A crowd of about 1,000 local officials, media and spectators gave the four Air National Guard Drivers who took part in the Thursday exhibition on Folsom Lake, near Sacramento, an appreciative round of applause as they stepped from their boats after the final run of the day.

Some locals talked about how they had seen the races here in the late sixties.  Others were new to the sport and expressed their interest in seeing the Unlimiteds return to the area

Story and photo gallery by Randall Benton in the Sacramento Bee.

As part of a new strategy to bring a consistent branding framework across all of its assets, VERSUS will be renamed the NBC Sports Network. 

In addition, the NBC Sports Group will implement a redesigned NBC Sports logo.

Both changes will take effect Jan. 2, 2012.

The NBC Sports Network will serve as the NBC Sports Group’s 24/7 cable platform. Many NBC Sports production and programming elements have already been introduced on VERSUS since the merger – such as adopting the “Inside the Glass” production philosophy for all its NHL games, and adding horse racing and Notre Dame Football-related programming.

“This effort is a major step towards a complete strategic alignment of all our platforms and businesses,” NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus said. “This is more than just a name change for VERSUS. It’s a complete repositioning of the brand to provide value for marketers, consumers as well as all our affiliates and distributors. We want anyone who comes into contact with any of our assets to immediately connect with the NBC Sports brand promise.”

A new NBC Sports logo will also be implemented on Jan. 2. The new logo features an evolutionary design of the classic NBC Sports logo

. Changes include:

·        The Peacock is slightly larger.

·        The letters “NBC” are still bold but have a new font which puts them in balance with the Peacock.

·        “Sports” maintains its scripted feel, but features a new hand-lettered font exclusively created for NBC Sports.

·        Previously “Sports” was on an angle, but it has been straightened to allow for “Network” to fit easily beneath it and to accommodate the on-air design of commonly used sports tickers.

“The re-brand effort afforded us the opportunity to modernize the NBC Sports logo,” said John Miller, Chief Marketing Officer, NBCUniversal Television Group and head of the NBC Sports Agency. “The changes are subtle, but signal a big change: a new beginning for the NBC Sports Group.”

January 2 was chosen as the re-brand date for several reasons, including the number of strategic events with large viewing audiences on NBC within a short timeframe that can be used to call attention to the re-branding:

·        On Sunday, Jan. 1, the NFL’s regular-season will conclude with the Week 17 Sunday Night Football.

·        On, Jan. 2, the NHL Winter Classic will be featured on NBC.

·        On Saturday, Jan. 7, NBC Sports will broadcast its traditional NFL Wild Card doubleheader.

·        On Sunday, Feb. 5, Super Bowl XLVI, the most-watched program of the year, will be on NBC.

The re-brand efforts are a continuation of initiatives that began as soon as the NBC Sports Group was formed. In February it was announced that all golf broadcasts on NBC would be re-branded as “Golf Channel on NBC.” In April, NBCSports.com absorbed VERSUS.com to create a single, robust online destination for fans.

NBC Sports Group’s regional sports networks are not currently scheduled to be re-branded, however, Lazarus said “many will evolve to have the look and feel of our NBC Sports brand and production values.”

From the Tacoma News Tribune by sportswriter John McGrath.

It wasn’t all that long ago – around the turn of the century – when the unlimited hydroplane circuit was a cash-strapped operation on the verge of extinction. The sport known for spectacular rooster-tail plumes over sky-blue waters appeared doomed for a kind of water not associated with a sky-blue hue.

It was going down the toilet.

A schedule once busy with races from coast to coast had been reduced to a couple of events in the Midwest, a few others in the West. One boat – the Miss Budweiser – was so dominant that a virtual handicapping system was implemented to give the also-rans a chance.

Victory purses were eliminated; there was no money to cover local television costs, much less dole out to the winning team.

When qualifying begins today for the Albert Lee Cup at Seafair, spectators surrounding Lake Washington will be challenged to recall those relatively recent days when hydroplane racing was chugging along on life-support. The H1 Unlimited Series has found a general sponsor in the Air National Guard, and enough corporate sponsors to support nine of the 12 teams on the national tour.

An unprecedented TV contract – with the Versus Network, which will broadcast seven one-hour shows beginning in October – figures to expose the 200 mph power of thunder boats to a new audience.

A generation of young and hungry drivers has arrived. Get used to such names as J. Michael Kelly, Jeff Bernard, Kip Brown and Scott Liddycoat.

Most exciting is hydroplane racing’s graduation from a quirky summertime tradition in places like Seattle and Detroit into a player on the world-wide motor sports scene.

This season’s six-race schedule will conclude, as it has since 2009, with a mid-November event in Doha, Qatar.

“The sport is moving internationally,” said Ken Muscatel, the 62-year old driver who served as commissioner during the darkest days of hydroplane racing. “Qatar was the deal-maker. It changed the profile of the sport.”

Muscatel points out that Air National Guard H1 Unlimited Series commissioner Sam Cole is working to put on a second race in the Middle East, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Another potential overseas market is China. Plans for a 2011 race in China are on hold – the financing has yet to be worked out – but a sport with an apparent appeal in China is a sport with a long-term forecast of success.

The move abroad couldn’t have come soon enough for Auburn driver Dave Villwock, who recalls something Formula-1 racing legend Michael Schumacher said after attending his first hydroplane race.

“Here was a guy,” said Villwock, “who has seen every cool thing in racing that anybody has ever seen or manufactured – he’s sort of an engineer, a gear-head himself – and he went on the Miss Budweiser trailer in San Diego and told everybody, ‘You guys have got to bring this thing to Europe. Nobody has ever seen anything like this.’

“It was that day,” continued Villwock, “that I knew we need to start marketing outside of here, where we’re not competing with football, basketball, baseball, NASCAR and the NHRA.”

Villwock has won a record 64 times on the unlimited hydroplane circuit, but none of his victories was more memorable than a first-place finish in a 2009 qualifying heat at Doha. After paying his respects to the Royal Family of Qatar in the VIP section, Villwock was greeted by a woman with her young son.

“She asked, ‘Mr. Villwock, can you please take a picture with my son?’ So I handed him the trophy and knelt down for the picture. Then I looked up and saw a line of people three deep and a quarter-mile long.

“I thought, ‘Wow!’ It was 3:30 in the afternoon, and I was there until about 9 at night. Doha reminded me of those black-and-white pictures of hydroplane races during the 1950s and ’60s, when there was a sea of people at every race.”

Beyond the attendance boost, there’s another benefit to global expansion.

“The international races attract people like Boeing and Lockheed Martin,” said Muscatel. “A lot of sponsorships are based on partnerships between sponsors, not just how much exposure they get. There’s a business-to-business relationship.”

Obvious question: Given the struggling economy, how is the Air National Guard HI Unlimited Series managing to line up any kind of sponsors?

“Because things are tough, people are looking for good buys,” said Muscatel. “Hydroplane racing, compared to NASCAR, compared to Indy Car racing, compared even to NHRA, is a good buy. You get the return on your investment.”

The hydroplane series is not without its problems. As Villwock put it: “We’ve still got some work to do. The owners still need to learn how to hire infrastructure – full-time crews who have a full-time shop.

“Our sport is doing very well, but we need to keep ahead of the boats mechanically, because there’s so much competition.”

Still, the sport is thriving compared with the critically ill state it was in 11 years ago, when the unlimited hydroplane association, facing bankruptcy, was sold to Miss Budweiser owner Bernie Little and his friend, Gary Garbrecht. Although Garbrecht was given full reign of operations, there was the perception that the hydroplane racing circuit was controlled by the guy with the unbeatable boat.

Little died in 2003, and a year later, Budweiser dropped out as hydroplane racing’s main sponsor.

“We had financial problems,” said Muscatel, “but we pulled it back. We had to survive the loss of the Budweiser sponsorship. In the long run, that has been very good for the sport. But in the short term? It was tough.”

The perks of claiming the Albert Lee Cup provide an indication of the sport’s comeback. For the first time in more than a decade, the victorious team in an unlimited hydroplane race will receive a cash prize. (It’s $25,000, to be split between owner and driver. The winning driver also takes home a flat-screen TV and some fun stuff affiliated with Xbox.)

“This is what’s coming,” said Muscatel. “You might say this is the model for the future.”

As Muscatel ponders the future, he envisions an ideal of eight or nine races in the U.S. – immediate expansion includes Cleveland and Washington D.C. – along with three or four races in the Middle East, perhaps another two in China.

“The whole thing is growing again,” said Villwock, whose first unlimited racing job was as crew chief, in 1989, for the Miss Circus Circus boat driven by Chip Hanauer.

“I’ve really looked forward to that. I’d been hoping that at the end of my career I’d be able to see the same sort of professionalism that I saw coming into this.”

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Smart phone users (iPhone, Android, Blackberry, etc) can follow the series on their phones by downloading the new free H1 Unlimited app. Click the image of the phone and follow the link. Then enter your phone number and click Send Text.  It will send the button for the download to your phone.

Seattle’s ABC affiliate – KOMO TV – chronicled the construction of the new 88 Degree Men Unlimited Hydroplane which J Michael Kelly is now driving in the Air National Guard Series. The TV crew visited the shop of Ron Jones, Jr several times as the boat was being built and created a very interesting documentary piece on the birth of an Unlimited.

 CLICK HERE TO VIEW

Images by Jim Simpson & Jeffrey Dahl

Aug. 7, 2011
Seattle, WA

Images by Chris Denslow

Aug. 7, 2011
Seattle, WA

Steve David returned to his winning ways Sunday at the Air National Guard Series race in Seattle by holding off a strong challenge from a rookie driver to claim his second win of the season.

 David pumped his fists in the air as his Oh Boy! Oberto hydroplane was being towed into the docks to celebrate his back-to-back victories in Seattle. Rookie driver Scott Liddycoat pressed David in the 5-lap final but didn’t have enough to catch the veteran driver.

 “It’s not what happens to you but what you do after,” said David, who was involved in a crash at the season opener and had to sit out a race because of a rib injury. “This team has had its ups and down over the years but they’re always thinking, they’re always figuring out how to do better. So I never lost confidence.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Images by Chris Denslow,Jim Simpson & Jeffrey Dahl

Aug. 7, 2011
Seattle, WA

The Air National Guard Hydroplane Series’ veteran drivers continue to show the younger drivers how it’s done on the racecourse by putting up convincing victories in preliminary heats Saturday in Seattle, Wash.

Steve David and Dave Villwock won their respective heats on a rough Lake Washington, picking up crucial points heading into Sunday’s heats. Both drivers led from start to finish and will face off in Sunday’s second heat. It’s the first time David and Villwock have met in a preliminary heat all season.

“Once I had the lead, I was just cooling it,” David said. “When they backed down late in the race, I could back down. Tomorrow won’t be as easy.”

Villwock was pushed early by Kip Brown, who was a perfect 5-for-5 in heat victories this season, before drawing Villwock in the same heat. The veteran driver and his Spirit of Qatar boat were too much for the field.

“I was elated how easy it was,” Villwock said with a laugh. “We needed a little breather. We were here late last night getting the boat repaired. Maybe it’ll be an early night.”

Brown said he knew his streak of consecutive of race wins would eventually come to an end. The team had been fighting some mechanical problems with the boat this weekend but fixed it in time for the heat.

“I tried not to think too much about a streak or anything like that,” Brown said. “If we had been winning heats and winning finals like Dave (Villwock) does—that’s a streak. We’ve been very fortunate with good draws and people making mistakes, and we’re there to capitalize on them.”

Driver Jeff Bernard took second place in the heat with Oh Boy! Oberto’s David, running an average lap speed of 130.059 mph on the 2-mile course. Teammate and rookie driver Scott Liddycoat in Valken.com took third in Heat 1A, while Mike Webster earned third in Heat 2B.

Just seven boats from the 13-boat field will make the afternoon final. The final will have six boats and a trailing boat.

Racing action continues today at the Air National Guard Hydroplane Series in Seattle with two more rounds of preliminary heats and the final is slated for 4:45 p.m. PDT. The heats and final will be streamed lived on www.h1unlimited.com.