited
Light hydroplane, and Cal Phipps
driving the Wiggins Services and
Supply G-10 Thunderboat were
even. Muncey and Sadlon started
about a half roostertail length
behind. Deel and Phipps are
longtime racing friends and
associates and Phipps has driven
for Deel in the past. Both put
on an outstanding exhibition of
Racing, ULHRA Style for the many
thousands in attendance till
Deel’s boat went dead in the
water at the end of lap #1.
Meanwhile, Muncey and Sadlon
were lurking close behind and by
the end of lap two, Muncey…..inside
of Phipps…….had pulled even
going into turn #1. The UL
course was approximately a mile
and a half in length with a
modified “D” shape. Muncey was
able to challenge all the way
through the D till the final
turn when Phipps put the hammer
down on his 572 cubic inches of
supercharged engine and pulled
away to nearly a roostertail
length victory. On the
relatively short front
straightaway, Phipps’
Thunderboat was surpassing 145
mph.
The weather was excellent except
for a late afternoon blustery
wind which the ULHRA teams dealt
with successfully. The Muncey
engine which was damaged at
Phoenix was rebuilt with
tremendous help from Contingency
Awards Program sponsor Patriot
Performance in Gadsden AL, along
with the Wiggins Racing Team,
and it ran very strongly. Phipps
thrilled the crowd with passes
close to the shoreline with the
supercharged engine at full
song. Sadlon, driving the
LakeTrash.com entry made a
strong run to finish within a
roostertail length of Muncey in
the battle for third as the
Florida based team continues to
improve.
Last year two exhibitions were
conducted by ULHRA; at
Chamberlain-Oacoma SD and at
Chandler AZ. This year those
two locations are full race
sites on the ULHRA calendar.
Could Pickwick Landing follow in
the future? It’s certainly
possible. Working with the
Champ Boat Series proved to be
quite successful. Coordination
by the two organizations was
excellent; ULHRA’s effort was
led by Bo and Patty Darling.
Plus the combination of two
distinctly different racing
series proved popular with the
fans. ULHRA 3 lap heat
“sprints” combined with the
Champ Boat 50 lap finale on the
European style Champ Boat course
to provide an entertaining mix
of marine motor racing. ULHRA
“Voice” John Lynch was brought
in to substitute for regular
Champ Boat announcer Steve
Michaels who was on assignment
at the F1 Champ Boat World
Championships in Portugal.
James Deel had some tough luck
but when he was running, he was
running with the usual “full
out” effort and talent that race
fans have seen from this Ohio
racer for better than 4 decades.
A bent propeller shaft caused
when a lifting component on the
“Deel Me In” failed on Saturday,
was straightened by Peden’s Prop
Shop of Iuka MS, just about 5
miles from the Pickwick Landing
TN race site. Deel was able to
run strongly on Sunday till set
back first with a failed
battery, and then secondly with
a broken throttle linkage.
Without those “niggling”
problems Deel showed his boat
remains a formidable competitor
and his presence at ULHRA events
is always welcome when his
schedule permits.
The Pickwick Landing area is a
strong motor boating region with
Pickwick Dam created by the
Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA). An excellent Marina is
found at Pickwick State Park.
The no wake zone in the Marina
did prove a challenge to the UL
teams but they met the
challenge. Marine Sales in
Pickwick provided the official
tow boats, a squadron of Cobalt
Boats which towed the ULHRA
hydroplanes out of the Marina to
the race course. Launching from
open water rather than from a
dock was a first for the
hydroplane teams.
Next on the ULHRA calendar:
Desert Thunder II. With up to
15 Unlimited Lights teams along
with the Thunderboats series and
Lighter than LIGHTS series, race
fans may be enjoying 30 teams in
competition at Richland WA’s
Howard Amon Park. Admission is
free and the race will be held
over two days, Saturday &
Sunday, May 17 & 18.
John Lynch
P.R. Director and “Voice” of
ULHRA Racing
