David savoring latest success in U-6

Steve David has had little time to enjoy his boat racing success.

David drove the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto to the American Boat Racing Association overall championship this year, giving the team -- based out of Madison, Ind. -- its first national title, and him his second drivers title.

"As soon as I got back home (to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) reality set in and I settled into my other life," said David in a phone interview Monday afternoon.

David works in real estate in south Florida.

"It makes you remember that we're not NASCAR racers," he said. "We're weekend racers, and we have other jobs. When I do get a chance to enjoy it, it's the little things like getting an e-mail from a fan congratulating me."

David is a public relations firm's dream. He takes time out to talk to everyone who asks him a question. He's well-spoken. He's witty.

Which is why, when Chet Lepinski asked him to come speak to the R/C Unlimiteds Oh Boy! Oberto Championship Series season awards banquet in Richland last Saturday, David jumped at the chance.

"They're such a neat group of people," David said. "You talk about having a deep passion for the sport, it's these people. And Oberto renewed their sponsorship for another year. I loved coming up there. The Tri-Cities is such a legendary place in the sport."

David said he recounted to the audience the team's success this past season.

For a guy who was fired after the Columbia Cup in the Tri-Cities in 1999, the 54-year-old is learning to savor these successes.

That day in 1999, David drove the U-2 T-Plus boat to a sixth-place finish in a boat that was not running well.

"I came out of the boat going 'We're No. 6,' " David remembered.

Anyone who knows David knows that's just his outgoing personality, that he drives the boat as hard, if not harder, than anyone else.

The boat's sponsor felt the driver wasn't trying hard because of that statement. So the sponsor wanted David fired that day.

The boat's owner, Jim Harvey, was forced to pick either David or the sponsorship, and David told him to keep the sponsorship.

David never thought he would get a second chance in an unlimited, and that was fine with him. He would have been happy going back to the limiteds and offshore boats he raced at the start of his career.

But when the Miss Madison team, racing as Oh Boy! Oberto, was looking for a driver a few years ago, it was Harvey who put in a word for David.

"If it wasn't for Jim Harvey, I wouldn't be in hydroplane racing," David said. "It was a chance of redemption with a team who, at the time, wasn't a favorite and was basically there to fill out the field."

David and the Madison worked well together and got the most out of a really old boat. But in 2007, Oberto and Madison ponied up the money for a brand new boat, and with David behind the wheel, the team has been one of the best in the sport the last two seasons.

The team won the 2008 championship despite winning just one race -- Tri-Cities.

David regrets not getting a chance to win the Gold Cup, which was cancelled because of high winds.

"But we'll be the targets in 2009, and we want to repeat the championship," he said.

For now though, he's going to try to savor this one a little more.

"I was really lucky when I started out and won a title in limiteds," David said. "I made the false assumption that it would be easy in the unlimiteds. I eventually came to the realization that this is tough."

Notes

This offseason will be interesting. Billy and Jane Schumacher are looking to sell the U-37 team after losing Beacon Plumbing as a sponsor. The death of owner Kim Gregory has put the U-10 team in limbo. The U-21 is still for sale. And there is talk the U-1 Ellstrom E-Lam Plus team may also be for sale. In addition, the Evansville race is still up in the air. If that race doesn't happen, it would leave the circuit with just five races -- Madison, Detroit, Tri-Cities, Seattle and San Diego. David, however, remains optimistic. "I think Evansville will happen with Ken Muscatel and his group running it," he said. "Even if those other teams are gone, the boat count back east should still be at least nine."