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Lake Wales was wet and wild today - the racing AND the weather were wild at times & definitely wet as it rained heavily 3 times for a short while, driving everyone for shelter. As soon as the storms passed, the racing resumed.
Heavy winds held up the start of the racing for about 1/2 hour.
These heat results are unofficial and are not necessarily in the order the classes were run.
1st heat - 250cc Runabout:
1. Tim Small,
2. Brandon Thirlby,
3. Brian Payne.
Tim Small's performance today was superb. He seemed to have power out of the corners and on the top end. He won 2 heats but broke on the 3rd. Tough luck.
There was a black flag when Buddy Tennell boat was hit in the far turn. Buddy was ok, we have a picture of the damage to the boat that I will post after the results.
1st heat - 350cc Hydro:
1. Chris Hellsten,
2 & 3 ?? Not sure of other 2 but there were 2 gun jumpers - Mitchell and Buskirk.
Chris Hellsten in the 1st heat really had it dialed in.
1st heat - 500cc Runabout:
1. Mike Thirlby,
2. V18 - Nick Nothe (spell?),
3. ? ,
4. R. C. Hawie.
Mike Thirlby really had his 500cc runabout dialed in today. He ran away and left the field in this heat. I've never seen him run better.
2nd heat - 250cc Runabout:
1. Tim Small,
2. Brandon Thirlby,
3. Brian Payne.
Brandon and Tim put on a great show, dueling with each other for position. Rich Krier had bad luck today with engine problems, which was a shame as he ran strong at Inverness.
2nd heat - 350cc Hydro:
1. Chris Hellsten,
2. Mark Stahl,
3. Buskirk.
There were 8 competing in this heat with lots of tough competition. On the 2nd lap they were 3 wide heading into the 1st turn. Really exciting to watch.
2nd heat - 500cc Runabout:
1. Mike Thirlby,
2. Pete Voss,
3. Nick Nothe (sp?).
Nick was 2nd most of the race but Pete came up on Nick on the last turn and passed him for 2nd place. Great driving guys!
3rd heat - 250cc Runabout:
1. Brandon Thirlby,
2 & 3 ??
Tim Small, as I said previously, did not finish the 3rd heat due to his engine sticking up. Really tough luck as Tim was fast all day.
3rd heat - 350cc Hydro:
This one took several minutes after the race for the officials to review the tapes before they declared the unofficial winner, Gary Buskirk jumped the gun.
1. Rob Erble who ran a 250 in a 350 class,
2. Chris Hellsten,
3. Bruce Summers.
3rd heat - 500cc Runabout:
1. Mike Thirlby,
2. Pete Voss.
Mike Thirlby & his team really did their homework over the winter as he was strong all day and stayed out in front.
K Pro Hydro - only heat ran:
1. Wendy Eldredge,
2. Kurtis Nydahl,
3. Zach McQuire (I think he was 3rd).
Wendy Eldredge was as strong at Lake Wales as she was last weekend at Inverness. Travis Ellison provided a little excitement when he spun out hard in the far turn. He wasn't hurt but his boat had some damage.
125cc Hydro - 1st heat:
There were 12 boats in this class for the 1st heat, which made for a really exciting start. 2 boats traded paint (David Augustine was one) and 1 blew over (Billy Allen) causing the heat to be black flagged as Billy was in the water & not with his boat. 2 drivers were ruled ineligible for the restart due to driving infractions.
This class did not get to finish the 1st heat as they were scheduled to re-run after the 500cc Hydro heat and a rain storm after 500cc Hydro prevented their re-start.
500cc Hydro - 1st & only heat of the day:
1. David Hooten,
2. Brandon Thirlby,
3. Fire Wagon.
Going into the 1st turn, it was pretty exciting to see 3 of the top drivers mixing it up. It reminded me of the old D hydro days of the 1960's. McKean took the inside line with David Hooten in the middle & Brandon Thirlby on the outside. They all went into the turn and the spray was 30 feet high (or higher). It looked for a moment like Sean McKean was going to pull out but David and Brandon sprayed down the side of Sean so badly that it blew his engine cover off and flooded out his motor, knocking him out of the race. Then David and Brandon took off and left the rest of the field behind. David Hooten had his 500cc Konny absolutely screaming today. It looked like a figher jet doing tight maneuvers. When you can stay in front of Brandon Thirlby, that's really saying something as the Thirlbys equipment is always honed to perfection.
The weather contributed to the excitement as in the 3rd lap the winds from an upcoming storm picked up substantially, making white caps on the water. That didn't stop David or Brandon. They actually looked like they picked up speed because of it.
On the last lap the skies opened up and the rain poured down. Branches were falling from the trees, the wind was blowing so hard. It even hailed. What a finish!
David and Brandon, you guys put on one heck of a show!
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