Elam Elation

Kelly sweeps Madison Regatta races
in Miss Elam Plus

Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison settles for third

By Don Ward
Editor

MADISON, Ind. (July 3, 2005) – After emerging as the top qualifier, winning all three of his heats and clinching the final to earn the Indiana Governor's Cup Unlimited hydroplane race, J.W. Myers already was hearing from his peers as they gathered at the awards ceremony. They were calling the young U-16 Miss Elam Plus driver "J.W. Villwock."
The reference to former Miss Budweiser driver Dave Villwock was a compliment. But no one in the crowd at the awards ceremony Sunday, July 3, were pining for a return of the Big Red Machine. These victory-hungry Unlimited drivers were celebrating the second different winner in two weeks as the newly formed American Boat Racing Association was getting its inaugural race season under way.
Myers collected his trophy and praised his teammates in winning his first race since becoming a certified Unlimited driver just last year. This was his second weekend as a driver in Madison, having earned the tour's 2003 Rookie of the Year honors.
"It's unbelievable," exclaimed Myers. "To win here in Madison will make this place very special to me. My team did a great job; all I had to do was drive."
Myers' victory took more than simply holding the steering wheel in place for five laps on the 2.5-mile Ohio River course. After getting off to a poor start, he had to battle Jimmy King in the U-3 Master Tire over the first lap to gain control of the lead. Myers, King and rookie driver Jean Theoret in the U-8 Llumar Window Film all got too far ahead of the time clock as they jockeyed for position at the start. Steve David, meanwhile, in the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison was up to full speed as he raced to catch the threesome in turns 3 and 4 as they approached the starting line. David was hoping to pass the three down the front stretch but was held off as the leaders got up to speed in time.
Myers, however, got caught in traffic in the first two turns but emerged ahead of King on the back stretch to take the lead. He held off all challengers for the victory with an average speed of 135.245 mph. King placed second and David earned third place after Theoret blew an engine on the third lap, forcing him to shut down and coast into the infield for the remainder of the race. Rookie driver J. Michael Kelly placed fourth in the U-2 Graham Trucking presents Miss Bello's Pizza. Dick Lynch placed fifth in the U-5 FormulaBoats.com.
"The river was a bit rougher in the final, but everything came together very well for us," Myers said. "The straightaways are long here and the turns are very sharp. It's unbelievable all the abuse your body takes, physically."
Myers placed fifth in last year's Madison Regatta after his boat did not finish the race. In Evansville a week ago, he placed second after a bad start. Team owner Erick Ellstrom of Seattle was unable to attend the race because his wife was giving birth to their third child back home.
David, meanwhile, is gunning for a national title this year with the Bud boat out of the field. He entered the weekend with a 75 point lead in national high point standings. But his performance in Madison left him in third place and 490 points behind leader Myers. King is second.
"We just aren't as fast as those other boats, so we knew we had to get out ahead of them first, and we weren't able to do that," said David, the only Unlimited driver in the field with a previous victory. He tried to get the inside lane as the boats jockeyed for position in a new race format devised by Bob Hughes, owner-representative for the Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison.
David won in here in Madison in 2001. Piloting the oldest boat on the circuit this year, he won the previous week at the 2005 Thunder on the Ohio race in Evansville. The 18-year veteran was involved in perhaps the most exciting heat race of the day when he battled King in Heat 2A. King won the race by just two boat lengths over David.
The hometown community owned boat Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison finished the weekend with three second-place finishes prior to Sunday's final.
The teams head for an exhibition weekend at Valleyfield, Quebec, Canada, on July 8-10, then to Detroit on July 15-17 for the APBA Gold Cup. The remaining races are at Tri-Cities, Wash., on July 29-31; Seattle on Aug. 5-7; Nashville, Tenn., on Sept. 9-11; and San Diego on Sept. 16-18.

• For more information on the Madison Regatta, visit: www.madisonregatta.com. For more information on the ABRA, visit: www.abrahydroplanes.com.