10 things to keep an eye on this Columbia Cup weekend in Tri-Cities

Are you ready to head down to the Columbia River this weekend to watch the boat races?

I know it’s been a couple of years, but remember to try to stay cool.

Temperatures are expected to be in the high 90s Friday through Sunday.

Also, bring a radio to listen to KONA 610 AM, who will have everything live. If you’re at home you can watch the action — mainly Sunday — on SWX.

If you’re following the action closely, here are 10 things to keep an eye on over the weekend (in no particular order):

▪ Dave Villwock. He’s been out of the racing game for a few years, but his longtime friend and business partner, Kelly Stocklin, has him involved with the team.

Villwock is 67. He also has the most unlimited victories in history with 67.

He’ll be driving the U-40 Beacon Plumbing.

His first two races this season, in Alabama and in Madison, Ind., were respectable as the team tries to find more speed.

But Villwock knows this course, which is a super-speedway. He’s won here seven times, the most any driver has won here.

He’ll be a factor come Sunday.

▪ The U-3. Ed Cooper is sponsored by Ace Hardware and Grigg’s of Pasco.

That sponsorship money has kept Cooper coming here — and only here — the last five races at least.

The fans love to see the red boat out on the water, and even more, they love to hear the only piston-powered boat in the fleet.

Alas, the team has not had good luck here in recent years. That’s to be expected, since this is the only time of year the team gets together. It’s like bringing the band back together.

So they don’t get much time to work together. Past problems have included a blown engine or a crack in the hull.

Still, the boat is fun to see on the water.

▪ The Strong team. Darrell and Vanessa Strong bought two of the fastest boats in the fleet, and they’ve gotten a first, second and third so far this season.

A strong crew and two good drivers, J. Michael Kelly and Corey Peabody, have put the team to the head of the class.

When Strong bought the teams, this was the weekend he was always looking forward to. He grew up in Pasco and would come down to the river to watch the boats.

A Tri-Citian who owns two teams and racing on his home course for the first time.

▪ Crowds. I don’t know what the ticket sales have been.

The Water Follies was hampered by the state’s mandates for how many people could attend.

But when the state re-opened fully June 30, that allowed event director Kathy Powell to plan and in a hurry.

She’ll definitely need to sleep when this is all done.

Just expect there will be a lot of people, more than any of us have been around for the last 18 months.

▪ A battle of attrition. There are just eight unlimiteds, and the Water Follies has the Gold Cup package for the weekend.

That means there will be four sets of preliminary heats — rather than the usual three sets.

To get to Sunday’s final, drivers and boats will have to work there way through those four heats.

There may be some moves such as not going all out at times to save the equipment for the final.

On the other hand, there is no Seafair this year. So teams might not try to save the equipment.

We’ll see.

▪ Jimmy Shane. The U-1 Miss HomeStreet driver won his fifth career Gold Cup earlier this month.

Not sure if anyone has had a better week already.

Shane is part of the Jeff Bezos Blue Origin team that worked on the capsule that went into space on Monday.

Now, Shane gets to race one of the best boats in the field, with one of the best teams in the fleet. Throw in standout crew chief Mike Hanson, and the U-1 is a winning ticket.

▪ J. Michael Kelly. The U-8 driver for the Miss Tri-Cities loves this course.

He knows how to win here, and he knows how to win against most of these drivers — with whom he he’s grown up wit racing outboards.

▪ Air show. Nothing probably will ever match last year’s HAPO Over The River Air Show that Powell put together in September.

That’s because it was a perfect storm. No one was doing air shows last year, and the military was offering up to Powell an incredible array of jets.

Still, don’t be surprised if this year’s event knocks your socks off.

▪ Bring water and sports drinks. One thing that’s been noticeable for race teams this past week is that there is a shortage of bottled water and sports drinks around the Northwest.

Teams are having a tough time finding it.

Don’t be caught short-handed yourself. Get some water and bring it.

▪ Andrew Tate. U-12 owner Rob Graham pulled off a coup this year getting the young Tate to drive for him.

And while Tate hasn’t won yet this season, he’s done well enough to lead the drivers national high points standings coming into this weekend.

He could easily dominate this weekend’s field.

As Shane once said, “He’s young, he’s handsome and he drives fast. That’s no bueno.”

This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 12:45 PM.