Andrew Tate tops qualifying on first day of racing

Andrew Tate got his first taste of the Columbia River last year at the HAPO APBA Columbia Cup.

The then-rookie had propeller failure and was unable to finish the weekend, but that was not the case Friday.

Tate, driving the U9 Les Schwab Tires, turned in the top time in qualifying, besting defending national points champion Jimmy Shane in the U1 Miss HomeStreet Bank, and veteran J. Michael Kelly in the U12 Graham Trucking as the H1 Unlimited hydroplanes took to the water for the first of three days on the river.

Tate, 27, clocked a 162.925 mph lap on his second go on the water. A violation negated that run, leaving him with a 160.702, which still topped the field and earned him 100 points.

“I think that is the fastest lap we have run in that boat,” Tate said before he found out the 162.925 would not be allowed. “The team and the sponsors are happy right now. We will have to get in the truck, look at the data and see what is what there, but the boat feels great.”

Shane was right behind with a 157.114, followed by Kelly (154.713), Jimmy King (154.091, U3 Grigg’s Presents The Miss Ace Hardware), Tom Thompson (153.885, U11 DiJulio Presents J&D’s) and Brian Perkins (153.560, U21 PayneWest Insurance).

Gregg Hopp (U99 Carstar/Miss Rock) and Dustin Echols (U440 MAC Truck Repair & Towing) did not put their boats in the water during qualifying. The U440 hit debris in the water earlier in the day during testing and suffered a crack in the right sponson. Repairs were being made with hopes of running Saturday.

“There is good competition,” Tate said. “Any time Jimmy Shane is chasing you — and the HomeStreet Bank boat is fast — we have something to be proud of right now. The hard work from the team and sponsors seems to be paying off.”

Shane, who took home the Columbia Cup title last year, was pleased with his first run, but said there was room for improvement.

“The first qualifying run the boat ran great,” Shane said. “We are looking to make a couple of small tweaks, maybe a propeller change and a skid fin tweak. We also have an engine sitting next to the boat. We can swap a motor in 20 minutes. We think the motor in the back of the truck has about maybe 50-75 more horsepower. Maybe throw that in and try to top Andrew’s qualifying speed.”

Hear the pistons roar

King waited until the second go-round of qualifying to take the U3 out on the water.

While there was speculation of boat issues, King said that was not the case.

“We changed the motor and the gear box combination from this morning so we knew what we had for the weekend,” King said. “It just took that much time to get it ready.”

Whatever they did worked out pretty well. The U3’s fastest lap came in at 154.091 mph.

“We are OK with that,” King said. “We are being very conservative. The boys who are running — there aren’t very many of us here — are running fast. It doesn’t count until 4 o’clock on Sunday.”

Show me the money

Shane and Perkins were the only two drivers to put their boats in the water for the Dash for Cash.

Up for grabs was $10,000, but in the end, both camps walked away with an even share.

Perkins left the dock first, and was able to settle into the Lane 1 when the race got under way. But in the end, it came back to haunt him.

On Turn 2 of Lap 2, Perkins hit some rough water, allowing Shane to pull ahead by a couple of rooster tails.

“I saw the rough water, and I looked over and Brian’s boat was flying out of the air,” Shane said. “That looked a little rough to me. I kept the boat outside in cleaner water.”

Perkins had no choice but to ride the wave.

“That turn is pretty nasty,” Perkins said. “I got in the slop and it takes its toll. You lose momentum and it takes a while for the boat to get going again.”

Perkins was able to make a race out of it at the end as both drivers pushed their boats to their limits.

“It was a good show for the fans,” Shane said. “We had a great run and Brian was running really hard on the inside and I had to push the boat really hard to catch him. We were not holding back. We were running all out.”

Perkins said a two-boat Dash for Cash is not the norm, but it was fun.

“It was great to run with Jimmy. It’s not often you get to run deck-to-deck, just two boats,” Perkins said. “You can run your boat flat out and you don’t have to worry about other boats chopping up the water.”

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This story was originally published July 28, 2017 at 8:23 PM with the headline "Andrew Tate tops qualifying on first day of racing."