For the season, one last splash.
The grand finale of the 2013 American Sprint Boat Racing series is set for Saturday at Port Angeles’ Extreme Sports Park.
It’s the second of two events at ESP, after the Port Angeles course hosted hundreds of spectators at a series stop on Aug. 10.
Local racing squads TNT Racing from Sequim plus Wicked Racing Team and Team Twisted from Port Angeles have challengers in various divisions.
Paul Gahr Jr. and navigator daughter Taylor Gahr of Sequim’s TNT Racing found the medal stand in August, taking third place in the A-400 division.
Former division champ Dillon Brown Cummings and navigator Teri Cummings, also of TNT Racing, look to improve upon their fourth-place finish in the Super Modifieds class in August. That day, running on a low horsepower truck motor following a blown engine earlier this season, the pair qualified for the final heats in third and just missed the medal stand with a fourth-place finish overall.
Former division champion Dan Morrison of P.A.’s Wicked Racing owns and operates Extreme Sports Park. Morrison wasn’t able to race in early August but hopes to have his new boat and new motor up and running on Saturday.
“I’m working on it; we’re scrambling right now,” Morrison said. “It’s always tough (because) we’ve got so much stuff going on setting up the track. Now we’ve finally got a real good bunch of people in the Super Boat class. I’m excited. I really want to get going.”
Since opening in September of 2011, sprint boat races at ESP have drawn several thousand spectators and hundreds more in crews and support staff.
The sprint boat track sees jet boats ramp up to speeds up to 90 miles per hour as drivers and navigators pull seven Gs around each turn in three feet of water. Driving duos must follow a correct sequence through the course. Prior to race day, teams are given three possible series of turns and find out the correct course on race day.
Fans may view the event along the perimeter of the track. The event offers general bleacher seating, VIP sections as well as a giant grassy knoll from which to watch the races.
Like August’s event, gates open at 8 a.m. with racing starting at 10 a.m. Camping is available for $20 — payment must be made upon arrival.
Morrison said Saturday’s event should bring in even more than August’s series race.
“We almost always get as good or better crowd (for championship races),” he said.
Taking it all in for the television crowd is MAV TV, an action- and motor-sports-oriented cable and satellite channel.
For more information, call Kelie Morrison at 460-2601 or e-mail to keliemorrison@gmail.com.
Reach Michael Dashiell at editor@sequimgazette.com.
