2005 WARNER GARDNER MEMORIAL

Classic Thunder opened its 2005 season on April 17^th with the Warner Gardner Memorial at Lake Pleasant in Bothell, WA.  The weather was threatening, but the water conditions remained good all day long.  Good, close racing set the stage for an exciting event.  17 boats were in the pits for competition.  A bit sparse for my liking, but pretty typical for the first race of the season.  A combination of new boats and rusty drivers made the day very interesting indeed.  We had a great time and would like to thank the residents and staff at Lake Pleasant RV Park for their hospitality.  The guys at Knights of Columbus deserve a thank you for their parking area and restroom usage.  Bob VandenAkker, Pete Schille Motorsport Art along with Steve’s Café and the new World Bean Café and Barista all chipped in to sponsor the event.  Many thanks to all of them.

We started the day with Division 2 racing and had some very good performances.  Four new boats made their CT racing debuts at this event.   Dave Sacry’s ’78 Circus Circus started the day, but was withdrawn after having some problems with the motor coupler.  Pete Schille’s ’04 Llumar, Jeff Howard’s ’04 Elam and Mitch Dillard’s ’88 Miller High Life all ran well and were joined by Pat Malaspina’s ’85 Squire Shop, Mike Krone’s Island Security Systems and Dave Sacry’s Weisfields for the day’s racing.  Mike Schultz had his ’82 Oberto on the water, but failed to pass his driver qualification.  We hope to see him have better luck at the next race. 

The Final Heat started with the Miller High Life and Elam hooked up in a deck to deck battle from the get go.  The Squire Shop followed close behind with the Weisfields.  The Llumar started as the trailer due to the penalty she received in a preliminary heat collision with the Miller.  Island Security Systems qualified for the final, but had to scratch due to boat problems.  The Miller and Elam battled for the first three laps with the Miller holding a slight lead.  The Squire Shop ran into difficulty at the end of the backstretch on lap three.  Llumar passed the Weisfields and continued to give chase.  The Miller held the lead until the beginning of lap four when she hit lumps in turn one and hooked a sponson.  Just that quickly, the Miller went from first to fourth place as the Elam, Llumar and Weisfields passed her before it was safe to resume.  Jeff Howard powered the impressive Elam to its first victory of the season.  This beautiful boat really looks strong!  Pete Schille brought the Llumar home second from the trailer spot, Dave Sacry finished a strong third with the Weisfields and Mitch Dillard soldiered on to a fourth place finish.  Congratulations to Jeff Howard’s ’04 Elam, winner of the 2005 Warner Gardner Memorial in Division 2! 

Division 1 competition was the first CT race for four new boats.  John Dyer was there with his new ’52 Great Lakes.  Joining him with new boats were Pete Schille with the ’63 Blue Chip, Bob VandenAkker’s new ’66 Notre Dame and Mitch Dillard’s ’54 Miss U.S.  Returning for another season were Jeff Howard’s ’64 Budweiser,  Dale Van Wyk’s ’57 Miss Seattle, Dave Sacry’s Short Circuit, Mike Krone’s Hurricane IV and Pat Malaspina’s ’60 Thriftway. 

The Final Heat saw the Blue Chip and Miss Seattle cross the line first, closely followed by the Budweiser, Short Circuit and Notre Dame.  Miss U.S. started as the trailer, having advanced by winning the Consolation Heat.  Blue Chip and Miss Seattle were side by side up the backstretch on the first lap with the Blue Chip holding a slight lead on the inside as the two entered turn two.  As they rounded the turn, the Seattle bumped the left rear of the Blue Chip and the Chip spun across the Seattle’s bow.  The two tangled up a bit, but were not damaged.  Officials could not determine a definite cause for the mishap, so no penalty resulted.  The two got untangled with a small delay, but not before the Budweiser snatched the lead away from them and the rest of the field had passed them by.  Miss U.S. worked her way through the field and was in a solid second place when her cowling shook loose on the final corner.  It had been taped down due to damage she sustained in a preliminary heat, tough luck for the U.S.  Miss Budweiser cruised on for the win, followed by second place Miss Seattle.  Short Circuit and Blue Chip battled for most of the remaining laps with the Blue Chip nipping Short Circuit to take third.  Short Circuit was fourth and an ailing Notre Dame crossed the line in a gallant effort to finish fifth.  The Dame was plagued with motor problems in the heat, but had a good showing for the day.  All in all this was a great day for Jeff who clinched his sweep for the day with the Bud’s win.  Congratulations to Jeff Howard’s Miss Budweiser, winner of the 2005 Warner Gardner Memorial in Division 1!

Our next event is the prestigious 2005 Classic Thunder Gold Cup at Coulon Park in Renton, WA.  This will be a long day of racing with qualifying in the morning for season points and an extra set of heats during the day to boot.  This should make things very interesting as the race is usually held late in the season and has the potential to make a big diffenence in you season points totals.  It should be a lot of fun.  Coulon is notorious for challenging water conditions and that should make things even more interesting.  Don’t miss this one!  Looking forward to seeing you all there.  Maybe we’ll see a few more boats in the pit area.  Some of you guys have been pretty scarse.  Get ready and let’s go racing!  There will be a limited race going on at the same time on the lake, so get there early if you want to get parking.  Course opens at 10am for qualifying.   See you there.

Sincerely,

Mitch Dillard

Classic Thunder Commissioner