Well if you missed the 2009 edition of the World Finals, you missed a great race. Weather could not have been better. I have been attending this event since 1991 and this is by far the best weather we have ever had. Temps in the mid to upper 70's a little tiny breeze just to take the edge off the sunlight, wow, what a weekend. Excitement was in the air, but nothing prepared me for the news about the IHBA. As of this event the IHBA will be no more. According to the IHBA, they will no longer be sanctioning nationwide events and will cease operations as a sanctioning body. The good news; Lucas Oil has stepped up to form a new sanctioning body that will suport clubs all over the country and promote 8 national events in 2010. Although the future is cloudy, most of us know what a great company Lucas Oil has been to the motorsports world, and as a dedicated fan, I am sure our future is in good hands. Rumors also soared about the possible loss of Firebird Raceway as the premiere drag boat facility in the US. According to Firebird, they have 7 years left on their land lease and drag boat racing will continue to be at Firebird for that time. Boat count was down, no surprise with the economy in shambles, but pretty good considering the circumstances.

Top Fuel Hydro
Only 5 boats made the tow to the valley of the sun to compete for the coveted "Stone Dude". Front-runner John Haas and the Speed Sport team had their Watercraft fueler dialed in with a couple of 4 second qualifying passes. But it was "Mad Maxx" Daryl Ehrlich behind the wheel of Eddie Knox's "Problem Child" that stole the show. Daryl came out in round 2 to take the top spot with a 4.63 pass. Eliminations is where the real fireworks, quite literally, happened. In round one, Jarrett Silvey was paired up with Speed Sport, and Speed Sport was on a mission, ripping off an awesome 4.68 lap to take down the Hot Licks Bullet. That wasn't the fireworks. Apparently, just after the leave, Silvey's machine had a mammoth engine explosion that sent a ball of fire 40 feet wide and 25 feet in the air, and sent pieces of engine parts flying. In the aftermath, the top of the engine was completely gone, all that remained were the blower rotors. It was massive, and probably quite expensive. In the other pairing, number 3 qualifier Toxic Rocket failed to fire, and Spirit of Texas moved on to a semi-final round pairing with number 1 qualifier Daryl Erhlich. Speed Sport drew the bye into the final, and the Problem Child and Spirit of Texas paired up to see who would meet Haas in the final. Spirit of Texas had some problems and couldn't complete the run, but it would probably not been enough at Erhlich laid down a 4.62 at 260.98 to put a leg on the MPH record. It was a picture perfect pass. The EKR team had their Bullet loaded for that lap. The final round was epic. Erhlich needed a 258 and change pass to set the new MPH record, and boy did he. He blazed the track with a blistering 4.524 at over 264 mph to set the new MPH record and take home the World Finals win. Speed Sport wasn't there for the taking, they laid down a very nice 4.84 at 239 mph in the loss. Congratulations to the EKR team for the tremendously successful weekend and a well-deserved victory.

Top Alcohol Hydro
The World Finals would set the stage for the final battle for the IHBA TAH World Championship. Kent Price had a slim lead going into competition. Price unfortunately crashed is Black Draggin machine just 6 weeks earlier at the Bayfair in San Diego, but there was going to be no laying down for the current IHBA champion. Price debuted his brand new ride with a stout 5.42 lap right off the trailer in test and tune. Mike Fry was the contender, looking to spoil a repeat performance for Price and Fry had his Mean Streak machine ready for battle running a very respectable 5.56 in round 1 of qualifying. But is was Joel Weber in Bob Pizza's "What A Tomato Too" that stole the show in round 1 with a 5.43 at over 221 mph to be the top qualifier going into round 2. It was round 3 that had the most excitement and disappoint all at the same time. The excitement of seeing whether Weber could hold onto the number one spot when he left the line, the boat took a great set, but at about 300 feet, there was a pop in the roostertail, and the tail end of the boat stepped to the left side and sent the boat right and barrel rolled destroying the boat. The safety capsule did it's job and safely delivered Weber from the wreakage. Weber did get his bell rung hard. He walked to the ambulance, but later on that night he was taken to emergency and spent the night in the hospital. He was released the following day. The bummer for Weber was that he was not going to be able to compete on Sunday,and Kent Price ripped off a 5.40 to grab the top spot for eliminations. 10 boats battled for 8 qualifying spots, and Troy Ferry was awarded the #2 spot when the "What A Tomato Too" team declared broke and he was inserted. Round 1 of eliminations saw former IHBA World champion Tom Wright in his "Cuckoo's Nest" machine take a round 1 win over Bob Pizza. Wright ran a 5.83 to take the win when Pizza had handling issues and ran outside the course. Ken Price put the screws to Kebin Kinsley in "Bad Habit" with a weekend best 5.39 at over 218 mph to advance to round 2. Troy Ferry took advantage of his good fortune and took out Buzzy Boase in the "Bad Moon Rising" machine, when Boase left just a tad early and turned on the red light. Andy Reynolds in "Deja Vu" put down a very nice 5.50 to take the win over Mike Fry who ran a nice 5.51 in the loss. This was significant, because Fry needed to advance to have a chance at the championship, and those hopes were shattered in this round 1 loss. The "Mean Streak" team did a fantastic job this season and will be a huge part of next years championship run. The Semis had all the makings of an epic! Andy Reynolds squared of with the Black Draggin in round 2, and saw Price have handling problems and only ran a 10 second pass, while Reynolds put down another consistant 5.54 to advance to the final. According to engine tuner Ron Deems, the was a malfunction one of the electrical contols on the boat which gave the engine full ignition timing, and the boat just couldn't handle all of the horsepower the Black Draggin powerplant was delivering, and Price was forced to abort the run. After 2 years of absence from drag boat racing, pacific northwest driver Tom Wright took his machine to the win over Troy Ferry, who had issues on his run. In the final, Wright had his hands full, because Reynolds has had a 2/10ths advantage over him all weekend, and he was going to have to challenge the tree in order to make up the difference. It wasn't to be. Wright red lit and handed the automatic win over to Reynolds. Andy and the Deja Vu team had a spectacular weekend, and consistency paid off as they took home the IHBA's final TAH world Finals.

Top Alcohol Flat
Top Alcohol Flatbottom suffered the most losses this season, with the biggest being the loss of legendary flat driver Don Ermshar. The World Finals were not quite the same without him. In addition, Don Bausher crashed his "Habit Forming" machine at Marble Falls, and Fred Hart's "Justice" crashed at San Diego. The good news, was the Bausher was back with a brand new ride, and first lap down the track was in the 6's. 9 TAF's were in attendence for the event with Cole Thurston trying to get his TAF license in his Hart and Huntington sponsored "Awe$$um Toy", and all of the remaining boats making the show for Sunday. Round 1 saw a familiar site with Bausher running low et for the round with a 6.94, followed by Jerry Davis in the "War Party" with a 6.97, and Tony Scarlata driving the Lucas Oil sponsored "All Lit Up" for Steve Westerfield. Westerfield is recovering from surgery, and put former World Champion Tony Scarlata in the seat for this event. Westerfield had a chance to overtake Bausher in the points to put together back-to-back championships, and who better to put in the seat than Scarlata. It was round 2 where Scarlata showed why he is so good in the seat, he ripped off a 6.76 pass to put Westerfield's machine into the number 1 spot. Bausher lowered his et to a 6.91, but could not better Scarlata's time and moved to the #2 spot. In round 1 of eliminations, Andy Dement in his "Red Alert" cut a great .003 light and took the win over a quicker Jerry Davis to advance to round 2. Greg Jones made a nice lap in his "Back in Black" machine with a 7.34 pass to take out the "Monster Energy Special" of Mark Porter, who had trouble getting off the line. Bausher took the win, narrowing Westerfields chances of the title, but defeating Rex Childers in "Trouble Maker". Childers machine broke a blower belt at about 3/4 track to end his chances at a win. Scarlata moved one step closer with a 6.80 pass to take out a red-lighting Marcus Kinsey in the "Bad Company" machine. Round 2 saw Scarlata cut a brilliant .006 light, coupled with a 6.91, was just too much for Greg Jones to advance to another final round. Don Bausher took advantage of a red light by Andy Dement to advance to the final. The final round saw yet again another dominating run by the "All Lit Up" team. Scarlata was first off the line again, and when problems set in for Bausher, it was all Scarlata with a 6.96 for the World Finals victory. Although they took the World Finals win, the "All Lit Up" team would have to settle for the runner-up in the final IHBA TAF championship race, while Bausher savored yet another IHBA TAF Championship.

Pro Mod
Marty Logan in his "Livin The Dream" machine led in qualifying after round 1, with a 7.01 followed by former Div 1 champion Steve Rajcic's "Agent Orange" with a 7.019. Round 4 saw Tim Kelley in his "Alter Ego" in the number 1 spot with a 7.006 that he ran in round 3 of qualifying. Round 1 of eliminations saw Pro Mod newcommer Kyle Brawley in his "Alcohol Dependent" machine take down the number 1 qualifier Kelley who red broke out by just 1/100th of a second running a 6.990 to send him packin. Vic Esposito showed why he is the new IHBA Pro Mod champion when he eliminated Travis Tuttle's "Short Fuse" in round 1 with a sweet round-best 7.007. Bryan Sanders laid down a 7.02 to eliminate Mike Lamb. Terry Kain had his "Screamin Seaman" running better than I have ever seen, but was just 4/1000th's too quick, as he gave up the win to former Pro Mod Champion Shawn Reed in the "Top Secret" boat. Steve Rajcic ran too quick, handing the win over to a slowing Gary Bauer in "Excessive Force". Doug Maderer was just a bit early on the tree in his "Outta Reach" machine, handing the win over to Charlie Duncan in the "Danger Zone". Scott Sawinsky got bit by the red light bug in his "Showtime" ride, and gave way for Marty Logan to advance to round 2. Brawley and Esposito advanced with a bye and a legal single, and Marty Logan got the win over Shawn Reed, when Reed was 5/1000th's early on the tree. Shame, because Reed ran an excellent 7.04, and had Logan covered by a 1/10th of a second in ET. The closest race of the round was the Charlie Duncan and Bryan Sanders matchup. Sanders was quicker with a 7.04 to Duncan's 7.10. The big thing was Duncan had a lot of trouble getting off the line, and Sanders cut a .070 light, so it was over at the start. In the semis, Logan was too quick and lost to a very nice 7.01 ran by Sanders. Esposito showed that he was bucking for a victory when he laid down a nice 7.03 to advance to the final round matchup with Sanders. In the final, it was Texas vs. California. The newly crowned champ was late on the leave, and Sanders took advantage. Sanders put down a quicker 7.03 to solidify his win over Esposito in the final. Congratulations to the "Hydrocondriac" team for a great win, and to Vic Esposito for his first Pro Mod Championship. Great job guys!

Pro Comp Eliminator
Pro comp qualifying standings were #1 Dave Lipinski "Hot Shot Hydro", #2, Joey Grose "Wet Dream", #3 Ray Florez "Head Over Heels", #4, Ken Meyers "Sunday Showdown", #5 Milton Tolen "Flat Magic", #6 Steve Schmidt "Bad Influence", #7 Phil Roeschen "Quick Trick II", #8 Tom Fulkerson "Close Nuff", #9 Mike Caruthers "Midlife Crisis", #10 Ron Fuentes "Flaming Attitude", and #11 Ray Vickers "Domestic Disturbance". During qualifying, Ron Fuentes got pitched from his blown gas jet right past the lights, but he was uninjured in the incident, and returned to qualify on Saturday. In round 1, Milton Tolen took down Tom Fulkerson in a battle of PGF's with a great reaction time of .051 to Fulkerson's .312. Fulkerson was much closer to the index of 7.85, with his 7.93, but it was not enough to make up the difference at the start. #11 qualifier Ray Vickers took the win over the capsuled Pro Gas Flat of Joey Grose. Grose was just a little bit early on the leave with a -.061 reaction time handing the win over the Vickers and his "Domestic Disturbance" jet. In a battle of bad ass jet boats, Ray Florez drove the "Head Over Heels" PGJ to the win over Ron Fuentes' "Flaming Attitude" BGJ. Florez was stellar on the tree as he chopped it down with a beautiful .003 reaction time, way to go Ray! Steve Schmidt's beautiful Kurtis "Bad Influence" took the win over Phil Roeschen's "Quick Trick II". It was pretty much decided at the line, when Schmidt was much closer on his reaction time, and Roeschen could not make up the difference. In a battle of red lights, Ken Meyers in the "Sunday Showdown" PLJ, lost to Mike Caruthers' "Mid Life Crisis". Caruthes was just .07 of the mark on the leave to Meyers' nearly quarter of a second early leave. In round 2, the red light bug bit Caruthers again, and he was eliminated by Ray Florez. Both racers were pretty close to their dial in, but it didn't matte with the red light. Milton Tolen took the win over Ray Vickers when Vickers' "Domestic Disturbance" machine broke and couldn't finish the run. In an upset, Steve Schmidt ousted reigning division 1 PCE champ Dave Lipinski with a beatiful .091 reaction time, and ran a 7.71 to his 7.79 dial-in. In Round 3, Ray Florez was up to his old tricks by cutting another great light with a .045 reaction time to take down Schmidt. Schmidt made a nice lap, and had an equally impressive pass with a 7.74 on a 7.71 index, but it was not enough. In the final, Milton Tolen was the victim of yet another stellar run by Ray Florez. Florez cut another 0 light, with a .03 reaction time and ran right exactly on the index. Tolen cut a good light, but just didn't have what it took to finish victoriously. Florez had a great weekend and congratulations to the "Head over Heels" team for yet another World Finals win.

Pro Eliminator
Pro eliminator usually offers some of the closest and most exciting competition at any drag boat racing event. In round 1, legendary drag boat photography Joe "Speedfreak" Dutra traded in his 500mm lens for a driving suit and put his "Blown Money" machine in the field and qualified in the 19th postion to take on #2 qualifier Tom Roberts in his beautiful "Outta Control" machine. Joe had broken the block on his ride during qualifying, but managed to piece his machine back together to make the 1st round of eliminations. Well for some reason, Joe had a tough time getting off the holding rope and handed the win over to Roberts. Blown flat driver Bill Diez put his "Ace of Spades" ride in the #8 spot and took on #13 qualifier, and longtime racer, Dave Katheriner in his old-school Sanger Hydro "Joint Venture". Katheriner had a great .09 reaction time, but ran a 7.97 on the big end and handed the win over to Diez. Diez ran a very nice 8.08 and would have been tough to beat. In the next pairing, it was a battle of pacific northwest racers battling it out. Pete Collett in his "Twisted" machine took on the blown flat of Lynn Cortner. Cortner and his "Tar Baby" machine was early and turned on the red light. Collett ran a respectable 8.14 for the win. Paul Fontenot advance when his competition red lit. Defending PE Div 1 champion, Allen Forsyth took the win in his "Animal Instinct" flatty, over texan Jeff LeBlanc "Blown CrazY". LeBlanc was early, but Forsyth ripped off an 8.01 to advance. Jerry "Little Gringo" Hardwick put the "Texas Red" machine into round 2 with a win over "Liquidy Split" of Brian Sheckler. Both racers had nearly identical reaction times, but Hardwick was much closer to the dial in with an 8.16. Brian Schmidl finished off Ray Males in round 1 with Males was early on the leave. Schmidl's "Smokin Aces" ran an 8.21 at 138 mph for the win. Vince Nelson drove his "Heartbeat" flat to the win over 2009 IHBA PE Div 1 champ Gary Davis with a slower 8.21, but took the win on the holeshot. This was a very close race, numbers could only tell who won. Dan Jenson in "Without A Trace" advance due to the misfortune of Quinten Kight. Kight was qualifying his "Psychotic Reaction" machine on Friday when the boat began to sponson walk, and stepped the tail to the side and turned nearly 45 degrees to the course and crashed. Quinten was injured, but not fatally. He suffered a couple of broken ribs, and a shattered right knee, and some lacerations in the accident, but is reported to be doing well in his recovery. Mike Finnegan qualified his jet driven machine into the number 1 spot in qualifying and received the first round bye. His "Wrong Way" machine was on the right road for a World Finals win. In a pair of break-outs, Bill Diez took the win over CDBA hopeful Pete Collett in the first pairing of round 2. The race was decided at the tree when Collett was 8/1000th's early. Dan Jensen nailed Brian Schmidl to the tree with a brilliant .007 light, taking the holeshot win with a slower 8.21 et over schmidl's quicker 8.14. Mike Finnegan chalked up another round win over Allen Forsyth with an 8.05 to 8.08. Finnegan got the holeshot as well with a .147 rt to Forsyth's .162. Paul Fontenot took another round win in his "I'm Back Hot and Bothered" Cole Hydro,with a round best 8.02 et over Tom Roberts 8.07. Finally in round two, "Lil Gringo" Jerry Hardwick took another round win over an red-lighting Vince Nelson with an 8.07. In the round 3, Diez cut a very nice .065 light to take out Jerry Hardwick who broke out with a 7.92. Mike Finnegan cut an .02 light to dispose of Dan Jensen who broke out with a 7.999. Fontenot had a bye into the semi-final round. Due to time constraints, Bill Diez didn't make his run in the semis, but Paul Fontenot chalked up another win with an 8.06 et and the holeshot over Mike Finnegan's 8.11. The final was a beauty. Fontenot cut a great .08 light and forced Diez to run him down on the big end. Diez was there, but and a too-quick 7.94 in the loss. Congratulations to "Slick Racing" for their big World Finals win.

Top Eliminator
Top Eliminator boasted the largest field for the 2009 Napa Auto Parts World Finals. Dean Maddox topped the class in the #1 spot with his C&H Hydro "Spirit of Citation", and recieved a bye in round 1. #2 qualifier Walter Dulin drove his "Do It Again Dulin" machine to the round 1 win over Duane Thornton in the "Born Insanity" machine. Thornton was quicker with a 9.17, but couldn't overcome the .058 light that Dulin cut on the tree. #3 qualifier Andy Haavisto in this "Another Quick Piece" took another quick win when his competition, Todd Schwartz in the "Smokin Aces" machine did not make the call for round 1. In one of the round 1 upsets, #19 qualifier Marv Davis in the "Mid Life Crisis" took down #4 qualifier Bill McGuinn. McGuinn put his "No Clue?" machine red when he was .104 early on the tree. He had some work to do, because Davis was on his mark with a 9.05 for the win. Craig Lucas' "Little Blue" took care of Kevin Helms in his "Liquid Assets" machine in round 1 with a 9.08 at over 111 mph. Kevin was early and turned on the red light. Chris Starkweather dodged a bullet when he red lit in his "Stark Naked" machine by .024 seconds, when David Sharp was unable to get his boat off the line in time and broke. Texas racer Reagan Everett drove his "Nut n' Up" machine to a win with a 9.12 at over 110 mph when Stephen Stuart in the "Ruckus" flat took over 1/2 a second to break the beam. Steve Prewit took the #8 qualifying postion to a win as he drove his "Hold My Beer and Watch This" hydro on a 9.06 pass at nearly 115 mph over Ronnie Hays' "Black Pearl". After stepping up the 9 second class, Barbara Kunkle qualified in the #9 spot but was upset by #14 qualifier Herb Riggle in his jet "Just Another Toy". Neither racer was really on the mark but Kunkle's .910 rt didn't help matters because she wasted a beatiful 9.03 in the loss. #10 qualifier Stan Tweedy in his "Blow'n Feathers" ride was upset by Ronnie Hodge in the Kurtis-hulled "Ripsaw". Tweedy left just a tad early with a -.051 red light. Mike Rykebosch drove the beatiful "Wake Up Call" flat to the round 1 win over the "Drama Queen" blown jet of Tina Jones. Rykebosch ran a very nice 9.04 for the win. Walter Dulin had a round 2 bye, but he didn't waste the opportunity to get some more tuneup data. He ripped off a near perfect 9.008 at over 116 mph to get ready for round 3. Steve Prewit was the victor in a double-breakout. Prewit ran an 8.995 to Craig Lucas' 8.985 to take the win. Talk about close. Herb Riggle advanced over Marv Davis who ran way to quick with an 8.70 et. Reagan Everett laid down beautiful 9.01 to take out Chris Starkweather. Coupled with his .09 light, Everett advanced to the next round with a near perfect pass. Andy Haavisto ran way too quick with an 8.81 et, but was pleasantly surprised to find that his competition Ronnie Hodge red lit. Hodge ran a round best 9.006 in a losing effort. #1 qualifier Dean Maddox advanced once again with a legal single, as his competition could not make the call. CDBA racer Haavisto was on a roll, when he took out a too quick Herb Riggle. Riggle ran an 8.93 to hand the easy win to Haavisto. Riggle must have had some problems at the line, because he was nearly 1 second late from the green light on the course. Haavisto just needed to paddle his machine through the lights to claim victory. Walter Dulin was "Du n' it" again as he took out Steve Prewit who ran a perfect 9.000 in the loss. It was all because of Dulin's stellar .017 rt. Dean Maddox saw his first competition in round 3 in a matchup with Reagan Everett. Everett was first off the line and Maddox broke out trying to run him down. Everett's 9.11 was more than enough to take home the round win. In the semis, Everett again took the win, when Walter Dulin was a little early on the leave. Dulin ran a better 9.07 et, but it was all decided at the christmas tree. In the final, It was Haavisto's race to win as he cut an excellent .074 light, but slowed to a 9.18 and was defeated by Reagan Everett who 9.07 was the winner. Congratulations to Reagan and all the "Nut N' Up" team, what a weekend.

Modified Eliminator
10 boats came out to challenge for the Modified Eliminator "Stone Dude" at the World Finals. In round 1, Div II Champ, Greg Carr put his lime green "Ain't Scared" machine into round 2 with a win over Larry Florez's "Just a Lil More". Carr had it goin on, with a 10.04 et and a .056 rt, Florez's 10.06 was just not quick enough. #2 qualifier Josh Partridge advanced to round 2 in his "Lights Out" California Performance jet boat when his competition could not make the call. In upset number one of round 1, #8 qualifier Ron Baker took his blown "Topless" machine to round 2 with a win over Ron Reed in "Psychopath". Ron was late off the start but his 10.19 et was enough to run Baker down in the lights. Kevin Kraft in his clamp-on powered "Whacker Smacker" took down #7 qualifier, and arguably the classes toughest competitor, Bob Prigmore in round 1. Kraft ran a near perfect 10.004 and solidified the win dispite a better .069 reaction time by Prigmore. In the final pairing, #6 qualifier Tom Wedic took down Jeremie Robinson's "Outrageous" in his brand new "The Real Deal". Wedic crashed his prior ride last year and is back with a new ride. Apparently in round 2, Wedic is still working on the tuneup, as he ran way too quick with a 9.77 et, handing the win over to Josh Partridge. Partridge cut an awesome .003 light and ran a 10.06 and would have been hard to run down without breaking out. Greg Carr took the bye round, but didn't waste it, running at 10.023 lap to strike fear in the remaining Mod Eliminator class. Kevin Kraft squared off with Ron Baker in the round 3, and not only did Baker red light, he also broke out with a 9.81. This wasn't so bad, because Kraft broke out too, but by less of a margin at 9.908. It was Kraft that had cut a great .009 light to take the win. It was Greg Carr that showed why his is the Div II champ, as he laid down yet another stellar 10.03 lap to take out Kevin Kraft's "Whacker Smacker" for a trip to the final round against the "Lights Out" machine of Josh Partridge. In the final, Partridge ran a better 10.029 but was early on the leave and handed the win over to Carr. Carr put down another consistent 10.03 to take home the Modified Eliminator trophy. Congratulations to the "Ain't Scared" team for a great victory.

Stock Eliminator
CDBA competitor Al Zemke led the field in his "Flexible Flyer" in the #1 sport in Stock Eliminator and had the bye run in round 1. Bob Winder in the "Momma's Diamond" machine took the #2 spot, but lost SE favorite Jayne Bradley in "Wine Me Up". Jayne saved her best lap for round 1. She cut a respectable .243 light, but it was her near perfect 11.009 that set the stage for her round 1 win. Jay Johnston qualified his "Just 4 Fun Too" in the #5 sport, but was eliminated by Bobby Laster's "Fade To Black" in round one when he ran too quick with a 10.995. Laster ran a pretty nice pass with a 11.06. Former Div 1 Champion, Pete Barons qualified in the #7 spot, but was upset by Cheyenne White in "Snakebite". Barons was early on the leave and turned on the red light. Kevin Crane qualified his "Shark Attack" jet in the #6 spot and had a legal single when the "Juan Bad Party" flat of Steve Thomas could not make the call. #3 qualifier Jim Bernard in his "Sublime" jet got taken out by #14 qualifier Jason Smith in "Pure Luck". "Pure Luck" is what it was for Smith as he cot the win by virtue of Bernard's red light. Brad Klug drove his #4 qualified "Red Hot" past Anthony Smith's "Captain Chaos" in round 1 when Smith had a tough time getting off the rope and was forced to run too quick to try and run down Klug in the lights. In the final pairing, #8 qualifier Mike Albright turned on the red light in his matchup with Mark Creel. Creel cut a nice .023 light in his "Play Tyme" machine and won the race dispite a slower 11.20 et. Creel advanced yet again when he got the holeshot on Zemke in round 2. Cutting a .110 light and running a quicker 11.116 et was too much for the "Flexible Flyer" to overcome. Creel had 3/10ths in the bank when the light went green and the margin was tough to hold off his competition. Bobby Laster cut a .071 light to force Brad Klug to run him down. Klug was late on the leave and broke out with a 10.949 trying to run down the blue and black hydro of Laster. Much like the previous pair, Kevin Crane strapped a huge .003 light on Jason Smith and forced the black jet boat of Smith to run too quick breaking the beams with a 10.991 et, too quick for the round 2 loss. In the final pair of round 2, it was a tale of 2 breakouts. Jayne Bradley emerged victorious when she was the least of the two offenders. Her 10.979 to Cheyenne White's 10.932 told the tale. Bradley cut a very nice .07 light which probably is the reason that White ran too quick trying to make up ground. It was a different story in the semis for Bradley. The same thing that scored her wins in each of the previous rounds, came back to bite her in the semis. Dispite running a quicker et, she was defeated by Kevin Crane's "Shark Attack", when Crane's better .174 rt made the difference. Bobby Laster was a bit anxious on the leave in the final semi matchup and handed the win over to Mark Creel to advance to the final against Crane. In the final round, it was a battle for the World Finals SE title. Both racers had great reaction times, Creel with a .026 and Crane with a .091, but is was the small difference that was the final decider for the victor. Creel's 11.248 was not as quick as Crane's 11.238, but the race was won on the holeshot. Very close racing in this class this year, and congratulations to Mark Creel and his team for the SE World Finals victory.

River Racer
12 competitors filled the pits to go for the World Finals win in River Racer. Keith Turley in his "Gitter Done" jet, squirted his way to the round one bye with the #1 qualifying position. #2 qualifier Roger Sayles sailed to the win over a red lighting Joey McLemore in round one in his "El Bandito" jet. #3 qualifier Ron Baker Jr, was upset by #10 qualifier Chris Osborne in "Capital Punishment". Osborne ran a very nice 12.06 on a 12.00 dial in to advance. #4 qualifier Joseph Farless put his "Kiss This Racing" ride into round 2 with a win over former RR Champ Roger Silva. Silva go the reaction time advantage, but ran too quick, handing the win over to Farless. In a battle of red lights, Skully Alley Jr., took down Jim Ogle in round one. Ogle was closer to his dial in, but was just a tad earlier than Alley on the leave. in the final pairing of round 1 #6 qualifier Jerry Henderson's "Stylin N Profilin" fell to Jeremy Denny's "Cyanotic". This was a good race as both racers were about the same in reaction time and et, cut Denny was slightly more on his game and took the win. In round 2, it was again a tale of red lights. In the first pairing, Chris Osborne was the lesser of two offenders and received the win over Joseph Farless. #1 qualifier Keith Turley advanced again, as his competition, Jeremy Denny was oh so close with a .008 red light and gave up the farm. Turley ran a 1480 on a 14.50 index to take the win. Roger Sayles also advanced over Skully Alley Jr. This was a close race as Sayles had a slightly better .324 light to Alley's .436 light, but it was the diffence that claimed victory. In the semi-final round, Turley again had a bye to the final. The other pairing saw Chris Osborn cut a better light and run closer to his index to take the win. The final round finished the event off with Chris Osborn running the table to claim the World finals win when Keith Turley broke. Congratulations to the "Capital Punishment" bunch for a well deserved victory.

The future is uncertain with the demise of the IHBA, but I think that the world of Drag Boat Racing is in store for a bright future, with a great company that has invested many years of dedication to our sport in Lucas Oil. I look forward to the excitement that is to come from our favorite sport. Congratulations to all of the winners and thank you to all the competitors for coming out and giving me something to write about and shoot pictures of. I would also like to thank Duane Sims, and Laurie Carver for their hard work posting all of the statistics from the race at DragBoatRacing.com, I couldn't have done this article without them.