Super Stock Racing Association - Tom Timm's 2008 Burley Race Report

The second race on the Super Stock Racing Association schedule had the hard running flat bottom drivers and teams making the trip to Burley Idaho for the long running Idaho Regatta event. The three day (four day if you count the show n shine) event started off with time trials and a shootout and then the teams would run qualifying heats and a final on both Saturday and Sunday. The Burley race course is approx 1.25 miles in length and has about four buoys in each turn making it sort of an oval shaped course. This year there was no pace boat so the teams took a flag start. The weekend saw some very exciting racing that turned up the emotions both on and off the water. There were also some new faces in competition as well as a strong turnout from the Pacific Northwest contingent of Super Stock teams. There was one mishap that occurred in the final laps of the Sunday main as Jeff Gibson went over the SS31 Soaring Eagle machine. Jeff was running hard into turn two when the capsule machine went over and then could be seen floating upside town. Just as the Sheriffs Rescue team got to Jeff he undid himself from the *****pit and came to the surface. Jeff suffered some cuts and bruises to his legs but was otherwise okay. The Jeff Gibson / Jim Codling / Jerry Dugan machine was badly damaged but I am told it will be fixed and be back out.
      Friday’s action saw eleven teams take to the water for the shootout. Gordy Jennings Jr. was the first out on the course for the time trails and he was smooth down the straightaway to take the start. He was fast in the first turn but got a little too aired out as he headed up the backstretch. His time would hold up for the top spot in qualifying and he would get the inside lane for the shootout. The line up for the five boat shootout included the 80 machine, Tony Scarlata in the SS68 entry in lane two, Skip Tuttle in the SS711 machine in lane three, Gee McClain in the SS24 machine in lane four, and the SS95 machine owned by Sid Rennells and driven by Dale Baker in lane five. As the group came out of the far turn and and headed up the long straightaway looking for the drop of the white flag Gordy quickly put a half boat length lead on the SS68 machine but Tony was hard on the gas to make a race of it. Gordy used his speed and made an excellent run through turn one and just like that had a couple boat lengths lead on Tony in the SS68 machine as Skip was in third place, Gee McClain in the SS24 machine was in fourth, and Dale was in fifth place at the completion of the first lap. Gordy would stretch his lead to take the checkered flag by about 5 seconds and the rest of the field finished in the same order that they were in after the completion of the first lap. What a way to start the weekend for Gordy and the SS80 Wild Child team owned by Dave Rankin and typically driven by Dave Bryant. Bryant was in Evansville Indiana competing in the U10 machine with the unlimited hydroplanes. Gordy’s plans were to only compete in the shootout and Dave Rankin would take over the driving chores the rest of the weekend.
      The Saturday and Sunday race action featured three qualifying heats with four boats each and the winner and second place in each would advance to the final. The remaining six race teams would then line up in a last chance heat where the top two finishers would move into the final. The lane assignment in each of the heats was determined by a drawing and those who were able to get into the inside lane had the shortest distance to travel around the course. In the opening qualifying heat on Saturday morning Dave Rankin put his SS80 Wild Child machine in the inside lane while Fred Hart was in the seat of the SS741 Loveless family owned entry in lane two. Skip Tuttle put his awesome looking Dick Vale painted Kryptonite machine in lane three and in the outside lane it was Mike Devore in the SS78 Laveycraft hulled machine. Both Rankin and Tuttle got the lead at the drop of the flag and heading into turn one it was Dave, with the shorter distance to travel, who extended his lead coming out of the turn and as he headed up the backstretch. Skip was in second but certainly pushing hard and not giving up, Fred Hart was in third, and Devore was in fourth place. As Rankin and Tuttle came back around to turn two on the second lap Skip had made up the difference and was side by side with Dave. It was Dave however that had the inside lane advantage and he used it to take the lead as the pair hit the smooth waters on the back side of the island. As the two came out of the second turn Skip would move to the inside lane to try to challenge the 80 machine but it was to no avail as Dave would get the win. Skip placed second while Hart came in third and Devore came in fourth. In the second heat it was Scarlata in lane one, McClain in lane two, Hal Jones in lane three, and Dale Baker on the outside. Tony got a nice lead as the foursome hit the first turn. He was about four boat lengths in front of Jones and then it was McClain and Baker pretty much even as they hit the apex of the turn. Tony would stretch his lead as he headed through the backstretch but as he started into turn one of lap two could be seen reaching back and possibly turning some kind of device. It was obvious that he was slowing with some kind of problem and Hal whipped on by in the turn to get the lead. At the beginning of lap three Jones had a commanding lead as Baker and McClain were battling for second place while Tony slipped to fourth. At the beginning of lap four Hal continued to lead and McClain was in second. Tony was able to get by Baker with one lap to go and had his sights set on McClain for the second place finish. Jones could be seen pumping his arm as he crossed the finish with first place as McClain held on to the second place finish. In the third qualifier on Saturday afternoon the two capsuled machine had lanes one and two as Mike Darner was in lane three and Chris Pauli was on the outside. Lenny Baker was in the seat of his SS78 capsuled entry and Jeff Gibson raced behind the wheel of the SS31 capsuled Soaring Eagle machine. As the white flag dropped Darner got out in front by a boat length as Baker and Gibson were side by side heading into the opening turn. Gibson however carried the most speed into and out of the turn to grab the lead as the trio made their way up the backstretch. Lenny Baker was right on the transom of Gibson on the inside as the two looked to leave the competition in their wake up the backstretch. Baker carried the speed coming out of turn two and it looked like he was going to challenge for the lead but Gibson had other ideas as he mashed the gas in front of the Burley crowd. The finishing order for the heat saw Gibson get the win, Baker come in second, Darner hit the finish line in third, and Pauli finished in fourth. In the last chance qualifier six teams put their drivers on the water and only the first and second place finishers would move into the Saturday main. The SS78 machine was in lane one, Pauli in lane two, Dale Baker in lane three, Darner in lane four, Hart in lane five, and Scarlata was on the outside in lane six. When drivers got flag start it was Scarlata getting out in front by a lot as he was able to change lanes as he came out of the turn. Hart and Darner were battling for second in some very close quarters and Darner got squeezed somewhat in between Baker and Hart as the trio came out of the turn. The three had a good battle going as it was extremely important to get the first or second place finish. At the completion of one lap it was Scarlata in first, Darner just barely ahead of Hart for second, and it was Pauli chasing the SS78 entry. Scarlata would finish with the heat win and Darner would take second as both teams would move into the final. Dale Baker would finish just ahead of Hart for third. Pauli and Devore had an exciting battle going that lasted for a long time and it was too close to call who won as they were side by side at the stripe. A very crowded eight boat field made up the Saturday final and lining the machines up for the start proved to be a big challenge. Something happened with the Skip Tuttle SS711 machine as it looked like he might have got squeezed heading up to take the flag and he came to a stop on the course as the heat never got started. The race officials and racers got things squared away and off went the eight drivers for the final. The capsuled machine of Gibson had the inside lane and he was way inside as the pack of seven were within a couple feet of each other looking to get the start. Darner had the early lead in lane two but slowed somewhat as he got some big air in his Mango Madness machine. Scarlata carried the most speed into the turn and had a couple boat length lead as Darner, McClain, Tuttle, Rankin, and Jones were within a boat length of each other moving into the turn. As the pack got part way up the backstretch Scarlata pulled away by about six or seven boat lengths as Darner had the inside track in second place and Rankin was in third on the outside. The Jeff Brochheuser owned Loud N Proud SS 68 machine could be seen putting out some smoke coming out of turn two as both Darner and Rankin had their sights set on the all black machine. With one lap down Scarlata was in the lead and Rankin got out in front of Darner. Jones and Tuttle had a good battle for the fourth spot. The finishing order for the final showed Scarlata in first, Rankin in second, Darner in third, and Jones just barely held off Tuttle for the fourth spot. It was a good day of racing and there was still one day left.
      With the Saturday race action complete the Super Stock teams would get things ready for another round of qualifiers and then the Sunday main. In the first group of four out for the Sunday qualifier Darner was on the inside as McClain took lane two, Hart had lane three, and Rankin was on the outside. At the completion of lap one Rankin held the lead over Darner and McClain was holding off Hart for the third spot. Rankin would extend his lead over Darner and take the checkered flag as McClain would hold off Hart for the third place finish. In the second qualifying heat Devore drew the inside lane as he would battle against Jones, Gibson, and Scarlata. As the flag dropped for the start both Jones and Scarlata got out in front and Scarlata was the first to the turn. Coming out the turn it was Jones who held a slight lead over Scarlata as Gibson was in third and Devore in fourth. Jones and Scarlata roared up the backstretch and it was hard to see who would have the lead heading into the turn. Scarlata was in first at the exit of turn two and Hal made a lane moved over to the outside of Tony as they sped up the front straight away. Gibson was not far off of Jones in third and Devore was sitting in fourth. The finishing order for the heat showed Scarlata taking the checkered while Jones finished second and Gibson placed third. In the last Super Stock qualifier Dale Baker started on the outside as Skip was in lane three, Chris Pauli was in lane two, and Lenny Baker was took the inside lane. Tuttle grabbed the early lead as the group got the flag start and charged hard to the firs turn. Lenny Baker was in second, Dale Baker in third, and Chris Pauli followed in fourth. Dale would get around Lenny at the completion of the first lap but it was Skip who was driving away from the pack. At the completion of the heat it was Skip getting the win and Dale finishing second and each would move into the final as Chris and Lenny would move into the last chance qualifier to battle it out to determine who would move into the final. Apparently there were a couple of infractions in the morning qualifiers as both Rankin and Scarlata took the checkered flag in their heats but both would be back on the water in the last chance qualifier. As the six machines took to the water for the last chance qualifier the sunny weather turned somewhat cloudy but still typical perfect Burley race weather. Scarlata drew the inside lane as Devore was in lane two, Hart in lane three, Rankin in the fourth lane, Pauli in lane five, and Lenny Baker was on the outside in his SS78 capsuled machine. As the six racers lined up and looked for the flag start it never dropped as the race official did not like the start and they had to make the their way back around the second island to line up for a second start. On the second try Scarlata got the best start as he was out in front of Hart, who was a boat length ahead of Rankin, as the trio made their way into the first turn. Scarlata would open up a nice lead as Rankin raced on the outside of Hart as the two came around the opening turn almost side by side. Rankin would get past Hart on the outside of turn two on the opening lap but it was Scarlata who was out in front. Only the top two finishers would move into the Sunday final and it looked like Tony and Dave were going to be hard to get around but there was always the chance that breakage or mechanical issues could play a role in the race action but not on this day as Tony cruised to the heat win and Dave followed with a second place finish. Chris Pauli and Mike Devore made it an exciting heat as the battled it out deck to deck for the second time during the weekend. Only one race was left for the Super Stockers as eight race teams put their drivers and machine on the Snake River for the all important Sunday final. Hal Jones was on the inside lane and lined up next to him closest to farthest was Skip Tuttle, Gee McClain, Tony Scarlata, Dave Rankin, Mike Darner, Dale Baker, and Jeff Gibson was on the far outside. And off they went as the flag dropped and Scarlata was slightly out in front of Rankin and then it was Darner and Jones side by side for third. Gee McClain had problems and brought the SS24 machine even before taking the start and he was done. Tony came out of the first turn in front but Dave was pushing hard in the 80 machine and Hal was also right there on the inside as the group went behind the island. As Tony and Dave raced hard to the farthest buoy in the turn Tony went out to far and had to whip the wheel to avoid collecting Rankin and it was enough to slow down the 68 machine and Dave would take the lead. Dave would extend his lead heading up the backstretch as Tony followed in second, Jones was in third, and Skip was running in the fourth spot. Skip would get around Jones on the inside as the two finished the lap as the two were deck to deck in front of the Burley crowd. As Jeff Gibson made his way around the first turn the machine went over and could be seen floating upside down and a flare was shot as the Sheriffs Rescue team tended to Gibson who sustained cuts and bruises to his legs in the incident. Once the SS31 machine was put back on the trailer it was obvious there was significant damage done. What a shame as the SS31 Soaring Eagle machine was an awesome looking ride and I hope to see this team back out on the water soon! The Super Stock race teams took their machines out of the water to refuel and were back on the water to rerun their final round heat. With only six boats remaining the lane assignments would stay the same. At the drop of the white flag four of the machines, the 501, 711, 68, and 80 boat were all bunched up and it was a good start. Jones rocketed around the turn with authority and looked to be the early leader until the bright yellow 80 machine with owner Dave Rankin at the controls peaked out from behind the roostertail of the 501 machine. Tony was behind a couple boat lengths back in third and was being followed by Darner, Tuttle, and Dale Baker. Hal and Dave came out of turn two side by side in as both drivers looked for any advantage they could get. Dave exited the turn better than Hal and grabbed the lead as they finished up the first lap. Skip got around Mike Darner heading into the turn and had his sights set on Scarlata who looked to be slowing somewhat. At the completion of the second lap Dave had a nice lead over Hal but there was a good battle brewing between Skip and Tony as they battled for the third spot. An exciting weekend of Super Stock racing would be capped off with a win by Rankin and the SS80 Wild Child team and it was Hal Jones and the SS501 team taking the weekend win with a bunch of good runs and finishes. The SS80 team would take the second overall and in third place for the weekend was the SS711 team. The action did not end as the checkered dropped however as there were some heated emotions at the conclusion of the Sunday final and it just goes to show you how competitive the SSRA series is.

It’s off to Long Beach for the next SSRA race where there will be a completely different kind of race course the competitors will have to adjust to.