SEATTLE — The later heats Sunday at the Albert Lee Cup at Seafair showed what has U-88 Degree Men team excited.
J. Michael Kelly drove to a close second-place finish in Heat 3A behind Brian Perkins in the U-21 Albert Lee Appliance.
“It was half a boat length,” Perkins said of the winn
ing margin.
Kelly had the inside lane and kept it close as his boat turns better, possibly, than any other boat in the field.
The crew is working on finding the horsepower needed to keep it competitive on the straightaways. That’s where Bernard won the heat. Kelly would catch up on the curves but couldn’t match the speed on the straightaways.
“When we hit the right combination, it will be a rocket,” boat builder Ron Jones Jr. said.
The black boat is new on the circuit this year. It has a lower engine and propeller shaft and cockpit. It’s all designed to keep the boat’s center of gravity lower.
“It’s a little different than the norm, but we’re trying to build the next generation of boats,” crew chief Jim Harvey said. “We’re still on the learning curve.”
It was a rough weekend for the 88. It took fifth in Heat 1B on Saturday, and it took a DNF in Heat 2A.
But to illustrate what the team was talking about, the U-88 won the provisional heat at an impressive 140.587 mph average lap speed. That was five mph faster than his runner-up finish in Heat 3A. The top boats in the circuit were running at 141 mph this weekend. Kelly took fourth in the finals.
The Magnolia-based boat is owned former Gold Cup winner Billy Schumacher and his wife Jane.
“For being right out of the box, I think we’re doing well,” Kelly said. “Once we get the chute speed we’re looking for, we’re going to be tough to beat.”
Rookie’s good season continues
Scott Liddycoat has had a decent rookie season in the U-7 Valken.com.
He won his third heat of the season, taking Heat 2A, and edging teammate Jeff Bernard in the U-5 Graham Trucking. That helped him qualified for the finals, where he was the surprising runner-up.
He sits third in the Unlimited Driver Points standings.
Liddycoat won a heat in Detroit and finished second in the Gold Cup, the second race of the season.
“That one blew us away,” Liddycoat said.
He also won a heat last weekend in the Tri-Cities.
It wasn’t all smooth Sunday. In Heat 3A, his propellor apparently fell off the boat drawing a red flag as he was stalled in the middle of the first turn.
The Heat was restarted, but because he had caused the delay, he wasn’t eligible to race.
Flip in the lights
The Unlimited Lights final was run after the Unlimited finals, a reverse of the normal schedule.
The Lights had to re-run its final heat because Kayleigh Perkins-Mallory flipped in the UL-72 Foster Care-Change of a Lifetime. Perkins-Mallory, who scored first career win in Silverdale, avoided injury in the flip, which came at the end of the first lap.
On the restart, Paul Becker won the Graham Trucking Cup at Seafair in the UL-1 Sidepro presents Wolford Demolition & Recycling
Roostertails
Heat 2B, in which Dave Villwock in the U-96 Spirit of Qatar edged Steve David in the U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto, was the first time the two top boats in the circuit have met in a qualifying heat this season. … David was given a fuel violation for Heat 3B and didn’t earn any points. … Jon Zimmerman in the U-9 Miss VisitTri-Cities.com didn’t start Heat 3A after he collided with Ken Muscatel in the U-25 Miss Procraft Windows. Muscatel restarted and managed a fourth-place finish.
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