PORT ANGELES — What began as a difficult day for area racing teams took a turn for the better in the last qualifying lap at the American Sprint Boat Racing Association’s first stop of the year at the Extreme Sports Park.
Plagued by starter problems that produced three Do Not Starts in its first three attempts at qualifying Saturday, the Port Angeles team of Wicked Racing No. 10M, driver Dan Morrison and navigator Cara McGuire, handled the pressure in its last chance lap.
The pair came through with the fastest Unlimited Class qualifying time of the day, spinning around the track in 52.325 seconds, and most importantly, moving on to the elimination quarterfinals.
“We’re having starter troubles, and it’s been giving us fits for the last day and a half,” Morrison said while his race crew worked frantically to ready his boat.
“We’re going to find out real quick.”
Three other Unlimited boats qualified for the elimination quarterfinals: The No. 4 driven by Bill Sparling with navigator Nicole Brown in 60.053 seconds; the No. 55M driven by Cory Johnson and navigated by Gary McNeil with a time of 54.482; and the No. 907 piloted by Eric Werner with navigator Rhonda Werner, who turned in a 61.964-second lap in their final chance at qualifying.
Things were a mixed bag for the father-daughter duo of driver Paul Gahr Jr. and Taylor Gahr in the TNT Live Wire No. 2 in the 400 Class.
The Gahrs made it through to the elimination round on what Paul termed a “tight, technical course setup,” in their first and fastest lap time of 52.808 seconds.
But the early runs were also hindered a bit with some electrical problems.
“We are having a kind of a popping noise out on the track,” Paul Gahr Jr. said.
“It’s not letting me put the pedal down to the floor, and we’re losing a tremendous amount of speed.
“We did get the two qualifying runs under our belt though, but I think I can shave some seconds off if I can get the boat a little more crisp.
“We’re also cutting through our wake quite a bit out there with this setup.”
Driver Phil Miller and navigator Sharon Heuser turned in the fastest time of all racers, regardless of classification, a blazing-fast time of 47.930 seconds in their final qualifying lap in the 400 Class.
Also making it through in the 400 Class: the Bandit Racing No. 76 team of Brian and Aubrey Swindahl with a time of 54.766; the Wicked Racing No. 1 team of Doug Hendrickson and Cassie Beaudry with a 53.258; the Fat Buddy No. 13 team of Scott Saxton and Gary McNeil with a time of 53.933; and the Bandit Racing No. 47 team of Darrin and Autumn Swindahl in 52.378.
The course setup took a toll on the Modified Class TNT Jeepers Creepers No. 99 boat driven by Dillon Cummings and navigated by his stepmother Teri Cummings.
After a Did Not Finish on its first lap, the boat looked well on its way to a workable qualifying time before a mistake coming around one of the final channel setups.
The lap also would prove costly, the bouncy setup of the track helped contribute to an early end to the race day for the team.
“There’s water in the oil and we don’t know exactly why,” Teri Cummings said while Dillon and crew worked on the boat’s engine.
“So it’s either a blown gasket, a cracked head, a cracked motor, so we are calling it done.”
Robert Cox and Liz Petring in the Obsession No. 49 boat, led the Modified group with a lap of 48.889 seconds.
Also moving on were the Fear Not No. 623 boat of Clint Birch and Renee Faircloth with a time of 67.453; Mel Craven and Chris Ebert in the Showtime No. 5 with a 74.18, and the Fat Buddy No. 59 team of Jaime and Leslie Hassell with a time of 55.435 seconds.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
