THUNDERFEST: THUNDER NEWS

THUNDER NEWS #8

CHRYSLER JEEP DETROIT APBA GOLD CUP July 9-12, 1998
Another great and very sunny day here in the pits. While the day started out somewhat uneventfully, the afternoon brought with it a number of news items..
FINAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
* U1 MISS BUDWEISER Dave Villwock 163.080
* U20 APPIAN JERONIMO Mitch Evans 158.931
* U8 LLUMAR WINDOW FILM Nate Brown 154.467+
* U2 MISS CHRYSLER JEEP Steve David 151.565+
* U101 PICO American Dream '98 N. Mark Evans/Mark Tate 148.934
* U99 R.S.EASTIN/BELL FORKLIFT Rick Christensen 147.828
* U9 CARPENTER COMMUNICATIONS Mike Weber 145.191
* U14 NORTHWEST UNLIMITED Ken Muscatel 144.508
* U3 MASTER TIRE Mark Weber 128.051#
* U100 PICO American Dream '96 N. Mark Evans 130.000*
Notes:
# The U3 is a piston-powered boat and qualifies at 120 or above.
+ Denotes increased qualification speed
* Denotes N2 violation
For U101 Mark Evans qualified the boat, and in the afternoon a rumor shot through pit lane - Mark Tate was taking it out to see if he felt comfortable in it! I think he had a 139mph lap time and he _will_ be driving this boat for the weekend.
I heard U8 had a problem at the end of the day.. I was behind the grandstands as he was going by at a good pace then a sharp noise and the motor went completely quiet - too quiet. I heard that the prop shaft broke and may have damaged the boat severely. I'm sure we all wish them well for speedy repairs!
CHRYSLER JEEP AUTOMOTIVE GOLD CUP RACE RESULTS:
1: UL-16 Alamo 2:58:05 101.095
2: GP-38 Fini Finish 3:03:78 97.943
3: GP-45 Thunder Pumper 3:12:31 93.598
4: UL-125 Wildfire 3:18:21 90.812
5: UL-111 LeROI 3:26:35 87.230
6: GP-55 First Automotive 3:27:55 86.726
7: UL-141 Authorized Cellular 3:31:26 85.203
8: GP-25 Warrior Racing 3:38:81 82.263
Note that the speeds are not exactly accurate because the UL boats receive a 10 second head start.
- Brian Reed (Volunteer WebMaster: www.thunderfest.com)