First You Survive -- Then You Can Win the Bay City
River Roar
Bay
City, Mich. (June 27) –While other boats were being
devoured by rough water and high revs, three drivers
seemed to float above the chop and thrive on the
conditions presented by the 23rd Dow Bay City
River Roar on the Saginaw River on Sunday.
Chris Fairchild
of Paw Paw, Ill., won his first Bay City Formula One race
on his favorite course after starting sixth. He passed
some boats on speed, others as the pounding river helped
to induce mechanical problems.
Shaun Torrente
of Homestead, Fla., started on the pole in the second race
of the 2010 Formula One PROP Tour and grabbed the early
lead with Tim Seebold of Osage Beach, Mo., in hot pursuit.
Seebold’s engine began to sour on lap three. Torrente
would eventually surrender the lead to Fairchild by nearly
rolling over in turn three. Greg Foster of Orange, Calif.,
started fifth and worked his way into fourth place twice.
He gave up the position once after spinning out in a
corner, then lost the position for good when a trim
adjusting rod broke on his boat.
At the end of 50
rough laps, Fairchild’s Mercury-powered boat had a
comfortable lead over Torrente. Terry Rinker of Tampa,
Fla., finished third. Tim Seebold’s engine threw a
connecting rod as he completed 47 laps, but that total was
enough to secure fourth place.
The
Johnson-powered boats of Foster and Michael Schubert came
home eighth and seventh.
Sunday’s
schedule was delayed nearly two hours by a series of
thunderstorms that brought high winds and downpours to Bay
City. The Formula One final began in a steady rain. Just
as the awards ceremony ended under the cover of a park
pavilion, sunshine broke out and a rainbow appeared in the
eastern sky.
Formula
Two
Jimmie Merleau
of Fennville, Mich., survived a first-lap collision to
lead all 30 laps of the Formula Two final in his Mercury
Optimax-powered boat. A traffic jam at the first buoy
knocked a hole in the top of Merleau’s right sponson,
but the race ran without a stoppage and he was able to
keep his hull on plane all the way to the checkered flag.
Dan Orchard of
Stratford, Ontario, started second in the final, but his
early collision damage allowed him to complete only seven
laps before his left sponson shredded on the front
straight and he barely turned into the launch ramp before
his boat sank.
Kris Shepard of
Antioch, Ill., was second with a Mercury SST-120 engine
and Donny Lick of Hastings, Minn., was third. Merleau’s
boat began taking on water as he headed to the ramp, so he
took his victory lap as a passenger on Shepard’s craft.
Formula Lights
Bud Nollman of
Osage Beach, Mo., started second in the Formula Lights
final but shot into a race-long lead right off the dock to
win his 30-lap final and his first River Roar after years
of challenging the Saginaw River. Daniel Guimond of
Kankakee, Ill., was next across the finish line, but was
dropped to sixth in the finishing order after incurring a
one-lap penalty for missing a turn buoy early in the race.
That penalty
left Butch Ott of Ontario in second place and Jose Mendana
Jr. of Miami, Fla., in third.
Inflatables
Michael and
Linda Venier of Lasalle, Mich., were the winners in the
Outlaw class of two-man inflatable boats. The X class
winners were Jeff Korpal of Bay City and Josh Jaynes of
Kawkawin, Mich.
Formula
One Final
Pos.
Driver, Home, Laps
1.
Chris Fairchild,
Paw Paw, Ill.
50
2.
Shaun Torrente, Homestead, Fla.
50
3.
Terry Rinker, Tampa, Fla.
50
4.
Tim Seebold, Osage Beach, Mo.
46
5.
Jeff Shepherd, Woodlawn, Tenn.
46
6.
Lynn Simburger,
Elsah, Ill.
45
7.
Michael Schubert, Richmond, Tex.
44
8.
Greg Foster, Orange, Calif.
44
9.
Mark Johnson,
Jaffey, N.H.
40
10.
Jose Mendana Jr., Miami, Fla.
26
11.
Kris Shepard, Antioch, Ill.
22
12.
Mike Klepadlo, Gaylord, Mich.
9
Starting
Order for Sunday’s 50-lap Final: Torrente,
Mendana, Seebold, Rinker, Foster, Fairchild, Simburger,
Shepherd, Shepard, Johnson, Schubert, Klepadlo
Formula Two Final
Pos.
Driver, Home, Laps
1. Jimmie Merleau, Fennville, Mich.
30 laps
2.
Kris Shepard, Antioch, Ill.
30
3.
Donny Lick,
Hastings, Minn.
30
4.
Terry Rinker, Tampa, Fla.
30
5.
Mike Klepadlo, Gaylord, Mich.
27
6.
Jim McGrath, Deerfield Beach, Fla.
25
7.
Stacy Funk, Norwich, Ohio
22
8.
Johnny Fleming, Woodlands, Tex.
20
9.
Ruben Asencio, Euless, Tex.
16
10.
Dan Orchard, Stratford, Ontario
7
Formula
Two Starting Order for Sunday’s 30-lap Final:
Merleau, Orchard, Lick, Shepard, Rinker, Fleming,
Klepadlo, Asencio, McGrath, Funk
Formula Lights Final
Pos.
Driver, Home, Laps
1.
Bud Nollman, Osage Beach, Mo.
30
2.
Butch Ott, Ontario, Canada
30
3.
Jose Mendana Jr. Miami, Fla.
30
4.
Travis Thompson, Humble, Tex.
30
5.
Jason Nelson, Atlanta, Ga.
30
6.
Daniel Guimond, Kankakee, Ill.
29
7.
Curt McCourtie, Jackson, Mich.
29
8.
Amanda Hagerl, Brutus, Mich.
29
9.
Gary Barber, Bay City, Mich.
28
10.
Mark Schmerbauch, Kankakee, Ill.
28
11.
Steve Merleau, South Haven, Mich.
27
12.
Don Wilson, Jefferson City, Mo.
27
13.
Robert Rinker, Riverview, Fla.
27
14.
Patrick Mason, Kennesaw, Ga.
26
15.
Paul Trolian, Warsaw, Ind.
22
Formula
Lights Starting Order for Sunday’s 30-lap Final:
Schmerbach, Nollman, Mendana, Thompson, Guimond, Nelson,
Rinker, Merleau, Trolian, Haagerl, Ott, Barber, Wilson,
Mason, McCourtie.
Outlaws Inflatables
1.
Michael and Linda Venier, LaSalle, Mich.
2.
Anthony Xerri, Richmond, Mich., and Ken
Trellfa, Shelby Township, Mich.
3.
Jimmy Kerr, Lapeer, Mich., and Shane Venier,
Alanson, Mich.
X Inflatables
1.
Jeff Korpal, Bay City, Mich., and Josh
Jaynes, Kawkawin, Mich.
2.
Jeff Howie, New Hudson, Mich., and Cynthia
Creps-Appleyard, Milford, Mich.
3.
Steve Heuninck and John Heuninck, Orion,
Mich.
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