By JM Hallas
Marble Falls, TX (Aug. 14th, 2016) – After two days of qualifying it was finally time for the racers and crews to put it all on the line in the quest for the win, series points and, of course, the payday that comes with the win.
The weekend ran the gamut of weather conditions and then emotions on Sunday. Friday is was scorching hot, so hot I saw the devil at the sno-cone stand. Saturday was cloudy, not as hot, but humid (air you could wear), and most did. Then Sunday, after the course was resurfaced overnight (code for having been rained on), it was cooler, a bit muggy, and windy, causing several race delays for rough water.
In the race for $1,000 Magnum Custom Trailers reaction time bounty, Mickey Snider in his Pro Modified held the honors Friday and Saturday with a .0012 reaction time. Sunday saw Marcus Kinsey pick up the cash with a .00001, that’s um, 1/10000th from perfect. In talking to Kinsey during a break he related that it was just nothing but luck. He adjusted his leave light because of the holding rope and the boat getting blown closer to the timing beams. Heck of an on-the-fly adjustment.
The top qualifiers in the Pro classes saw Bryan Sanders lead all the way in Top Fuel Hydro, Mike DeClark rebounded from a dismal Friday to get the spot in Top Alcohol Hydro, Tony Scarlata led both rounds in Top Alcohol Flat, Jimmy Booher bumped Robert Leas out in Pro Modifieds and Jim Richards had the field covered in Pro Outlaw.
Top Fuel eliminations – Sanders Sweeps Somber Final
Bryan Sanders ‘fires’ off on a solo pass that backed up his Top Fuel Hydro ET record from Saturday
Bryan Sanders (Nitrochondriac) did about everything but sell tickets leading through both rounds of qualifying, setting and backing up a new ET record (3.385), then going home with a somewhat bittersweet win against Scotty Lumbert (Spirit of Texas) in the finals. Lumbert went red at the start giving the victory to Sanders. Lumbert would leg out his run and blow up on the top end. From there the boat went out of control and crashed ejecting the capsule, as the boats are designed to do. Rescue was quickly on the scene and remove the capsule. Lumbert was then airlifted to an Austin hospital. No further updates were available at the end of the day.
Update 8/15, from team and family sources: Lumbert has a broken arm, plus facial fractures and cuts. He is currently in ICU at an Austin hospital while they continue to do CT scans and monitor him. While not entirely out of the woods, the prognosis looks good for his recovery.
Bryan Sanders, 3.903 at 180.264 defeats Scotty Lumbert, 3.451 at 262.868 (red)
Round 1
Bryan Sanders, 3.507 at 252.524
Bye
Daryl Ehrlich (Problem Child) 3.940 at 226.675 (red)
Lee Warren (Whiskey River) 3.989 at 210.629-W
Scotty Lumbert, 3.644 at 236.135
Scott Compton (Liquid Voodoo) 9.737 at 28.210
Round 2
Bryan Sanders, 3.419 at 256.844** backs up record
Lee Warren, 4.237 at 179.765
Scotty Lumbert, 3.686 at 203.381
Bye
Top Alcohol Hydro eliminations
Mike DeClark (near lane) in the Top Alcohol Hydro finals against Travis Tutle
After laboring through Friday qualifying Mike DeClark (Little White Lie) found the set up grabbing the number 1 spot from Travis Tutle (Short Fuse) on Saturday. Come Sunday the two fastest boats squared off in the Top Alcohol Hydro finals. DeClark capped off the weekend out running Tutle by nearly 5/100th to get the win.
Mike Declark, 4.540 at 177.540 defeats Travis Tutle, 4.586 at 192.882
Round 1
Mike DeClark, 4.497 at 198.852
Bye
Rick Allen (Total Kaos) 4.387 at 203.359 W
Steve Streeter (Untouchable) 4.562 at 180.431
Travis Tutle, 4.587 at 195.467
Dale Riggs (Bad Moon Rising) 5.186 at 176.506
Round 2
Travis Tutle, at 4.643 at 184.327
Bye
Mike DeClark, 4.514 at 199.351 W
Rick Allen, 4.416 at 203.351 (red)
Top Alcohol Flat eliminations
Top Alcohol Flat co-winner, Ronnie Hayes
Top Alcohol Flat co-winner, Randy Ball
It was a double win of sorts as Ronnie Hayes (The Flying Dutchman) and Randy Ball (The Oklahoman) decided the there was too much chop on the water for a safe run. Both opted for a 50/50 split (points and money).
Round 1
Tony Scarlata (Shazam) 12.612 at 43.415
Bill Diez (War Party) 5.931 at 139.181
Marcus Kinsey (Bad Company) 12.861 at 40.062 (went of course)
Ronnie Hayes, 10.700 at 26.763 (red) W
Bill Miller (Party to the Max) DNT
Randy Ball, 5.457 at 149.035
Don Bausher (Habit Forming) DNT
Spike Gorr (Spirit of America) 5.726 at 136.460
Round 2
Bill Diez, 13.068 at 60.063
Ronnie Hayes, 6.235 at 136.179
Spike Gorr, 5.651 at 148.537
Randy Ball, 5.633 at 134.122
Pro Modified eliminations (7.00)
Pro Modified winner Kevin Helm launching
They say in racing sometimes you need a little luck. Well, Tyler Speer (Climax) used his up on his way to the final getting two red light wins. Kevin Helm (Fist Full of Dollars) got a breakout win over fast qualifier Jimmy Booher, then again in the final when Speer went red.
Kevin Helm, 5.863 at 155.323 defeats Tyler Speer, 5.830 at 156.297 (red)
Round 1
Jimmy Booher (Hillbilly Express) 7.075 at 169.621
Keith Funk (Animal) DNT
Doug Maderer (Outta Reach), 7.447 at 137.668
Kevin Helm, 7.177 at 166.948
Robert Leas (Wild Fire) 7.012 at 171.572
Marty Logan (Livin’ Tha’ Dream) 7.106 at 166.818
Shelby Ebert (Can’t Touch This) 7.109 at 176.816
Mickey Snider (Top Gun) 7.153 at 168.678
Casey Beal (Split Decision 3) 7.386 at 151.029
Tim Ortiz (Empty Pockets) DNT
Tyler Speer, 7.615 at 133.895 W
Rob Burklin (The Pearl) 7.401 at 160.498 (red)
Round 2
Jimmy Booher, 6.971 at 171.489 (break out)
Kevin Helm, 7.113 at 169.726 W
Robert Leas, 7.101 at 171.900
Shelby Ebert, 7.127 at 177.599
Tyler Speer, 7.056 at 165.833
Casey Beal, 7.194 at 166.557
Round 3 eliminations
Kevin Helm, 7.213 at 167.631
Bye
Tyler Speer, 8.959 at 126.661 W
Robert Leas, 7.068 at 173.629 (red)
Pro Outlaw eliminations (5.40)
Pro Outlaw winner Shannon Beal kicking up a little spray
The finals for Pro Outlaw saw Jim Richards (Alka Hauler), who had been on his game all weekend long in qualifying, paired with Shannon Beal (Split Decision 2) who was the fourth seed. Beal saved his best run for last as he nailed the index number, while Richards was going too quick, breaking out.
Shannon Beal, 5.403 at 165.473 defeats Jim Richards 5.385 at 174.309 (break out)
Round 1
Jim Richards, 5.368 at 172.857
Bye
Gus Ward (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot), 5.479 at 161.433
Jacob Schneider (Blown Crazy 2) 5.532 at 162.911
Tom Brasher (Desperado) DNT
Terry Kain (Razing Kain) 5.594 at 156.528
Shannon Beal, 5.408 at 165.111
Tommy Thompson DNT
Eric Dement (Real Bad Boy) 5.464 at 145.520
Chris Bean (Team Sound Design) 5.832 at 158.653
Round 2
Eric Dement, 5.464 at 165.435
Shannon Beal, 5.462 at 165.111
Terry Kain, 5.719 at 152.068
Bye
Jim Richards, 5.413 at 169.691
Gus Ward, 5.671 at 156.603
Round 3
Jim Richards, 5.422 at 173.268
Terry Kain, 5.877 at 129.326
Shannon Beal, 5.444 at 146.221
Bye
Quick Eliminator (6.00)
Michael Hardwick (near lane) and Henry Behne in Quick Eliminator finals
The number five and seven qualifiers navigated their way to the Quick Eliminator finals with Henry Behne (Lucky Draw) against Michael Hardwick (Texas Red). Behne, who ran a better number, went red giving Hardwick the immediate win.
Michael Hardwick, 6.069 at 141.532 defeats Henry Behne, 6.019 at 144.141 (red)
Pro Eliminator (8.00)
Pro Eliminator finals, Greg Cawyer (far lane) and Gary Payne
With only two boats in the class, it came down to Greg Cawyer (Jaw Droppin Express) and Gary Payne (National Debt) in the Pro Eliminator finals. Payne gave up the tree going red and gave away a good number handing the win to Cawyer.
Greg Cawyer, 8.613 at 135.561 defeats Gary Payne, 8.089 at 140.616 (red)
**At some point the 1/4 mile timing system got knocked out and when repairs couldn’t be made, index times were adjusted for 1000′ passes which threw the class numbers off**
Top Eliminator (9.00)
Top Eliminator finals with GW Goff (near lane) getting out on Roger Gaines
The number one and two qualifiers worked their way to the Top Eliminator class finals. GW Goff (Blurred Lines) faced off with Roger Gaines (Flirtin’ with Disaster), who always has some good tunes playing on the psyche up to the starting line. Goff, who hit his numbers yesterday but had trouble today, finally got it dialed in to beat Gaines.
GW Goff, 7.036 at 109.048 defeats Roger Gaines, 7.243 at 155.377
Modified Eliminator (10.00)
Modified Eliminator winner Robin Reed in his outboard
In the Modified Eliminator class, the number seven and eight qualifiers went for the finals. Robin Reed (Brazos Aqua Diction) in the outboard went up against Brent Riley (Peyton Me Crazy) in the conventional style boat. It was Reed getting the breakout win over Riley.
Robin Reed, 8.128 at 103.368 defeats Brent Riley, 7.868 at 94.838
Stock Eliminator (11.00)
Stock Eliminator winner Steve Walls gets the nose out of the water
Stock Eliminator finals saw Steve Walls (Sotally Tober) up against third generation driver, Gavin Snider (Wet n Wild). Walls, who’s no stranger to Lakefest finals, got the win on Snider who broke out.
Steve Walls, 8.743 at 82.981 defeats Gavin Snider, 8.358 at 95.602
River Racer (dial in)
Denise Hodges getting her outboard up for the River Racer win
The diminutive Denise Hodges (Aquatic Therapy) paired up with Glendon Boehme (Blackies Magic) in the River Racer finals. Boehme went red at the starting line giving the victory to Hodges.
Denise Hodges, 10.602 at 80.245 defeats Glendon Boehme, 10.482 at 72.985 (red)
Lake Racer
Matt Ogrodowicz doing a big water wheelie in his Lake Racer
Matt Ogrodowicz was the only Lake Racer boat in the class, so he takes the win by default.
Matt Ogrodowicz, 10.857 at 92.501/Bye
Personal Water Craft 1
Todd McLemore, who has been more accustomed to going in circles, grabbed the Personal Water Craft 1 win over Kyle Fawks (Youngblood), who has a stranglehold on the SDBA points lead.
Todd McLemore (14.60) 14.634 at 63.165 defeats Kyle Fawks (18.75) 18.845 at 49.893
Personal Water Craft 2
Personal Water Craft 2 winner Dylan Crownover
In the kids Personal Water Craft 2 finals it was Dylan Crownover (B-N-Bad) getting the victory over Austin Skero (Gas Hog) who broke out on the adjusted dial-ins.
Dylan Crownover, 13.044 at 49.543 defeats Austin Skero, 14.183 at 49.763 (break out)
