Dave Villwock's record-breaking 165.687 mph lap in the morning qualifying session held through the second session of qualifying for the Lamb Weston Columbia Cup in Tri Cities. Villwock ran the hot lap around 9:15 this morning, as the second boat out on the water after the course opened.
"So far, so good," a somewhat subdued Villwock said. "Any day the boat still fits on the trailer and the engines are still running, that's a good day."
The run breaks the record for a fuel-restricted turbine engine on the 2.5 mile Columbia River course.
Steve David's 160.599 mark right out of the box in the Oh Boy! Oberto was also good enough to keep him in second place for the day. Jean Theoret got into the show with the third-fastest time, a 158.599 time in the U-37 Beacon Plumbing.
Also qualifying in the second round was Jimmy King in the U-3 Todd Hoss II/Ronal McDonald House at 153.546, Chris Bertram in the U-9 Conover Insurance at 143.861, the U-10 Todd Hoss Mortgage at 154.469, and J Michael Kelly in the U-13 Spirit of Detroit at 151.911.
Brian Perkins tallied a 137.186 mph lap in the brand new U-21 Meyers Auto Tech, and David Williams was given an official time of 144.392 in the U-48 Miss Lakeridge Paving.
Three boats didn't run today, including the U-1 Formulaboats.com II and U-5 Formulaboats.com, and the U-100 Mirageboats.com. That boat didn't enter the pits until midway through the morning session, and wasn't ready in time for the course closure in the afternoon.
We also have one boat missing from the fleet, and that's the U-17 Miss Red Dot, a brand new boat from Nate Brown and the gang at Our Gang Racing. They are on the road right now, and are expected in Tri-Cities within a few hours. And we're promised that the boat is, well, a work in progress.
The vintage boats are on the course now for their exhibition heat, followed by the Dash for Cash at 5:20.
Things are very cool in Hydro Town!