ALBANY, Oregon (September 20, 2009) — The Les Schwab National Finals weekend event was watched by over 45,000 fans! No, they were not ALL at the track, but the racing did cause another traffic jam on Interstate 5.

Let's get to it.

Super-Modified

John Gray and Tom Bailey have had a rough year and ended the weekend early on Saturday with a blown motor. Their second of the year. Looks like it may be just an upper-end failure, but they were not able to run on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, John and Tom crashed onto the island and then had a persistent header fire. Eventually John got the motor started and put out the flames. John finishes 11th among the regular starters this year.

Gary McNeil navigated for Scott Saxton this weekend. Scott ran well and made it into the elimination rounds both days, though being eliminated on the first round both days. Scott finishes 10th in the standings.

Ron "I swear I am retiring" Fisher and Derrek Grove also mode it to the elimination rounds both days running quite well as Ron continues the break-in the newly rebuilt motor (this boat is for sale). On Sunday, Ron had an interesting air cleaner fire that just would not go away. The USSBA's Safety Director, Chris, finally removed the air cleaner and tossed it into the pond. Ron finishes 9th in the standings for 2009.

Dennis Hughes and Gabe Parkins, who flipped upside down at St. John, were back at Albany with both guns blazing. Dennis ran hard and consistent and qualified both days for round 1 of the eliminations. Dennis and Gabe take the #8 spot in the final standings.

Rookies, Larry Hines and Jay Carreia have run consistent and smooth all year long. They qualified Saturday but were eliminated in round 1. They did not make the 8-cut on Sunday. Larry and Jay will claim the #7 spot in the USSBA Racing Series.

Rick Henderson had Kip Sleeman navigating for him this weekend and made the finals both days. Smooth consistent finishes have Rick taking 6th place for 2009.

Lori and Scott Ackerman have been learning the capabilities of the new Shotgun hull this year and have been going faster with each race. They ran the firt final eliminations of the year against Dan Morrison and Cara McGuire and finished second. They made it into the 4-cut Sunday and ran very well. The Ackermans finish 5th this year. Rumors are running about the paddock that there may be a Super Boat motor in their future!

Dillon Brown-Cummings and step-mom, Teri Cummings have run hard and fast this year. Very hard and very fast! This has made them one of the crowd favorites! Dillon and Teri DNF'd on the 8-cut on Saturday and ran against Cory Johnson for the national Finals title on Sunday, finishing second. Look for this team to be one to beat in 2010. Dillon takes the 4th spot this season.

Dillon's Dad, Tim Cummings and navigator Mike Fuller ran very well on Saturday. Until a rod went through their oil pan. Tim and Mike doubled up in Dillon's boat and had a scary multi-flip at the top of the first straight.

No one was hurt and the boat was not seriously damaged. Tim and Mike finish in the third position for 2009.

2008 Super-Modified Champions Dan Morrison and Cara McGuire took first place on Saturday, but could only muster a third place finish on Sunday. Dan and car had some odd handling issues earlier in the year. They re-positioned the seats at St. John and made the problem worse. They came into Albany with a very well handling boat and will claim the #2 spot in the series for 2009.

Sophomore racers Cory Johnson and Gary McNeil came into the 2009 with a new boat and their hair on fire. At the first race in Albany they had a horrendous crash, but came back with win at St. John.

Cory had two weddings in British Columbia to attend. He flew into Albany on Saturday, qualified and then left for the day, finishing with just 310 points, but only 24 points behind Morrison for Sunday's National Finals.

Cory came back and did what he had to do. Qualify first and win. With Morrison finishing third on Sunday, Cory and Gary claim both the National Finals title and the 2009 USSBA Racing Series Super-Modified Championship.

Group A-400

Doug Hendrickson and Hannah Macke have had a tough season. They were fast, fast on Saturday, but missed a corner, and flipped upside down into the channel. The safety crew was there right away, but the engine was swamped and they would not run on Sunday. They finish in 6th place for the 2009 season.

Todd Gary and Andrew Lockner ran with a Super-Mod motor all weekend but ran well. They took a little dip in the pond on Saturday, but made it to the 4-cut on Sunday and will finish the season in 5th place.

Doug Olson and Linne Gilder won their first race earlier this year. They ran consistent all weekend making it into the 4-cut both days. Doug and Linne claim the #4 spot for 2009.

Since Paul Gahr brought on his son Josh as navigator, his driving has become more defined. Smoother. And the results show with a #2 finish on Saturday and another trip into the 4-cut on Sunday. Paul and Josh enjoy the bottom step of the podium for 2009.

2008 Group A-400 Champions, Kyle Patrick and Theresa Gibb have had an up and down season. They have been fast, but plagued with engine issues and Saturday was not different when their engine expired.

They borrowed teammate Todd Gary's motor, but it was soon obvious that the engine was just not enough to claim the championship. Kyle and Theresa finish 2nd in 2009 and already have plans for 2010.

Jack Bright and Jack Bright Jr. are always fun to watch and they had high hopes coming to the final weekend of the 2009 season.

Jack and Jack ran consistent and fast and showed that they would not not take no for an answer. The Bright's take both the National Final's trophy and the 2009 Group A-400 Championship.

Super Boats

Pat Hampl and Talitha Edwards came into this season for their rookie entry into the Super Boat class and with a Viper V-10 engine!

They had a few growing pains, but garnered the attention of Ilmor Marine and by the third race, claimed their first win! Pat and Talitha ran hard, fast and close. They finished second both days and claim the #2 spot in the Super Boat Class.

2007/08 Super Boat Champions Dave Pfeiler and Amanda Vestal are one of the most consistent teams in the USSBA Racing Series. That consistency also claimed them the National Finals title and the 2009 Super Boat Championship!

The 2009 season was the most contested season I have witnessed since becoming involved in the series in  2003. The racing is hard, close and one of the most exciting racing series on our planet.

Congratulations to all the race teams and we look forward to the 2010 season. See you at the awards banquets on October 24th. Details on the private forum.

SAINT JOHN, Washington (August 29, 2009) — Between the 19,000 fans who watched the live broadcast and what looked to be well over 3,000 fans (waiting official figures) attending live, at the track, well over 20,000 watched Saturday's barn burner of a race at Webb's Slough sprint boat racing facility located in Saint John, Washington.

There was a barn dance scheduled at the fairgrounds that night, but the USSBA Sprint Boat Racing Series boats burned down the barn during the day. Rumor was that a massive hay ride took the place of the barn dance.

The racing was fast and furious at the beautifully manicured facility set among the rolling wheat fields in Eastern Washington.

Super-Modified

This class delivered 14 boats to race. Cory Johnson and Gary McNeil, in the #55 Liquid Addiction boat was the #1 qualifier. Since acquiring their new boat, they have been über-fast in their sophomore year of spring boat racing. They are the surprise team of 2009!

After their nasty, hull-ripping crash at Albany last month, it was obvious there were no getting-back-in-the-saddle issues with these two racers! They were fast right off the trailer and they were not taking names. Credit goes to John "Dutch" DeRooy for re-assembling Liquid Addiction.

Lori and Scott Ackerman qualified second and are getting a handle on their brand-spanking new hull, pump and motor combo. Though Scott says the current power-plant doesn't have enough horsies for this new setup. However, they did quite well and made it into the 4-cut! Lori & Scott's new boat is a John DeRooy Shotgun creation.

Tim Cummings and Mike Fuller in the #99 TNT Jeepers Creepers boat had an engine-popping issue that haunted them all day. In spite of that, they were fast all day long, qualifying third.

2008 Super-Mod Champion, Dan Morrison and Cara McGuire in the Lucas Oil/K&N #10 Wicked Racing boat have seemingly lost their smoothness that won them that championship. In 2008, they ran on glass. This year, it's more like sand. We'll talk more with Dan and Cara at Albany to understand the demons they are dealing with this year. They qualified fourth.

Dillon Brown-Cummings and Teri Cummings, of TNT Racing, are one of the crowd favorites in 2009. Mainly because they are both so damn cute!

Dillon, the youngest driver in the series, and his Step-Mom, Teri have risen to the top very quickly this year and will be a factor for the championship before it's all said and done. Dillon and Teri qualified fifth.

John Gray and Tom Bailey qualified sixth after missing race #2 after frying a motor. It was like they had never left. John and Tom pushed the #611 Diamond Racing boat right into the finals with a very impressive showing of a new motor.

Qualifying seventh was Dennis Hughes and Gabe Parkins. I recall talking to Dennis at Friday Night's Show and Shine in downtown Saint John and I asked: "You ready to take it?" (Meaning first place) Dennis replied, "Not sure if I can take it, but I'm not taking my foot off the throttle."

And Dennis stood by his word as in the final qualifying round, he clipped an island causing him and Gabe to pull a nasty 540° upside down into the water. SEE VIDEO HERE.

We do not see this very often, but every time it happens it seems to take forever for anyone to surface. Right as the Slough Crew arrived, from every corner of the track, Dennis popped up. Gabe was not to be seen. The crew lifted the boat and eventually Gabe popped up, totally out of breath. The crowd literally sighed, as did the entire USSBA family. See COMPLETE photo sequence HERE.

Due to water in the engine Dennis and Gabe scratched.

And then there's Ron Fisher. He retired from the USSBA Sprint Boat Racing Series last year, missed the first race of the year and has been in the eliminations ever since. We're nick-naming Ron the Brett Favre of Sprint Boat Racing!

All kidding aside, Ron's boat is up for sale. Check the classified section. Ron did qualify eighth, but was scored as seventh for the eliminations after Dennis' scratch. And Ron, you can race with us forever! Everyone enjoys your company and humor.

Robert and Rodney Cox, in the #049 Obsession machine qualified ninth. They struggled with some oil burning issues but made it into the eliminations.

Those not making it into the eliminations rounds were:

Castillo/Weeks

SaxtonPowell

Henderson/Sleeman

Hines/Carreia

Powell/Saxton

In the eliminations the competition was insane!

In the 8-cut, Morrison/McGuire were quickest at 50.419. Dillon was second at 50.666. Cory was third at 51.057 (even after a spin!) and the Ackerman's were fourth at 51.616.

Cummings/Fuller, Gray/Bailey, Cox/Cox, and Fisher/Grove were eliminated.

The 4-cut prompted Cory to visit the 49-second land. No one else ventured there and Morrison and Ackerman were eliminated by just tenths of a second.

So that placed Cory and Dillon; Gary and Teri, head to head in the finals. This was Dillon's first visit to the finals. The live audience were rooting for them both! Great racing is what they came for, and they were about to get the very best!!

Dillon and Teri were up first and ran their fastest lap of the day at 49.547. Cory has already run a 48 (second lap) in qualifications, so the crowd watched with bated breath.

It was not Cory's fastest lap. There were a few bobbles and small mistakes, as Dillon had also made on his lap. The anticipation could have been cut with a combine!

Cory and Gary smoked the track with a lap just .179 seconds faster than Dillon and Teri and took the win!

Group A-400

No one loves The Slough more than Jack Bright Sr. and Jr. With his first year spin-and-win and then winning the next three races through 2008, Jack was King of The Slough.

However, Monster Energy sponsored; Psycho Racing, Kyle Patrick and Theresa Gibb knocked Jack off his perch the first race of the season and took the win.

Also, in this trinity of controversy and competition is none other than two-time (2006/07) Champion, Doug Hendrickson and Hannah Macke.

Doug and Hannah have not won a race since 2007. Doug is also President of the USSBA and many times that enters into the fray when trying to race. Nevertheless, Doug was also President when winning the two Championships.

Doug Olson is coming off his first professional win the the USSBA Series. He had won a race in an early beginner's series 7-8 years ago, so Doug was coming off his win high.

Paul Gahr is hungry, but in his sophomore season, still has things to learn. His new navigator, Joshua, whom also happens to be his son, has livened this TNT Racing Team to new heights!

Todd Gary is still trying to make his way into this class after a fairly successful outing in his rookie year in Super-Modified.

During the qualifications, everyone was tiptoeing through the 31 turns, though Kyle and Theresa ripped a 51 in Q1!

Kyle was also fastest in Q2 with a 51.369. Q3 had Hendrickson/Macke on top at 49.068, the Brights at 49.147, Kyle at 50.194, Paul and Joshua Gahr at 52.070, Doug Olson and Andy Gilder at 55.993 while Todd Gary and Andrew Lockner DNF'd.

For the eliminations, Todd Gary, of the Psycho Racing Team, could not start because of engine issues.

Doug Olson pulled a 55, Gahr ripped a 51, Kyle and Theresa ran a good run, but not as fast as Q4, with a 49.521. Doug and Hannah screeched the fastest lap of the day of all classes in Q1 with a 48.635!

In the 4-cut, the Gahrs slipped to 52's. Olson/Gilder got stuck in the mud and while Andy was trying to physically shake the boat loose, I have to believe it was the crowd that CHEERED it loose! When Doug finally broke the boat free, the entire crowd rose to its feet and screamed!

But, it was a 74-second lap and Doug was eliminated.

Kyle and Theresa ran a 49.334. Doug and Hannah squeaked a 48.967, taking the two rivals into the finals.

Kyle and Theresa gave it all they had, just knicking an island, but still running a respectable 49.614.

Doug and Hannah reciprocated with their fourth consecutive 48-second lap at 48.872 and took the win, breaking a year-plus-long drought.

Superboats

Other than one DNF, Pat Hampl and Talitha Edwards, of the Monster Energy, Psycho Racing Team was letting Dave Pfeiler and Amanda Vestal know that they were serious about running Superboats.

Pat and Talitha's Viper V-10 motor was running at full peak and ready to take a prisoner! The Viper boat was fast and Dave and Amanda, in the #5 Climax boat, struggled to keep an even keel.

In the eliminations, Pat and Talitha ran a quick 51.722 and when Dave and Amanda reciprocated, their drive line broke 75 yards from the finish and they coasted into the spin-out pool and into the tires and could not come back for the finals. Congratulations to Pat and Talitha for their first win!!!

Venom has shown its colors. Look for Climax to show its full power at the two-race weekend at Albany where it's all placed on the line for the championship! Venom is a mere 6 points behind two-time Superboat Champion, Dave Pfeiler and Amanda Vestal.

ALBANY, Oregon (July 26, 2009) — It was a wild and crazy race day at the Field of Dreams track in Albany, Oregon on Saturday. The race rotation was the longest I have seen in the seven years I have been involved with the sport. 34-turns on the largest track on the 2009 USSBA Spring Boat Racing Series season. No one broke 62 seconds. Normally, the boats run 40-55 seconds or so. Saturday's race was a marathon.

That also proved to be a tough row to hoe for drivers and navigators alike. One of the most experienced navigators in the series, Hannah Macke said in an interview in the announcing booth when questioned by Bill Lundun regarding the complicated rotation: "You get in the middle and it's hard to figure where you're at."

And Hannah was right. The rotation took the racers this way and that, time and time again through the center of the maze of islands.

The previous rotations at Albany have been a few trips through the center, but mainly set for speed in a nearly "roundy-rounder" type of race not unlike NASCAR.

And it was that challenging rotation that provided the estimate 2,500 fans a great, exciting show that ran from 10am until 5:30pm, with barely a spare moment to breathe!

Super Modified Class

Sophomore racers Cory Johnson and Gary McNeil won their first race at St. John last month. They came to Albany fast right off the trailer. Also fast out of the box were the TNT Racing Cummings Family with Tim and Mike (Fuller) in Jeepers Creepers and the Son and Mom team of Dillon and Teri Cummings.

2008 Champion, Dan Morrison of Wicked Racing had engine issues at St. John and would be challenged here at Albany with the 34-turn rotation significantly visiting the dirt twice at the Field of Dreams. In spite of their issues, Dan and Cara made it to the 4-cut, but could not muster the speed of Cummings and Johnson.

The Ackerman's in the Bad Medicine boat just never really had the speed to deliver the kill on this track and they DNF'd their first elimination outing.

Dillon Brown-Cummings and navigator-Mom, Teri also came into this race hot off the trailer. In the 8-cut, Dillon beat Tim by nearly three-tenths, but then twisted it onto the beach at the tricky 180, 4-turns from the finish.

Robert & Rodney Cox, Larry Hines and Jay Carreia also qualified but could not continue past the 8-cut.

Retired Sprint Boat Race Ron Fisher showed up with boat-in-tow Saturday morning. He claimed this was just to break in his new motor and present the boat for sale. Okay Ron. We know you just wanted to play! Always good to see you. Ron also failed to make it through the 8-cut.

Henderson and Marxen, and rookie Canadian racers, Saxton and Lowney did not qualify.

In the 4-cut, Morrison pulled a 64.5, Dillon put it on the beach in the 180, Tim ripped of a 64.0 and Cory smoked a 63.396 which would be the fastest lap of the day of all classes.

That put Tim and Cory head-to-head with Tim running first and running a 63.909, his fastest run of the day. Cory was then next and came literally flying off the start. Four turns later their boat was flipping across the St. John island with massive damage and a huge DNF.

Congratulations to TNT Racing's Tim Cummings and Mike Fuller on their first win!

Class A-400

2008 Champion Kyle Patrick and Theresa Gibbs of Monster sponsored, Psycho Racing were fast and furious and seemingly on their way to their second victory of the year. Jack and Jack Bright were obviously not going to let Kyle take the trophy un-challenged.

New 400-class racers Doug Olson and Todd Gary had something to prove that they belonged here. Back to back champion in 2006/07 Champions Doug Hendrickson and Hannah Macke, who were amazingly fast at St. John before a DNF (also) had something to prove. Paul Gahr and Mark Gold were not here for the track food.

Kyle was leading the way until Q3. In Q4 they were out in Todd Gary's boat due to low oil pressure in the Monster Energy boat.

In the 8-cut, there were parts coming out of the oil pan in Kyle and Theresa's vessel and their day was over.

Doug Hendrickson and Hannah Macke struggled the entire day. They just could not get their arms around this rotation. They did finally qualify third, but DNF'd in the 8-cut.

TNT's Paul Gahr and Mark Gold had some upper end engine issues and rand Jack Bright's boat in the finals. Right onto the beach and a DNF.

Jack Bright, Todd Gary and Doug Olson would enter the 4 cut, with Patrick a DNS due to his DNF in the 8-cut.

Todd was eliminated with a 75.5 time and it was then Jack vs Doug.

Doug Olson and his fiancée/navigator ran their fastest lap of the day at 68.280. Jack had been into the 64's and set our to put this run to bed, but then beached it on the east side of the track giving Doug Olson not only his first win, but first podium finish of his seven-year sprint boat racing career! Congrats Doug and Lynn!

Super Boats

One of the big stories of the weekend was the long-awaited presentation of the Viper's Methonal powered Viper V-10 engine. A first for the USSBA Sprint Boat Racing Series.

It would turn out to be a rough day for Pat Hampl and Talitha Edwards. The engine quit and they beached their first licensing run. They crashed on the first run with Talitha sustaining a very painful elbow injury. See the video here.

Hopping back into the boat they did qualify, but then DNF'd two other times in the qualifying rounds. However, they did qualify first over defending champion Dave Pfeiler.

In the finals Pat had the speed on Dave, but was just not able to handle the complicity of the rotation again and Dave Pfeiler would claim yet another win, his seventh in a row over two seasons. Congratulations to Dave Pfeiler and Amanda Vestal!

CHAMBERLAIN-OACOMA, South Dakota (July 14, 2009) — River City Racin' and the local community of Chamberlain and Oacoma welcomed the USSBA Sprint Boat teams with open arms. The throng of fans put the exclamation mark on that with their resounding cheers as the boats splashed the fans time and again.

The USSBA thanks the ULHRA, River City Racin' and all their sponsors and promoters for such a great event. The Pepsi Racing PowerCup Challenge is by far the largest event in the area and the USSBA is proud to have been a part and are looking forward to returning in the future.

Several sponsors and officials were given rides including both the mayors of Chamberlain and Oacoma!

Enjoy the photos below shot by Dillon.

ALBANY, Oregon (September 12, 2009) — As the 2009 USSBA Racing Series Championship closes with a full weekend of racing, if anyone had any doubts about drivers holding back for the National Finals race on Sunday, they were literally washed away with some of the most competitive racing of the year.

Cory Johnson flew in from British Columbia late this morning, after attending a Friday night wedding to qualify his boat, get back in a plane and fly back to British Columbia to attend yet another wedding. Had he not done so, he would have effectively given up his chance to claim the Super Modified Championship. He gave up points not running in the eliminations rounds, but still stays within reach (-28 points) of Dan Morrison who claimed today's win. Cory is slated to run the full session tomorrow.

Kyle Patrick blew a motor and is now, as I write this, swapping Todd Gary's 400 motor into his boat and installed a super-mod motor into Todd's boat just to even have a chance at the Nationals and the USSBA Championship in the Group A-400 class.

In addition, John Gray blew his motor, after earlier rolling his boat onto an island and having quite a spectacular exhaust fire. Ron Fisher nearly rolled his boat and his air cleaner caught fire. Doug Hendrickson rolled his boat upside down into the channel, but the quick actions of Chris and his rescue crew prompted a quick and safe recovery of both Doug and Hannah. Status of their running on Sunday are unknown at this time.

Tim Cummings shoved a $26,000 piston rod through his oil pan and will double up with his son on Sunday.

Tomorrow's National Finals will decide it all! Be there in person or on our Ustream channel!

SAINT JOHN, Washington (June 21, 2009) — It can hardly get any better than Saturday's USSBA Racing Series opening event at Webb's Slough in Saint John, Washington.

Matt and Amanda Webb and the now infamous Slough Crew were busy in the off-season and it wasn't just mowing the grass.

All new catch fencing and a safety barrier fence has been installed, taking the level of safety for the racers and the fans to a new level. The tiers on the side of the hill are nicely manicured, gorgeous and on Saturday were packed with 5,000 race fans!

You see acres of empty seats at NASCAR races, but not here. Great job everyone! Also note that Webb's Slough has the absolute BEST track food in the USSBA series!!!

There was drama, action, emotion, heartache, thrills, and yes spills this weekend at Webb's Slough. The weather was in the mid 70's and ripe for generating maximum horsepower with these water-munching monsters.

Webb's Slough is a tight, technical, driver's track, but the layout of the track on Saturday was all speed, except for the "kink." The driver's have another "R" rated name for the small circle at the top of the track, but we'll call it The Kink. More on that later.

The drama started out when the Lucas Oil Wicked Racing team of 2008 Super-Modified Champion Dan Morrison discovered a weak valve spring. After several frantic phone calls into town, the boat was taken offsite to have the errant spring replaced and Dan would miss the first two rounds of qualifying.

2008 A-400 defending Champion, Kyle Patrick, running the Monster Energy sponsored, It's All About Me entry, started fighting engine demons right off the trailer as the engine popped and missed around the track. Some respectable times were still being run, but the day was looking grim and the entire team struggled to find the problems.

Super Modified

With Morrison off the track, the rest of the field set out to set down some fast times. Cory Johnson and Gary McNeil from British Columbia did just that by running a 42.470 by round two. No one else was close as the others were in the 45's or higher. That would change by Q4!

Morrison and McGuire came back into Q3 (session 3 of the qualifying rounds) and ran a 42.7. In Q4 they would improve to 42.5 but that was a second off the pace with the Canadians ripping off a 41.55!

TNT Racing's Tim Cummings and Mike Fuller were third with a 42.797. Also of TNT Racing, Dillon Brown and Teri Cummings were fourth with a 43.5, Lori and Scott Ackerman of 04IC Racing qualified fifth at 43.7, John Gray and Tom Bailey were 44.8 with rookies Hendersen/Marxen running a 51.3 to round out the top eight.

Robert and Randy Cox and Larry Hines and Jay Carreia were put on the trailer for the day with a 58.1 and 66.4 times, respectively.

In the finals the Canadians claimed Webb's Slough as a home away from home. You could have placed a thumbnail over second through fourth place racers Morrison/McGuire, the Ackermans and Cummings/Fuller. They was only a mere two and a half tenths between the three.

The Ackerman's were breaking in their new Shotgun hull, Scott Pump and brand new engine. A great showing for a first run. This hull is much, much different than anything else on the water and it will be interesting to see how they progress through the season.

The TNT Teams of Cummings/Fuller and Brown/Cummings will be a force to be reckoned with before this season is over. These will be the teams to watch in 2009. They will spoil someone's day every soon...Stay tuned!

Cory and Gary laid down a very impressive, very smooth 40.788 in the finals and won the Super-Modified class. Very impressive for their sophomore year in the sport. Cory and Gary get The Smooth Award of the day!

This class is very close and look for the times and the competition to get even closer as the season wears on.

Group A-400

2006/2007 A-400 Champion Doug "The Prez" Hendrickson and Hannah Macke came off the trailer smokin' hot and ripped a 41.7 right out the box raising eyebrows across the pits.

Lucas Oil/Wicked Racing's Hendrickson has been in a slump since the final Richland race in 2007 and was set out to change all that Saturday.

But, there were a few others that just want to have a say in that! Jack and Jack Bright have never lost at Webb's Slough. Monster Energy sponsored Kyle Patrick and Theresa Gibb wanted this win bad. Kyle and Theresa are the defending 2008 A-400 Champions and want nothing more...Or should I say nothing LESS, than the 2009 Class A-400 Championship.

Paul Gahr and Mark Gold of the TNT Racing Team along with Doug Olson and Andy Gilder, running Dream Catcher, having just moved up from Super-Mod and Monster Energy's Todd Gary and Andrew Lockner, with their new go-fast goodies were also going to try and knock down The Prez.

Hendrickson/Macke ended up with a track shattering 40.465 in Q3 that no one in any class would touch. In Q4, however, The Bright's eclipsed Doug's 41.690 with a 41.679. Things that make ya go hmmmmm.

Kyle Patrick and the Monster Energy Team were chasing ugly things in his motor. They'd pretty much given up on the top step of the podium or even placing as they struggled with an persistent, horsepower-robbing problem in their powerplant.

In spite of that they still qualified third with TNT's Gahr and Gold just behind as they tweaked and tuned their gear. There is no racer on the track that was more exciting about the day's race than Paul. Paul Gahr is unofficially awarded the unofficial award of Excitable Boy of the Day.

Olson/Gilder was fifth and Gary/Lockner was sixth as they moved into the eliminations.

In the 8-cut run Patrick was on top, just squeaking past Bright, but still not close to Hendrickson. Kyle managed a 42.1, Bright a 42.4, Gahr a 43.8, Olson a 45.3 and Gary was put on the trailer with a 48.8.

And then it was time for Wicked Racing's team of Hendrickson/Macke. Off the line they were super fast up the front straight (fastest of any boat out there) and Doug turned a bit too sharp into the kink! The boat grazed the bank and was tossed sideways against the tiny island. Still in the water, and in the running, Doug attempted to turn around and popped the nose onto the bank ending their day.

Gahr and Gold pulled their fastest time of the day in the 4-cut, but it was nearly 6-tenths out and they parked their boat for the day. Olson/Gilder ran a 46 and that was the end of their day.

So it was the Master of The Slough against Kyle Patrick. Even Kyle doubted if there was any beast to unleash in the Monster Energy machine. And Jack n' Jack were getting faster and faster and faster and faster. Just like they always do.

In the final, Jack ran a 41.7. His fastest time of the day and 6-tenths faster than Kyle had run with his ailing powerplant.

But, finally, the Beast was Unleashed as Kyle and Theresa dipped into 40-second land with a race winning 40.983. Jack was the first to congratulate them.

SuperBoats

Defending Superboat Champion, Dave Pfeiler ran very consistent times from Q3 through the finals and he always seems to know just how fast to run.

The Monster Energy sponsored Venom boat of Pat Hampl and Talitha Edwards are running on an engine waiver as they wait for their highly modified Dodge Viper V10 to be completed.

Pat and Talitha beat Dave, and guest navigator from Wicked Racing, Debbie Parker, in Q1 & Q2, but Mr. Consistent set the bar and held it through to the end with Pat and Talitha DNF'ing in the final run of the day.

That's all set to change at Albany in July as the V-10 arrives! Another cog in the SuperBoat wheel is that Dean Lautenschlager's boat is rumored to be ready to battle of this championship. This will be exciting to watch!! Don't miss it.

See you all at Albany, July 25th.