“If you want to finish first…………………………

you first have to finish”.  In simple terms, Kayleigh did and Greg did not and that’s how the season opener for ULHRA ended as Trafficade Work Zone Services presented the Unlimited Lights at Firebird International Raceway at Chandler AZ.

This was no sprint; it was a marathon; 5 heats of racing over the course of 3 days on what may be the toughest race course for UL teams to compete.  Very tight turns on the 1 ¼ mile Firebird International Raceway course challenges the drivers and their crews who set up the hydroplanes.

Through the first four heats Kayleigh Perkins in the UL-72 Miss Boat Electric and Greg & Jerry Hopp in the UL-15 Graham Trucking GT-Happy Go Lucky won all of their preliminaries as the luck of the draws never matched the two leading teams in the series.  In the Final they finally met.  Greg Hopp took the lead out of turn number 1 and was about a half roostertail length in front going into turn #2.  Because my view as race announcer to the second turn was blocked by a truck parked in the wrong spot, I didn’t see what happened to Greg’s ride, but when the teams came into view, Kayleigh Perkins was leading and Paul Becker was second in the UL-14 Miss Critical Logic.  Greg’s ride succumbed to mechanical problems and ultimately drifted into view.

Nine Unlimited Lights teams made the early season-opening trek to Phoenix. Paul Becker was every bit as consistent as Kayleigh Perkins with one exception.  While Kayleigh won all 5 of her heats, Paul finished second in all 5 of his heats and sits third in the ULHRA standings with 1500 points, just behind Greg Hopp in second with 1600 while Ms. Perkins has 2000 competition points.

Oregon’s Bob Smets and his UL-20 Smetco Overtime demonstrated much improvement over 2007.  Unfortunately the team ran into engine problems and had to withdraw midway through the weekend, but with a new 509 engine awaiting installation they will be ready to compete at race number two in Richland WA on May 17 & 18.

Wil Muncey in the UL-00……the “Little Red Boat” from the two boat Muncey fleet, took a first and second in preliminary competition before a freak battery failure in the electric fuel pump led to a damaged engine and early withdrawal.  That was the story of the Trafficade team at Phoenix as all 3 boats, Muncey’s UL-00, plus the two Dennis Johnson owned race craft; the UL-93 Desperado and the G-93 Johnson-Wolfe Racing Special were ultimately beached due to engine failures, but not before showing all three are quite competitive.  This weekend (May 3 & 4) both the Desperado and the Muncey Trafficade will join the Mike Sadlon owned UL-89 Lake Trash Apparel and the G-10 of Milton & Charley Wiggins at Pickwick Landing TN for an exhibition of ULHRA Racing. 

Michael Flaherty drove the UL-11 Roxy 94.5 presents Power Punch to a first & second place finish in preliminary competition, but like the Muncey team ran into problems in the third heat and weren’t able to recover.  However, considering the team was barely able to finish last minute hull issues in time to leave the Seattle area on Wednesday night and arrived at the pit area on Friday morning at 10:00am, it certainly was a productive weekend for the Darren Bartels owned team from Buckley WA.

Florida’s Mike Sadlon was unable to drive his UL-89 Lake Trash Apparel entry but Illinois’ Marty Wolfe stepped in as substitute driver, picking up a second and a third place finish in the two heats the team completed.  Wolfe also provided excellent technical assistance to the Sadlon team. 

A new award was presented for the first time; the Grace Under Pressure Award, by Mechanix Gloves.  The team earning the honor: ULHRA’s first Texas based team, the UL-39 Rouly Heat Exchangers “Pressure’s On” with driver “Smokin Joe” Souza of Lakewood WA.  Souza along with Crew Chief Tom Bock, team owner Bob Scribner and son Kevin Scribner and the rest of the team worked long hours putting the finishing touches on a hydroplane that hadn’t touched the water since 2003.  The craft is the original UL-929 of Vince X-Man Xaudaro and was acquired out of Mexico a year ago.  It’s a “sister hull” to the UL-20 Smetco Overtime and working overtime is exactly what the team did.  Finally, in time for the Semi Final Heat the UL-39 was ready to make a start.  Unfortunately no other teams were able to start that heat and the race was black flagged.  But the 39 team did make a legal start and their ULHRA career is now underway.  Look for marked improvement at Richland.

On the Thunderboat side at Firebird, that “if you want to finish first……….mantra was never better exemplified than by David Warren; sole owner and driver of the G-329 Block Head Machine presents My Town Motors. Finishing a heat, any heat, has been a challenge since this original Thunderboat team began in 2005.  This weekend was flawless, except for the broken supercharger belt that derailed the G-329 in one preliminary heat. Otherwise, excellent engine performance from the Block Head Machine built supercharged 572 V-8 and led to a close, exciding, and popular first time victory in the Final over R.W. Dick Lynch in the G-13 Jet Chevrolet.com Tempo.  For the fans of nitro drag boat racing at Phoenix, the “Thunderboat Final” was what they liked…….fast, closely contested…and LOUD! To top off things for Dave Warren he was presented the Wyatt’s Diamond Jewelers Outstanding Performance of the Weekend Award: an exquisite Wyatt’s Watch from the Monroe WA company.

For the Jet Chevrolet team the first race of the year was a complete reversal of fortune compared to 2007 when it seemed that if something could go wrong, it did.  With 4 heat finishes including one outright victory, the G-13 leads the North American Challenge Cup standings by 200 points over the G-329. 

It appeared that the G-17 Checker Auto Parts driven by Dustin Echols was destined for the win with 3 preliminary heat victories. However the boat spun-out in turn one of the Final and Echols did not finish. Co-owner Shawn Bridgeman said their backup engine was a convoluted set of parts that ran far better than they expected after their G-468 engine was damaged in testing.  The team knew the backup it didn’t meet the G-468 specs but wanted to run….and run they did!  Meahwhile the G-93 Trafficade from Johnson Wolfe Racing driven by Marty Wolfe was also a strong runner.  This hull was originally built by Jamie Auld and driven by Jimmy King in the 90’s but had been idle since 1996 till hitting the water on Friday at Firebird.  Wolfe won the first heat over David Warren while the G-13 did not start and the G-17 had to withdraw from the first heat when their primary engine failed at the end of testing. In the second round Echols bested Warren and Lynch won after Wolfe’s ride pitched a rod through the bottom of the hull and had to withdraw for the weekend.  Note that for the heats they did complete neither the G-17 nor G-93 received competition points because the engines they used at the time were out of compliance with Thunderboat rules.  However they do receive the Bonus and Participation Points for the Phoenix event.

The teams from the Phoenix AZ event will be joined by many others for race number two on the ULHRA calendar.  It will be Desert Thunder II at Howard Amon Park in Richland WA, May 17^th and 18^th and broadcast live throughout eastern Washington by 610AM Information Radio KONA.

John Lynch

P.R. Director and “Voice” of ULHRA Racing.

Sunday Finals at Firebird