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.
|
2005
Indiana Governor's Cup Results
Madison Regatta, Ohio River, Madison, Ind. |
| Sunday, July
3 Final Heat 1. J.W. Myers, U-16 Miss Elam Plus (135.245 mph); 2. Jimmy King, U-3 Master Tire (133.449 mph); 3. Steve David, U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison (130.933); 4. J. Michael Kelly, U-2 Graham Trucking presents Miss Bello's Pizza (125.756); 5. Dick Lynch, U-5 FormulaBoats.com (110.729); 6. Jean Theoret, U-8 Llumar Window Film, DNF. |
| Saturday, July
2 Heat 1A 1. J.W. Myers, U-16 Miss Elam Plus; 2. Jimmy King, U-3 Master Tire; 3. J. Michael Kelly, U-2 Miss Bello's Pizza; 4. Greg Hopp, U-100 Miss Demaree Automotive. Heat 1B 1. Ken Muscatel, U-25 Superior Racing; 2. Steve David, U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison; 3. Jean Theoret, U-8 Llumar Window Film*; 4. Dick Lynch, U-5 FormulaBoats.com, DNS. (* = penalized one-lap penalty for jumping the gun.) |
| Sunday, July
3 Heat 2A 1. Jimmy King, U-3 Master Tire; 2. Steve David, U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison; 3. Greg Hopp, U-100 Miss Demaree Automotive; 4. Ken Muscatel, U-25 Superior Racing. Heat 2B 1. J.W. Myers, U-16 Miss Elam Plus; 2. Dick Lynch, U-5 FormulaBoats.com; 3. J. Michael Kelly, U-2 Miss Bello's Pizza*; 4. Jean Theoret, U-8 Llumar Window Film. (* = penalized one-lap penalty for jumping the gun.) Heat 3A 1. Jean Theoret, U-8 Llumar Window Film; 2. J. Michael Kelly, U-2 Miss Bello's Pizza; 3. Jimmy King, U-3 Master Tire; 4. Greg Hopp, U-100 Miss Demaree Automotive**. (** = loses points due to flagrant fuel violation.) Heat 3B 1. J.W. Myers, U-16 Miss Elam Plus; 2. Steve David, U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison; 3. Dick Lynch, U-5 FormulaBoats.com; 4. Ken Muscatel, U-25 Superior Racing. |
| Qualifying
Results 1. J.W. Myers, U-16 Miss Elam Plus (156.570 mph); 2. Jean Theoret, U-8 Llumar Window Film (152.451 mph); 3. Jimmy King, U-3 Master Tire (150.915 mph); 4. Steve David, U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison (147.403 mph); 5. J. Michael Kelly, U-2 Miss Bello's Pizza (142.245 mph); 6. Ken Muscatel, U-25 Superior Racing (134.114 mph); 7. Greg Hopp, U-100 Miss Demaree Automotive (132.493 mph); 8. Dick Lynch, U-5 FormulaBoats.com (130.245 mph). |