Oberto wins one for it’s hometown

David Campbell
Courier Sportswriter

Steve David brought the hometown fans to their feet, driving the U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto/Miss Madison to a dominating win at the Lucas Oil Indiana Governor’s Cup in Madison on Sunday.

David, of Lighthouse Point, Fla., accumulated the most points through three preliminary heats and chose lane two in the final. The moved paid off when he drove around J.W. Myers and the U-37 Miss Peters & May in lane one and pulled away from J. Michael Kelly and the U-7 Graham Trucking to give the Madison team its third win in 49 years on its home waters.

“That was the gamble. We could have gone from hero to zero quickly,” said David of the decision to pick lane two. “This is my 10th career win, my 10th year driving for Madison and it’s been 10 years since we’ve won here. It feels great.”

The day didn’t start out so well. David finished third in Heat 2B when he felt like he was squeezed off the course by Dave Villwock and the U-96 Spirit of Qatar.

But he came roaring back to beat Kelly in Heat 3A and ended up on top of the point standings when Villwock suffered an engine meltdown in the third heat. Villwock ended up in the trailer position in the final and finished fifth.

“I guess it was karma,” David said.

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Dave Hawley greets J-Dub after the final heat	Crowd at awards ceremony
JW Myers, Jane & Billy Schumacher, and the entire U-37 team accept the third-place trophy at the 2010 Madison Regatta

Courtesy Bruce Madej & Joe McCord’s live feed:

4:14 5 Minutes till the start if the race.

4:15 The U1 has left the dock and the U96 also.

4:16 Mike Webster has left the dock area.

4:17 U5 is out just in case someone does not start.

4:18 U5 is by the dock

4:18 Waiting

4:18 U1 cuts the field. 37 on the inside of the Oberto

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Courtesy www.h1unlimited.com:

2010 Madison Regatta Lucas Oil Indiana Governor’s Cup Final:

Lane 1 – U37 Miss Peters & May
Lane 2 – U1 Oh Boy! Oberto
Lane 3 – U7 Graham Trucking
Lane 4 – U21 Albert Lee
Trailer outside – U96 Spirit of Qatar
Trailer inside – U22 Miss Broadway Tavern

3A:
U100 Leland Racing

U7 Graham Trucking

U21 Albert Lee

U1 Oh Boy! Oberto

U13 Spirit of Detroit

3B:
U22 Miss Broadway Tavern

U37 Peters and May

U5 Formulaboats.com

U96 Spirit of Qatar

Courtesy Bruce Madej & Joe McCord’s live feed:

1:30 Jeff Bernard leads them across the line

1:30 Good start.

1:30 96 leading followed by 5

1:30 1 in the roostertail next to the 5

1:30 96 leading

1:30 1 in second now

1:31 96, 1, 5

1:31 by a roostertail

1:31 13 in 4th

1:31 22 in 5th

1:31 Several roostertails ahead of the field for the 96

1:31 Dave leading them into the corner.

1:32 96, 1, 5 13 and the 22 in that order for

1:32 96 5 1 in that order.,

1:32 1 tried to cut in on the 5 and lost time and speed,

1:33 96 wins the heat with 5 second and 1 in third. 13 4th and 22 5th.

Courtesy Bruce Madej & Joe McCord’s live feed:

U-37, U-21 & U-7 in Heat 2A

1:00 Brian Perkins leads them across the line. Good Start.

1:00 Perkins in the lead

1:00 Leading JMK by 2 boat lengths.

1:00 JMK trying to reel in BP

1:00 Deck to Deck. Slight lead BP

1:01 Kelly takes the lead by two boats.

1:01 Barely a boat length now

1:01 JMK in first in turn one. BIG HOP as he comes around.

1:01 Half a boat now from JMK over BP

1:01 JMK controlling the river now.

1:02 Albert Lee right deck to deck.

1:02 2 boats now – JW in third

1:02 Rough in the lower turn.

1:02 bout 5 boat lengths now JMK over BP

1:03 JMK Is now at the entrance pin

1:03 BP is about 5 boats ahead takes the checkered flag by half a rooster tail, over BP. JW third.

1:04 J Michael Kelly takes the win followed by Brian Perkins, JW Myers takes 3rd. 4th to Jon Zimmerman

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The U-37 is on the water! “Lets go play raceboat!” J-Dub

9:48 U37 now on the course.

9:48 The U37 Peters and May is in the first heat in lane 4.

9:48 Speed 142.267

9:50 U37 just making timing runs.

We had a slight delay this morning due to fog. Testing is just starting. We will keep you up to ate throughout the day.

Heat 2A: U-100, U-7, U-21, U-37 – U-25 is the trailer.

Heat 2B: U-5,U-96,U-1,U-22 – U-13 is the trailer

Saturday Wrap-up

David Campbell
Courier Sportswriter

Steve David and Dave Villwock both cruised to easy preliminary heat wins Saturday at the Lucas Oil Indiana Governor’s Cup in Madison. J.W. Myers? Well, let’s just say it was a little more interesting.

Myers, of Burien, Wash., took first place in Heat 1C aboard the U-37 Miss Peters & May with an average speed of 139.015 mph. But that victory came only after Myers was penalized one lap for hitting a buoy, the U-17 Cruisin’ Auto experienced gearbox trouble and the U-100 Leland Unlimited failed to start.

“It’s 400 points no matter how it comes,” said Myers, who won the Madison race in 2005. “It’s a great way to start the race. Those points add up quickly.”

Myers took the lead on Kip Brown and the U-17 at the start of the race and had the inside position, but hit the buoy on the very first turn. Brown got the word moments later and backed off the accelerator.

With the only other boat in the heat penalized a lap, Brown was prepared to take the easy victory when trouble hit. He felt a vibration just as he was crossing the start/finish line and immediately turned into the pits.

His crew didn’t realize he was in trouble and tried to point him back onto the course, but it didn’t take long before they realized what Brown was doing.

“They thought I forgot the lap count and we’re trying to get me to keep going. I wish I could have,” Brown said. “I heard a buzzing in the back and felt a vibration and was fortunate it was in front of the pits. It’s a real shame. The boat is running great and that would have been my first heat win.”

The damage was confined to the gearbox, but it was a total loss. The team has yet to decide whether it will withdraw from the race.

Neither David nor Villwock had to work as hard for their wins. David steered the U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto/Miss Madison to a win in Heat 1A with the fastest time of the day, 141.106. The two-time defending national champion got off to a slow start and J. Michael Kelly took the early lead in the U-7 Graham Trucking. But it didn’t take long for David to reel him in.

“I miss-timed the start a little bit but I had the inside lane and that made all the difference,” David said. “(Kelly) pushed me and he has a great boat, but I had the inside lane and was able to get by him.”

Villwock also started off slow but drove the U-96 Spirit of Qatar to the win. He caught Brian Perkins and the U-21 Miss Albert Lee early and cruised to the win.

“I got the lead and then just settled into a groove. There is no reason to push it if you don’t have to,” said Villwock, the Auburn, Wash. native who has won four of the last five Madison races. “The crew has done a great job of getting the boat ready. Yesterday, the U-5 team had some electrical problems, and then last night, we had electrical issues. And then I just heard that the Oberto guys fried some wires. We’re just glad that the big has moved on to somebody else.”

The biggest news of the day occurred off the water when the U-3 Go3Racing.com team withdrew from the race due to an apparent dispute with the governing body.

Driver Jimmy King qualified the U-3 at 143.241 mph Friday afternoon but damaged an engine in the process. Saturday morning after the driver’s meeting, owner Ed Cooper Jr. officially withdrew the boat.

“Yesterday we were a qualified boat and today we are not. That’s all I have to say about this,” Cooper said. “Although I will say that this has nothing to do with the city of Madison. I’m a Madison native and I love the race. This has nothing to do with them.”

H1 Unlimited was equally as mum, issuing a statement that just said, “As of the driver’s meeting, the U-3 was not officially registered with the APBA.”

According to insiders, Cooper was upset over a rule change involving the qualifying procedure and has refused to pay the APBA’s membership fee.

King left the pits to return home to the Detroit area shortly after the decision was made and was not available for comment. The U-3 itself pulled out of the pits after the first set of racing to return to Evansville.

“We will have a statement later, maybe by the end of the week,” Cooper said. “Right now, I would say the chances of us going to Detroit (next week) is doubtful.”

With the U-3′s departure, and mechanical issues with the U-17 and the U-57 Formulaboats.com, the near-record field of 13 could be cut down to 10 by Sunday’s second-set of heats. The U-57, which is driven by Jimmy Shane, has yet to hit the water but team owner Ted Porter said that they will attempt to qualify the boat Sunday morning.

Heats 2A, 2B and 2C are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. EDT with the third set of heats at 3 p.m. The Final Heat is scheduled for a 4:20 p.m. start.

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2010 Lucas Oil

Indiana Governor’s Cup

Ohio River

Madison, Ind.

Length: 2 1/2 miles

Results

Saturday, July 3

HEAT 1A

1. Steve David, U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto, 141.106; 2. J. Michael Kelly, U-7 Graham Trucking, 131.761; 3. Cal Phipps, U-13 Spirit of Detroit, 125.215; 4. Jeff Bernard, U-5 Formulaboats.com, 115.341.

HEAT 1B

1. Dave Villwock, U-96 Spirit of Qatar, 137.831; 2. Brian Perkins, U-21 Miss Albert Lee, 135.538; 3. Jon Zimmerman, U-25 BoylandNissan.com, 121.847; 4. Mike Webster, U-22 Miss Broadway Tavern, 114.514.

HEAT 1C

1. J.W. Myers, U-37 Miss Peters & May, 139.015; Kip Brown, U-17 Crusin’ Auto, DNF; Greg Hopp, U-100 Leland Racing, DNS.

Courtesy of the Madison Courier

Billy signs a remnant from last year's crash in Madison

What a difference a year makes…

1C unofficial results 37,17 DNF, 100 DNS

Heat 1A start time is 1:15. 1B is 1:45. 1C is 2:15.

Heat 1A 1,5,7,13 heat 1B 96,21,22,25 heat 1C 37,17,100.

The U-37 went out early this morning during the test session. We are now waiting for heat 1C!