Post by Admin Russ McElroy on Jul 27, 2016 13:28:22 GMT
BY DUSTIN BRENNAN
dbrennan@tricityherald.com
With only five stops scheduled for the 2016 H1 Unlimited season, every heat counts, and the races this weekend in the Tri-Cities are set to be as hot as the soaring temperatures.
Jimmy Shane, driver of the U-1 Miss HomeStreet Bank, is the man the field will likely be chasing this weekend for the HAPO Columbia Cup. He has won his past 12 consecutive heats and the past three national high point championships.
Shane also won the 2012 and 2014 Columbia Cups, as well as last year’s APBA HAPO Gold Cup in the Tri-Cities.
“I joined a team that was very, very well established two years ago with the Miss Madison racing team,” Shane said. “We’ve kind of just continued their methods of being very well prepared and keeping the boat well maintained, and we’ve got a lot of resources available to throw at the boat for different situations for racing. I really think that’s the entire package that has kept us up front the last couple years.”
After winning the 2015 APBA HAPO Gold Cup in the Oberto boat, Shane and the Miss Madison team have since partnered with another Puget Sound-based company, HomeStreet Bank.
In his racing debut in the U-1 Miss HomeStreet Bank, Shane won the Miss Madison team’s hometown race on the first weekend in July at the Madison (Ind.) Regatta.
Shane said the fast pace on the Columbia River sets up well for him and the Miss Madison team. With a difficult first turn breaking up the momentum of long straightaways, a balanced setup is the favored approach as drivers must blend technical turning ability with quick acceleration and top-end speed coming out of the corners.
“Typically it’s pretty rough with all the wakes piling up, so you have to set up the boat loose enough to get through that first corner,” Shane said. “But at the same time, with the very long straightaways, if you set the boat too loose, you’ll really damage your speed in the straightaways trying to keep the boat down on the water.”
After a second-place finish in Madison, J. Michael Kelly in the U-5 Graham Trucking boat figures to have the best shot at halting Shane’s winning streak on the Columbia River.
Kelly has been the runner-up to Shane in the national high point standings the past two seasons and finished second in last year’s Gold Cup.
Rookie driver Andrew Tate took fourth in his debut at the Madison Regatta, and Shane said his impressive test speeds in the Tri-Cities earlier this year figure to make him and the U-9 Jones Racing team a dark horse over the weekend.
Cal Phipps won’t be in the HAPO Columbia Cup field after his U-27 Dalton Industries boat blew over on the last lap of the final in Madison. He was running in second place at the time, and a runner-up finish to Shane in Heat 1A was the only blemish on his weekend before the flip.
As of Monday, nine teams confirmed they would compete for the HAPO Columbia Cup this weekend, H1 Unlimited chairman Steve David announced in a news release.
Dustin Brennan: 509-582-1413, @tweet_By_Dustin
Read more here: www.tri-cityherald.com/sports/other-sports/hydro-racing/article92033272.html#storylink=cpy
dbrennan@tricityherald.com
With only five stops scheduled for the 2016 H1 Unlimited season, every heat counts, and the races this weekend in the Tri-Cities are set to be as hot as the soaring temperatures.
Jimmy Shane, driver of the U-1 Miss HomeStreet Bank, is the man the field will likely be chasing this weekend for the HAPO Columbia Cup. He has won his past 12 consecutive heats and the past three national high point championships.
Shane also won the 2012 and 2014 Columbia Cups, as well as last year’s APBA HAPO Gold Cup in the Tri-Cities.
“I joined a team that was very, very well established two years ago with the Miss Madison racing team,” Shane said. “We’ve kind of just continued their methods of being very well prepared and keeping the boat well maintained, and we’ve got a lot of resources available to throw at the boat for different situations for racing. I really think that’s the entire package that has kept us up front the last couple years.”
After winning the 2015 APBA HAPO Gold Cup in the Oberto boat, Shane and the Miss Madison team have since partnered with another Puget Sound-based company, HomeStreet Bank.
In his racing debut in the U-1 Miss HomeStreet Bank, Shane won the Miss Madison team’s hometown race on the first weekend in July at the Madison (Ind.) Regatta.
Shane said the fast pace on the Columbia River sets up well for him and the Miss Madison team. With a difficult first turn breaking up the momentum of long straightaways, a balanced setup is the favored approach as drivers must blend technical turning ability with quick acceleration and top-end speed coming out of the corners.
“Typically it’s pretty rough with all the wakes piling up, so you have to set up the boat loose enough to get through that first corner,” Shane said. “But at the same time, with the very long straightaways, if you set the boat too loose, you’ll really damage your speed in the straightaways trying to keep the boat down on the water.”
After a second-place finish in Madison, J. Michael Kelly in the U-5 Graham Trucking boat figures to have the best shot at halting Shane’s winning streak on the Columbia River.
Kelly has been the runner-up to Shane in the national high point standings the past two seasons and finished second in last year’s Gold Cup.
Rookie driver Andrew Tate took fourth in his debut at the Madison Regatta, and Shane said his impressive test speeds in the Tri-Cities earlier this year figure to make him and the U-9 Jones Racing team a dark horse over the weekend.
Cal Phipps won’t be in the HAPO Columbia Cup field after his U-27 Dalton Industries boat blew over on the last lap of the final in Madison. He was running in second place at the time, and a runner-up finish to Shane in Heat 1A was the only blemish on his weekend before the flip.
As of Monday, nine teams confirmed they would compete for the HAPO Columbia Cup this weekend, H1 Unlimited chairman Steve David announced in a news release.
Dustin Brennan: 509-582-1413, @tweet_By_Dustin
Read more here: www.tri-cityherald.com/sports/other-sports/hydro-racing/article92033272.html#storylink=cpy