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When I was just entering High School, a singer named Dinah Washington recorded a wonderful song that won the Grammy in 1960.Its title perfectly fits this weekend of racing for the USTS at Lake Springfield, Illinois.
The name of that song, WHAT A DIFFRENCE A DAY MAKES………The opening line is What a Diffrence a Day Made, just twenty-four little hours.YIKESAfter a wonderful quick and exciting day of racing on Saturday, finishing all the heats in 3-1/2 hours, along comes the day 24 hours later.What could happen did, and couple of things that shouldn’t did too.What a day.Scrambling to make sure everyone who came could get to the water, engine issues, accident issues, and stopping in the middle of the starting line or in a corner for racing line was all about yesterday.
INDEED, WHAT A DIFFRENCE A DAY MAKES.
The 90 entries we had was very satisfying as we had good fields on Saturday and Sunday both, and the competition was very intense both days as we got to the half way mark of the USTS season.We start the month of July here in Springfield, then on to Constantine, Michigan the 3rd weekend of the month, and then or annual trek to the boat racing capital of the country at beautiful Lake Depue. Our fans in Depue are knowledgeable and hard core with many of them at Lake Springfield with us.As one said, its fun to just be able to sit and enjoy the races without the responsibilities and the work.Hmm, could he have been a Depue Men’s Club member, the best sponsors on the planet?????I think so…….LOL
The future of the Title Series looks bright with the K-Pro young people coming up and those graduating into the open classes gives me great confidence that we will be in good hands as we pass the torch.
We started off with the K-Pro’s to finish their other two heats as Mackenzie Hellsten picked right up where she left off last season, the first two races of the year and took it home at Springfield.Brady Brinkman improving every race took one heat but Mack had too much for the field.Rex Bayer hit the starts each and every time, but the speed of both Mack and Brady overtook him and he finished 3rd.
Mack
Brady
Rex
Next up were some of those grads from K-Pro now running in the 125R class as Jackson Hall showing the way home in the two heats they ran.Paulie Bosnich, the old man of the class finished 2nd, but the story here was Brianna Payn.This young lady is a chip off her Dad’s block as Brian has got her running well and she finished 2nd in the first heat.As they came out for the 2nd heat the boat had a different look on the water and unfortunately on the back stretch up and over she went, somehow ending back in the boat with the boat right side up.She banged her helmet off the deck coming down and suffered some issues and as Momma Laura said a slight concussion, so grateful not worse.
The engine gremlins were reaching a height not seen a quite a while and they decided that two heats were enough
Jackson
Paulie
Brianna
The 250H class was one of those 24 little hour stories as Chris Hellsten went over in the first turn of the first lap and we called the heat, then Jake Quesse in another heat, got tossed out of the boat at the exit pin of bottom corner and was in a precarious position, so the red flag flew again.
250H with 10 of them to the water, and you could say that Kurtis won as easily as one, two, three.Wait, that was Kurtis’ finishes in the 3 heats as this is one of the most competitive classes running in the Title Series.The other two heats went to Pete Kelly and Kurtis’ sister Amy.Pete unfortunately for him, jumped in the first heat and it cost him greatly.Amy had the win, a 3rd and 4th to allow Kurtis and Amy to take the top two spots for NCM Racing.Eric Schmidt came up early in one heat and ended up loading up and it cost him a chance for the win as he ended up 6th in that heat, but the other two gave him enough points for the 3rd place on the podium
Kurtis
Amy
Eric
Next up was 700R with Austin Van Over continuing his stranglehold on the class with an overall win in both heats.Andrew Thirlby finished 2nd in both heats with he and Austin fighting it out lap after lap in the 2nd heat with Austin finally getting a good lead in the bottom corner and was not headed from there. A good run for Joe Franck driving a good steady race to finish on the podium as well.
The story here was Daniel Hooten of CT.As he came out of the bottom turn, the outside chine dug in and the boat first blew up and over sideways with Daniel still in the boat and hit the water, spilling Daniel out the front end with the boat chasing him.At this time, I know he went in to check out his leg, but do not have any further details.
Austin
Andrew
Joe
Next up was the 175H class and a couple of feel good stories here.Brad Dygert was the first driver all weekend to take all 3 heats in a class and was the class of the field here. He won by good margins in all three heats.Jason Sailer, do I love the fact that this young man is back racing with us.He ran 250R on Saturday and there was never a hint of giving up by the young man and was exciting to see him jump into the rig of Brandon Mills, who was not with us this weekend and finish on the podium for 2nd overall. Also it was really fun to see Shannon McGrath so competitive as she lead a couple of laps and was strong enough in the heats to finish on the podium for 3rd.Congrats to all.
Brad
Jason
Shannon
In 350R, JJ Walls can only wonder, as he had an engine issue in the first heat with Brian Payn taking the win, and then JJ reeled off two good heats, and Brian having trouble in the 2nd heat and found himself sitting on the water watching.Rich Krier had two 2nd place finishes in the first two heats and needed a third to keep JJ behind him for the overall win if JJ won again which he did.Brian came back in the 2nd heat with enough points to make the podium as well.
Rich
JJ
Brian
Our last class of the day was another gremlin fest and trouble as Ken Nicholson had an engine problem and stopped once again at the exit pin of the bottom turn while milling. Red Flag and away we go once again.Amy Nydahl was clearly the class of the field driving the Thirlby Pugh hydro to two straight heat wins and the field left to pick up the other two podium finishesIke Yoder stepped up and took a couple of seconds and picked up 2nd overall, and David Hooten taking a win gave him enough points for the third place
With that the craziness was over and we were done for the weekend.A great crowd joined us all three days including test day and the weather was perfect for us.My thanks for the drivers who came from all over the place to join up to give us 90 entries for the weekend and look forward to seeing more at both Constantine and of course for the Nationals at Depue.
Our thanks to the Sangamon Rescue Team, the Lake Springfield patrol and city police for their great help.We could not do it without you folks, a big thank you for your support.
Again, our thanks to the Mayor Jim Langfelder for his support in bringing the Title Series to Springfield and for the work done at Bridgeview Beach Park to allow for a better launch area for the pits.Thank you very much from grateful racers.
Also want to say thanks to Rick Jedwabny our pit bull, making sure that the teams are ready for that 30 to the 3 call.Also to Sue, Denise and our judges stand team, great job and wonderful to work with you all and also to Diane Brinkman for the work at the USTS merchandise tent, thank you very much.
Last and certainly not least is Todd Brinkman, who not only is the President of the USTS, the pit boss, boat owner, and the ramrod for the race here in Springfield, great job boss man.
Ray
The name of that song, WHAT A DIFFRENCE A DAY MAKES………The opening line is What a Diffrence a Day Made, just twenty-four little hours.YIKESAfter a wonderful quick and exciting day of racing on Saturday, finishing all the heats in 3-1/2 hours, along comes the day 24 hours later.What could happen did, and couple of things that shouldn’t did too.What a day.Scrambling to make sure everyone who came could get to the water, engine issues, accident issues, and stopping in the middle of the starting line or in a corner for racing line was all about yesterday.
INDEED, WHAT A DIFFRENCE A DAY MAKES.
The 90 entries we had was very satisfying as we had good fields on Saturday and Sunday both, and the competition was very intense both days as we got to the half way mark of the USTS season.We start the month of July here in Springfield, then on to Constantine, Michigan the 3rd weekend of the month, and then or annual trek to the boat racing capital of the country at beautiful Lake Depue. Our fans in Depue are knowledgeable and hard core with many of them at Lake Springfield with us.As one said, its fun to just be able to sit and enjoy the races without the responsibilities and the work.Hmm, could he have been a Depue Men’s Club member, the best sponsors on the planet?????I think so…….LOL
The future of the Title Series looks bright with the K-Pro young people coming up and those graduating into the open classes gives me great confidence that we will be in good hands as we pass the torch.
We started off with the K-Pro’s to finish their other two heats as Mackenzie Hellsten picked right up where she left off last season, the first two races of the year and took it home at Springfield.Brady Brinkman improving every race took one heat but Mack had too much for the field.Rex Bayer hit the starts each and every time, but the speed of both Mack and Brady overtook him and he finished 3rd.
Mack
Brady
Rex
Next up were some of those grads from K-Pro now running in the 125R class as Jackson Hall showing the way home in the two heats they ran.Paulie Bosnich, the old man of the class finished 2nd, but the story here was Brianna Payn.This young lady is a chip off her Dad’s block as Brian has got her running well and she finished 2nd in the first heat.As they came out for the 2nd heat the boat had a different look on the water and unfortunately on the back stretch up and over she went, somehow ending back in the boat with the boat right side up.She banged her helmet off the deck coming down and suffered some issues and as Momma Laura said a slight concussion, so grateful not worse.
The engine gremlins were reaching a height not seen a quite a while and they decided that two heats were enough
Jackson
Paulie
Brianna
The 250H class was one of those 24 little hour stories as Chris Hellsten went over in the first turn of the first lap and we called the heat, then Jake Quesse in another heat, got tossed out of the boat at the exit pin of bottom corner and was in a precarious position, so the red flag flew again.
250H with 10 of them to the water, and you could say that Kurtis won as easily as one, two, three.Wait, that was Kurtis’ finishes in the 3 heats as this is one of the most competitive classes running in the Title Series.The other two heats went to Pete Kelly and Kurtis’ sister Amy.Pete unfortunately for him, jumped in the first heat and it cost him greatly.Amy had the win, a 3rd and 4th to allow Kurtis and Amy to take the top two spots for NCM Racing.Eric Schmidt came up early in one heat and ended up loading up and it cost him a chance for the win as he ended up 6th in that heat, but the other two gave him enough points for the 3rd place on the podium
Kurtis
Amy
Eric
Next up was 700R with Austin Van Over continuing his stranglehold on the class with an overall win in both heats.Andrew Thirlby finished 2nd in both heats with he and Austin fighting it out lap after lap in the 2nd heat with Austin finally getting a good lead in the bottom corner and was not headed from there. A good run for Joe Franck driving a good steady race to finish on the podium as well.
The story here was Daniel Hooten of CT.As he came out of the bottom turn, the outside chine dug in and the boat first blew up and over sideways with Daniel still in the boat and hit the water, spilling Daniel out the front end with the boat chasing him.At this time, I know he went in to check out his leg, but do not have any further details.
Austin
Andrew
Joe
Next up was the 175H class and a couple of feel good stories here.Brad Dygert was the first driver all weekend to take all 3 heats in a class and was the class of the field here. He won by good margins in all three heats.Jason Sailer, do I love the fact that this young man is back racing with us.He ran 250R on Saturday and there was never a hint of giving up by the young man and was exciting to see him jump into the rig of Brandon Mills, who was not with us this weekend and finish on the podium for 2nd overall. Also it was really fun to see Shannon McGrath so competitive as she lead a couple of laps and was strong enough in the heats to finish on the podium for 3rd.Congrats to all.
Brad
Jason
Shannon
In 350R, JJ Walls can only wonder, as he had an engine issue in the first heat with Brian Payn taking the win, and then JJ reeled off two good heats, and Brian having trouble in the 2nd heat and found himself sitting on the water watching.Rich Krier had two 2nd place finishes in the first two heats and needed a third to keep JJ behind him for the overall win if JJ won again which he did.Brian came back in the 2nd heat with enough points to make the podium as well.
Rich
JJ
Brian
Our last class of the day was another gremlin fest and trouble as Ken Nicholson had an engine problem and stopped once again at the exit pin of the bottom turn while milling. Red Flag and away we go once again.Amy Nydahl was clearly the class of the field driving the Thirlby Pugh hydro to two straight heat wins and the field left to pick up the other two podium finishesIke Yoder stepped up and took a couple of seconds and picked up 2nd overall, and David Hooten taking a win gave him enough points for the third place
With that the craziness was over and we were done for the weekend.A great crowd joined us all three days including test day and the weather was perfect for us.My thanks for the drivers who came from all over the place to join up to give us 90 entries for the weekend and look forward to seeing more at both Constantine and of course for the Nationals at Depue.
Our thanks to the Sangamon Rescue Team, the Lake Springfield patrol and city police for their great help.We could not do it without you folks, a big thank you for your support.
Again, our thanks to the Mayor Jim Langfelder for his support in bringing the Title Series to Springfield and for the work done at Bridgeview Beach Park to allow for a better launch area for the pits.Thank you very much from grateful racers.
Also want to say thanks to Rick Jedwabny our pit bull, making sure that the teams are ready for that 30 to the 3 call.Also to Sue, Denise and our judges stand team, great job and wonderful to work with you all and also to Diane Brinkman for the work at the USTS merchandise tent, thank you very much.
Last and certainly not least is Todd Brinkman, who not only is the President of the USTS, the pit boss, boat owner, and the ramrod for the race here in Springfield, great job boss man.
Ray
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