Rookie Allen will be one to watch Sunday

SEATTLE – A year ago, Jean Theoret was a rookie unlimited hydroplane racer, but he was no rookie to racing.

Theoret is the winningest Grand Prix driver ever and a six-time national champion. So it wasn’t a huge surprise when Theoret piloted the U-37 to a Chevrolet Cup championship at Seafair.

This year, another so-called rookie could do the same.

Mike Allen, a 39-year-old from New Orleans, is a rookie in the unlimited class, but has already made a name for himself in power boat racing. And this year he may have the equipment to make the same kind of splash that Theoret made last year.

Allen is the driver of the U-7 FormulaBoats.com II, one of two former Miss Budweiser hulls that Ted Porter bought in the offseason. And so far, the investment has paid off, as Allen has the boat second in the points standings, 262 behind the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto.

Allen is third in the driver standings, 605 points behind leader and defending champion Steve David of the Oh Boy! Oberto.

Allen won the race in Valleyfield, Quebec, earlier this year, finished second in Madison, Wis., and fourth in Evansville, Ind.

Winning is nothing new to Allen, a three-time inductee into the American Power Boat Association Hall of Champions over the last 18 years. He has national and international championships in K Racing Runabout, Super Stock and 5-Liter classes.

On Friday, Allen posted the second-fastest qualifying speed, a 153.201 mph mark that put it just behind pre-race favorite U-1 Miss Ellstrom Elam.

Elam best early: As expected, the U-1 Miss Ellstrom Elam with Dave Villwock driving posted the fastest qualifying speed on the first day of the Chevrolet Cup. The Elam came into the race as the favorite, having won three of five races this season and with Villwock, third on the all-time wins list, doing the driving. Villwock won the Atomic Cup in Tri-Cities last week.

“It was a good first day,” Villwock said. “We just wanted to get out and get a read on the water and check things out. Hopefully we can build on things from here.”

Villwock’s speed of 157.480 miles an hour was a record for the fuel-restricted era, which began last year.

Eleven of the 13 boats entered posted qualifying times. The only two that didn’t was the U-13 Acura of Bellevue/Spirit of Detroit and the U-99 Miss Lakeridge Paving.

Driver switch: After spending a week mulling the decision, U-5 team manager Mike Weber and owner Ted Porter named 21-year-old Jeff Bernard to take over behind the wheel. Bernard will replace Weber as the driver after Weber retired after last weekend’s race in the Tri-Cities. Bernard had been driving the U-99 for Fred Leland but now takes over one of the former Miss Budweiser hulls. Bernard made his rookie debut at Seafair last year, reaching the final by winning the consolation heat.

“Jeff has a lot of talent, he’s shown that in the past,” said Weber, who is Bernard’s uncle. “I tried to make the best decision for the team regardless of the fact that he’s my nephew. He just deserves this chance, he was the best man for the job.”

Troxell back on the water: Taking Bernard’s place in the U-99 will be his stepfather, Terry Troxell. Troxell had been expected to race the U-13 Spirit of Detroit this year, but suffered a slight stroke on Dec. 26. He didn’t get medical clearance to race again until recently.

“It was scary,” Troxell said. “They say it was minor but it didn’t feel that way to me.”

Troxell has recovered well physically from the stroke, with the biggest lingering affect being a slight speech impediment.

“It could have been worse,” Troxell said. “But I always knew that I wanted to get back (driving). It was just a matter of getting better and then waiting for clearance.”

Troxell qualified eighth with a time of 142.424, but committed a fuel infraction, so his time did not count.

Hopp sets record: Snohomish’s Greg Hopp set an unlimited lights course speed record by going 118.997 miles an hour on Lap 2 of the morning’s first test session. Hopp, the all-time winningest lights driver, is piloting the UL-1 Mike’s Hard Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky, which he co-owns with his father Jerry. The old course record was 117.280 mph, set by Paul Droullard in 2004 in the same hull, at the time known as the UL-9 American Eagle.

A rough start: It didn’t take long for Bill Strain’s Seafair weekend to turn sour. Strain, driving the UL-56 Miss Diagnosed, flipped on the front stretch on his first testing session, appearing to get a bit too much air underneath. Strain quickly emerged from the cockpit and was fine. The boat suffered a fair amount of left-side damage and did not return.

Today’s schedule: The unlimiteds’ first qualifying session is at 11:15 a.m. The unlimited lights hold their first heats at 12:10 and 12:20 p.m.. The G Boats race at 2:30 p.m., followed at 2:45 and 3:05 by the first two unlimited heats. The second unlimited heats are at 5:35 and 5:50.