Mercury Challenge

[DeanFHobart]

Man...those videos bring back memories! Love it how those guys lug big D stock hydros out of the water with no cart......my first nationals were Wakefield 1990, did not know a soul. John Stone came up and introduced himseld...what a class act. First elim DSH I was in second or third, with Stone on my right hip for 3 laps.....at times his sponson tip was literally touching my boat....I did beat him by about 2 feet lol.

Dave,

What kind of boat were you running then?

[Harold8]

It was Silver Lake. That was the first Mercury Challenge race I ran. Picked up a new style wrap around for my D at the race to be legal.

[daveracerdsh]

Man...those videos bring back memories! Love it how those guys lug big D stock hydros out of the water with no cart......my first nationals were Wakefield 1990, did not know a soul. John Stone came up and introduced himseld...what a class act. First elim DSH I was in second or third, with Stone on my right hip for 3 laps.....at times his sponson tip was literally touching my boat....I did beat him by about 2 feet lol.

[Hydro doc]

The What's up Doc? Race team decided to go up north, driving all night. To a place called Grass Lake. Yes, it was full of grass that splashed against your boat. This challenge was different than any race I had been. Drivers were divided into two man teams, one runabout one hydro. The runabouts started first with a Leman start, then tagged the hydro driver. The winners split $500 dollars. I was lucky to win, because my team mate was David Dewald and his prop got him off the beach in no time.

[25xs]

These videos on YouTube were all posted here in past discussions about the Mercury Challenge Series... I just used the search box and pulled them together for this thread.
The videos are titled wrong on YouTube... I tried to put the correct race title in the short descriptions. According to the announcer at the end of the 1986 Dayton video, 1st race was Ocoee, FL, next was Dayton, then 3rd Silver Lake, NY
1986 video clearly shows 25XS engines in long and short exhaust tower configuration and the 44's were 55H's painted black.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4UQcqqBryo (Whitney Point race)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiUzt2ck-fs ( 1987 Oshkosh, WI race)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dqIEiHZ0dk (1986 Dayton, OH race)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvEutpx9Qvo (1988 Saginaw, MI race)

[Daveracer]

Matt.....you are correct. It was the Speed channel. I lived in Kirkland Washington during the years the series was active, and had no idea that it was being filmed and shown on cable....I was stunned one afternoon working on my rig outside my shop when a passerby stopped to look at my dsh rig and mentioned that he saw me on tv a few nights ago.....I thought he was kidding...but nope. If memory serves me correct it was a 30 minute show with highlights from all the races and stuff.

[Matt Dagostino]

I believe it was 'The Speed Channel' as i remember it................but i think the Merc Challenge footage ran at like 3am in the morning..lol

[DeanFHobart]

I seem to also remember espn 2 or something running videos of the races on cable tv.....both the east coast and west coast stuff.

Dave,

I do remember that also, but like you I don’t remember the Channel. I still have the produced video that was made for 1986 and I have had it converted to a DVD. This reminds me to watch it again.

[daveracerdsh]

I seem to also remember espn 2 or something running videos of the races on cable tv.....both the east coast and west coast stuff.

[daveracerdsh]

the next challenge series race I remember was at Lake spanaway, hosted by tacoma inboard......again, it was a le mans start, but this time the race was run under a torential downpour.......u could not see 100 feet in front of u. I followed a d stock driver named Jon Heggenberger for 3 laps not being able to see anything due to the rain, all I could see was his roostertail. Oh man, was that scary.

[daveracerdsh]

The inboards hosted the challenge series at Moses Lake in May or June of 1990.......we had 23 d stock hydros, elims of course.....doing a le mans start from the beach. Oh man....talk about cool. Nate brown was standing on a spit of land with a flag, and off we went....12 d stock hydros headed for a bouy.....then off to the 1 mile or so course. amazing stuff. the tension leading up to nate dropping the flag I can still feel to this day..............

[daveracerdsh]

There were some people in Seattle Outboard that did not like the challenge series.....if memory serves me correct you had to bid for the races, and the region ten inboard clubs ran a few events.....Moses Lake and Spanaway come to mind in this area.....

[deeougee]

It’s interesting isn’t. I remember those days. Quite a bit of money and involvement from Mercury, everyone was engaged. The challenge races were held in many different places. I know we talked about this before but I remember Saginaw being a challenging course. We lost sight of John Brouge down in the south turn and there was a breakwall down there coming out of the turn, thought he might have hit it or put the hydro up on the bank! Use to be a lot of boats at those races. Remember Matt and Steve having quite the tussle in 25 hydro for the title at the Saginaw race. Jon Stone was the man in D hydro and Vic Brinkman in 25 runabout.

[GrandpaRacer]

Ricochet112, I found a 1990 plaque like yours, you beat me. Then I found an 1988 plaque and in 1986 we got a photo of us in our boat nicely done. Here is the 1988 plaque, it doesn't say my position..

[GrandpaRacer]

Matt, A few years ago we built a shop for boat building and motor work. I am going to find this memorabilia and display it there as well. I recently mounted the now illegal 20ss restrictor also!