PENDLETON, Oregon (October 25, 2009) — The 2009 USSBA Racing Series champions have been officially crowned. Amanda Webb created beautiful one-of-a-kind trophies for the teams to place in their trophy cases. The dinner at the Pendleton Red Lion was absolutely delicious.

Results of the 2009 Motel Furniture Racing Association (MFRA) luggage cart and chair races are under review. Protests have been filed and fines may be issued. Injuries were minor and all furniture was returned mostly intact.

The tentative 2010 schedule has been posted. Dan Morrison announced that there is a pivotal meeting on or about November 3 that could decide the fate of the proposed Port Angeles track.

The Army Corp of Engineers has presented some interesting hurdles—like any government agency can—and everyone has their fingers crossed that these issues will be resolved at that meeting

Revival of the track in Marsing, Idaho was also discussed as there apparently are no races scheduled to run there by the NJSA in 2010. There are quite a few hurdles to be resolved there before a race in Marsing could be sanctioned by the USSBA.

Stay tuned to the USSBA website for further information on both tracks. You will notice several open dates that could be filled by races at both Port Angeles and Marsing.

Links for the photos from the weekend will be provided on the forum.

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ALBANY, Oregon (September 15, 2009) — C. Thomas Howell's new show featuring the USSBA sprint boats premiered Saturday with replays slated for Wednesday, Friday and Sunday on CMT.

You can also view the show on the Internet by clicking here. It is a great segment, is the lead-in to the half-hour show and really represents the sport of Sprint Boat Racing in an excellent light and format. Thanks to Tommy and the entire All Jacked Up crew for their work at Albany.

ALBANY, Oregon (September 5, 2009) — Being in the fire service for the last 20+ years and watching our boats all going faster and faster. I think about things like how would we would get someone out of a boat if they had a neck or back injury and not make it worse? Is there anyone that has practiced this? Our USSBA safety crew does an amazing job, but what does our local fire department know about our sport? So we started looking at how other organization perform extrications; specifically open wheel racers because the driver’s area is similar to our boats.

We then talked with Chief Smith about conducting drill at there fire station. So, on September 3, 2009 we went to the Halsey Shedd Fire District and presented what we have learned. We spent about an hour in the class room giving a PowerPoint presentation on boat safety, fuel, roll bars, lack of room, possible injuries, helmet removal and the Kendal Extrication Device (KED). Then we went out to put what we learned to use.

With Theresa Gibb tightly strapped in the #151 boat the firefighters set out to properly extricate her from the boat as if she had suffered a severe back injury. One of the first things they discovered is how small the boats are, how close the roll bar is and how different the seats are from regular car. The team worked together and successfully removed Theresa from the boat. Theresa said “I feel good knowing this Fire Department has practiced this and did such a great job on there first try.”

Next year before the Albany races we will go back and practice another drill to keep this unique and challenging extrication problem fresh in all our minds. Hopefully we will never have to use the safety crews for a serious injury but if we do rest assured they will do the best job possible in taking care of our racers.