Walled, Michigan

June 14-15, 2008

J and Fae Report

 

Region six strikes again! We have another beautiful playground to enjoy hot hydro action. Jim Sechler's idea of staging an event here is looking brilliant as this site has great potential. Picture a small, picturesque marina in a bowl shape with nice homes and private docks in both directions. The pits combine Johni Semma's restaurant parking lot and closed city streets. Fired up fans hung out on a small beach area adjacent to the pits. Also, private parties lined the shore as Travelin’ man Dave Archiable described as being like the backstretch at Valleyfield. Those people cheered for every boat as they returned to the dock which was cool. Race Director

Todd McQuade and numerous volunteers aided the Marine Prop Riders in running a smooth inaugural race. We noticed several others helping out like Sean Bowsher, Dan Kanfoush, Bill and Patti Miller, Ray Dong and apologies to people we missed. Throw in the golden voice of Dick Delsner and Referee Billy Noonan and you get the picture. This was a good show.

 

 Here is the J and Fae boat totals: (T-4) (Y-4) (S-7) (A-7) (E-6) (NM-3) (GNH-5) (Vintage Unlimited-1) Total-37.

 

T boats are a little lean in Region six these days as Becky Wilson (T-31) Circus Circus took on three boats that traveled in. Brandon Kennedy (T-1) Shameless Say What is the favorite at most sites this season and he proved it on Saturday with a solid win forcing Alexis Weber (T-10) Flirtin With Disaster to take second. On Sunday Alexis turned the tables on Brandon to take her first win. This boat is back up to speed like before the unfortunate incident at Morgan City in 2007. The Shaw's (T-11) My Mistake took both thirds.

 

Y boats always present the question of who can run down Dan Kanfoush in Jim Sechler's (Y-1) Fast Eddie. Sean Bowsher (Y-52) Casual Threat gave it one heck of an effort in his beautiful blue hull. Sean is flying like 2007 Valleyfield and Dan will have to keep pedaling hard to keep him in second this summer. Steve Kuhr Jr. got Doug Simpson's (Y-126) Shattered Savings up to speed for two thirds. Steve is a star on the horizon in our sport. Travelin, Tinkerin Man Dave Archiable (Y-91) has the engine bugs but look out when he solves them.

 

S boats had co-favorites going in. Keith Anderson (S-17) Bad Habit and Doug Martin (S-33) Keen's Sunday Money are always stout competitors. The rest of the field would have to catch them to win. Keith (S-17) came through to take a first and a second. Doug (S-33) took a win and apparently jumped the start on Saturday. At this time let us mention that this article is purely what J and Fae saw from our position on the start/finish line. We have no way of knowing about other course infractions so we are doing the best we can from our observations. Fang Racing (S-57) was running well this weekend taking a second and a third. Challenger Racing (S-58) also got a third. The Kreitzer's new (S-67) Impossible Dream looks like it will be a nice addition to Region six this year.

 

E boats exhibited Murphy's law this weekend. Six boats showed up but they could not get going at the same time. The (E-711) Dragon Fly never found the water and Mike Bruns (E-6) Quantum Leap arrived on Sunday. Mark Burkhart's (E-726) broke on Saturday after Joe Less (E-500) Centsless back flipped in tight quarters. Joe and the boat will be fine. These mishaps left the English's (E-75) Fat Chance and Mike Bruns (E-6) to run in a NM combine on Sunday as the (E-302) Hooters was also broken. Anyway, (E-75) and (E-6) ran one-two. Was that confusing enough?

 

NM boats plus (A-41) Jamakin Me Crazy put on a good show Saturday. Elizabeth Wolfe (NM-93) Desperado and Tommy Thompson in Mike Weiner's (NM-81) Country Boy had everyone excited during warm-ups. However, the race saw Tony Black (NM-928) Illusion blast down to turn one and he was gone! Tommy (NM-81) ran wickedly fast on the outside but the Illusion was absolutely sick. Tony is a hot shoe and this team looks awesome for 2008! Elizabeth (NM-93) took third and (E-75) got a combine win. On Sunday Tony (NM-928) won in a combine with the five litres.

 

GNH boats had Cal Phipps (GNH-41) Happy Go Lucky as a solid favorite. Cal and the ageless Joe Tate ran their usual fast speed winning on Saturday but breaking on Sunday. Here's hoping Super Cal can bring this beast to Celina for the Nationals this August. Put him in a ten boat field and watch the water fly babeeeee! Patrick Sankuer (GNH-61 or J-6) Showtime Racing continued their renaissance of speed like the end of 2007, taking a first and a second. Dick Schneider would have been proud. Mark Burkhart jumped in Eli Whitney's (GNH-515) One Way and ran some good laps getting a second. Tony Stalder (GNH-83) Blue Mule got a third. This class is very deep in this region as several great boats failed to appear from close distance.

 

A boats got a major boost from Cajun country as Mashburn's Navy (three bombs) and Randy English's (A-25) Fat Chance rolled into town. Nicky Pellerin, longtime Mashburn pilot, is driving a brand new spider hull (A-60) Mr. Bud. Dan Kanfoush is in the (A-600) Mr. Bud 2 and the team also has (A-66) Mr. Bud 3. That is four monsters. Add in the Kreitzer's (A-64) Blue Devil, Randy Lynn (A-63) Water Pistol and Tony Black (A-41) Jamakin Me Crazy and you saw a Nationals like field. The course sounded like a bunch of Cincinnati Reds fans with a constant whining sound during all four heats. Nicky (A-60) and Tommy Thompson (A-25) got well earned wins by hitting the start and roaring around to the fans delight. The seconds went to (A-60) and (A-66) with Randy Lynn (A-63) getting two very fast thirds. He seemed to enjoy attacking the spiders. This class was an absolute hoot!

 

Well, that's about it from Novi, Michigan. This site will be added to everybody's to do list for 2009. The local community seemed to embrace this event and thoroughly enjoy the spectacle. The water remained good enough in a fairly stiff breeze. That is a key factor these days since we have had tough luck at several sites this year. (see Tonawanda) All in all we look forward to enjoying this event in future years.    

 

See ya at the races!   J and Fae