First off, I would like to sincerely thank Peace River and all of those involved with putting on such a great race weekend. A huge effort was put forth by the likes of Howie and Becky Nichols, Holly Jones, Jill and Kaitlyn Glossner, John Runne, Steve Dunn, R.C. Hawie, Dave Bennett and others I am forgetting to mention to put on such a great event. Racers came from all corners of the eastern half of the United States to have the opportunity to see Joel Kiddy race and maybe even race themselves, and boy was it an entertaining weekend of racing.
J Classes:
With no J Runabout on the schedule, the likes of Kolby Cook, Jackson Morton and Price Ivie showed us what the future of our great sport has in store in JH. Kolby Cook showed Jackson and Price around the course both days, but not far behind Jackson and Price had their own battles. Kolby ended the weekend with 2 victories, with Jackson and Price splitting 2nd places over both days.
AXH was the Treiden Schlicher show, but not without the challenge of worthy adversaries of Cameron Lupton, Jasmine Dirksen and Kolby Cook fresh off a dominant JH race. Treiden won both days followed by Jasmine and Cameron swapping 2nd place finishes. Even though Treiden won both days, Jasmine Dirksen made the move of the weekend in AXH by diving inside Treiden in the tight first turn and passing him down the windy backstretch. It is always exciting to watch those kids race!
Stock Outboard:
Over the entire weekend, the A stock classes proved to be one of the most competitive. With overlap in drivers and practically identical rigs in terms of speed around the course, we saw swapping of positions every race. In ASH, Treiden Schlicher stole the show with a 2nd place on Saturday and an overall win on Sunday using a Mercury engine amongst a pack of Sidewinder entries. Saturday was won by Kelsey Bennett of Florida, and Michigan native Adriana Bonanno had a strong 2nd place showing on Sunday. JT Thompson showed great consistency with 3rd places both days. Our fearless leader Becky Nichols had a slight mishap entering turn 2 on Saturday, but I have no doubt she will bounce back even stronger in 2021.
In ASR, Florida boys Carson Fabbro and TJ Long showed tremendous speed, but were bested by Kelsey Bennett on Saturday. Schliecher also had strong performances, with a 2nd place finish Saturday and a 3rd on Sunday.
BSH was a fantastic example of how closely different motor manufacturers can compete in the same class. Mikey Pavlick and JT Thompson representing team Yamato, Mike Akerstrom team Mercury and Casey Carr Sidewinder. Pavlick and Akerstrom swapped heats on Saturday with Pavlick sneaking out a victory, and Thompson/Carr nipping at their heals. Sunday was won by Pavlick, but Akerstrom, Carr and Thompson were all right there. It will be something to watch out for in the 2021 season how these different engines can compete.
The largest class of the weekend, CSH, required elimination heats. Matt Allen and Logan Sweeney showed their newfound speed, swapping heats in their elimination with Herb Lanphear right behind them(get well soon Herb!!). Heat 2 was a battle between cutie pie Mikey Pavlick, Matt Dagostino, and Braxton Miller. Pavlick stole heat one but was quickly humbled by a dominate heat 2 performance by Miller. In the finals, as is customary in CSH, madness ensued. When the dust settled, Pavlick snuck out with a victory, followed closely by Dagostino and Sweeney. With a few scratches, Sunday racing went straight to finals, with Pavlick narrowly escaping with a win, followed by Miller, Sweeney and Lanphear.
CSR was a clinic by 97 year old man Joe Pater, winning both days in somewhat convincing fashion. Akerstrom, Sweeney, Fabbro and Hawie all were close, but Pater's special fuel was just enough to sneak out consecutive wins.
DSH was a one day event, but Braxton Miller continued his 2019 winning ways with a convincing victory ahead of William Audette and Alex Poliakoff.
One of the best races of the weekend was 20SSH, where Carr, Miller and Pavlick all ran out front. Heat 1 on Saturday was won convincingly by Rick Miller, followed by Pavlick, Carr and Dagostino. Heat 2, Pavlick snuck out front and led wire to wire, followed by Carr and Rick Miller. Day 2 was a different story, with Miller showing his speed, winning back to back heats ahead of Carr and Dagostino. Rumor has it that Pavlick didn't go out the 2nd day as he was too busy trying to convince George Luce to make more Oysters.
The Nuccio owned-Pater driven 9-F was back in winning form in 25SSR. Joe won both days, followed by a combination of Dustin Pearson, Carson Fabbro, Mike Young and Thomas Loomis. Dustin took a nasty spill in 350ccmr with his 25SSR rig, but came back stronger with great runs both days in 25SSR.
The final stock outboard race was the hotly contested 300SSH. Joel Kiddy absolutely stole the start the first heat on Saturday, winning in convincing fashion. Heat 2, Pavlick snuck out front but was in hot pursuit from Kiddy and Trolian. Kiddy had an equipment malfunction, causing him to pull off the course early, dropping his overall finish to 3rd and pushing Pavlick to 1. Sunday was a different story, Casey Carr was inspired by strong drives in BSH and 20SSH and showed Kiddy and Scoop how to get around the race course, winning easily in a shortened 1 heat race.
Modified Racing
200CCMH was a great race between Jasmine Dirksen, JT Thompson and Mac Miller. Jasmine won Saturday, with a 2nd on Sunday. JT was able to secure the Sunday victory, with Miller having strong finishes both days.
350CCMH was a Miller family extravaganza, with Braxton winning Saturday, and Rick Sunday. Erin Proctor, Robert "Scoop" Trolian, Jimmy Warren and Scott Miller all offered a great challenge to the Miller "what's up Doc?" squad, but not quite enough.
350CCMR was a battle between Braxton Miller and Dustin Pearson. Dustin had a mishap, blowing over leaving turn 1 on Saturday, leaving Braxton with the win. Dustin fixed his boat, decided to stay in it, and won Sunday, with Braxton finishing second.
500CCMH was a dominated by our NBRA friends Braxton Miller and Matt Allen, both winning a day of racing. Jimmy Warren had strong races as well, finishing in 2nd both days of races.
Logan Sweeney continued his winning ways in 500CCMR, winning Saturday with a classic great start from outside. Jasen Dirksen was right on his tail, even winning on Sunday when Logan had to leave early on Sunday for his Monday morning hot yoga class.
Wyman Boatright showed that Steve Dunn racing has not dropped off in 2020, winning both days of 750CCMH. He did not go unchallenged, with a strong performance from Justin Ivie in 2nd both days.
The same was the case in 850CCMH for Wyman Boatright, this time followed closely by Jasen Dirksen.
Finally, the big runabouts were as fun as always to observe. Akerstrom was the big winner, securing a victory in both 750CCMR and 850CCMR. George Luce also won Saturday's race of 750CCMR, followed by strong performances by Mike Young, Wyman Boatright and James Luce.
As always, a huge thank you to all involved putting on such a great race! I already can't wait for the spring race!
-MP