The Madison Courier Saturday, June, 25, 2011
Madison Regatta 2011
21
Busy offseason brings much change to Unlimiteds By DAVID CAMPBELL Courier Staff Writer
Hydro nuts — and other race fans — like to refer to that time of the year when there is no boat racing as the “Silly Season.” Rarely has an offseason been sillier than this past one. If a hydroplane fan slipped into a long winter’s nap shortly after the Oh Boy! Oberto/Miss Madison clinched its third-straight national championship in November only to wake up in the weeks before the Madison Regatta, they would be amazed at the changes that have taken place. From new rules and new sponsors, to new teams and rookie drivers, there’s plenty of news for the average fan to try to catch up on with only a week before the season opener. So with that in mind, The Madison Courier will do its best to present a primer on everything new around the sport.
Teams — New Faces, New Numbers
No aspect of hydroplane racing is more visible than the boats on the water and there was plenty of movement during the winter. The biggest news came out of the Shumacher Racing camp where owners Billy and Jane Schumacher replaced their driver, crew, boat and even number for the upcoming season. Driver J.W. Myers, who appeared in exactly 10 heats of racing because of an accident last season, was released along with crew chief Scott Raney and the entire crew. Longtime boat owner Jim Harvey was brought in as team manager, Jeff Weiding was named crew chief and J. Michael Kelly was lured from the U-7 Graham Trucking to drive. The team also began construction on a new boat for the 2011 season. But none of that moved the needle quite like the team’s new sponsorship deal with Degree Men and its switch to the number from the U-37 to 88, without the “U-” designation. Jane Schumacher said in a statement that the new number came about as a result of a Facebook poll, but shrewd observers were quick to note that Degree Men also sponsors the NASCAR Nationwide Series entry of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt’s number? You guess it, 88. Myers and Raney didn’t waste any time sit-
ting on the beach, and quickly reached a deal to purchase the entire U-25 Superior Racing program from owner/driver Ken Muscatel. The pair renamed their team the U-11 Unlimited Racing Group and landed Peters & May — the Schumacher’s sponsor in 2010 — as sponsor. Myers will drive the boat. With Kelly now driving for the Schumachers, owner Ted Porter quickly landed veteran Limited driver Scott Liddycoat to take over the wheel of the U-7. Porter also announced that his third boat, the U-57 Formulaboats.com, would race the entire season with Mark Evans aboard but would also serve as a platform for a driver development program. The first young driver to be signed is young Bianca Bononcini, who has been racing only three years but has already turned heads with her ability. The saga around the Shumacher camp and its ramifications was not the only news out of the boat camps. The Pennsylvania-based U-22 Webster Racing team acquired the 1988-built Miss Madison hull in May, the boat in which Steve David won his first two driver championships. The Websters also landed former Boeing exec Scott Carson as a sponsor and will run as the Great Scott! in 2011. And not to be outdone, the U-17 Miss Red Dot signed Cal Phipps to serve as radioman and backup driver for the season. Phipps’ normal ride, the U-13 Spirit of Detroit, is undergoing modifications and will not be ready this season. As a result, Phipps jumped to the Red Dot crew and will helm the boat during the APBA Gold Cup in Detroit next month.
New Rules — Water Fights
After two years of assigning lanes, H1 Unlimited decided to allow its drivers to return to fighting for lanes amid calls for a change. Unlimiteds traditionally jockeyed for position before the start of heats in an effort to seize an advantage, but that was changed after a spate of incidents and protests during the 2007 and 2008 seasons. But even with the collisions and penalties, drivers and fans both preferred the “race before the race” to assigned lanes that seemed to take the fun out of the starts. Series officials did take pains to adjust some
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of the starting rules, such as making it mandatory that a boat completes one lap before the starting gun fires and to set lanes at the entrance pin of turn two, but for the most part, drivers will have carte blanch to try to grab any preferred lane. Another change came in the qualifying format. Last year, H1 Unlimited declared that all race sites will be required to have a two-hour qualifying session on Friday of race weekend to determine the qualifying ladder. But that ruled quickly fell by the wayside as race sites seemingly did whatever they wanted. This year, H1 maintains that there will be a two-hour window on Friday and only speeds recorded during that session will count toward qualifying times. Boats may test as often as they like, but their speeds will not count.
Corporate Partners — Big and Small
For the first time in nearly a decade, H1 Unlimited will have a series sponsor after inking the Air National Guard. And the Air National Guard Unlimited Hydroplane Series will get to be seen on national cable television after the organization secured a deal with the Versus Network. The sponsorship and television deals allowed many in the sport to breathe a sigh of relief after years of walking the edge. With television onboard, teams are already seeing new sponsors (such as Degree Men) and series officials say
that more attention is coming. H1 Unlimited also signed a deal to partner with Powerboat P1 USA, an offshore racing series that will begin this season. The two series will pair together at four races this season — including Madison — and the deal benefits both sides. As part of the agreement, H1 Unlimited was able to reach into a new market that it has not been a part of for more than 20 years. Which leads us to...
Race Sites — New and different
The biggest news locally came when Madison Regatta, Inc. decided to shorten its course from its traditional 2.5 mile length to a mile and twothirds for at least the next two seasons. The switch was made because construction on a new U.S. 421 Bridge is ongoing in the river and no race boats will be allowed to drive in that area until that project is complete. Rather than move the course so far down river as to render the first turn all but unwatchable, race officials decided to shorten the course. While Madison was changing its specs, H1 Unlimited officials were welcoming back an old race site by reaching a deal to race in Houston over Labor Day weekend as part of the P1 package. The Unlimiteds have raced in Houston four times, but none since 1989. The announcement gives the sport its first race in the south since running at Nashville in 2005.
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