Tweet
I cannot tell you how much we miss Diane Murray who is the treasure of the USTS as she was working in her yard and got caught up in the pedals of her lawn mower as she was getting off and ended up with a broken leg and hip. We are so sorry to hear of this and wish you all the best Diane and miss you terribly. Send her your best on her FB page or the US Title Series page.
We woke to sunshine and warm temps this morning as we headed to the lake and round 2 at Pleasant Prairie. However, that lasted for an hour or two and the rain, cold win, and colds invaded our space at lakeside. That lasted for better part of an hour and halted testing for a bit. Soon our guys were back on the water and thrashing began in earnest as a number of drivers, new and old ran into, Oh We haven’t been on the water in 6 months and what would I have expected.
Testing lasted until about 12:45 and then racing began in front of a surprising large crowd for the weather we were experiencing. The good part is the weather changed over the day to actually become warm, but with a dangerous wind blowing down the front straightaway. Brandon Payn in his K-Pro heading toward the entry pin to the first turn, figured he’d better get a pilots license as it took off, and while in the air, rolled to the right and pitched him out in front of his boat and landed safely in the water unhurt thankfully. Dad Brian wasted no time ge, tting the water out of the engine and when K-Pro was called to the water, young Brandon equated himself quite well. The old adage, when the horse throws you, get back on and go for the ride. And did he ever, as he finished the first two heats of the class with a second and third as we head to tomorrows last two heats.
Cooper Thompson grinning from ear to ear, showed the field the way around in both heats as Ashten Send Cafferelli who the 2018 National Champ was, finished second and third swapping positions with Brandon. Cooper got wins in both heats and heads to the finals with a perfect 80O points.
Next up was 700R with a west coast invasion of the Midwest by 3 Seattle area drivers with John Peters, Daren Gohering, and JW Myers making the trip off the coast. Jared Gryskiewicz, also a Westerner from Loveland, Co was smoking in the first heat and ran off with John Peters in close pursuit. John then went out and won a hard fought 2nd heat and on time with Jared finishing second, John took the win. Jason Sailer in a first time ride in the Thirlby Automotive M-16 took the podium spot for third driving without ever having even taken a test lap in one. Nicely done John, Jared, and Jason, hmmm, did any other alphabet besides J run in this one?????
John
Jared
Jason
Next up were the 125R’s with Mike Werner out of Canada able to go back to back to back, not very easy amongst the best of the best in the USTS, but he was flawless all the way. Parker Thirlby who won down at Lake Alfred took home the 2nd spot with Lyndsay McGrath taking the 3rd spot on the podium.
Mike
Parker
Lyndsay
As a special event at Pleasant Prairie, we ran 1100R with a good solid field of 7 1100R hitting the starting line. Austin Van Over with Hannah Dygert riding along took both heats over John Peters and Jodi Hoover, with Andrew Kirts and Amada Shank in the 3rd spot. This was a well received class by the fans along the shoreline.
Austin/Hannah
John/Jodi
Andrew/Amanda
175H was a well contested race with 3 different heat winners with Kristy Shank taking the first heat, John Palmquist the second heat, and John Peters taking the third and final heat, with John coming out on top with the points lead to take a second class for the day with the 700R win as well. Great run for the Arlington, Washington native.
John
Kristy
John
We had a modified le mans start in the 250H as the drivers came off the beach instead of a clock start. Eric Schmidt who won the Nationals’ at DePue last year found a way to take the first two heats with great starts off the beach and around the buoy for the start. The third and final heat was up and Eric was to start on the pole, however, at the drop of the flag, Eric’s motor started and stalled and was left on the beach. As the other 250’s began the race, Kurt Nydahl and his dad Pete were fighting it out for the win, with Marc LaRose in the third spot. They crossed over the start finish line and headed to the first turn and were at the entry pin. All of a sudden Marc’s boat pointed straight up, having given no notice of being too high going down the straightaway and looking stable. It climbed to a height I’ve not seen in a long time and then tumbled over and twisting as it did. Marc did not seem to be able to get away from the boat as it was tumbling and was injured severely. His brother Neal who was not here posted up that Marc suffered broken ribs on one side, an injured spleen and liver, and possible fractures of vertebrae in his back. Please keep the LaRose family in your prayers as Marc was taken to a local hospital and has now been transferred to a trauma hospital in Milwaukee. Love this sport to no end, but this hurts no matter what. Keep his wife Sheri and his Mom Bonnie and Dad Chick in your thoughts and prayers.
Because of the red flag stoppage of the heat, Eric had new life, not the way he would want it, but this is a great young man and one heck of a driver, got a chance to come back in the 3rd and final heat to win it all. Pete Nydahl, driving a rig that his daughter usually drives is honeymooning with her husband as Amy Nydahl and Derek Gesler were married a couple of weeks ago. Pete’s son Kurtis finished in the third spot on the podium. Kurtis
The last class of the day was 350R with Brian Payn taking the first heat by a good margin, but broke in the second heat and Paulie Bosnich taking the heat win with Richard Krier finishing second in that heat after a third in the first heat. As the 3rd and final heat caame up, Brian was back on the water, but with a great start by Paulie, he went on to take the win over Brian and Rich.
Paulie
Rich
Brian
94 entries for this race brought some great racing as we finished Saturday and set our sites on tomorrow, but with thoughts and prayers tonight as we close off the day to the LaRose family.
Will probably be Monday before I get the Sunday results up,
Ray
We woke to sunshine and warm temps this morning as we headed to the lake and round 2 at Pleasant Prairie. However, that lasted for an hour or two and the rain, cold win, and colds invaded our space at lakeside. That lasted for better part of an hour and halted testing for a bit. Soon our guys were back on the water and thrashing began in earnest as a number of drivers, new and old ran into, Oh We haven’t been on the water in 6 months and what would I have expected.
Testing lasted until about 12:45 and then racing began in front of a surprising large crowd for the weather we were experiencing. The good part is the weather changed over the day to actually become warm, but with a dangerous wind blowing down the front straightaway. Brandon Payn in his K-Pro heading toward the entry pin to the first turn, figured he’d better get a pilots license as it took off, and while in the air, rolled to the right and pitched him out in front of his boat and landed safely in the water unhurt thankfully. Dad Brian wasted no time ge, tting the water out of the engine and when K-Pro was called to the water, young Brandon equated himself quite well. The old adage, when the horse throws you, get back on and go for the ride. And did he ever, as he finished the first two heats of the class with a second and third as we head to tomorrows last two heats.
Cooper Thompson grinning from ear to ear, showed the field the way around in both heats as Ashten Send Cafferelli who the 2018 National Champ was, finished second and third swapping positions with Brandon. Cooper got wins in both heats and heads to the finals with a perfect 80O points.
Next up was 700R with a west coast invasion of the Midwest by 3 Seattle area drivers with John Peters, Daren Gohering, and JW Myers making the trip off the coast. Jared Gryskiewicz, also a Westerner from Loveland, Co was smoking in the first heat and ran off with John Peters in close pursuit. John then went out and won a hard fought 2nd heat and on time with Jared finishing second, John took the win. Jason Sailer in a first time ride in the Thirlby Automotive M-16 took the podium spot for third driving without ever having even taken a test lap in one. Nicely done John, Jared, and Jason, hmmm, did any other alphabet besides J run in this one?????
John
Jared
Jason
Next up were the 125R’s with Mike Werner out of Canada able to go back to back to back, not very easy amongst the best of the best in the USTS, but he was flawless all the way. Parker Thirlby who won down at Lake Alfred took home the 2nd spot with Lyndsay McGrath taking the 3rd spot on the podium.
Mike
Parker
Lyndsay
As a special event at Pleasant Prairie, we ran 1100R with a good solid field of 7 1100R hitting the starting line. Austin Van Over with Hannah Dygert riding along took both heats over John Peters and Jodi Hoover, with Andrew Kirts and Amada Shank in the 3rd spot. This was a well received class by the fans along the shoreline.
Austin/Hannah
John/Jodi
Andrew/Amanda
175H was a well contested race with 3 different heat winners with Kristy Shank taking the first heat, John Palmquist the second heat, and John Peters taking the third and final heat, with John coming out on top with the points lead to take a second class for the day with the 700R win as well. Great run for the Arlington, Washington native.
John
Kristy
John
We had a modified le mans start in the 250H as the drivers came off the beach instead of a clock start. Eric Schmidt who won the Nationals’ at DePue last year found a way to take the first two heats with great starts off the beach and around the buoy for the start. The third and final heat was up and Eric was to start on the pole, however, at the drop of the flag, Eric’s motor started and stalled and was left on the beach. As the other 250’s began the race, Kurt Nydahl and his dad Pete were fighting it out for the win, with Marc LaRose in the third spot. They crossed over the start finish line and headed to the first turn and were at the entry pin. All of a sudden Marc’s boat pointed straight up, having given no notice of being too high going down the straightaway and looking stable. It climbed to a height I’ve not seen in a long time and then tumbled over and twisting as it did. Marc did not seem to be able to get away from the boat as it was tumbling and was injured severely. His brother Neal who was not here posted up that Marc suffered broken ribs on one side, an injured spleen and liver, and possible fractures of vertebrae in his back. Please keep the LaRose family in your prayers as Marc was taken to a local hospital and has now been transferred to a trauma hospital in Milwaukee. Love this sport to no end, but this hurts no matter what. Keep his wife Sheri and his Mom Bonnie and Dad Chick in your thoughts and prayers.
Because of the red flag stoppage of the heat, Eric had new life, not the way he would want it, but this is a great young man and one heck of a driver, got a chance to come back in the 3rd and final heat to win it all. Pete Nydahl, driving a rig that his daughter usually drives is honeymooning with her husband as Amy Nydahl and Derek Gesler were married a couple of weeks ago. Pete’s son Kurtis finished in the third spot on the podium. Kurtis
The last class of the day was 350R with Brian Payn taking the first heat by a good margin, but broke in the second heat and Paulie Bosnich taking the heat win with Richard Krier finishing second in that heat after a third in the first heat. As the 3rd and final heat caame up, Brian was back on the water, but with a great start by Paulie, he went on to take the win over Brian and Rich.
Paulie
Rich
Brian
94 entries for this race brought some great racing as we finished Saturday and set our sites on tomorrow, but with thoughts and prayers tonight as we close off the day to the LaRose family.
Will probably be Monday before I get the Sunday results up,
Ray
Comment