PORT ANGELES — The first race of the 2023 American Sprint Boat Racing Association Pro Racing Series will be held over the weekend at the Extreme Sports Park west of Port Angeles.
One of the biggest changes to this year’s event is that it will be held over two days instead of one because of the growing number of teams and boats joining the ASBR Association. Qualifying races will be held Saturday and finals Sunday.
Qualifying races begin at 10 a.m. Saturday with the finals beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday. There will be three classes of boats — modified 350, the 400 class and unlimited.
”Cleetus McFarland.”
One of the returnees is Garrett Mitchell, who goes by his online stage name of Cleetus McFarland, a popular social media personality and athlete. Last year in Port Angeles, Mitchell, who specializes in car racing, impressed the other racers as he and his navigator Spencer Faggioni, also known as Spicy Spence. Faggioni will be singing the National Anthem at the opening ceremonies before the 10 a.m. races begin. They are competing in a new, custom jet sprint boat.
The ASBR has many male and female teams, and married couple racing teams. Checkmate No. 55 consists of husband-and-wife team Frank and Kelly Toftemark from the Castle Rock area, who are returning to the sport after a hiatus. They are considered a duo to watch, as they ran the track fast, tight and hard at ASBR’s “Test & Tune” Event held in June at the Extreme Sports Park.
Also, ASBR’s first mother/daughter team, driver Scarlett Taylor and navigator Sofia Taylor from Snohomish will be at the race. They are driving Full Tilt No. 038B in the modified class.
Another promising contender to keep an eye on is Leighton Lillie, of Preventing Insanity No. 27, and his navigator Cody Holzen. Lillie comes to the jet sprint boat racing world as an accomplished racer and professional athlete from Lewiston, Idaho. He started out in motocross at an early age and won the AMA Thunder Cross Series in his teens. His career highlights also include the 2016 World Jet Boat Championship in the FX Class, a race that spans three rivers, seven days and 600 miles. He is a two-time winner in the Winter Para X Games Bronze Medals in Snowbike in 2018 and 2019, and in 2022 Leighton won the AMA National Championship Snowbike Series.
Tickets are currently available online. For more info, and to reserve tickets,and camping spots, people should go to the following websites:
• Race No. 1, July 29-30 at Extreme Sports Park, Port Angeles, www.extremesportspark.net.
• Race No. 2, Aug. 12-13, Ontario Speedway, Ontario, Ore., www.ontariospeedway.com.
• Race No. 3, Sept. 9-10, Extreme Sports Park, Port Angeles, www.extremesportspark.net.
• Race No. 4, Sept. 30-Oct. 1, Ontario Speedway, Ontario, Ore., www.ontariospeedway.com.
Tickets at both venues will also be sold at the gates. Gates open at 8:30 a.m. Cash only and there are ATMs onsite. People can also follow ASBR Pro Racing Series on Facebook (www. facebook.com/AmericanSprint BoatRacing) and on Youtube (www.youtube.com/@ASBR-PRO-RACING-SERIES) to stay notified and up to date on the latest sprint boat racing news, videos and livestreams. This weekend’s races will be livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.
