2005 SILVER CUP

On September 11^th Classic Thunder held its final race of the 2005 season.  The Silver Cup was run at Lake Waughop in Lakewood, WA.  The event was sponsored by Dan Clark with contribution from the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum.  Simply put, the day was excellent.  The weather was mild, the water conditions good and the competition was tight.  If a season ever has to end, it should end like this.  We had a good time and saw some great racing action. 

The suspense surrounding the Division 2 season championship was finally broken, but the fat lady had to wait until the Final Heat to sing.  If you’d been following this drama you knew that Mitch Dillard’s Miller High Life held a slight 67 point edge over Jeff Howard’s Elam going into this, the last race of the season.  In the preliminary heats the Miller came out strong, winning its first and third heats over the Elam and finishing second to the Llumar in the middle heat.  The Elam finished second in all three of its preliminary heats, including its second heat, which was won by the Circus Circus.  This gave the Miller a 267 point cushion heading into the Final.  The Elam would have to win and hope the Miller would finish back in the field or not at all.  Meanwhile, the Llumar did everything in its power to capture the title if the top two boats faltered.  Pete Schille’s Llumar Window Film carried a perfect day into the Final after having scored wins in all of his prelims.

The Division 2 Final Heat shaped up nicely right from the start.  The Llumar came to the line on the inside with the Elam next to him.  The Miller was just outside of the Elam and all three hit the line together.  It was a drag race to the first turn.  The Elam and Llumar pulled away a little as the Miller took the conservative route and backed off.  The two lead boats then staged an awesome five-lap battle for the lead.  The Elam desperately tried to hold off the persistent Llumar.  The Llumar at one point got close enough to climb right into and through the Elam’s roostertail!  They both wanted the win very badly.  Meanwhile, the Miller stayed in what he thought was a safe third.  Appearantly Dave Sacry, driver of the Circus Circus, had other thoughts as he reached out and surprised the Miller.  There was now a battle for third place too and nothing was safe any more.  Mike Krone’s Island Security Systems went dead in turn one and did not finish.  Mike Schultz’s Oh Boy! Oberto, which started as the trailer, got upside down and also did not finish.  The Elam was able to withstand the fierce Llumar assault and take the win.  Llumar finished with a spine tingling second place after driving inside of the stranded Island Security to make a final run at the Elam at the finish line.  The Miller woke up and held on to the most satisfying third place finish Mitch has ever had.  The Circus Circus finished her rather stealthy and impressive performance in fourth place.  Congratulations to Jeff Howard’s Elam, winner of the 2005 Classic Thunder Silver Cup in Division 2!  Jeff capped off a great season with a great race win.  It was nice to see an end to his frustration in this division.  Heck, he was just 92 points away from being a champion in both divisions this season.  He’s had a great season with the Elam.  In the end it was the Miller High Life taking home the “Bernie” and another Division 2 title for Mitch as owner/driver.  Mitch has now tied Pete Schille’s record of three championships in a row in one division of racing.  Pete accomplished the feet in Division 1 from ‘96-’98.  Next year Mitch will have a chance to break that record, but don’t count on it.  The vultures will be waiting.  We’ve seen so many guys run well this year.  The new boats and new people have brought even more fun to the whole thing and it will only get better in Division 2.  This is so cool it’s almost unreal.  Be ready for the off-season building news.  There should be plenty. 

The Division 1 Final Heat was the last racing of the season and rightly so.  Division 1 is where it all started for the club back in 1993.  This was another great race.  Dale Van Wyk’s Miss Seattle started on the inside with Pete Schille’s Blue Chip right with her in lane 2.  Jeff Howard’s Miss Budweiser, Mitch Dillard’s Miss U.S. and John Dyer’s Rebel,Suh were right there too.  Mike Krone’s Hurricane IV was the winner of the Consolation Heat and started as the trailer.  The Bud hit the first turn in second, just behind the Seattle, then slid back in the field.  After the race, Jeff commented on the level of competition we’ve had all year, noting that his Bud slid a bit wide coming out of that first corner.  Before he knew it, he had gone from second to fifth going up the backstretch.  The Blue Chip, Miss U.S. and Rebel, Suh got past him on the inside and were out ahead of him just that quickly.  The Miss Seattle and Blue Chip were almost side-by-side in turn 2 with the U.S. close behind them.  Blue Chip was on the inside challenging for the lead.  The Seattle left just enough room to pinch Blue Chip on the buoy line for a tight corner.  The Blue Chip caught its sponson in a hole and spun out unexpectedly.  Pete would see the close field pass him by before he could safely resume the chase.  The U.S. took over second with the Rebel, Suh breathing on him pretty heavily.  The two boats went deck to deck for what seemed like forever.  Meanwhile, the Seattle extended her lead a bit in clear water ahead of them.  The Seattle would earn the victory decisively.  Miss U.S. held off the challenge of Rebel, Suh to take second.  The Rebel finished a very strong third.  The Rebel was the only boat on the water not running the AstroFlight 25, 5-turn motor.  John ran well all day using the Cordite SS1 motor, which became legal for Division 1 racing this year along with the CEN 775.  The motor is obviously a good match, is easy to get quickly and is a whole lot less expensive.  You can get two of them for the price of one Astro 25.  Look for more people to use them next season in both divisions of CT racing.  I’ve heard they are even more impressive vs. the Astro 25 on 14 cells.  Our 2005 Division 1 season champion, Miss Budweiser, would finish the day in fourth place.  Hurricane IV crossed the line in fifth.  The Blue Chip missed a buoy later in the heat and finished sixth to close out an exciting day of racing.  Congratulations to Dale Van Wyk’s Miss Seattle, winner of the 2005 Classic Thunder Silver Cup in Division 1!  Dale ran solid all day long and let it all hang out in the final heat of the year.  We’ve seen great racing by everyone this year.  This is still my favorite class of racing to watch and the most difficult to drive in.  The boats are so evenly matched and can be very unstable at times.  Our champion managed to string together a very consistent and formidable effort throughout the season and just did it better than the rest of us.  Jeff Howard’s Miss Budweiser has now won two championships in three years.  Great job Jeff! 

Thus ends another great season of Classic Thunder racing.  Plans are being made for our 2005 banquet, which will be held in mid to late October.  Stay tuned for details.  The 10-race season seemed to pass so quickly.  I guess that’s how you can tell you’ve been having fun.  There have already been sightings of boats being built for next season!  So much of the excitement of CT is sharing ideas for building projects with everyone else.  We look forward to hours of “show and tell” during the off-season.  Getting together for testing sessions and bull sessions will keep us going until next season rolls around.  Now it’s off to the shop for most of us for some construction.  Long hours of crafting and experimenting will soon give way to our newest creations.  Before you know it we’ll be back on the clock and plugging in batteries for the first heats of 2006.

I would like to thank everyone who supported us with their membership, contributions, positive attitude and competitive sportsmanship.  With your help we were able to have a great time together and share our passion for the hobby with others.  We’ll look to make minor adjustments during the off-season, but I really like the way things are going.  You’ve made the club a very fun group to be a part of, regardless of whether we’re racing deck to deck or just hanging out together.  That makes a huge difference.  That’s what Classic Thunder has.  It’s unique and I thank you for what you’ve done to help create and preserve that for us all. 

Sincerely,

Mitch Dillard

Classic Thunder Commissioner