September SOA Pit Previews Newsletter
Keith Alloway
PIT PREVIEWS September, 1998
FROM THE DESK OF THE SECRETARY
SOA General Meeting Minutes
August 18, 1998 - Kenmore Eagles
The meeting was called to order at 7:53 PM by Commodore Susan
Rautenberg. Sergeant-At-Arms, Kay Myers, led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Guest: Dennis Sturgul, son of Jim Sturgul who attended his first SOA
meeting in July.
Treasurer's Report: Treasurer Sheri Greaves presented a Treasurer's
Report to the members in attendance (if anyone who was not at the
meeting would like more info, please contact Sheri).
Old Business:
Stock Outboard: Jeff Kelly ran down the names of those who fared well
at Nationals: Jon DuVernet Steen 2nd in D Stock Hydro; J Michael Kelly
2nd in A Stock Hydro; & JW Myers 2nd in 25SS Runabout. Patrick Gleason
added that there were some interesting goings-on in the inspection area;
that in one case, the eventual winner of one class was allowed to clean
his motor to remove carbon so that it cc'd within the specs of the rule
(so much for "inspecting the motor as it was run"). There were only 210
entries in the Stock Category at the Nationals. Susan also reported
that there was no extended Stock Commission meeting at Nationals; and
that she was going to see if it was okay for us in Region 10 to test the
7/16" restrictor plate in 20SS for the Yamato 102/302 engines.
Mod Outboard: Nelse Lundstrum had no news to report. John Myers
reported that the Mod Nationals was a fair to poor show, with only about
90 entries. Ric Montoya mentioned he just returned from the AOF
Nationals in Rainbow City, AL. No J's; very few A's; 235 entries; lots
of Formula E Hydros.
Pro Outboard: George Thornhill reported there was a large
representation of Region 10 PRO drivers at the Nationals in DePue, IL;
and J. Michael Kelly won the Nationals in OSY 400 by virtue of a solid
record of three 2nd place finishes. Steve Greaves took the title in
Antique C Service Runabout; and Thornhill himself won Antique C Racing
Hydro. Zach Malhiot took 5th in J PRO Hydro; Tim Diamond 5th in 1100
Runabout; Mike Cruver finished 2nd in Antique C Racing Hydro. Steve
Greaves, PRO Commissioner, reported that the APBA Board of Directors
passed a motion on July 8th that's end result stated that J PRO Hydro
may only be run at races where PRO is the only category on the sanction,
with the exception of Kilos. He went on to report that this action was
taken with absolutely no input from the PRO Commission. Gloria Urbin,
APBA's Executive Director sent a memo to all APBA clubs and Commodores,
stating that J PRO may not run at their races unless PRO is the only
category on the sanction; or the event is a Kilometer trial. Steve's
conclusion was that if this action concerns or bothers you, you should
write letters to your APBA Board of Directors and voice your
displeasure. There are 12 Board Members, and their addresses are listed
monthly in Propeller magazine. Patrick Gleason read a letter he sent to
Steve David concerning the Board's vote on J PRO, and encouraged members
to do the same if they want J PRO to continue to run at Region 10
races. Susan Rautenberg voiced the concern that if the APBA Board can
arbitrarily take away the ability for a group of drivers to run in their
class in mid-season, what could stop them from doing it in another
class, such as C Stock Hydro or 5 Liter. She also noted that Steve
Hearn was the driving force behind this motion; and that Howard
Anderson, PRO VP was supposed to be part of the conference call when
this issue was discussed. He waited by his phone all day and was never
called; so he was never part of the discussion on a class that involved
his category.
Electric: John Paramore was not present; no report.
Junior Class: Patrick Gleason reported Kyle Hannon took 5th in the
Junior Class Hydro Nationals; and that Kyle Bahl was 8th in Junior Hydro
and 9th in Junior Runabout. There were about 20 J Hydros and about 16 J
Runabouts at Nationals. Before the racing began at Nationals, all J
Drivers had to submit their restrictor plates for pre-inspection by
Ernie Dawe. During elims, one of the drivers who has previously had his
restrictor plate approved by Dawe was told afterward that his plate was
illegal, even though it had been previously inspected and he had been
cleared to race with it. The driver appealed the disqualification to a
"special" committee established by J class Czar Steve Hearn (who decided
not to use members of his regular J class committee to handle any
appeals at Nationals for reasons that are unclear); and once Steve Hearn
reviewed the plate in question, it was determined that the plate was of
an older manufacture, and was legal. Just what Dawe was looking for or
basing his determination that the plate was illegal on is unclear at
this time. Overall, J Hydro class participation is down somewhat this
year. There were 44 drivers who had competed as of August 1; and with
Region 10 drivers accounting for nearly 20 percent of the national
participants, we are a significant portion of what makes up this class.
Susan Rautenberg also spoke to the problems Region 10 has with its set
of J Props. When she explained that some of the props were dinged up
(including one that was shipped to us with a large chip in it), and that
we'd like to have some good quality props for our records races, she was
told by Steve Hearn that the dings wouldn't make much difference, and
that we would have to run the props they sent us. They did take one
defective prop back, but did not replace it, and told us Region 10 would
have to get by with 11 props for the rest of the season.
Region News: Region Chairman Dave Cossette reported OPC Category Chair
Jeff Grigg is now taking over responsibility for the APBA Web Site on
goracing.com. The "Inside the APBA" TV show is on Speedvision.
Although none of the Seattle-market cable companies carry Speedvision,
you are encouraged to tell your cable company to carry Speedvision.
Bill Doner is out as UHRA head; Ned Allen is replacing him. Charles
Strang, APBA Board Member has been appointed as a Director of NASCAR.
Stan Fitts is working some deals to sanction an "Official Drinking
Water" and "Official Radar Gun" of APBA. On membership numbers, PRO,
MOD and J are down from last year; Stock is up slightly.
New Business:
Scooteney: Nelse Lundstrum reminded everyone that Scooteney is the
North American Championships for Formula A Hydro and Runabout. See you
there this coming weekend!
Eatonville: 3/4 Mile records course, Tacoma Water Sports Rescue will be
the safety team there. There may be a Stock Runabout marathon there if
time permits; and hopefully some testing time as well. Race Chair Jeff
Kelly is asking for lots of help from all the racers to assure that this
event will be a success. Be sure to support the local Eatonville
companies who are sponsoring trophies.
Sutherlin: CORA's Labor Day weekend extravaganza. Our first time at a
new race site, south of Eugene.
Fall Spanaway: Tacoma Inboard will not be hosting a fall Spanaway race
this year.
Inboard Lawrence: Classes scheduled are ASH, CSH, DSH, CMH, DMH and OSY
400. 1-2/3 Mile course on Saturday; 1-1/4 mile course on Sunday. Entry
fees are $30/$15/$10. Registration Friday night or Saturday morning,
closing at 8 AM. Weekend camping fee is $20.
SOA Lawrence Lake: The following weekend, September 26/27. All Stock,
Mod and PRO classes (except of course for J PRO at this point). 1-1/4
mile course on Saturday; 1 Mile on Sunday. No testing on Thursday;
Friday testing from 10 AM to 6 PM.
Club Party: To date, no one has volunteered to take this on, so unless
somebody does, there will be no club party this year. If you are
interested in working on this, contact Susan ASAP.
Fall Elections: Ballots will be coming out shortly for both APBA
National and region officials. At this point, Jim Codling is the only
candidate for APBA Region Chairman. Be sure to vote. In light of the
recent affairs with things like J PRO, it is important that you vote for
people who will best represent the needs and wishes of SOA. Howard
Anderson is running for APBA Senior VP; Susan Rautenberg for APBA Board
of Directors; and Steve Greaves for PRO Category VP. SOA club office
positions are coming, and all officer positions will be open in 1999.
If you are interested, talk to Susan or one of the current officers for
information.
Publicity: Craig Fjarlie reports he has been sending out quite a few
press releases. Bob Wartinger will be attempting to set his 100th
career record, which we are hoping will generate some media attention.
Several of the local community newspapers have run feature articles on
our racers. John Paramore, one of the SOA Publicity team, is going in
to Virginia Mason Hospital for quadruple-bypass surgery.
Green Lake: Jeff Kelly reported that Whidbey Island Roostertails came
very close to having a race at Green Lake. Several members have
approached Jeff to see if it would be possible to do a joint SOA/WIR
event at Green Lake in 1999. Due to noise restrictions, it would likely
be stocks only. There are other race sites they would like to have
joint events with. Ric Montoya spoke with Bill Breaux earlier in the
year on the issue of joint sanctions. Apparently the insurance
companies like Joint Sanctions, since it doubles the insurance coverage
in most cases. There is also a separate entity (not WIR, Stateline, IRC
or any existing club) that is working on setting up some AOF races in
the Northwest.
Motion made to Membership: A motion was proposed to the Commodore that
SOA's Commodore appoint a Task Force to poll SOA's membership for input
on how it perceives the value of membership in APBA, study any
alternatives that exist to APBA affiliation, and present its findings,
and make recommendations to the SOA Board by its December 1998 regular
Board meeting. The motion was made by Patrick Gleason and seconded by
Jeff Kelly. Motion passed with nobody voting against it, and a small
handful of abstentions. Patrick volunteered to Chair the task force,
and the Commodore may appoint other members as they see fit.
Raffle:
CarQuest Toy Truck: Matt Yarno
Dodge Viper Model: Drew Thompson
Bug Lantern: Venita Poindexter
Pass The Pot: Steve Bork, Bill Blackwell, Dave Culley were not here.
Dick Rautenberg was, and took home the winnings.
Meeting Adjourned, 9:08 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Patrick Gleason,
Secretary
APBA 1998 Stock, Mod and J Nationals Results
Here are the top 5 finishers in each class, in no particular order.
Thanks to Kim Brusk for sending these along:
BSH
1st 3-S Dana Holt
2nd 12-M Dean Sutherland
3rd 14-H Ed Hearn
4th 64-W Steve Warnock
5th 25-M Mark Miskerik
BSR
1st 14-H Ed Hearn
2nd 31-M Don Hagerl
3rd 1-S Dana Holt
4th 13-M Bittu Spedding
5th 92-W Cooper Jess
25SSR
1st 7-M Vic Brinkman
2nd 47-R J W Myers
3rd 20-W Ryan Burdick
4th 77-M Andy Butterfield
5th 73-M Rick Dadd
20SSH
1st 1-N Scott Clark
2nd 98-S Tom Smith
3rd 13-P Joel Wiegel
4th 53-M Joe Pater
5th 1-US Christopher Allen
25MH
1st 70-W Mike Brusk
2nd 9-W Karl Stoll
3rd 77-G Steve Johnson
4th 6 Eric Engler
FER
1st C-87 Paul Fuchslin
2nd 47-M Dale Ropp
3rd 186-W Fred Hauenstein, Jr
4th 88-N Erich Horn
5th C-871 Pat Brians
CMH
1st 1-US-1 John Palmquist
2nd 1-US Dan Parker
3rd 12-B Charles Gonyea
4th 60-S Brian Kretzschmar
5th 13-N Kevin Fitzgerald
FEH
1st 5-H Terry Witham
2nd 27-O Michael Lopez
3rd 226-O Pat Brians
4th 13-N Kevin Fitzgerald
5th 28-T Dan Hauenstein
CSR
1st 53-M Joe Pater
2nd 110-J Craig Bowman
3rd 44-N D Scott Reed
4th 175-M Andy Butterfield
5th 222-M John Finn
CSH
1st 53-M Joe Pater
2nd 111-P Shanon Bowman
3rd 15-M Thomas Johnston
4th 19-M Vincent Williams
5th 1-US Christopher Allen
AMR
1st 92-W Cooper Jess
2nd 107-M Jack McCourtie
3rd 14-H Ed Hearn
4th 14-P Donald S Jones, Sr.
5th 47-F Brian Trolian
AMH
1st 40-M Tom Sutherland
2nd 12-M Dean Sutherland
3rd 25-M Mark Miskerik
4th 1-US Richard Welch
5th 14-H Ed Hearn
FXSH
1st 31-W Del Synder
2nd 47-W Mike Hauenstein
3rd 6 Sam Hemp
4th 18-M John Christie
BMH
1st 12-B Charles Gonyea
2nd 97-B Billy Allen
3rd 33-S Nippy Pauls
4th 15-M Thomas Johnston
5th 44-M Scott Ladd
DSR
1st 95-M Joshua Pearson
2nd 44-J Thomas Nuccio
3rd 186-W Fred Hauenstein, Jr.
4th 72-M Bryan Lauer
5th 34-M Gordon Pearson
DMH
1st 28-T Dan Hauenstein
2nd 5-H Terry Witham
3rd 226-O Pat Brians
4th 1-US Brian Palmquist
5th 1-B Scott Clark
DMR
1st 186-W Fred Hauenstein, Jr
2nd 44-J Thomas Nuccio
3rd 47-M Dale Ropp
4th C-87 Paul Fuchslin
5th 95-M Joshua Pearson
FAR
1st 74-W Andy Anderson
2nd 54-M Jay Fox
3rd 1-R J W Myers
4th US-1 Steven Dawe
5th 2-US J Michael Kelly, Jr.
FAH
1st 74-W Andy Anderson
2nd 4-M Kevin Ladd
3rd 54-M John Palmquist
4th 47-W Mike Hauenstein
5th 777-R Kay Myers
BMR
1st 44-N Billy R Allen
2nd 77-R John Myers
3rd 51-S William Breaux
4th 134-F Dave Rodat
5th 1-R J W Myers
CMR
1st 5-H Terry Witham
2nd 47-M William Breaux
3rd 75-M Mike Ross
4th 110-J Craig Bowman
5th 1-E Lou Lommasson
JH
1st 24-C Shawn Love
2nd 1-US Justin D'Agostino
3rd 4-E Travis Pond
4th 77-P Alan Eckert
5th 10-R Kyle Hannon
JR
1st 5-F Justin D'Agostino
2nd 24-E Travis Pond
3rd 3-J Andrea Runne
4th 24-Q Alan Eckert
5th 24-C Shawn Love
25SSH
1st 3-W Joe Zolkoske, III
2nd 47-W Mike Hauenstein
3rd 20-W Gary Burdick
4th 25-M Mark Miskerik
5th 33-W Chuck Zolkoske
DSH
1st 8-S Jim Sweeney III
2nd 86-R Jon Duvernet Steen
3rd 186-W Dan Hauenstein
4th 1-US Brian Palmquist
5th 70-W Mike Brusk
ASH
1st 54-M Jay Fox
2nd 146-R J Michael Kelly, Jr.
3rd 47-W Mike Hauenstein
4th C-24 Spencer Love
5th 12 John Webster
ASR
1st 14-H Edward Hearn
2nd 13-M Bittu Spedding
3rd 74-W Andy Anderson
4th C-3 Kim Rucker
5th 1-S Carl Holt
A great job overall by Badger State Outboard Association. Didn't get
the exact number of entries, but it was in the low 300's, which is
alarming to me. Weather was good for the most part; Sunday Lake was
windy as usual. Best part of the whole weekend was standing at the
starting line listening to 10 "Antique" B Stock Hydros with Mk 20H's
roar down to the starting line side-by-side. Since we don't have too
many of these on the West Coast, even my kid was amazed: "What are those
things? They sound cool!"
Thanks to BSOA, the City of Wakefield Chamber of Commerce, BSOA and
Indianhead Resort. A good time, had by all.
Patrick G.
19-R
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
September Birthdays: Lee Badger, Jake Bannister, Bill Blackwell, Jim
Codling, Rick Herrmann, Gene Laes, Roy Lampson, Nels Lunstrum, Art
Pierre, Doug Pratt, Jim Surgul, Sr., George Thornhill, Dave Tonge, Sean
Walker, Andy Williams.
WEDDING BELLS
Wedding Bells: Even if he didn't follow normal SOA procedures and ask
permission first, we wish all the best to Randy Ellwanger and his
bride We would like to welcome Courtney and her/their son Jeff into our
"family". Congratulations.
MEDICAL UPDATE
Medical News: John Paramore is back home and doing well. He recently
spent 5 very interesting days in Virginia Mason Hospital. He underwent
a quadruple bypass operation to solve a problem that has bothered him
since last November. Welcome back!
EDITOR'S CORNER
It is the time of year when you are going to hear the same thing over
and over and over: vote, Vote, VOTE.
There is a lot going on in boat racing and it is more important than
ever that you make your opinion known. The best way to do that is with
your ballots for APBA offices. Region 10 offices and for SOA offices.
There are some good things being discussed and some concerns at a
National level that you should be voicing an opinion about. The
generally disorganized, poorly defined administration of the J class
across categories and the seemingly arbitrary decisions that have been
made recently worry me greatly. I will save discussion of the APBA J
Propellers for another column.
I'm sure that the recent incident at the J Nationals regarding
restrictor plate legality could be viewed as a simple difference of
opinion that was resolved satisfactorily. That might be true for the
adults involved, but a young J racer has been left with a bad taste in
his mouth as a result of this incident. The long term result is that
this racer might decide to drop out of racing immediately or might
decide not to step up when he is through with J racing. We can not
afford to drive away our young racers through incidents such as this.
They are the future of our sport and without them, we have no future.
Making a statement that we will get something into next year's rule book
that will cover this situation doesn't really cut it. It gives the very
strong impression that we are making up the rules as we go. Even a
child knows that nobody can win in a game where the rules are not
defined in advance and subsequently enforced in an even handed manner.
The other troubling incident was the action taken by the APBA Board of
Directors last July. As reported in the minutes, they passed a measure
making it illegal to run J-Pro Hydro unless Pro was the only category on
the sanction. That decision has since been reviewed and the ruling has
been suspended - not reversed - until the National Meeting in November.
It could be reinstated at that time. It doesn't take much imagination
to predict the results of a ruling that said, for example, that ASH
could only be run if Stock were the only category on the sanction. This
would effectively destroy Seattle Outboard Association and a number of
other clubs.
There are a couple of things that I just don't understand about this
decision. First, I don't understand why the Board would choose to make
such a decision without consulting the Category Chairman. To me, this
looks like a blatant abuse of power that no category should tolerate.
Who is next?
Last month, I mentioned the fact that some areas of the country are
having to reduce the number of races being held. In the August, 1998,
Propeller Magazine, Craig Bowman, Stock Outboard Chairman, stated "One
of the advantages of APBA is its large network of racing interests that
are learning to work together.". While the Category Chairmen are trying
to work with each other to combine their efforts and put on events that
are large enough to keep the costs reasonable for the individual racer,
the APBA Board of Directors is making decisions that directly undermine
that effort. Why?
On the positive side, Ernie Dawe reported in the August, 1998, Propeller
that "The J Category ... [is] looking at the possibility of a new APBA J
class which would resemble an Inboard flatbottom boat, but would have a
jet drive." This, I believe, is exactly the direction that we (APBA)
should be moving and this is something that the APBA Board of Directors
should be heavily involved in. When the "Universal J" class was
created, the intent was to have a class patterned after the NHRA Junior
Class. For this class, the NHRA has a "turnkey" equipment package
available on short notice and at a reasonable cost; just add gas and go
racing. Unfortunately, APBA was not able to produce a "turnkey" package
and allowed the "Universal J" committee to cannibalize existing classes
and categories in their haste to show some results; good motivation but
a bad decision.
A small jet boat was considered "back then". I was a strong advocate of
it than and am still in favor of it. This would mean that there would
be racing equipment readily available to new Junior racers. It would
also provide a class of equipment that would have much more appeal
beyond the Outboard Categories. This should result it an APBA Junior
Class that is truly universal and could meet the goal of providing the
same affordable, safe entry level racing in all categories. This has
the potential to be big enough to deserve being designated a full APBA
category instead of being made a second class citizen of any existing
category. If that happened, none of the current inter category
bickering about how to manage J could continue. Additionally, each
outboard category could be free to reinstate their historical J classes,
perhaps with some slightly different rules and a name change. Great
move!
You might not be able to vote directly on these issues, but you can vote
for the people who believe as strongly as you do in the future of APBA
racing.
Keith Alloway
Editor
Swap n' Shop
Deadline is the 25th of each month to ensure printing in the following
month's Pit Preview.
All ads must be submitted in writing and must be accompanied by payment.
Fees: Personal $1 / 30 words per month.
Business Card - $15 / year, 1/4 page $25 / year and 1/2 page $40 / year
For Sale:
MERCURY, JOHNSON, EVINRUDE & SCOTT GASKETS - High quality die cut
gaskets for all Mercury 1,2 4 and 6 cylinder outboards 1963 and prior.
Gaskets sold individually or in kits. Mark 75, 78 powerhead to cowl &
cowl to exhaust housing $5.85 each. Gasket kit for KF9, KG9, Mark 40H
$29. Kit for Mark 30 and Mark 55 $25. KG4, KE7, KG7 and Mark 10, 15,
20, 25, 15A, 28, 100-250 kit $22. Mark 5, 6, KF5 kit $11. Comet KE3,
KF3 and Rocket KD4, KE4. $14. Fuel pump diaphragm kits $2.65. Tillotson
Carburetor kit $9.35, Bendix mag plastic cover gasket $3.40. Pressure
tank repair kits Mercury $10. Johnson early QD tank $12. Repair kit
for green tank Merc with large hex filter $4.50. Copper head gaskets for
Johnson S, PO, PR and VR models. PO complete rebuild kit $38.00.
Evinrude Big Four head gaskets (copper fire ring) $14/pr, copper exhaust
flange to muffler gasket $17 /pr, crankcase gaskets, cylinder to
crankcase gaskets SPEEDIFOUR $5.00/pr. SPEEDTWIN exhaust flange gasket
$7/pr., Vacturi AO 500 carburetor top gasket $4.00 SHIMS for setting up
quicksilver gear cases, Mark 20 and Mark 55 type.
Beautiful, exact reproduction of Super 5 & 10 Hurricane RED GAS CAP,
choice of polished aluminum vent screw $29.50 or red anodized $31.50.
Cap is spun from solid aluminum stock and is very durable.
RAJAH TYPE rubber plug boot $2.25, various vintage wire end connectors.
Prices above DO NOT INCLUDE shipping. FAST, FRIENDLY SERVICE, BANK CARD
ORDERS WELCOME, SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.
Call, write or e-mail
Doug Brooke
604 W. 19th
Spokane, WA 99203
(509) 747-0517
dbro...@ior.com
For Sale:
Heavy duty 2 wheel Tie Mei trailer dolly, 1 7/8" ball and sturdy
handle. Move your trailer with ease in pits or home. $75 or best
offer.
Call: Earl Garrison
425-778-2767
For Sale:
Low Profile 28 foot covered 2-boat racing trailer with HD dual axles and
new electrical brakes system; HD 15-inch trailer tires / spare with 95%
tread; new license tabs - $3,000. Yamato 102 engine; extended tank & in
very good condition - $950. Dewald 3-blade C-stock propeller - $275
Call: Al Peffley evenings
253-840-0632
Moving Sale:
Former DSH Kilo record holder and Winter Nationals champ. 1992 12'2"
hull with 82" afterplane and 55" sponsons. Extended motor board w/
jackplate and enclosed steering. Includes full hardware, custom tank
and custom cover. Includes enough base / clearcoat material for a new
paint job. Must Sell - $700
Medium flack jacket - $75
Lockhart / Dewald DSH / DMH cleavers and round blade props - $150 - 300
New 44XS prop shafts, 44XS parts and tools - call for price.
Call: Jim Hoban
253-272-4346
leave message
Post Nationals Depression Boat Liquidation Sale:
We came to the conclusion that even a house with a 3 car garage was
not enough. Wanna go racing? Here's your chance:
J/A Hydro Outfit: 1998 Sorensen Honeycomb boat, fresh motor by John
Myers and a great prop. A fast, proven winning outfit Less than a
season of racing on the boat or motor. $2295 sold as a package (will
not separate). Call now before Kyle sees this ad and sees I'm selling
his ride!
Malileu A/B Runabout (Austin copy) Holds BSR Competition record.
Very, very fast...ask J-Dub. $700/obo with all hardware.
Bezoat 20SS/CSH Hydro. Complete with all hardware. $395/obo.
Burner ASH. Excellent long course/kilo boat; would make a killer J
hydro.
With hardware. $395/obo.
Sorensen CSR. The Killer Tomato. Stretched and decked in 1997, with
hardware. $375/obo.
Call me now. I can't eat these boats!
Patrick Gleason
206 521-4506 days;
425-745-8983 eves;
e-mail patr...@eskimo.com