Rock Falls IL 2018 This weekend 9/21-9/23 stock, mod, J classes and pro

[53-W]

River Chase is offering:
- FREE testing on Friday
- FREE donuts Saturday morning
- FREE dinner Saturday night
- FREE 15ssR and BSR entry fee.
- FREE BSH entry fee if you register the same Y80 rig for 20ssH.
- FREE ASH entry fee for your Merc or OMC registered for AXH or 200MH (if using Stock OMC).

[racingfan1]

What time will racing start ?

[Wakefield 2015]

We are going to try to start at 10 am both days.

Bill

[Wakefield 2015]

Thank you so much to Terry Hicks and all of the racers and crews who came to Rock Falls this weekend. We lost Friday due to very high winds, but Sat and Sun were absolutely perfect. Yes, we battled the strong current, but the 20ssh's, CSH's, and BSH's showed that you can race HARD on water like that and put on a great show. Those guys raced like it was the Nationals.

Thank you to everyone who helped out with set up, tear down, judge's stand, turn boats, racer school, etc. Since pretty much everyone helped out one way or another (or in some cases a few helped with EVERYTHING) so I'm not going to list names. Except one - Sarah Hoots for being chief scorer. Again.

We had four students go thru the school, two of which had never been in a boat before. All four did a fine job and had a good time. Hopefully we can get a few out again next year.

It has been a difficult year for racing in the Midwest with multiple events being cancelled for one reason or another, I am just thankful that we stuck to our club philosophy of putting boats on the water, one way or the other, especially when not all of the conditions are ideal. It is a slippery slope once you start cancelling races. We have a very delicate sport and need to look for excuses to race, not leave boats on the trailer.

Bill

PS - Thank you to the peanut gallery for reminding me yesterday after the first heat of 200MH that I begged people at driver's meeting NOT to pop/dislodge any buoys. Believe me, my words were the first thought that went thru my mind as I ran over the entrance pin! LOL

[Hotwheeler44]

I'm glad we were able to reschedule this race. As I told some others I was definitely the most upset with having to cancel in June due to debris and high water. I wanted nothing more than to make sure this past weekend to be successful and we did it even in fast moving water. It made the course challenging, but still raceable. I look forward to next year.

Terry

[Graham]

And the winners were:

[Hotwheeler44]

If you have Facebook, I believe you can find them on a post on the Rock Falls River Chase page.

[pav225]

Rock Falls was a blast!

We go there quite a bit, and this is by far the most current we have ever seen. With that said, a lot of racers let us know what a great time they had and how psyched up they are for the next race. Great to see so many people excited about racing!

Keep an eye out for pics being posted as some of the races (especially Sunday) were the most intense we have seen all year.

Aside from all the FREE stuff, other highlights include:
- Seeing race promotor, Terry Hicks', testing pay off. He got great starts and was very competitive the entire weekend!
- 4 new students for the Driving School!! All 4 did very well.
- Chuck Homuth reminding us all that working on your equipment and testing in very rough water pays off. Chuck has only been racing a short time, but beat some much more experienced drivers this weekend. Great job!
- Seeing some long time racing families back at it and racing hard. Danny Keylard and James Schallcross had some great battles in CSH.
- Kent Gabrielson for driving like a fearless 20 year old to beat out the young guns in CSH. Very impressive!!
- Mark Gabrielson staying in his boat! (He told me that
- Chris Fairchild and Big Al taking turns doing flags on the judges stand.
- Tad Olson filling Shep's trailer with smoke.
- Many people lending equipment to get new folks on the water.
and everyone pitching in and helping out to make the race a success.

Special thanks go to Sarah, Bill, Michael J Mackey, Po, Korbus, Roger, and Terry for making it a success!

[Hotwheeler44]

Thanks for the kind words Mike. I look forward to next season already. I felt very comfortable Sunday in rough water after squeezing the throttle fully in the back stretch to keep up with everyone and even able to take the inside position next to the buoys and move ahead of a couple racers on the straightaway in CSH. I got plenty of spray in my face both days which is better than a couple years ago when I was never at the starting line on time. This is one of the best motor sports in my opinion. I am addicted for sure and look forward to the years ahead with all of the great people involved. You have welcomed me not only as a promoter, organizer, and fan... but also as a racer trying to get my foot in the door. I now have most all the equipment I need, just down to getting a 302 to call my own...

Thanks for a great weekend.. already thinking about some things for River Chase 2019!