On September 12^th, Classic Thunder held its final regular season points race.  The Silver Cup was held at Coulon Park in Renton.  Doug Tulip was the sponsor of this event.  The day started out with the water being strangely flat and mild.  Coulon usually gives us a share of nasty water conditions, but the wind was calm and the threat of rain kept the pleasure craft to a minimum.  The weather broke later in the day and the sun actually heated things up quite a bit.  With the heat came more pleasure boats and with pleasure boats came more frequent rollers on the race course.  This made for some pretty exciting racing and some typical Coulon craziness too.  A good crowd showed up and we had a fun time.  The atmosphere was muggy and the day took on a very “laid back” tone.  It was almost relaxing, but the racing was close and intense.  We tried out a new format of racing and finished all Division 1 racing, including the Final Heat, before beginning with Division 2.

 

JEFF WINS SILVER AGAIN, AGAIN,AND AGAIN

BUD WINS DIV. 1 AT COULON

Ten boats were set to compete in Division one.  Some of the boats in the pit area included Pat Malaspina’s Miss Thriftway, Mike Krone’s Hurricane IV and Dave Sacry’s Short Circuit.  Chris Cootsona’s Waferer’s Club Lady returned to competition for the Silver Cup after having missed a few races.  She ran very fast, but would end her on the bench with a damaged transom.  John Dyer’s Rebel, Suh advanced to the Final as the trailer by winning the Consolation Heat. 

Rebel Suh was joined in the Final by Pete Schille’s Mr. P’s, Bob Vanden Akker’s Notre Dame, Dale Van Wyk’s Miss Seattle, Jeff Howard’s Miss Budweiser and Mitch Dillard’s Gale IV.  The race got off to immediate action.  Gale IV hit the start first on the outside, but spun out entering the first turn.  Mr. P’s took over a slight lead with Miss Seattle right inside of her followed by the Bud, Notre Dame and the Rebel.  Miss Seattle hit the throttle and threatened to pass Mr. P’s on the inside up the backstretch.  Mr. P’s was having none of that and pressed to maintain the lead.  Swoosh! Up and over she went at the entrance to turn two.  Gale IV had gotten going again and was running fast in last place with the Miss Seattle coming up behind her up the backstretch on lap two.  Just as the boats were setting up for turn two the Gale took a hop and spun again.  With no time to react, the closely following Miss Seattlewent over top of the Gale and was dead in the water with a damaged rudder.  Just that quickly her run for the Silver had been thwarted by bad luck.  Some would argue that it was fate that played a part in this outcome.  Gale IV would be disqualified for causing the accident.  Rebel, Suh would finish the day in third place.  Notre Dame would come home with a strong second place finish. However, for the third year in a row, Jeff Howard would win the Silver Cup.  Since Jeff joined Classic Thunder, he has been the only driver to win the event.  For a third straight year it has been his only win of the season.  Why should this year be any different?  Congratulations to Jeff Howard’s Miss Budweiser, winner of the 2004 Classic Thunder Silver Cup in Division 1!

SILVER CUP GOES TO SCHILLE

STROH LIGHT WINS IN DIV 2!

The nine boats that showed up for Division 2 competition did not disappoint.  They put on a great race and finished off the day with an exciting Final Heat.  Dave Sacry’s Weisfields, John Dyer’s 76 Pay’n Pak and Bob Vanden Akker’s Candyman were a few of the boats churning up the water at Coulon Park.  Bill McGraw’s Turbine Pay’n Pak kept hope (for a third straight win) alive by winning the Consolation Heat and advancing to the Final as the trailer.  

The Turbine Pak was joined in the Final by a strong group made up of Mike Krone’s Island Security Systems, Mitch Dillard’s Coors Dry, Pete Schille’s Stroh Light, Pat Malaspina’s Squire Shop and Dave Helton’s American Speedy Printing.  Dave Helton also thrilled us with the debut testing of his brand new Skyway Park Bowl & Casino!  Dave put it on the water for the first time in the morning before racing began.  It’s a knockout of a boat and looks great.  We’re not surprised, considering the models we’ve seen coming from Dave’s boat shop.  The boat performed very well and looks to be a sure contender for next season.  Good job Dave! 

The Final Heat started with Stroh Light hitting the line first in lane two.  Coors Dry started just a hair behind in lane one with the rest of the field hot on their tails.  Coors Dry got a little water in the face heading into turn one, but held down second as the boats dashed up the backstretch.  Stroh Light was off to a good run and held the lead at the end of lap one.  The Squire Shop continued progress in third place, being chased by Speedy Printing and Island Security.  The Turbine Pak made its start from the trailer spot and was struggling to catch up.  It appeared she was having some sort of problem, but we wouldn’t know what type until later.  Squire Shop made up ground and eventually passed the Coors Dry in the later laps to capture a second place finish.  Coors Dry held on for a third place finish, but was challenged on the final lap by the fast moving Speedy Printing, who ended the day in fourth.  Island Security Systems became a victom of water conditions when she rolled over at the entrance to turn two on her final lap.  Turbine Pak was not her normally fast self, but managed to finish a persistent fifth.  Before she could make it back around to the pit area she lost power and smoke began to loom from her cowling.  Not good.  We’ve seen it before.  It looked like the motor went south for the upcoming winter.  That unmistakable smell of scorched gear permeated the pit area.  However, the hottest thing on the race course that day was certainly the Stroh Light.  She dominated competition and finished with a perfect day of racing.  Congratulations to Pete Schille’s Stroh Light, winner of the 2004 Classic Thunder Silver Cup in Division 2!

 

I would like to thank our Silver Cup sponsor, Doug Tulip for his continued support of the event.  Thanks to “Shakey” Tim for doing the points book for us again.  Thanks to all of the participants for putting on some good competition for the spectators who turned out.  This has been a fantastic season and it couldn’t have happened without all of your help.  You guys are what make Classic Thunder racing such a good time.  Keep up the good work.  Congratulations to Pete Schille’s Mr. P’s, our 2004 Season Champion in Division 1.  The boat had a very strong showing, especially in the second half of the season.  Happily enough, I managed to bring home the 2004 Season Championship with the Coors Dry.  Thanks for taking it easy on me guys.  I honestly didn’t know if I could make the 2-wing perform well enough to be a good race boat, but I have been pleasantly surprised.  I have been really impressed with the continued good competition and sportsmanship in our racing group.  Everyone is running so much better, the boats always look cool and racers have been so cooperative.  This season went by sooooooo fast, but remember it’s not quite over yet. 

Next up is our exhibition race on Sunday, September 19^th .  We will be running the Governor’s Cup down at the Woodlawn Creek Senior Center in Lacey, WA.  Look for directions on the web site.  We’re going to be trying out some new motors in division one to see how they compare to the Astro 25-5 turn.  Thanks to Pat and Dale for supplying the motors that a few of the boats will be running.  I hope the majority of you can come out for this event.  Dan Clark will be sponsoring the event and I think the people down there are looking forward to some cool racing.  I hope the Senior Center has some doctors on hand just in case the racing gets too exciting for some of the elderly spectators.  Just kidding.  Let’s go down there and have a good time putting on a good race for the people.  I’m sure they won’t be disappointed.  Charge batteries at home and/or bring a battery to charge from as we’ve been told that there’s no power supply available there.  Thanks again.

Sincerely,

Mitch Dillard

Classic Thunder Commissioner

PS. The banquet is set for Sunday, October 10^th at Bill’s Bodacious BBQ. Check on the web site under the Friends of Classic Thunder link on the front page for their address and phone number if you need it.