Hillsboro, Ohio

Rocky Fork Lake

Thunder In The Hills

North American Championship

September 18-19, 2010J and Fae Report

 

"Turn out the lights, the party's over". (Thanks Don Meridith) Region Six racing is all done for 2010. Boy, what a way to end it though. Hydros appeared from all over the East to rock Rocky Fork Lake with a flurry of action. The Ohio Governor's Cup title came from Celina's cancellation. The Y, A, NM and GNH classes ran North Americans after Beauharnois and Syracuse hosted the other classes. Put those titles with Doc  inger's famous record setting island course and you have got the makings of a strong field. Add perfect bathtub water, friendly hosts and warm temperatures and you get the picture, this was going to be fun.

 

Here are the J and Fae boat totals: (T-6) (Y-10) (S-13) (A-6) (E-14) (NM-8) (GNH-7) ( GP-4) (Vintage-7) total-75

 

GP boats made a surprise appearance this year as Huey Newport's Crush teams arrived seeking the APBA 5 mile Competition Record. George Kennedy (GP-25) Shameless and Mario Miraldo (GP-59) Baby Doll joined in the fun to fill the field and go for a win as well. Bert Henderson (GP-77) Crush 2 got a good run going in the qualifier as he hit the start on the inside and let it all hang out going for the average speed of about 116 mph. Aw, he missed by about one mile an hour. The final saw Bert (GP-77) flying again as Mike Monahan (GP-777) Crush chased him at supersonic speed. Uh oh, the old 77 broke as Mike chugged home to win the race in front of George (GP-25) and Mario (GP-59). The speed and noise was certainly awesome for the crowd to enjoy.

 

Y boats had a nice 10 boat field. Dan Kanfoush in Jim Sechler's (Y-1) Fast Eddie 2 was a prohibitive favorite as usual. Scott Liddycoat (Y-563) Lobster Boat and Joe Sovie (Y-44) Accelerant ran well but that yaller blur was too much as Dan (Y-1) roared away to two easy wins, almost lapping the entire field on Sunday. Add the North American Championship to the Kanfoush/Sechler trophy case. Scott (Y-563) took both seconds with Joe Sovie (Y-44) taking a third. Marty Marty Hammersmith (Y-8) got a third on Sunday for his first podium finish! Way to go Marty.

 

T boats had a strong six boat field. Top dawg here is Brandon Kennedy (T-1) Shameless Say What. He proved it by running away to victory Saturday. However, Sunday Brandon (T-1) succumbed to a penalty. That opened the door for Steve Armstrong (CT-11) Total Chaos, a Canadian bomb, to roar home first. Alexis Weber (T-10) Flirtin With Disaster is finishing this season running very quick as she garnered a second and a third. John Shaw (T-125) Shameless My Mistake took a second while Kenny Walton (T-24) For Sale bagged a third. This class is full of young, potentially great drivers.

 

S boats had a nice field with several top notch favorites. They were Mike Monahan (S-9) Rewinder, Keith Anderson (S-17) Bad Habit, Kent Henderson (CS-00)

Bank On It, Doug Martin (S-33) Keen's Sunday Money and Alan Bush (S-711) One More Time. Bobby King (S-242) Crush got a rude welcome to Ohio as he flipped in turn two of heat 1a. He is ok but the boat will need a little work during the off season. Saturday's final saw Mike Monahan (S-9) and Kent (CS-00) put on a fantastic show as they battled side by side before Mike (S-9) prevailed with Alan (S-711) taking third. On Sunday Doug (S-33) escaped a first turn parking lot to run away. Kent (CS-00) and Keith (S-17) followed him home. The stockers were cool in 2010.

 

A boats teed it up for the North Americans on Saturday. Tom Thompson (A-52) Fat Chance and Jim Aid (A-33) In Cahoots Again renewed their rivalry as the favorites. However, Joe Sovie in Debbie Welte's (A-23) Geezerboat had other ideas. Joe (A-23) blasted away to a freakishly fast run to the title as that Esslinger was humming! Tom (A-52) and Jim (A-33) settled for the podium. Sunday saw Tom (A-52) bounce back to hold off Joe (A-23) as everyone else broke. Blinding speed and exploding motors, that's the Mods model.

 

GNH boats presented a giant seven boat field, easily the biggest of 2010. Well, if you are in Region Six the favorite must be Jimmy Deel's (GNH-8) Deel Me In. The iconic boat had Steve Kuhr Jr. in the saddle. Jr. was up against his dad Steve in their beautiful (GNH-317) Irishman and this time the script was thrown out the window. Steve (GNH-317) has always been awesome at nailing starts, and he laced this one to rip off the North American Championship ahead of Eli and Cadi's (GNH-515) One Way and Patrick Sankuer (GNH-6) Showtime Racing. Sunday saw Steve Kuhr Jr. (GNH-8) hold off Steve (GNH-317) and Patrick (GNH-6). There are several strong big blocks in Region Six and it is always fun when they come out to play.

 

NM boats presented an insane field, second best to only Cambridge. Favorites included Thom Heins (NM-30) Big Bird, Tony Black (NM-928) Illusion, Tom Thompson (NM-81) Country Boy, Charlie Miller (NM-54) Whoopee and Scott Blackwell (NM-93) Desperado. We attribute this strong field to a fast course and the fact that this class has hardly raced in 2010 due to several circumstances. At any rate, when they race it is a hoot. Thom Heins (NM-30) and Tony (NM-928) were flying on Saturday but penalties jumbled things. Charlie Miller (NM-54) ran fast and legal to the North American Championship followed by Scott (NM-93) and Thom (NM-30). This class is incredible going through turn one trying to wet down photographer Phil Kunz on his peninsula. Sunday saw some major attrition as three boats started the final. Thom (NM-30) had that yaller monster whining like the old days as he held off Tony (NM-928) and Tom Newman (NM-100) Sum Toy. If it is incredible power to weight ratio you like, then the National Mods are your class.

 

E boats had their normal, deep field. Pre-race favorites were Jim Martin (E-43) Keen's Machine, Bert Henderson/Pat Hewitt (CE-45) Hewitt Racing, Scott Liddycoat (E-50) Pintail Mistress, Norm Ensbury (CE-99) OCR Racing, Todd Liddycoat (E-97) Team Extreme, Richard Heinault (CE-2) Miss Beauharnois and Brandon Kennedy (E-30) Big Bird. Six bombs ran two awesome finals. Saturday saw Bert (CE-45) come from lane five for a scary fast victory only to sustain a chopping penalty. Jim (E-43), Scott (E-50) and Richard (CE-2) took honors in a beauty. Sunday saw Scott (E-50) show incredible speed to hold off Brandon (E-30) and Jim (E-43). Close aggressive, pushing and shoving is not just in NASCAR, it is right here in the "kamikaze" class. They were awesome in 2010.

 

Well, that's about the way we saw it. Rocky Fork Lake returned to being a major site this season. Thanks to Dean Davis, Pit Manager Joe Cheezum and Referee Don Mellilo for a great show. The driver provided pit party at the cabins added some fun as well. All in all, this event felt major league and is a fitting conclusion to 2010 Region Six racing. See ya in 2011!   J and Fae