The 2019 Thunder on the Rock Regatta in Beloit, Wisconsin was yet another fantastic race. With drivers from all over the country coming to participate, we were gifted a ton of great racing as summer fades away. Saturday's weather was pristine and allowed for a full day of racing, but Sunday was filled with wind so only half the program was run. In total, a multitude of racing took place on the Rock river and I am here to recap it all.
Starting with the junior classes, we had another slugfest between the Hearn Motorsports crew, Team Racecraft and the "Kentucky Kid" Alden Merrill. In JH, Ava Hearn showed everyone around the course and reminded the world why she was the 2018 Junior Hydroplane National Champion. With three straight victories, she is finishing the 2019 season on a high note. Behind Ava was a combination of Ladd, Trolian and Merrill who all finished in different positions each day.
Junior Runabout was a different story with Kori Ladd stealing two of the race victories from Ava, while Ava won the third day of racing. Dominick Trolian was plagued with motor issues on Sunday, but still finished the weekend strong with a pair of second place finishes. A big thank you to the Hearn and Trolian crews for making the trip from Indiana and Michigan respectively and we hope to see them back at the 2020 event!
AX Hydroplane was some of the most competitively balanced racing of the weekend with three different drivers winning three days worth of racing. Saturday it was Treiden Schliecher followed by Olson and Hearn. Sunday was Olson, Hearn, Schliecher and the bonus race was Izzy Hearn, followed by Kori Ladd and Cody Olson. Great racing to all the AX drivers!
AXR was an Izzy Hearn clinic. Winning two of the three days of racing, she showed the boys how to drive an AXR. The third race victory went to Cody Olson followed by Treiden Schliecher.
Stock Outboard:
ASH was one of my favorite classes to watch all weekend and we saw some of the best racing of the year between Shepard, Schertz, Bonanno, Pavlick x2 and Homuth. Karsten Pavlick was the sole swimmer of the weekend, blowing over his ASH in the first turn on Saturday. Minor boat damage occurred but the driver is ok and ready to begin testing for 2020! Michael Shepard and Gene Schertz were the class of the field, with Shepard winning two days of racing and Schertz one. Strong performances by Amber Homuth and Adriana Bonanno allowed them to trade third places for the weekend. Great job ladies!
With weather being an issue, only one race of BSH was completed for the weekend. Michael Shepard continued his winning ways from ASH to secure the victory but was given everything he could handle from rookie teammate Tyler Graves who put on yet another impressive performance. I have my eye on them both for a Springfield nationals dark horses!
Crazy Stock Hydroplane was one of the best races to watch all weekend. Pavlick took home 3 race victories but was challenged every heat by Snyder, Keylard and Birginal. A big congratulations is in order to Craig Gosselin for competing in his first race! We look forward to having him join our racing family.
Ryan Burdick continued his strong season in CSR and closed out national high points with three straight victories in CSR. This was no easy feat, as he traded heats with Curt Birginal on two different occasions and was constantly challenged by Ortlieb and Shallcross. Congratulations Ryan!
In DSH, the Walbrun rigs were King as drivers Brent Walbrun and Ryan Burdick split days. With Walbrun in the Tohatsu rig and Burdick running a Mercury 44, the long and narrow course acted as a great equalizer as they traded heats all weekend.
20SSH was also only run once for the weekend, due to poor weather striking at the wrong time. Pavlick and Tyler Graves split heats with Pavlick winning by the slimmest of margins. Chuck Homuth, my favorite racer in the entire country, had motor issues during the race but had everything sorted out later in the day.
Michelle Snyder and Mikey Pavlick picked up where they had left off and continued to battle in 300SSH all weekend. But the biggest story was the emergence of Rick Stevens as a legitimate threat in the 300SSH ranks. Stealing the start from Snyder and Pavlick, he was off to the races and could not be caught. Nothing is more exciting to see than a newer driver succeeding!
Modified Outboard:
The weather proved to be a big deterrent for the modified racers as they were not able to make it on the water for Sunday's racing.
On Saturday, Larry and Rod Terzinski showed the 750cc mod hydroplanes around the race course, with racing legends Fred Hauenstein and Ralph Immell following closely behind.
750cc mod runabout was a different story, as Ralph Immell put on an absolute clinic taking home the race victory, followed by Rod. Mark Gabrielson also put on a strong showing in the white 6-W and was able to secure a third place. Congratulations to all of our modified racers!
A huge thank you to the entire race committee for putting on such a great race and to all of those who attended! Also, none of this would be possible without our tremendous scoring crew, led by Sarah Hoots. Thank you!!!
-MP
