The Results

[rossdbos]

Congratulations to all Participants on a safe and successful event:
Here are the overall results:

Boat # Division Pos. Owner Driver Co-Pilots Laps Hour Min Seconds

34 D2 1 Ron Hill/Chad Hill Chad Hill Pat Bowman 60 04h 10m 26.47
48 D5 2 John Roth John Lane John Roth 58 04h 13m 9.9
211 D4 3 Jason Miller Jason Miller 53 04h 13m 25.89
19 D4 4 Mark Durham Mark Durham Greg Foster 51 04h 12m 49.14
25 D6 5 Lonnie Fluent Lonnie Fluent Scott Pellaton 51 04h 12m 17.13
1 D6 6 Mike Avila Jim Anderson 51 03h 51m 13.86
17 D6 7 Gary Hairbedian Gary Hairbedian John Franklin 49 04h 09m 57.26
124 D4 8 Ryan Pryor Ryan Pryor 48 04h 13m 12.96
93 D5 9 Quemene Perea Steve Dennison Danny Smith 45 04h 10m 18.96
36 D2 10 Bill Montique Brad Cooper Jack Landers 45 04h 11m 47.3
402 D2 11 Mark Moyle Don Moyle Richard Hammond 44 04h 12m 6.77
288 D2 12 Rodger Finney Rodger Finney Jennifer Maddox 43 04h 11m 52.91
67 D3 13 Eddie McPheeters Eddie McPheeters Casey Porter 43 03h 37m 8.35
86 D5 14 John Soares John Soares 42 04h 12m 40.48
420 D3 15 Matt Wooten John Raptis Dave Chandler 38 03h 45m 9.09
145 D6 16 Jim Best Jim Best John Best 35 03h 54m 19.98
P24 D1 17 Greg Falconer Jerry Ross Amy Ottinger,Nick Granger 34 03h 16m 42.52
819 D5 18 All James Bill James Al James 34 03h 39m 33.95
07 D6 19 Kelly Oliver Kelly Oliver 31 03h 02m 46.11
7 D3 20 Bill Wheeler Bill Wheeler 28 02h 26m 3.27
11 D6 21 Mike Avila Mike Avila 26 02h 45m 42.57
"007 D1 22 Pete Michelmore Brad Menet 22 03h 51m 0.11
24 D3 23 Ted Kolby Joey Cucci Rod Zapf 22 02h 32m 8.92
305 D3 24 Ben Marrone Paul Grichar Phil Luckens/Ben Marrone 18 01h 21m 36.34
151 D3 25 Benn Marrone John Raptis Matt Wooton, Tony S 14 01h 21m 46.3
8 D1 26 Lee Buchanan Lee Buchanan 13 01h 26m 31.15
810 D3 27 Steve Rankin Steve Rankin 7 01h 16m 40.51
72 D2 28 Jim Rich Jim Rich 2 0 10m 11.56
96 D3 29 Ken Knudson Ken Knudson 1 0 23m 51.22
47 D3 30 Bob Devine Rob Devine Bob Devine 0 0
369 D6 31 Larry Dalhoff Larry Dalhoff Shane Hall/Heath Hiebert 0 0

[rossdbos]

Boat # Div # Place Owner Driver Co-Driver(s) Laps

P24 D1 1 Greg Falconer Jerry Ross Amy Ottinger,Nick Granger 34
007 D1 2 Pete Michelmore Brad Menet 22
8 D1 3 Lee Buchanan Lee Buchanan 13

34 D2 1 Ron Hill/Chad Hill Chad Hill Pat Bowman 60
36 D2 2 Bill Montique Brad Cooper 45
402 D2 3 Mark Moyle Don Moyle Richard Hammond 44
288 D2 4 Rodger Finney Rodger Finney Jennifer Maddox, 43
819 D2 5 Al James Bill James Al James 40
72 D2 2 Jim Rich Jim Rich 2

67 D3 1 Eddie McPheeters Eddie McPheeters Casey Porter 43
420 D3 2 Ben Marrone John Raptis Matt Wooton/Dave Chandler 38
7 D3 3 Bill Wheeler Bill Wheeler 28
24 D3 4 Ted Kolby Joey Cucci Rod Zapf 22
305 D3 5 Ben Marrone Paul Grichar Phil Luckens/Ben Marrone 18
151 D3 6 Ben Marrone John Raptis Matt Wooton 14
810 D3 7 Steven Rankin Steve Rankin 7
96 D3 8 Ken Knudson Ken Knudson 1

211 D4 1 Jason Miller Jason Miller 53
19 D4 2 Mark Durham Mark Durham Greg Foster 51
124 D4 3 Ryan Pryor Ryan Pryor 48

48 D5 1 John Roth John Lane John Roth 58
93 D5 2 Quemene Perea Steve Dennison Danny Smith 44
86 D5 3 John Soares John Soares 42

25 D6 1 Lonnie Fluent Lonnie Fluent Scott Pellaton 51
1 D6 2 Mike Avila Jim Anderson 51
17 D6 3 Gary Hairbedian Gary Hairbedian John Franklin 49
145 D6 4 Jim Best Jim Best John Best 35
07 D6 5 Kelly Oliver Kelly Oliver 31
11 D6 6 Mike Avila Mike Avila 26

[capnzee]

When doing the "handicaps" I figured the race would be run in 4 hours. All of the divisions were handicapped to finish within a minute or three of the 4 hour time, barring accidents, yellow flags, long pit stops etc. The race was run in 4 hours and 10 minutes--don't know if you can get much closer when you are figuring a 300 mile race! Five of the six divisions were represented in the top 10. I don't think you could drive your car 300 miles and get much closer! We set out for a safe and a fun race. We had to prove to APBA that we could run safe with out capsules. Weight was added to the light lay-ups and they ran very nicely, ( only getting air when the wrong trim button was pushed. ) Every one who entered this race actually thought they had a chance of winning the race. When the race was run during the 80's this was certainly not the case and the race was stopped because it got out of hand and was considered unsafe. We have now proven that any one can win this race--money is not the final answer as the Parker 300 was run this year. That was proven when the big dollar guys failed short of the 60 laps, but they were on the way to a close finish. I will not be at the Dec 3rd meeting. I don't like to screw with success and I say we had a great race and the numbers will continue to grow, maybe slow but they will continue to grow. The day the "little guy" was thrown out of the old Parker Enduro was the day the race started down hill. Just my two cents, but in my books we have a winner, small adjustments maybe, but keep the format. We are having fun and we are doing it safely!
I can remember when boat racing was safe, fun and a family sport. I can remember when we had over 100 inboards at a local race. I remember when the boats got faster and faster. It was then the "little guy" was cut out. We needed television, capsules, more patrol boats but soon there were not enough racers to put on a show. Boat races don't make it on TV and nobody will ever make any money doing it.
Let's keep the "purity" of the present Parker 300; keep it fun, keep it safe and keep it a family affair.
I may have grown up racing on the Mississippi, but a hand shake is still god in that country. I have driven nearly every hydo from the small to the unlimiteds. I have driven jet boats and now a GN. I have been in closed cockpits, open cock pits, on oxygen and off oxygen . This is not a new game to me, I hope you will be encouraged to think twice before you start changing the game at Parker. It is not about money and it is not about attracting spectators--we know why they come! :) Rod

[rossdbos]

Capnzee, Thank you again for all your hard work on getting this off the ground. I don't plan on eliminating the "little guy" but you have to admit that 3 boats in Division I for the past two years is not a "success" and just like the stagger times both need to be continually "fine tuned" and will continue to do so. We can sit back and choose to ignore the facts or we can try a something that might work or it might not. Regardless, if 6 boats (3/year) in Division I are a success then we have drastically different definitions. I can't have a 3rd year of just "squeaking" by. We all need to make sure this thing continues to grow at a solid pace and so I am willing to risk 3 boats for a possibility of 10-15 boats. If I am wrong we can change it back in 2008. Why you are not attending the meeting of this importance I don't understand but that is your perogative.
Again thanks for the work and all the input and help!
Sincerely,
Ross Wallach, RPM RACING ENT.:)

[capnzee]

At the outset of this race I polished the theme "Let no boat be left behind" I still feel that way. Why not find a way to include Division I boats. If they cannot stand alone, then combine them. Rod

[fyremanbill]

Although it should be brought up at the rules meeting, most of the div 2 jets would have been more fairly run in div 1. In reallity, the boats that should have been in div 2 were lacking.

[Ron Hill]

ALL JETS in DIVISION I... Jets can and will "Haul the Mail", it is just difficult for them in racing conditions to keep the "PROJECTED SPEED".....I say let ALL JETS be Division I....

If they win OVERALL, kick their asses out!!!!! (Not really, if they won COOL, thier Handicap could be changed the following year...)...

Hey, this race is a FUN RUN!!!!

While I'm talking.....I see no reason to requite Ben's Tunnel V-Drive to be in any Division but V-Drive..If he can keep that Mother together for 300 miles...So be it....but a V-Drive tunnel is NOT a DIVISION VI boat...

The Diesel, should be a V-Drive...period. Turbo, non turbo, it is a V-Drive.


I'll go one farther...I think all V-Drives, blown, unblown, 540, 686's or 327's should be one Division...A blower on a GN, for 300 miles, hell, if you can keep her running for three hundred miles, you should win....

Now, let's talk about 007 .......She only averaged 11 miles per hour... we want to start on Thursday, next year....

[capnzee]

If you go way back in the early making of the divisions for the Parker 300 2006 you will find that when I put the jet boats in Division II, they sqauked like hell, demanding equality with the Div. III boats and wanted to be run in the same class. They felt they could out run and out last the GN's---well, they outlasted them. You should get a lot of input Dec 3rd, sorry, but what I have seen on the posts/threads so far doesn't make a lot of sense, but it does show interest. Personally, I think we were too close the last two years to make wholesale changes and the thoughts I have seen on
BRF look like they came out the end of a sawed off shot gun. LOL :) Rod

[Ron Hill]

Do all these new, very fast, PWC's have rudders???

[capnzee]

Have you checked the accident rates of the PWC's? That is because the natural thing to do is to back off when in extremely tight quarters the next thing that happens is the PWC loses it's steering ability. The first time I drove a CJ, I backed off to set the boat in a turn, the boat did not set, it went straight even though I was turning the wheel. I had no previous experience in a jet at the time. It was certainly fortunate there was no one outside me at that exact moment. When I got back on the throttle the response was immediate and I never backed off again. I have driven PWC's and the results are the same! Perhaps you need to take a jet boat/PWC for a ride so you can speak from your own experience. Anybody who has doesn't want to be racing anywhere near a jet boat with no rudder , including other jet boats.

[MAXIMUS]

OK! Let me speak a moment... please don't interupt...:D nice thing about posting!:) All jets to run divison 1 regardless of what they think! The speeds we have seen the last 2 years for jets is about as good as they will get if they are going to survive! Big blown engines just mean that initally they might run a few hot laps before the water turns to ****.

I know there has been talk of bigger boats... I think before that decison is made we should all take a ride in my 25' daytona. I will have it set up down at parker for thanksgiving & would like anybody to come and ask for a ride who is considering that possibility! Ross this means you primarly & not as an in your face thing but I would like you to either ride or drive it so you can get a good perspective on the reality of it.

As far as adjusting the handicaps, I think that fine tunning is going to always be necessary to continue & keep parity as boats advance & work with in the confines of the rules???

Who said that my tunnel should be in divison 6??? If I can't keep up with the divison 3 boats now I am not sure that it will be able to run with the divison 6 boats either???:rolleyes:

That being said I do believe this event has been really good the last 2 years & will continue to be so with carefull guidance & decisons made as a group & not by one...:)