Tweet
Today we are going to delve into a stalwart team that has taken home championships, are well known in this little burg of the capital of boat racing called DePue, Illinois The team we are all familiar with is the Prop Riders. When they show up to race you always will know they are there and are there to win. From the team Leader Paul, BIG PAL, Bosnich II, and believe me, one of the best and a great Pal to many including this writer for many years, to their drivers and that show to win at each race., Paul wears many hats as the team leader, the pit manager for the USTS races, on the board of directors for the USTS, and knows where the beer cooler is at the end of the day. After all of that, Paulie is also a member of our great sponsor The DePue Men’s club. A busy busy man in his retirement.
They also have the team ‘’Mom’s”, Wendy, Abbi, Tiff, Katie and Heather. They are a team just as much as the son’s, cousins, nephews, and friends who are in the boats on the water. Tiffany has brought many of her photographs to not only her team but to the USTS FB pages and website as well. Heather also doubles up as a Mom and photographer of not only her team’s photos but many of the USTS and NBRA folks and posts many on FB. And then there is Alex, Ethan's Dad and he is everywhere helping. The drivers on the water are Paul Bosnich III who has had the thrill of winning National Championships driving 250/350R in front of family and friends on the beautiful Lake Depue, that must be a charge like no other. I do believe Paul also won a championship in the 125R class driving the B&B Electric entry for Todd Brinkman. As you may know, Paulie and Katie are expecting another addition to the family later this year and we could not be happier for them. Paulie works for Southwest Airlines up at Midway Airport in Chicago.
Other drivers are the young Jake Quesse in the 250H class driving that Orange and Blue Euro boat in a very very competitive class with some real giants in that class. Jake is a construction Superintendent for his ability to make it to the water. Joseph Perez has come on board in the K-Pro class and won his first race earlier this year and shows improvement at every race. Joseph is in the 6th grade this year. Rex Bayer also with the team is a student at Ripon College in Wisconsin and runs the 125H class. Was so thrilled to see Rex take his first win in 125H over in Springfield, Illinois a couple of years ago. The reaction of this young man as he crossed the finish line and the knowledge that he had the points from the 3 heats to take it all, was as they say, priceless. He gave us the fist pump and the pounding on the cowling as he took home the gold medal. A young man, Ethan Fox also a part of the team out of the Council Bluffs, Ia. area came to the team a couple of years ago and has absolutely shown improvement not just year to year, but race to race. I had a conversation with this great young man at Clarksville, Arkansas race year before last and told him how proud I was of his effort. I told him he had the speed and the driving ability; the next thing was to hit the starting line with the rest of the competitors, and he would be a force to reckon with in the coming years. Ethan runs in the ultra-competitive 125/175H classes.
