PORT ANGELES — A total of 33 teams from the Pacific Northwest, Canada and New Zealand raced at the Extreme Sports Park all weekend for the third race of the American Sprint Boat Racing series.
It was the second race held this season at ESP. The first race of the series was held at ESP in July, then the second race moved to Ontario, Ore. The event was expanded from one day to two this year because of the increase in number of teams. Saturday was the qualifying rounds and Sunday was the elimination rounds, narrowing the racers down to two boats in each classification.
Winning the Unlimited Class was Psycho Racing (Albany, Ore.) boat No. 151M, driven by Kyle Patrick and navigated by Aaron Hansen. Psycho Racing won the unlimited at ESP in July and came in to this weekend as the top-ranked unlimited boat. Coming in second was the local team of Wicked Racing with driver Dan Morrison and navigator Sami Gustufson. Bootlegger, driven by Ron Gallagher and navigated by Josh Reynolds, was third.
Winning the 400 class was the Fat Buddy No. 22 boat from Surrey, B.C., Canada. Fat Buddy, which also won the 400 at the ESP in July and at Ontario in August, came in as the top-scoring 400 boat and just solidified its position. Fat Buddy was driven by Phil Miller and navigated by Sam Hughes. Preventing Insanity No. 27 (Clarkston), driven by Leighton Lillie and navigated by Cody Holzer was second and Pure Insanity No. 285 (also Clarkston), driven by River Rogers and navigated by Cole Keatts was fourth.
Crash & Win, driven by YouTube personality Garrett Mitchell (“Cleetus McFarland”) and navigated by Spencer Faggioni, made it to the semifinals Sunday and finished fourth in the 400 class.
Taking first in the modified class was Fear Not No. 623 (Mulino, Ore.), driven by Clint Birch and navigated by Terri Lovell, took first, and Purcell Racing (based in Mason County and Edmonds) picked up the next two spots. Purcell’s No. 154B boat, driven by James Goldberg and navigated by Margaret Purcell, was second, while Purcell’s 154A boat, driven by Jeff Purcell and navigated by Goldberg, was third.
Juggernaut out of Burley, Idaho, came in to this weekend as the top modified boat, but didn’t race in Port Angeles, probably putting Fear Not in the points lead after the latest results are added to the season results.
The ASBR season wraps up back at Ontario Sept. 30-Oct. 1. The ASBR series is adding a new venue at the Yakima County Fairgrounds for 2024.
