SOUTHWEST SHOWDOWN II
Drag boat racing has solidified its return the to the Colorado river basin at Parker, Arizona. Right smack dab in the middle of the Bluewater Casino, the track starts right in front of 200 river front rooms and ends approximately 500 feet past the River’s Edge Cantina. I highly recommend the fish fry on Friday and the tri-tip sandwich on Saturday. The party goes on into the early hours of the morning.
Friday started with wind and ended with more wind. Saturday wasn’t any better. The wind died down late in the afternoon enough to get qualifying in for River Racer and some of the other slower classes. Sunday morning dawned with no wind. We started the morning with a sermon by Rich Trimmer from Racers For Christ. Then there was a drivers meeting at River’s Edge Cantina. Jeremy Denny, the President of the ADBA, gave us a game plan for the day. Finish qualifying for the fast classes; throw in a little extra time trials for everybody while the race official set up the ladders for eliminations. Eliminations started with River Racer on the 1,000 foot course.
River Racer 10.00 and up.
Thank you to the Bluewater Casino
Chase Hart qualified in the number 10 spot. He almost didn’t qualify at all. He severely damaged the engine in his family’s cruiser on his last qualifying pass. Up steps his neighbor in the pits, Rob Miller. Miller has a big block Chevy stashed under his bench at home. Off to his place they go and pull an all-nighter and get the motor swapped out and are back in the pits for time trials. Chase defeated J. Brooks in the opening round. Mike Greenawalt was his next victim in round two.
On the other side of the ladder was number three qualifier Mike Stanger. Mike calls the boat Scatterbrains. He proved to be a formidable competitor. Tim Benivedais was the first to fall. Ron Baker was next to put it on the trailer. The Mike Stanger steam roller rolled right over the Super Chicken of Joe Mclemore in the third round.
The final round was set. Chase Hart had a respectable pass as the two boats seemed to cross the finish line together. The Stanger steam roller laid out Hart by a nose. Mike Stanger is the Champ in River Racer.
Stock Eliminator 9.00
Thank you to Galpin Ford
Chris Hedlund made his switch to Stock Eliminator at the Bluewater Casino Showdown II. Chris qualified in the number one spot and with a bye run in the semi’s he had a spot in the finals.
On the other side of the ladder was Robert Holloway in the “On the Bottle” entry. Robert defeated Jeff Luehring in the semifinals. This assured him a spot in the final.
Robert Holloway defeated the kid, Chris Hedlund, in the final and is the champion in Stock Eliminator.
Modified Eliminator 8.00
Thank you to HOTBOAT.com
Brad Clayton started his run to the final with a number five qualifying effort and he defeated the number four qualifier, Rich Saindon, in the first round. The number one qualifier, Chuck Armand, had his hands full when Brad took him out in the semi finals.
Brian Forester started winning in the first round, taking out Armand Labarre and defeating Eric Beyer in the semis. The final round was set.
Brad Clayton, driving the “Windwalker“, walked right over the “Brown Boat” of Brian Forester. Brad Clayton is the champion in Modified Eliminator.
Top Eliminator 7.00
Thank you Lucas Oil
The number one qualifier was Josh Patridge and he wrestled with Tim Miller in the first round. Tim pinned him to the mat and moved on to round two. There, he defeated many time Champion, Bob Pigmore. The ladder provided Tim with a bye run in the semi’s and a free pass into the final.
Garrett Breistig took his Trophy Wife to the number three qualifying spot. He took out Andy Ralls in the first round and Jeff Swigert in the second round. The only driver standing in his way was Stan Tweedy in the semi’s. Garrett and Stan squared off with Garrett taking the win and getting a spot in the final.
When the tree counted down to zero, Garrett blasted across the finish line all by himself. Tim squirted a little too much fuel into the engine with the primer button and the engine would not start on time. Garrett Breistig is the champion in Top Eliminator.
Pro Eliminator 6.35
Thank you to the JetBoatStore.com
Vince Nelson Sr. was the number 3 qualifier, driving a flatty with a wing. Wings are cool. Vince squared off with the Outta Control entry of Tom Roberts. Roberts took the win and moved to the second round where Jake Gonzales put up a good fight but couldn’t hold off the hard charging Tom Roberts. The ladder was kind to Roberts in the semis with a bye run.
Dave Lipinski beat the number 3 qualifier, Jordon Wood, in the opening round. The ladder provided a bye run the second round. Dave’s biggest hurdle was in the semis where he took out the number one qualifier, Paul Fontenot.
In the final, Tom Roberts took the win over Dave Lipinski.
Quick Eliminator 6.00
Thank you Jett Performance Marine
QE had a perfect number of boats qualified. No bye runs. The number three qualifier, Mike Schiller, took out the number seven qualifier, Vince Nelson Jr. Mike dispatched Kjell Adams in the semis and moved into the final.
What can you say about the number 1 qualifer, Brandon Davis? In the first round he sent Zack Rauscher packing. Then he took care of business with Mike DeClark in the semis.
Brandon Davis thundered past Mike Schiller for the win. Brandon qualified number one and kicked everybody’s butt on race day. Brandon Davis is the Quick Eliminator Champion.
To the National Jet Boat Association, the Columbia Drag Boat Association and the Southwest Drag Boat Association, Thank You for racing with the ADBA.
