| 7/31/2007 3:00:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| J. Michael Kelly (below) has been one of the surprises of the 2007 American Boat Racing Association season, using his hard-charging driving style to power the U-13 (above) to a pair of third places and a fourth place — all from the trailer spot — over the past three races. He currently stands fourth in the national high points chase. (Staff photo above by Mark Campbell, below by David Campbell) |
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Hard-charging Kelly has rallied from trailer spot to 3 strong finishes in U-13
David Campbell
Courier Sportswriter
No driver wants to start a final heat from the trailer position, but rather than curse his fate, J. Michael Kelly has embraced it.
The 27-year-old driver of the U-13 Spirit of Detroit has been forced to the trailer position in each of the last three races on the ABRA schedule, but he has fought through the field for two third place finishes and a fourth.
It's an impressive performance from a young driver in a 20-year-old boat - maybe even more impressive than Dave Villwock's near-perfect season in the U-16 Miss Elam Plus.
"It is very, very rough out there (in the trailer position)," Kelly said. "Basically, there is no good water to run in. But I figure, I have nothing to lose, so I might as well pick up a few spots and make up ground."
At each Unlimited race, the top point-earners on the day earn a spot in the winner-take-all final heat. One last boat is allowed on the water, but it must stay a full roostertail back of the leaders at the start unless one of the other boats fails to start.
Only one boat has ever won a race from the trailer position - The Kellogg's Frosted Flakes/Miss Madison with Mike Hanson aboard in San Diego in 1993 - but Kelly has ignored the odds so far.
At Madison, he fought his way through the field to finish behind only Villwock and Steve David aboard the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto/Miss Madison. A week later at the Gold Cup in Detroit, he repeated the feat behind the same two drivers.
Those third places represented the best finishes in Kelly's brief Unlimited career and he followed it with a fourth place Sunday in Tri-Cities from, you guessed it, the trailer.
While Kelly has had success coming from the back, it is not something he would like to do every race. But a myriad of problems have pushed the team just out of reach of the front row.
Still, the U-13 seems to be getting faster each week and Kelly has steered the boat into fourth place in the National High Points standings.
"The boat's been running faster each time out," Kelly said. "Everytime I come in, we look at the data and we talk about how to work the front canard wing better or other tips. I've been listening to the team and it seems to be working. I've just been trying to stay out trouble (on the water) and bring the boat back in one piece."
While Kelly has been the most successful of the young breed of drivers, a distinct shift in the age curve has occurred in the Unlimiteds over the past year.
Jeff Bernard, just 22 years old, won two preliminary heats at Tri-Cities in the U-5 Formulaboats.com I while 21-year-olds Jimmy Shane and Brian Perkins each made their debuts.
Shane's ride in the U-1 Formulaboats.com II was cut short by a broken gearbox, but Perkins impressed many while driving the brand-new U-21 Freedom Racing entry.
Like Shane, Perkins had to deal with a gearbox issue but the team straightened out the problems and that allowed the rookie to take a second-place in a preliminary heat.
"It was amazing. It was just an incredible feeling," said Perkins on making his debut. "It's something I wanted to do my entire life. We pretty much accomplished every one of our goals this weekend. We couldn't ask for more."
Hydros Middle East swing?
It seems like a fanciful story, but those close to the sport say that an ABRA race in Dubai is not so far-fetched.
According to the Seattle Times, representatives of Dubai were in the pits at this weekend's Columbia Cup in Tri-Cities to check out the sport. And early indications are that they were impressed.
"They're very interested in having us bring our boats over there," U-16 Miss Elam Plus owner Erick Ellstrom told the Times. "They love hydroplanes over there."
The connection between the Unlimiteds and Dubai comes from Boeing, which is jumping into the sport this weekend, kind of.
The Seattle-based aircraft manufacturing company has leased the Miss Elam Plus back-up boat, repainted it and named it the U-787 in honor of the company's newest airliner. The boat will be in the pits at Seattle this weekend and is expected to hit the water, but probably will not race.
Still, Boeing could jump into the sport at some point. After all, Bill Boeing Jr., the son of the company's founder, campaigned the Miss Wahoo in the 1950s, winning three races with Mira Slovak at the wheel.
"Boeing is making a big statement here," Ken Muscatel, owner and driver of the U-25 and a former commissioner of the sport, told the Times. "They are saying 'We love hydro racing and we want to be part of it in a very public way.'"
Muscatel has played a large part in developing new race sites for the ABRA and has talked extensively with Washington, D.C. over the past two years. But Dubai, which has been very active in the U.I.M. F1 World Championship series, would take the boats to a new level.
The small country on the Persian Gulf has become a sports mecca in recent years, hosting both a throughbred race and golf tournament that feature some of the richest purses in the world.
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