Club / Region "Crown Jewels" ???

[5-A]

I'm interested to hear from members of each region / club to find out which race on your schedule you would consider your "crown jewel" race and why. Is it because the race draws the most boats / best competition, is it because there is great "apres race activities", is it a beautiful location, a lot of activities for everyone in the surrounding area, etc etc ???

I'd love it if I could get many responses from each region and you could list your region / club, your vote for the best race / site and a little blurb why you love it. Feel free to vote on sites outside of your home region as well if you have raced at this site.

Here's How it look's so far (For Current Sites):

Region 1: Kingston
Region 3: Lock Haven
Region 4: Hinton

Region 7: Oshkosh

Region 10: Newburg, OR
Bakersfield, CA

Agree? Disagree? Other Regions?

[pops67g]

Oshkosh, WS for me. We run on a tiny bay on the shore of a 23 mile long lake. We have room for about a 3/8 mile course. You can go hard for 3 laps and practically hold your breath for the whole heat. In D we limit to a 6 boat max per heat as the start line and first turn do not have room for more as you can guess. A good crowd of spectators always shows up and a good number of them are retired from working at Mercury. Check out the Badger State website for video from being featured on the Good Morning Wisconsin show from one of the local TV stations. This race has been run for 15 straight years and we're going back for a 16th this year.

[rumleyfips]

Through the 60's and 70's I never ran anywhere I liked better than Silver Lake New York. Big enough for a big 3 pin course but small enough that the water was usually good. Private; no water skiers, seadoos , fishermen households or cottages . Bar on the property - Regan's Silver lake Ranch. Decent pits, decent camping, on Labour Day weekend you could stand on the hill, drink beer and listen to the big block modifieds at the Syracuse Fairgrounds 10 miles away. Lots of boats,lots of competition, elimination in 5 classes sometimes, 3 heats in ASH once .

I won a bunch there but let me reassure you; I never lost a party there.

[Harold8]

I remember this race too. Merc Challenge race was there too. Always a Great time!

[Fastjack]

I am a big fan of the fall race at Kingston Nh. Region 1 - South Shore Outboard. The pond is a great race sight , The locals plan our visit - good show with 3 in 2 format- and I don't have to put it on .. Steve has this race down to an art form- also the after race pot luck supper is a fun time and the awards are the best !! IF YOU MISS THIS WEEKEND - ITS YOUR LOSS !!!

[dwhitford]

How about Hinton, WV, probably my all-time favorite?

[PopPop]

Lock Haven has to be in anyone "Crown Jewel" list. Region 3 also has Millville, a long time favorite, that lost a lot of appeal when NJ legislature passed a bill, limiting the minimum age for racing.

[John Schubert]

Doesn't anyone want to name the Delaware Water Gap & Sea Isle City as CROWN JEWELS.
I guess that I've had too much of this Florida sunshine.

[jwmaddrell]

i would have to vote for hinton wva. with the exception of the pro race ive gone there to race in every one starting in 1966. cabins at bluestone park are great and also have stayed at pipestem which is also very nice. looking forward to race there this year. thanks hinton

[5-A]

Yeah!!! This is what I was looking for. I will admit though; after I wrote the question I have drove around wondering what my vote would have to be.

It was a tight competition between Standish and Kingston for region one. On one hand (Standish); you've got that opening day feel, a full day of testing, great pits and facilities and a great site to watch a race. On that other hand (Kingston) you've got the close of season feel, three days in two run in a tight efficient format and the occasional "Bonus" competition - think SSOA All Stars, Can - Am challenge ... whatever Steve can devise ... and don't forget about Miss Kingston. Both venues also offer a racer dinner and great campfire gatherings ..........................................and my winner .......................I think it has to be Kingston. I think it's that close of the year / three days of points / close out the points chase feel.

As far as outside Region 1: From when I was a kid - I remember I loved Hinton, Lock Haven and Wakefield ... and after my first trip last year; I thought Jesup was just plain amazing, I don't know if you could sit down and design a better race site.

Keep 'em coming!!!

[R. C. Hawie]

For Region 1 it has to be Thompson, CT for all the regional and divisional championships we ran there with good competition at any given year to date since 1977. For Region 3 Loch Haven, PA. we would have some of the National Champs attend and get beat! It use to be like running a small National Championship because of the competition and the way we had to conduct three days of racing smoothly with over 100+ entries. For Region 5 when the PRO's ran at Lakeland on the 1 2/3 mile course, that was like a second perimage for PRO guys next to De Pue. Speaking of DePue, that is the place for PRO racing in Region 7. The forgotten Netcong, NJ site was a favorite. Pits at a bar owned by Craig Dewald's Uncle and fresh oysters from the Long Island guys at night. Region 1 Southbury, Ct was a spring and fall meet, tight turns and long course trough a bridge. The fall meet would bring 200 entries at times as some point chases were getting in their last chance for points. We even add a snow flurry at drivers meeting in the May meet one time.

[jpro60]

I'm interested to see what other people think about Region 10 races. It's pretty hard to narrow it down to one, but I'll throw out my top 3.
1) Newberg, OR - It's our longest held race, going back 65(ish?) years. It's also our most challenging race course being on a narrow river with a fairly swift current, tight turns, rough water, and a dog leg right hander down the back stretch.
2) Cullaby Lake, OR - It's the race sight where we host the most western divisional events, so winning here usually has some significance to it.
3) Eatonville, WA - This race has the highest number of entries every year, and so winning here is no easy feat.

I'm sure some folks think Yelm is a crown jewel being an annual record race, but I find it boring and after about a lap raw speed usually separates the pack.

[Matt Dagostino]

Can't believe nobody has mentioned Bakersfield, CA..............to me perhaps the most 'perfect' race site in the country. Perfect pits, perfect weather, perfect course, perfect judges stand. Well, maybe it is to perfect. Only problem , Bakersfield is on the wrong side of the country!! )

[mercguy]

Lake Ming...............built specifically for boat racing..........how cool is that!! The West Coast is THE RIGHT side of the country....LOL

[5-A]

Is this it? So if I had unlimited funds and wanted to put together a tour of the absolute best races that we as an organization hold annually. I wanted to see the most beautiful sites, have the most fun and see the ultimate competition that our sport presents this would be it?

6 races?

[dsprint2000]

Lake Pearrygin, Winthrop, WA..... First weekend in October - always seem to get that Fall sun for 70's temps during the days and frosty at night. Big wide access to water with the racing right there in front of you. Great course with a nice wide hydro turn 1 and a bit tighter runabout turn 2. We (Whidbey Roostertails) get to race with our friends from SLORA and have a great weekend on great water doing what we love most. It's a State park, so has all amenities and the quaint town of Winthrop is just a couple miles away. The potluck after Saturday's racing is always awesome and the campfire talks entertaining.

David

[guedo499]

Best race setup I've ever been a part of - Kingston, TN for the APBA Pro Nationals. Wonderful town, GREAT people, fun race course, and a front-row-seat to Tennessee's largest fireworks show after the races is an excellent bonus. Let's just put it this way, Kingston is the only race the wife would like to go to again.

[daveracerdsh]

My favorite race site of all time? Capitol Lake right in downtown Olympia Washington. Perfect size lake for racing....well protected from the wind, very fast water (right at sea level) tons of spectators, perfect pit area....the list goes on and on. A few of us actually had worked on having stock nationals at site in 1996....as of now, the "ecology crowd" has got racing banned on the lake, and it is turning into essentialy what amounts to an open sewer. Very sad to say that....

[daveracerdsh]

One other interesting side note on Capitol Lake.. We had a pretty serious earthquake in the Seattle area in 2000 or 2001...called the Nisqually quake. the epicenter of the event was almost directly underneath Capitol Lake. The roadway that borders the lake shifted almost 6 feet up in places, and the restroom in the middle of the pits ended up at about a 20 degree angle. If anybody is interested in seeing pics of the race site google Nisqually quake. Just a little interesting tidbit. 3 US