USSBA Race Report

Mixing it up in Marsing

Jack Bright takes home Superboat trophy - A-400 class tied for first place

By Jim DeFord

MARSING, Idaho (July 8, 2006) — Who could have ever predicted that Jack Bright would be at the top of the podium in the Superboat class? Surely not I and surely not even Jack himself. However, at the end of the day on Saturday, July 8, 2006, that is exactly where Jack and his substitute navigator, Jo Schaffer stood. Quite amazing. How the heck did that happen?

Well, let me tell you...

2005 Superboat champion and runaway leader this season until this past race, Tom Nelson and navigator Laura Ensminger had very serious engine problems and were not able to make the race at all. It has to be pretty serious for the Piranha team to not show up.

Tom was offered at least one boat to double-up on and at least run for points, but out of respect for a fellow racer's equipment and not wanting to risk an accident or mechanical failure, Tom decided to sit this one out.

Unfortunately that leaves him out of contention for the 2006 championship. Mathematically the team still has a chance, but it would be a far reach.

Darren Hartwic's Hi-Tech Redneck also had a catastrophic engine event and he doubled up in Jack Bright's boat to preserve points and standings.

So, Jack and Jo ran the #169 in A-400 and Todd Mulvaine's #11 stock boat in the Superboat class just to add a little more competition for the fans.

That left the Rice/Healy Screamin' Eagle boat virtually a shoe-in for the 1st place trophy.

Or so we thought.

In round 2 of the eliminations, Lee Rice sucked up a Marsing boulder into his pump, lost steering and went onto the bank near the finish line. His day was over, even though guaranteed a spot on the podium in third place.

So, that left Jack and Darren to battle it out. They had been going back and forth a bit on fast times, but Jack held the advantage driving against his A-400 boat with a stock boat!

In the end it was Jack and Jo pulling off the Superboat win by nearly a second and they could not have been any more shocked than the rest of the fans at the track!

In the stock class, points leaders Rice/Rice were cruising along looking to the third win this season but a slight confrontation with the Marsing banks in the eliminations put them on the trailer and they had to settle for third place though still retaining the points lead by 10 points.

Todd Mulvaine and John Schaffer have shown steady improvement since their first event and it finally came to fruition at the USSBA's toughest track with their first stock class win. John's screams could be heard in Boise.

In the Super Modified class it was again the domination of the Peterson brothers taking a firm hold on the championship lead over John Gray and Josh Faulk by 70 points.

Gray/Faulk finished second on the day and the boat looked the smoothest I have ever seen it this season. The Ackerman sensation in the #17 Cool Tool boat—soon to be renamed—finished third. There is not a happier team in the series. Their energy is addicting!

The A-400 class also brought a few surprises.

Points leader Hendrickson/Rice worked hard the last two weeks to resolve some engine issues En Fuego had been having since the beginning of the season. The engine was running smooth and sweet. Doug and Hanna had the class in the palm of their hands leading Kyle Patrick and Jeff Zimmerman in the It's All About Me machine by 7 seconds in the qualifications.

But, Doug & Hanna—for the second race in a row—missed yet again another turn in the eliminations and placed the boat on the trailer in disgust.

That left Kyle and Jeff to battle it out with Dave Pfieler and Marv Wright in the beautiful Climax boat. Kyle and Dave had been neck-to-neck all day pulling off 67's, 68's and 69's though Kyle pulled a 66.648 in the last round of qualifying and with Hendrickson dropping out he looked to be taking to top stand on the podium.

After the first elimination run Kyle's team decided to go with a smaller blade for some more RPM's and that proved disastrous.

In round 2 they forget to "up" the rev-limiter. Still they remained in the finals and dropped half a second off their round 1 time. Meanwhile Pfieler just kept going faster.

In round 3 Patrick was even slower dropping another second while Dave pulled his fast time of the day, and his first USSBA win with a 66.617.

Congratulations to all the winners and we'll see you again on July 29th at Marsing for Round #4 of the 2006 United States Sprint Boat Association season.

Don't miss it!