Walled Lake, Michigan

June 11-12, 2011

J & Fae Report

 

Open it up babeeee! Region six sprang to life for 2011 here at Walled Lake. Once again John Semma's Bayside Grille parking lot was transformed into a pit area and the small beach became a haven for boat racing fans. Dick Delsener's excellent commentary set the scene and a fun time was had by all. Todd McQuade, Jim and Jewels Sechler and the race committee put on a first class event annually on this beautiful site. The water was good on a partly cloudy weekend. A seemingly gentle breeze blew into the vessels on the front straight away both days. This contributed to some hairy moments and thankfully no one was hurt in four flips. Some repairs will be necessary for the hulls but they all appear to be fixable. The rescue teams were busy and did a fantastic job in the water and on land. All in all this was a cool race with lots of fast action.

 

Here are the J and Fae boat totals: (Y-7) (S-9) (A-5) (E-9) (NM-3) (GNH-6) Total-39

 

Y boats presented the Sean (Bowsher) and Dan (Kanfoush) show. These two teams, Dan (Y-1) Fast Eddie 2 and Sean (Y-52) Harrison's Bourbon Roostertails Racing travel the country coast to coast as friendly rivals putting on a fantastic show. They are mega fast! Sean (Y-52) got the inside in Saturday's final and was smokin only to see Dan (Y-1) sneak by at the line. More of the same on Sunday with Danny Walls (Y-56) Micro Burst taking a second strong third. When we get the good East Coast Y boats and hopefully a couple Westerners at Waterford for the Nationals, look out, hide the kids, it will be sick!

 

A boats are persnickidee. They are fast but engine gremlins always hurt. That would be unless you are the English/ Richards teams. My friends, they have this class figured out. Tommy Thompson (A-52) Fat Chance 2 has put many competitors in the garage for 2011.They are like Mike Weiner's 225 Country Boy teams of the past. Turn the key and bye bye as Tommy (A-52) took both finals. Andrew Tate (now there is an intriguing name) ( A-25) Fat Chance ran very well to two seconds. Tony Black's daughter Shannon drove the "unretired" (A-41) Jamakin Me Crazy to a strong third on Sunday. Come on people, let's step up and challenge the English/Richards teams- you know who you are.

 

NM boats are hiding. A dozen at Cambridge and eight at Hillsboro last year and three here? Oh well, Andrew (A-25) outdueled Scott Blackwell (NM-93) Desperado on Saturday. Come Sunday and Tommy Thompson (NM-81) Country Boy sprang to life and that Roush engine hummed to victory. Andrew (A-25) and Scott (NM-93) followed him home. There are a slew of NM bombs around the country so we will see some great races soon in this class.

 

S boats presented a good field of Region sixers with Doug Martin (S-33) Keen's Sunday Money and Marco Poirier (CS-33) Zibra spicing things up. Could Region Six stalwart Keith Anderson (S-17) Bad Habit hold off the visitors? How about Christina Wilson (S-20) Desperate Housewife? She is fast on the course and in changing boat names and is always a threat. Saturday saw Marco (CS-33), Keith (S-17) and Doug (S-33) win in a chalk finish. Sunday things got goofy. Tony Kreitzer (S-64) Impossible Dream crashed in a violent snap roll doing damage to the hind end of the boat in the qualifier. On the next go around Marco (CS-33) took a wild ride for a second red flag. Come the final and Christina (S-20) nailed the start and led until Keith (S-17) took over late. Bobby King (S-242) Crush roared home third. Look out for this team in the near future. The stockers were cool.

 

E boats had a nice field as well. Joe Less returned to shoe the (E-500) Centsless 14. Say it is so Joe! Thom English (E-75) Investigator/Fat Chance looked fast and added Tommy Thompson, an awesome 5 Litre Litre driver. Throw in Mark Burkhart (E-726) X-Ray and Todd Liddycoat (E-97) Team Extreme and you get the picture. Unfortunately Mark (E-726) and Dave Kidd (CE-67) Black Falcon (Third at Long Sault) ended upside down this weekend. Joe (E-500) had a great weekend pushing Joe Less' red bomber to a first and a second. Tommy (E-75) turned a quick win on Sunday after a spirited battle with Joe (E-500).  Joe Sovie (E-61) Crazy Cajun took a second and a third and Todd (E-97) garnered a third. The action was typical kamikaze style in this always great class.

 

GNH boats have developed into a Region Six class. Out West they are all UL's and George Conover (GNH-18) Magnum holds down the fort in the East.Now, while a new boat hasn't been built in decades, we still have some excellent, experienced hulls running in this region. They are led by legendary Jim Deel and his iconic (GNH-8) Deel Me In. This weekend Cal Phipps drove this perennial bomb. Super Cal! Alright! Steve Kuhr (GNH-317) Irishman is always fast as is Cadi and Eli Whitney's (GNH-515) One Way. Six boats churned the water. Cal (GNH-8) won every heat, his 78.667, 78,668, 78,669 and 78,670 wins with Jimmy (estimated). Steve (GNH-317) and Eli/Joe Kreitzer (GNH-515) completed the podium. The "groundpounders" (thanks Bob Blazer) made lots of noise and speed and the crowd loved them. Come on over to Waterford George Conover as we are looking for elimination heats in this class.

 

That’s the way it was fans. Now this quaint little town can go back to tranquility till next year when it will roar back to life with hydro action!

     

See ya at Madison.   J & Fae