Chelan:

After racing at San Diego, it is always nice to have a fresh water race at the end of the season to wash the salt out. The GP race at Chelan, although not an Unlimited Light race, filled the bill. The difference between a supercharged Unlimited Light, running the blower at 80% of crank speed and running the blower at 120% of crank speed as a Gran Prix adds about 450 horsepower. I would prefer to run the boat as an Unlimited Light because it is much easier on the equipment but we changed the upper pulley and ran the motor at 96.7% against the other boats that were running anywhere from 110% all the way up to 120%. We ran second for the first three heats of the weekend but when the chips were down, we won the Final after the Hopp's boat broke their oil pump belt and had to shut down. I will be the first to admit that five Gran Prix boats running at speed make a pretty awesome sound and with the echo coming off both sides of the valley, the noise was pretty defining. Our yearly magazine is called Thunder and Lights and it was easy to hear where the thunder comes from as the GP's also run as G-boats at ULHRA races. Chelan is Mark Evans' home town and he was pretty excited about winning in front of his friends and family.

We have made it through the season with only minor work to be done this Winter and look forward to next season. Only time will tell if we race as a UL or a GP. Both would be nice when they don't conflict. Watch this website for more to come.

San Diego:

For what ever reason, the Unlimiteds did not make the journey to San Diego this year giving the Unlimited Lights the chance to race for the coveted Bill Muncey trophy on the race course on Mission Bay. We are not as fast as they are but we do make more noise. The Unlimiteds were sorely missed and I am sure they will be back next year. The weather was great, as usual, and the water is the fastest on our normal circuit. For me, it was also a chance to return to the place where I spent a lot of time back in 1960 when I was in the Coast Guard. It also gave me a chance to take the crew out to one of my favorite places when I was stationed there and we all enjoyed the food at Fillippe's in Little Italy.

We are now two for two since our comeback onto the racing scene since the big crash at Port Angeles at the end of the 2007 ULHRA racing season. The Schellhase Racing, Ron Jones Jr. boat actually won the season finale at Port Angeles in 2008 but the boat was racing for Hopp Racing and was in primer so the Hopp's get the credit for that one. Incidentally, since they had damaged their boat at Chelan in the GP race the week before, they leased the Schellhase Racing hull and Greg Hopp drove it to a perfect weekend and wrapped up their fourth ULHRA National Championship in the last five year. But I digress.

After Brian Perkins ended his sister's five race win streak at Silverdale, we headed for San Diego. Schellhase Racing was in partnership with Darren Bartels and the Power Punch Racing Team and the Jones hull was filling in for Darren's boat which was damaged earlier in the year. This was to be Mark Evans' return to racing after a six year hiatus and what a return it was. With absolutely no test time in the boat, Mark jumped in and went out and won his first heat. Because this was his first time ever in the boat and was still getting used to his team and radio talker, he started more than half a straightaway behind but was able to run down the field and won by a little over a boat length on the mile and two thirds course. Also, because he was driving the only supercharged boat in the field of seven and was also considered a rookie, he had to start back and on the outside.

In the second heat, still running on the outside, he made a much better start and won by about one and a half roostertail lengths. Then we made an important discovery. We had put our MSD RPM limiter chip in the wrong slot making it inoperable. It turned out our boat had turned the engine up to almost 9800 RPM. Not bad for a large block Chevy but not what we want to do if we expect the engine to last a season.

In the third heat on Sunday, with the 8000 RPM chip properly installed, we held on for a second place finish about a half roostertail back from Kaleigh Perkins and the UL-72. Something had to be done for the final. Along came Paul Becker and loaned us a larger chip. By now, Mark had qualified to run on the front line but still had to run on the outside because he was driving a "blower boat". The higher RPM limit of the borrowed chip was enough for Mark to win the Final giving him his first victory in an Unlimited Light. Paul Becker in the UL-14 was second and Kaleigh was third. The UL-72 was only running on seven cylinders at the end but we will take them any way we can get them. Mark seems just as satisfied with the boat as Brian Perkins was at Silverdale so we are looking forward to next year's season. We want to congratulate Kaleigh Perkins and the entire UL-72 team for their Championship season in 2009 but think we might be a viable contender for next year.

News 8/18/2009

It has been almost two years since this boat ended up upside down at
Port Angeles suffering major damage to the left hand sponson, tail fins,
engine cowling and various mechanical parts. We ran the boat last year
in primer and took second place in the US Gran Prix Nationals held in
Chelan, WA. Then, the following week, Greg Hopp drove the boat, still
in primer, to a win at the place of the accident, Port Angeles and
secured a ULHRA National Championship for Hopp Racing for the fifth time
in six years.

After another year of hard work, mostly by crew member Aaron Duncan, the
boat has been painted and is back in business. It no longer runs with
Hopp Racing as Schellhase Racing has put together its own team and is
now a separate entity.

And what a return to racing it was. Last weekend at Silverdale, this
boat running as the Power Punch Racing Team / ROXY Radio / K & N Filters
did what nobody else has been able to do all year and that is to beat
the UL-72 and Kayleigh Perkins. The Schellhase Racing entry, a Ron
Jones Jr. hull built and formerly owned by Paul Droullard, had
Kayleigh's older brother, Brian, in the driver's seat and he led the
final wire to wire for the win. The hull, running as the UL-11, is
teamed up with Darren Bartels to replace his damaged hull and not only
raced this weekend at Silverdale, but will finish the season for him in
San Diego in about a month. This hull holds both the qualifying record
(126.528 MPH) and the fastest competition lap record (124.016), both set
in San Diego in 2007.