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2008 Freedom Cup |
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This year our Lake Morton race
was the Freedom Cup. This is the second year that Classic Thunder has competed
at the residence of Marty & Sandy Landers after
last year’s inaugural race. The forecast was for cool and overcast and the
weatherman hit it right on the head. Jackets were the standard for the day to
keep picnickers and drivers warm. The sponsors for the 2008 race
were RC Hobbies of Covington and Woodinville, C&B Awards of Covington, the
Krone race team with help from the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum. The
mid-day Bar-B-Que was fortified by the Landers contribution
of hamburgers and hotdogs and all the fix’ins. The neighbors and guests supplied other goodies served up pot luck
style. We had salads, meatballs, beans, deserts and I think everyone got their
fill. We would like to thank Marty and Sandy Landers for allowing us to
put on our event at their beautiful home. There were 16 Division 1 and 14
Division 2 boats ready to test the waters at Morton. Division
2 Preliminary Heat Highlights: Heat
1A- The first heat started with the Van’s PX
with Mark Beatty driving getting a wire to wire win; with the Squire Shop
driven by Brent Hall flipping and the Miss Rock piloted by Clint Crain breaking
a drive coupler. Heat
1B- Vacationville wins the heat with Mitch
Dillard at the controls. Running second was the Design 360 with Mike Krone
driving until he cut inside a buoy and was relegated to 4th behind the U-95 and
the Notre Dame driven by Pete Schille and Dave Sacry respectively. Heat
1C- Miss Madison was running better than ever
but lost its cowling forcing Tony Minalia to pull to the infield. This left the
Beacon Plumbing boat of Mark Beatty running fast out front and just barely
avoiding a blowover on the front stretch to win the heat. Mike Schultz’s Griffon
Budweiser had electrical problem and was retired for the day. After this heat, it was decided to add
additional buoys to the back stretch to help the drivers negotiate the long
straights. It was a fast course with a
long front and back stretch and fairly tight corners. Heat
2A- This was an uneventful heat with the Van’s
PX coming out on top. All the boat finished in this order, Design 360, Exide
driven by Mike Schultz, Miss Madison, and Coors Light with Gene Melang. Heat
2B- The Vacationville and Beacon Plumbing boat
had a good battle going until the Beacon cut a buoy and ended up fourth. Notre Dame was second with Squire Shop third. Heat
2C- The U-95 came out on top with the Brent
Hall’s Atlas Van Lines in second place. The Miss Rock had a drive line problem
and the Pay’N Pak ended up in the middle of the lake with control problems.
Danny Minalia eventually rescued his boat. Heat
3A- In one of the better heats of the day, the
Miss Madison was able to hold off the Van’s PX for all five laps to claim the
heat win. Meanwhile the Coors Dry took off up north and had to be retrieved by
Gene Melang. Gene was having one of those tough days of racing that you soon
hope to forget. Heat
3B- The Vacationville made it a perfect day of
preliminary heats by winning again. This time the U-95 and Notre Dame followed
with the Miss Rock unable to finish. Jon Zimmerman dropped by and saw the boat
he built run strong with Mitch at the controls. Heat
3C- The final division 2 preliminary heat was
not too exciting as only one boat made it to the water. Mike took his Exide out
and ran 5 laps to take the 400 points, while the Design 360 had a wet receiver
and the Pay’N Pak scratched. Division
1 Preliminary Heat Highlights: Heat
1A- Pete Schille brought out the 1968
Checkerboard Miss Bardahl while leaving Etta at home in hopes of getting a
better handling boat. Pete was drawn into the first heat and proceeded to go
out and blow over the boat while leading. This left Dan Clark driving the Miss
Spokane to drive into the lead and take the win. The Thunderbolt took second
with Steve Dumanis driving. Gene Melang had to take yet another long row boat
trip, this time to rescue the Miss US after it ran away up the shoreline. Fortunately it only snagged in some soft reeds
and was undamaged. Heat
1B- This would be the first of many heats run
by rookie Annie Foreman driving her Miss US 5. She was able to capture a third
place. The Miss B&I rolled putting Bryan Deatherage out of the heat and we
got to see Tim Becker run 8 laps to get a finish as he made friends with several
buoys. Heat
1C- Slo Mo IV took the lead and won the heat
with Mitch Dillard’s usual, consistant driving. The Miss Thriftway went dead
with Mike Schultz working the controls. Meanwhile Miss Lapeer and Harrah’s Club
battled with Dave Sacry’s Lapeer taking second over Dan Clark. Heat
1D- Bryan Deatherage had better luck with his
1957 Miss Bardahl and took a heat victory. Mike Krone’s Miss Seattle Too and
Steve Dumanis driving the Thriftway Too ran one extra lap, while Tony Manalia sort
of controlled the Valu-Mart, having to run 8 laps and finishing fourth. Heat
2A- The Slo Mo gets another win! The Checker
Board cuts a buoy and finishes third while Dave runs the Lapeer to second. The
Thriftway again failed to score. Heat
2B- The Miss Seattle Too ran in the lead for
five laps, but had to run six after cutting the exit pin before the start. The
Thunderbolt took the win with the 67 Bardahl and Harrah’s Club in second and
third respectively. Heat
2C- Mark Beatty showed the Timex had a lot of
speed by dominating the heat and almost lapping the field. The Thriftway Too
and Spokane battled for second with Dan taking the position. The 57 Bardahl hit the outer course marker and
flipped. Heat
2D- For the second heat in a row, the outer
course marker was hit, this time by Gene and the Miss US. Annie picked up her first
Classic heat win driving the Miss US 5. The B&I was second with Valu-Mart
third. After the heat as Gene prepared to retrieve his boat he leaned on one of
the dock pilings and it broke off at the waterline. Some days are just like that Gene. Luckily, he did not fall into the lake. Heat
3A- With the third set of heats came the risk
of having both of your boats drawn in together. It happened to Steve and he had
to choose between the Thunderbolt and the Thriftway Too. He gave the
Thunderbolt the nod based on points. Dan got a good start with the Harrah’s and
led the whole way with Thunderbolt closing. Gene’s Miss US was third, no rescue
this time and B&I finished fourth. Heat
3B- While getting ready to launch the Slo Mo
before the heat, Mitch noticed a very sluggish rudder response and decided to
pull out of the heat and change the servo. The Timex jumped out to a lead and
let the Seattle Too and Checkerboard Bardahl battle behind. The Checkerboard
made a pass on the final lap and took second. Bryan brought the 57 Bardahl in
for fourth. Heat
3C- With the Division 1 field down to 15 boats,
this would be the final division 1 heat. The 67 Bardahl was unable to get
started and the Valu-Mart was unable to finish. Dan driving the Spokane picked
up another heat win and moved on to the final heat. Lapeer finished second and
Miss US 5 took third. Div.
2 Conny: The heat had 5 boats planning on running but
only 3 made a start with the Design 360 out with a wet receiver and Coors Dry
with electrical problems. Tony and Mark would battle one more time with the
Madison and Beacon Plumbing. Tony missed a buoy and went a lap down but raced
on, then he went another lap down for a second missed buoy. Miss Rock would
hold on to take a comfortable second. Div.
1 Conny: The coni was run just for the alternate
position and half points as the fifth and sixth place boats qualifying for the
final were tied in points and were both advanced. Mitch, after failing to start
his last prelim heat ended up seventh with 800 points and in the conny with
Miss Seattle Too, Thriftway Too, CheckerBoard Bardahl, 57 Bardahl, and the
Valu-Mart as the trailer. All the boats settled into their finishing order
after the first lap. The only excitement came after the heat when Bryan drove
into the outer marker. They may need to be moved out further next year. The
finishing order was Slo Mo, Checkerboard, Seattle Too, 57 Bardahl, Thirftway
Too, and Valu-Mart. Div.
2 Final: The six boats ready to hit the water one
last time for the day were the Vacationville, Van’s PX, U-95, Notre Dame,
Exide, and the Miss Rock. Miss Rock got
in after Mark decided to take the half points earned with the conny win and not
run the Beacon Plumbing boat in the final. All the boat came up to the start
line with a lot of speed with Vacationville in the lead coming out of the first
turn. The U-95 was right behind and Pete was making a race of it. They would
almost collide with Pete missing a buoy and sealing his fate. This gave Mitch a
big lead which he would not relinquish. Behind this we had the Mike Schultz’s
Exide cut a buoy and go a lap down and had the Van’s PX rolling over and taking
Mark out of the hunt. Clint had the Miss Rock spin out twice which gave time to
the U-95 to make up a lap and pass. Dave stayed out of trouble with Notre Dame and
was able to sail into second place in the final proving steady driving pays
off. Pete would bring the U-95 into third while Clint picked up fourth. The
Exide would finish in fifth place for the day. Congratulation to Mitch and the
Vacationville for pulling off a perfect day, winning all the heats he entered. Div.
1 Final: The last heat of racing had two boats from
one camp so Dan picked Pete to run the Harrah’s Club while he took over the
Miss Spokane. Also in the final were the Thunderbolt, Miss Lapeer, Timex and
Annie in her first final heat driving the Miss US 5. Timex took the lead at the
start but on lap 2 hit a buoy and gave over the lead to Harrah’s Club. Pete drove
on to victory with Steve Dumanis driving the Thunderbolt to a solid second. Dan
picked up third place with Miss Spokane, Timex recovered to take forth and Miss
US 5 finished in fifth place. During the heat the Miss Lapeer flipped and damage
to his rudder indicated that another boat had struck his upside down boat
during the heat as he suspected.
Unfortunately, none of the judges were able to clearly identify what
boat it was, so no call could be made. The final race of the day proves that if
you keep trying, good things will happen. Dan Clark has been in the club for a
number of years and has struggled with his many boats. His boats did the job on
this day and congratulations to him and Pete.
Pete got yet another win as a stand-in driver, this time in division 1 driving
Dan’s Harrah’s Club. Dan drove his Miss
Spokane to third place overall. First
and third isn’t bad for a boat owner and driver. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy
either. We only pretend not to like him. Prizes and trophies were awarded to the top
three finishers in each division. Other prizes were given out to club members in
a drawing. Final thanks go to our sponsors, RC
Hobbies of Covington and Woodinville, C&B Awards of Covington, the Krone
race team with help from the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum The kids in attendance had a drawing for a
toy hydro with a young man named John being the lucky winner. Mike & Mena Krone supplied a Gift Card
and DVD for our hosts Marty & Sandy. The Lake Morton race site continued to
be a very good one even with weather conditions being cool. After the race, the
Landers were already thinking about next year’s race and continuing the
tradition with another racing party. We’re almost halfway through the 2008
season now. Next up is the big one, the
famed Gold Cup in Lacey. RC-Hydros.com
is our key sponsor for the race again this year and it should be a good
one. This year it looks like we will be
having qualifying for season points in both divisions instead of just division
1. Prepare for a long day of action with
qualifying starting at 9am, four flights of preliminary heats, connys and
finals for both divisions. Can’t
wait! See you all there. Sincerely, Mike Krone Krone Racing Team
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