Never did we expect to see the 270 mph barrier broken on water, but it was. Scott Lumbert piloted David Kirkland's "Spirit of Texas" to a 3.43/274.92 mph monster pass in round 1 of qualifying. World's quickest and fastest. This run would back up a 263 pass during eliminations. 2015 Colorado River Challenge - Parker, AZ

New propellors and a a new blower gave the Speed Sport Special fueler way too many ponies when driver Jarrett Silvey hit the loud pedal. The boat just kept climbing. Good driving kept the machine from blowing over.

Mike Robbins pilots the Whiskey River II machine to a wild ride, while Bryan Sanders rips up the liquid quarter mile with all the candles lit.

Always dominant PE racer, Joe Shelfo Jr, got his Sucker Punch hydro dialed in and did quite well in the QE class. That's the way a hydro should run. Awesome job by the Precision Craft Marine factory team.

Glen Wilson went for a wild ride on this one. The boat looked like it was on a perfect run, but with SOT out in front the pictures wouldn't look good, so I switched over to SOT. Luckily I was able to get a little bit of the crash. Glen Wilson suffered some back injuries, but is said that he will recover. Whether the Toxic team will come back remains to be seen. Get well soon Glen!

Son of legendary flatbottom driver Sunny Jones, Greg Jones had a horrendous crash during the semi-final round against event winner Ronnie Hays. Greg's Back in Black machine started to hop about 1/2 track, and over it went. Luckily Greg will be here to race another day.

Marcus Kinsey debuted his new Bad Company TAF at the 2014 World Finals with some catastrophic results. The boat got loose and crashed at the top end. Marcus survived the crash suffering a broken leg, but the capsule saved his life. Thanks to the awesome Lucas Oil Rescue Team.

Gary Bauer had an expensive qualifying pass when his "BlackJack" machine pushed out a head gasket at about 800 feet. The fire was so bright that the metering on my camera went absolutely crazy. Gary would not make eliminations as it torched the block and the head, so he was done after this pass.

After launching the Public Nuisance Top Fuel Hydro over the burn and into an empty parking lot at the previous Firebird race, Scotty Lumbert took an even wilder ride as his steering lets go and tumbles the boat at over 220 mph, launching the capsule 30-40 feet in the air, striking the island, and landing on the other side in about 12 inches of water. Scotty suffered a leg injury, and some back issues, but returned to racing less than a year later.

Another day at the track for Tim Stokes, as he rips off another picture perfect 5.42 pass at the 2003 Nitro Nationals. Tim was the most dominant TAH at this time, as he almost never made a bad lap. Sadly, Tim retired after a crash in Waco a couple of years later. Suffering injuries that took him out of the seat. Tim is still involved in racing and is a part of the Tequila Sunrise crew and is undoubtedly a reason for the teams success with the new boat.

Glen Wilson had his hands full with this pass. Shot at the 2006 Nitro Nationals in Red Bluff, CA. The Toxic team campaigned the Kaase hull design for a couple of years with minimal success. The team went to a Bullet hydro in 2011 in hopes of keeping up with the front runners in the class.

Multi-time World Champion Greg Tedesco rips up the liquid quarter mile with this pass at the 2007 IHBA SuperNationals. Greg struggled with this hull design, but on this weekend, he made 3 or 4 passes in the 4's at over 240 MPH.

Not sure if this is Ron McLellan or not, Liquid Quiker makes a qualifying lap at the 2005 World Finals, alongside Rocket Ron Braaksma.

Gary Stevenson making a lap at the 2005 IHBA World Finals alongside Ryan Baxter, in his "More Grounds For Divorce" PM.

Brad Parrack debuted his new capsuled hydro at the 2006 IHBA Lakefest. Being a new ride, it was bound to have some issues, but nothing like the crash he incurred later in the weekend. Here he takes a pretty bumpy ride. Brad was injured in the crash that happened later on that weekend.

2011 TAF World Finals champ Cole Thurston, took his Aw$$um Toy for a wild ride during qualifying. Although he didn't crash, the boat sustained unrepairable damage and couldn't compete on Sunday. Luckily Cole was uninjured!

Todd MacAnally debuted his new "Mayhem" Pro Mod in the Lucas Oil Series at the World Finals.

Kelly Asbe blew off the dust and mothballs from his beautiful Black Sheep flatty and competed in the 8.0 PE category. Despite a long time out of the seat, Kelly drove it like he drove it yesterday. Qualified very well with a brand new combination. Glad to see Kelly back!

Steve Prewit brought his Hold My Beer and Watch This machine out from Midland Texas to compete in the new Quick Eliminator class. Steve's new blown combination proved to be the right choice as he qualified well, and performed pretty good in his first QE event.

The fastest TAF on the planet made it's return to the liquid quarter mile at Firebird Raceway. Johnny Heidemann showed that there was no dust on the old gal, as he ripped off a beautiful qualifying pass.

Tim Blankenship takes is Superglide Pro Mod for a nice lap. Tim competes with the Columbia Drag Boat Association that runs in the pacific northwest.

Jerry Kutz takes his Plumb Crazy machine for liftoff at the 2006 Nitro Nationals during Saturday's qualifying. Although the boat suffered some damage, it was not destroyed, and was back together for a race later that summer. Kutz's windshield was fogged up as it floated right-side up from the very cold Sacramento River water, and he wrote in the fog "I'm Ok" for the IHBA Team Rescue guys.

Daryl Ehrlich once again showed why he was the reigning Top Fuel World Champion as he piloted "Fast" Eddie Knox's "Problem Child" fueler to a 3.42 ET at over 257 mph to close the Showdown in San Angelo. Ehrlich had a faulty battery cable during his first round matchup with eventual runner-up Jeff Gregory, causing the machine to not fire. The run was pure perfection.

Rookie Top Fuel driver Jeff Gregory took the runner-up in Top Fuel Hydro at the Showdown in San Angelo after receiving his license during qualifying. The boat had some handling problems in the first past and had a scary run that nearly hit the a rescue boat and did in fact strike an unmanned jet ski. Nobody was hurt in the incident. In the final against the multi-time champion Speed Sport Special the Whiskey River team didn't quite have the machine to take the win, but did bounce back after a very tenuous weekend. Congratulations to Jeff, Jay and the rest of the Whiskey River team!

Bryan Sanders pilots the brand new Tequila Sunrise Top Fueler to a 4.07 and receives his top fuel license on his first full track pass. The boat handled beautifully, and Bryan did a stellar job of driving. Congratulations to the team for a great effort. Video Shot by Randy Krohn/Dragboats.com - Showdown in San Angelo 2012 - San Angelo, Texas on June 24, 2012

Scotty Lumbert took the "Spirit of Texas" top fueler for a wild ride. The boat got out of shape about half track, but by the time he got out of it, it was too late. Scotty was checked out at the hospital and back at the track in a couple of hours, he was uninjured.

Bob Pizza takes home his first World Finals win but loses the prop shaft at 1000 feet. Luckily for Bob the boat didn't crash even though he had no steering. What in the slo-mo when the shaft comes out it folds the rudder back. Bob was just along for the ride at that point.

John Haas takes the "Speed Sport Special" to another Top Fuel Win over Jarrett Silvey in the "Hot Licks" machine at the Lakefest 2009

Randy Benson takes the "Bounty Hunter H20" for a lap at the 2011 World Finals

Daryl "Madd Maxx" Ehrlich notches yet another win behind the wheel of "Fast" Eddie Knox's "Problem Child" TFH. All 8 candles lit during a near perfect lap.

Glen Wilson debuts the new Toxic Rocket in spectacular fashion. Power blowover. Check out the header flames when the boat is upside-down - Wild! The good thing is the boat only sustained minor damage and the team can repair it for the 2012 campaign.

Cole Thurston takes home his first national event win at the 2011 Napa Auto Parts World Finals.

A wild ride from the late John Hipwell in the famed Madness machine. This was a bit of rough ride right through the lights. I am just wondering how on earth such a small man could support such huge walnuts!

Jerry Davis wads up his War Party TAF at the 2003 Nitro Nationals in Red Bluff, CA. Jerry actually was not seriously injured and was back at the track just a few hours later. Jerry would go on to build another boat and compete for 6 more years until pancreatic cancer took his life in late 2009.

Dale Ishimaru saw his last pass in a drag boat on this pass. Apparently a propeller broke on the boat and the boat, turned left and barrell rolled and threw Dale for the ride of his life. Although Dale survived this accident, he suffered a serious back and ankle injuries. Dale hasn't raced since the accident, but I wouldn't etch it in stone that he won't at some time in the future. Dale, we miss you at the races!

The late Ron McLellan crashes the Liquid Quiker Top Fuel Hydro. Ron survived the crash with only minor injuries.

The Legend Ron Braaksma pilots his Madness TFH at the 1993 World Finals

Glen Wilson pilots the Toxic Rocket during the first qualifying session at the Spring Nationals. Check out the right turn it makes after the finish line. Good thing the Hot Licks boat wasn't on a run, it could have been ugly.

Kent Price qualifies #1 with a 5.40 at the 2009 IHBA World Finals. The boat crashed at Augusta in 2010. Kent is ok, will be back racing later in 2010 or 2011.

Daryl Ehrlich pilots the Problem Child to the Top Fuel win at the 2010 Lucas Oil World Finals

Daryl Ehrlich pilots the new Problem Child TFH to a 300ft wheelstand on it's maiden voyage.

Travis Tuttle had his hands full on this lap. Apparently something with the ride pad on the left sponsor caused some serious issues. Fixed that night and the boat made great laps all weekend after this mishap