BFF (Big Fast Field) For Big Wake Weekend
Ten of the World’s Fastest Race Boats are set to put tons of water in the air and thrill a huge crowd expected to line the shores of Sacramento’s Folsom lake as “Big Wake Weekend powered by Toyota” brings Unlimited Hydroplane racing back to the area for the first time in 46 years.
The last time the Thunderboats occupied the pit area at Granite Bay was 1967. They were round-nosed hydroplanes with the drivers sitting in an open cockpit behind a massive World War II vintage piston engine. Today’s turbine powered unlimiteds feature state of the art technology designed for maximum speed and cornering on water. They will reach speeds approaching 200 mph on a two mile oval on Folsom Lake.
The winner of the 1967 race was a young driver from Seattle named Billy Schumacher in a boat called Miss Bardahl. Schumacher, now a member of Hydroplane Racing’s Hall of Fame, will be returning to Sacramento with wife Jane as owners of the 37 Performance Chevrolet team driven by J. Michael Kelly.
Schumacher says, “We made a lot of noise back in the day with the big Rolls Merlin engines, but for me the modern turbine boats are more impressive with the tremendous speed and cornering ability they have. We are very excited to be coming back to Sacramento and really look forward to bringing the greatest show on water to a lot of new fans.”
Schumacher added, “The challenge now is to return to the lake where I won the last race 46 years ago as a driver and win again as an owner.”
Schumacher will also be part of a special presentation on the steps of the State Capitol Thursday morning signifying the start of “Big Wake Weekend powered by Toyota” and will be Grand Marshall as the boats “parade” to the pit area at Granite Bay.
Event organizer Bob Richards, whose company – 41 Live – has 35 years experience in resort construction and management as well as promotion of major events including NASCAR, IndyCar and other motorsports says, “In all of our years building resorts and major events, this has been the most challenging project we have ever undertaken. Now that everything has come together and the response from the community has been so great, it has all been worthwhile and very rewarding. We are very excited to be bringing this great event to the Sacramento area.”
H1 Unlimited Chairman Sam Cole says “Bob Richards and his team at 41 Live have done a tremendous job of putting this event together. We understand very well the challenges associated with building a first time event from scratch and turning a recreational area into a world class venue for a major sporting event. We really appreciate the organization and effort, which has been outstanding from the beginning. We look forward to racing on Folsom Lake for many years to come.”
Big Wake Weekend powered by Toyota will begin with testing and qualifying on Friday. Testing continues Saturday morning and racing begins at 4pm Saturday with the Championship Final Heat set to go at 4pm Sunday.
The ten boat field includes –
1 Oh Boy! Oberto – driven by veteran Steve David of Lighthouse Point, Florida. The sport’s only community owned entry and one of the few of its kind in all of motorsports, the team is owned by the 13,000 citizens of Madison, Indiana. The team is the defending H1 Series Champion and has won that title four times since 2008. David has won the H1 Drivers Championship six of the last eight years.
5 Graham Trucking – driven by Jimmy Shane of Havre de Grace, Maryland. 27 year old Shane had a spectacular season his first full year as an Unlimited pilot. Shane’s first career victory came in the Columbia Cup at Kennewick, Washington in late July of 2012 and he finished the season by winning the Oryx Cup UIM World Championship in Doha, Qatar in January of this year. He returned to Doha and repeated the victory in the 2013 season opener in February.
9 Miss Roxsand/41 Live/Red Dot – driven by Jon Zimmerman of Maple Valley, Washington. One of the pleasant surprises of the 2013 season, as two former Miss Budweiser crew members headed up a team that turned an older boat into a front runner. Zimmerman, a former 5 Liter world record holder, scored podium finishes in the January and February races in Doha and finished 4th in 2012 Series High Points out of the 15 teams who competed.
11 Peters & May – driven by Tom Thompson of Cambridge, Maryland. The team’s shop, North of Seattle, has been the scene of a heroic effort to get the boat back into competition following an accident in Doha in February. Before joining the Unlimited Racing Group in 2012, Thompson was known as one of the most versatile drivers in the Inboard Categories, successfully driving boats of every hull design. 2013 will be Thompson’s first full season driving in the APBA’s biggest, fastest class.
14 Toyota – driven by Greg Hopp of Lake Stevens, Washington. A late entry by a new team formed by veteran Unlimited crewman and crew chief Jay Leckrone. In early May, Leckrone announced he had leased the 13 Spirit of Detroit from owner Dave Bartush of Detroit and would campaign the hull throughout the 2013 H1 Unlimited Season. Hopp is a veteran of 12 years of Unlimited competition, scoring many heat victories for the late Fred Leland and the Leland Unlimited team.
22 Rocky Mountain Window Tint – driven by Mike Webster of Redding, Pennsylvania. Webster Racing’s 2012 racing season was cut short by a devastating blow over accident at the Detroit APBA Gold Cup in July. The driver was not injured but the boat suffered severe damage. In Sacramento, the family run team will be debuting a completely rebuilt race boat for the beginning of the US portion of the 2013 season. Mike Webster, a former national champion in the National Modified class, has been driving the family’s Unlimited entry since 2009.
37 Performance Chevrolet – driven by J. Michael Kelly of Bonney Lake, Washington. Owners Billy and Jane Schumacher of Seattle return to the scene of Billy’s victory in the 1967 race on Folsom Lake where he drove Miss Bardahl to the win the last time Unlimiteds raced in Sacramento. The team hopes a change made in propellers at the February race in Doha will give the talented Kelly the boat ride he needs to be a consistent front runner.
57 FEDCO – Driven by N. Mark Evans of Chelan, Washington. 56 year old Mark Evans has a long and impressive Published On: May 27th, 2013Categories: Sacramento
BFF (Big Fast Field) For Big Wake Weekend
Ten of the World’s Fastest Race Boats are set to put tons of water in the air and thrill a huge crowd expected to line the shores of Sacramento’s Folsom lake as “Big Wake Weekend powered by Toyota” brings Unlimited Hydroplane racing back to the area for the first time in 46 years.
The last time the Thunderboats occupied the pit area at Granite Bay was 1967. They were round-nosed hydroplanes with the drivers sitting in an open cockpit behind a massive World War II vintage piston engine. Today’s turbine powered unlimiteds feature state of the art technology designed for maximum speed and cornering on water. They will reach speeds approaching 200 mph on a two mile oval on Folsom Lake.
The winner of the 1967 race was a young driver from Seattle named Billy Schumacher in a boat called Miss Bardahl. Schumacher, now a member of Hydroplane Racing’s Hall of Fame, will be returning to Sacramento with wife Jane as owners of the 37 Performance Chevrolet team driven by J. Michael Kelly.
Schumacher says, “We made a lot of noise back in the day with the big Rolls Merlin engines, but for me the modern turbine boats are more impressive with the tremendous speed and cornering ability they have. We are very excited to be coming back to Sacramento and really look forward to bringing the greatest show on water to a lot of new fans.”
Schumacher added, “The challenge now is to return to the lake where I won the last race 46 years ago as a driver and win again as an owner.”
Schumacher will also be part of a special presentation on the steps of the State Capitol Thursday morning signifying the start of “Big Wake Weekend powered by Toyota” and will be Grand Marshall as the boats “parade” to the pit area at Granite Bay.
Event organizer Bob Richards, whose company – 41 Live – has 35 years experience in resort construction and management as well as promotion of major events including NASCAR, IndyCar and other motorsports says, “In all of our years building resorts and major events, this has been the most challenging project we have ever undertaken. Now that everything has come together and the response from the community has been so great, it has all been worthwhile and very rewarding. We are very excited to be bringing this great event to the Sacramento area.”
H1 Unlimited Chairman Sam Cole says “Bob Richards and his team at 41 Live have done a tremendous job of putting this event together. We understand very well the challenges associated with building a first time event from scratch and turning a recreational area into a world class venue for a major sporting event. We really appreciate the organization and effort, which has been outstanding from the beginning. We look forward to racing on Folsom Lake for many years to come.”
Big Wake Weekend powered by Toyota will begin with testing and qualifying on Friday. Testing continues Saturday morning and racing begins at 4pm Saturday with the Championship Final Heat set to go at 4pm Sunday.
The ten boat field includes –
1 Oh Boy! Oberto – driven by veteran Steve David of Lighthouse Point, Florida. The sport’s only community owned entry and one of the few of its kind in all of motorsports, the team is owned by the 13,000 citizens of Madison, Indiana. The team is the defending H1 Series Champion and has won that title four times since 2008. David has won the H1 Drivers Championship six of the last eight years.
5 Graham Trucking – driven by Jimmy Shane of Havre de Grace, Maryland. 27 year old Shane had a spectacular season his first full year as an Unlimited pilot. Shane’s first career victory came in the Columbia Cup at Kennewick, Washington in late July of 2012 and he finished the season by winning the Oryx Cup UIM World Championship in Doha, Qatar in January of this year. He returned to Doha and repeated the victory in the 2013 season opener in February.
9 Miss Roxsand/41 Live/Red Dot – driven by Jon Zimmerman of Maple Valley, Washington. One of the pleasant surprises of the 2013 season, as two former Miss Budweiser crew members headed up a team that turned an older boat into a front runner. Zimmerman, a former 5 Liter world record holder, scored podium finishes in the January and February races in Doha and finished 4th in 2012 Series High Points out of the 15 teams who competed.
11 Peters & May – driven by Tom Thompson of Cambridge, Maryland. The team’s shop, North of Seattle, has been the scene of a heroic effort to get the boat back into competition following an accident in Doha in February. Before joining the Unlimited Racing Group in 2012, Thompson was known as one of the most versatile drivers in the Inboard Categories, successfully driving boats of every hull design. 2013 will be Thompson’s first full season driving in the APBA’s biggest, fastest class.
14 Toyota – driven by Greg Hopp of Lake Stevens, Washington. A late entry by a new team formed by veteran Unlimited crewman and crew chief Jay Leckrone. In early May, Leckrone announced he had leased the 13 Spirit of Detroit from owner Dave Bartush of Detroit and would campaign the hull throughout the 2013 H1 Unlimited Season. Hopp is a veteran of 12 years of Unlimited competition, scoring many heat victories for the late Fred Leland and the Leland Unlimited team.
22 Rocky Mountain Window Tint – driven by Mike Webster of Redding, Pennsylvania. Webster Racing’s 2012 racing season was cut short by a devastating blow over accident at the Detroit APBA Gold Cup in July. The driver was not injured but the boat suffered severe damage. In Sacramento, the family run team will be debuting a completely rebuilt race boat for the beginning of the US portion of the 2013 season. Mike Webster, a former national champion in the National Modified class, has been driving the family’s Unlimited entry since 2009.
37 Performance Chevrolet – driven by J. Michael Kelly of Bonney Lake, Washington. Owners Billy and Jane Schumacher of Seattle return to the scene of Billy’s victory in the 1967 race on Folsom Lake where he drove Miss Bardahl to the win the last time Unlimiteds raced in Sacramento. The team hopes a change made in propellers at the February race in Doha will give the talented Kelly the boat ride he needs to be a consistent front runner.
57 FEDCO – Driven by N. Mark Evans of Chelan, Washington. 56 year old Mark Evans has a long and impressive Published On: May 27th, 2013Categories: Sacramento