‘Breakthrough day.’ Tri-Cities hydroplanes finish 1-2 in hometown Columbia Cup victory

Darrell Strong couldn’t have asked for a better scenario.

The insurance salesman from the Tri-Cities, who bough two boats in the offseason, got a 1-2 finish in his hometown race, the HAPO Columbia Cup, on Sunday.

“I didn’t think it would happen here this soon,” said Strong. “Not with the way Jimmy Shane was driving his boat.”

But it did.

And it happened with Corey Peabody in the U-9 Pinnacle Peak Racing boat winning.

It was Peabody’s first H1 Unlimited victory.

Veteran driver J. Michael Kelly, driving Strong’s U-8 Miss Tri-Cities boat, has 12 career H1 Unlimited victories. He finished second.

“I think we had a breakthrough today with Corey,” said Strong. “Our guy is gonna be a star.”

After the win, Peabody got the boat back to Lampson Pits, crawled on top of it and celebrated.

Then he got the star treatment, being thrown into the Columbia River by his teammates.

Brian Hajny, the crew chief for both Strong boats, was emotional after the win.

It was he and Peabody who were assigned in the offseason by Strong to put the teams together.

“This is what it’s all about,” said Hajny. “It’s been a lot of work.”

While he said that, Hajny started eyeing the big tree — Bernie Little’s tree — at the east end of Lampson Pits.

The winner gets to park their boat under that tree the next season, basking in the cool shade during race weekend.

“We get to fill it with two boats,” said Hajny.

To finish 1 and 2 was a dream for Hajny, who stresses that while everyone is a teammate, there is no collusion on the course.

“Corey and Mike are there to race each other,” said Hajny. “When it’s out on the water, it’s every man for themselves.”

The key to Peabody’s win may have been the start.

Kelly said there was no plan to stop Shane, who was looking at a perfect weekend: earning fastest qualifier and winning all four of his preliminary heat races up to that point.

All that was left was the Columbia Cup final victory.

“We were gonna take whatever lane (the other boats were) gonna give us,” said Kelly.

But things started getting rough in the milling period before the race began.

With Jamie Nielsen in the U-11 J&D’s taking the inside lane, Kelly settling into lane 2, Peabody in lane 3, and Andrew Tate in the U-12 Graham Trucking in lane 4, Shane was forced to grab lane 5 on the outside before the race began.

“We stayed on our timing marks,” said Shane. “We knew the others were gonna be early to push things.”

But during the final warm-up lap at the east end turn, boats started pushing out, said Shane.

“I got two huge blasts of water and had to turn right,” he said.

He was forced to start in lane five. That was too far outside for him to get to the front.

“And I was about 3 seconds behind at the start,” said Shane.

With Shane not in the equation, Kelly got to the first turn, and Peabody was right behind. They both got through that rough first turn — made so much worse with seven boats on the river.

“It was rougher than snot,” said Peabody. “But you have no choice. If you want win, you have to go through it. I knew I was never out of it. I was carrying a lot of speed into that start.”

Fight to the end

But it didn’t take long for the five-lap race to become a battle of attrition.

On the third lap, Tate had a part of his propeller break off, causing the boat to vibrate. He immediately shut it down in the east end turn.

Kelly had something similar happen, but he decided to fight his way through it.

And then on the third lap, his wing collapsed.

“The rear wing keeps the weight down in the back of the boat,” said Kelly. “So the boat wanted to dig into the water. I tried to drive as hard as I could to the finish. I need bigger arms.”

On the fourth lap, the field lost Jimmy King in the U-3 Grigg’s/Ace Hardware when the piston-powered boat went dead right near Tate’s boat.

Peabody knew that Kelly was having problems with his boat, and it was only a matter of time for him to take over the lead.

That happened in the middle of the fourth lap on the Franklin County side of the course.

“Jeff Campbell kept telling me on the radio to stay patient,” said Peabody.

He continued to pull away for his first victory.

Racing best friends

Kelly, though, was able to hang on for second, with Shane finishing third.

Kelly was wiped out at the end of the race, sporting an ice pack and cold towel on his head to cool him down.

With his body completely exhausted, Kelly mustered enough energy to get out of his chair to congratulate his teammate and buddy whom he’s known since both were in first grade.

Peabody appreciated it.

“You can not ask for a better scenario than going 1-2 with your best friend,” said Peabody. “We each have a win this year. Racing with my best friend is a dream come true.”

So is racing an unlimited.

“I love this sport,” said Peabody. “I love working on the boat. I love driving the boat.”

For Strong, Sunday’s finish was the best scenario he could think of.

It also matched the finish in Guntersville, Ala., in June, when Kelly placed first and Peabody was second.

“It’s like seeing your children play, and you don’t know who to root for,” said Strong.

Doesn’t matter. They both were winners, and Strong was already planning for a big team party Sunday night.

Final details

▪ Nilsen finished fourth in the U-11, while Dave Villwock — starting in the trailer position — was fifth.

▪ Jeff Bernard in the GP-79 Bad Influence easily took the Grand Prix final on Sunday, especially after Greg Hopp’s GP-15 broke down.

“We knew we were gonna have to push it at the start,” said Bernard.

Mike Grendell owns the boat, and it was sponsored this weekend by Atomic Screen Printing and Hermiston Raceway.

“This boat was built in 2019, so there’s not a lot of data on it,” said Bernard. “But the guys busted their butts to make the changes we needed and get the boat out there.”

▪ Kurt Myers, driving the E-26 Flight Time got to the first turn ahead of the field and was never threatened, winning the E350 final on Sunday.

Derek Smith in the E-79 Bad Influence placed second, while Chris Bertram in the E-57 was third.

“I saw those guys putting up there early in lanes 1 and 2,” said Myers. “I figured I’d take it out to lane 4 or 5, bring it on the outside and come to the starting line with speed.”

Myers won three of five races he competed in over the weekend.

Race stats

HEAT 3A — 1, Jimmy Shane, Miss HomeStreet, 400 points, 153.409 avg. speed; 2, Jimmy King, Griggs Ace Hardware, 300, 144.037; 3, Dustin Echols, Bucket List Racing, 225, 118.496; Dave Villwock, Miss Beacon Plumbing, 0, DSQ.

HEAT 3B — 1, J. Michael Kelly, Miss Tri-Cities, 400, 150.370; 2, Corey Peabody, Pinnacle Peak Consulting, 300, 688; 3, Andrew Tate, Graham Trucking, 225, 147.073; 4, Jamie Nilsen, J&D’s, 169, 139.646.

HEAT 4A — 1, Jimmy Shane, Miss HomeStreet, 400, 145.638; 2, Dave Villwock, Miss Beacon Plumbing, 169, 140.392; 3, Jimmy King, Griggs Ace Hardware, 300, 136.312; 4, Dustin Echols, Bucket List Racing, 225, 117.995.

HEAT 4B — 1, Jamie Nilsen, J&D’s, 400, 151.369; 2, Corey Peabody, Pinnacle Peak Consulting, 300, 149.100; 3, J. Michael Kelly, Miss Tri-Cities, 225, 128.137; Andrew Tate, Graham Trucking, 0, DSQ.

FINAL HEAT — 1, Corey Peabody, Pinnacle Peak Consulting, 400, 145.686; 2, J. Michael Kelly, Miss Tri-Cities, 300, 141.909; 3, Jimmy Shane, Miss HomeStreet, 225, 141.069; 4, Jamie Nilsen, J&D’s, 169, 136.187; 5, Dave Villwock, Beacon Plumbing, 127, 134.825; Jimmy King, Griggs Ace Hardware, 0, DNF; Andrew Tate, Graham Trucking, 0, DNF.

ACCUMULATED POINTS — Jimmy Shane, Miss HomeStreet, 1925; J. Michael Kelly, Miss Tri-Cities, 1705; Corey Peabody, Pinnacle Peak Consulting, 1388; Jamie Nilsen, J&D’s, 1323; Andrew Tate, Graham Trucking, 955; Dave Villwock, Beacon Plumbing, 797; Jimmy King, Griggs Ace Hardware, 790; Dustin Echols, Bucket List Racing, 649.

NATIONAL STANDINGS (Drivers) — 1, J. Michael Kelly, Bonney Lake, Wash., 4035; 2, Jimmy Shane, Covington, Wash., 3825; 3, Corey Peabody, Kent, Wash., 3463; 4, Andrew Tate, Canton, Mich., 3380; 5, Jamie Nilsen, Gig Harbor, Wash., 2617; 6, Dave Villwock, Monroe, Wash., 2119; 7, Jeff Bernard, Kent, Wash., 1029; 8, Jimmy King, Memphis, Mich., 790; 9, Dustin Echols, Monroe, Wash., 649.

NATIONAL STANDINGS (Boats) — 1, Miss HomeStreet, 4854; 2, Miss Tri-Cities, 4035; 3, Pinnacle Peak Consulting, 3463; 4, Graham Trucking, 3380; 5, J&D’s, 2617; 6, Miss Beacon Plumbing, 2119; 7, Griggs Ace Hardware, 790; 8, Bucket List Racing, 649.

This story was originally published July 25, 2021 at 9:20 PM.