SAN DIEGO (Sept. 15, 2019)—J. Michael Kelly, from Bonney Lake, Wash., driver of the U-12 “Graham Trucking” unlimited hydroplane closed the books on the 2019 season with his third victory of the year at the 55th running of the HomeStreet Bank Cup at Bayfair on Mission Bay in San Diego.
Kelly outran his nearest competitor Jimmy Shane in the U-6 “Miss HomeStreet” by grabbing the inside lane during the pre-race milling with a “park and start” strategy. Kelly utilized this method after H1 Unlimited officials decided to suspend the minimum pre-race speed of 80 mph, prior to this weekend’s event.
Kelly said, “It was really nerve-racking out there before the start, just putting around out there, there is a lot of time to think about things and then you see the other guys coming up fast, but I knew my only chance was to get the inside lane.” He said, “It was all or nothing.”
Once Kelly strategically established lane one, Shane battled deck-to-deck at the start but by the end of the first of five laps began to slip further and further behind Kelly’s red and black “Graham Trucking” race boat.
Shane said “Great racing this weekend with the “Miss HomeStreet,” not the result we wanted in the final obviously, but with the change in rules we knew drivers were going to be up at the start parking early, and we didn’t know what type of risk they would take in the salt water, so we played it by ear.”
He continued, “We got up there early with Mike (Kelly) but I didn’t feel comfortable with our set-up with the boat to troll at those low speeds, so I decided to peel-off and go around for a flying start,” Shane said. “We had a good start, but Mike had a great start too and accelerated really fast.”
Shane said Kelly’s acceleration after the trolling start surprised him and “we hung with him on the first lap but he slowly pulled away from us, being outside of him.”
Jamie Nilsen in the U-11 “J&D’s presented by Reliable Diamond Tool” appeared to be washed down by a competitor’s roostertail spray and went dead in the water in turn one of lap one.
Bert Henderson, driving the U-7 “Spirit of Detroit” tried to keep up with Kelly and Shane from lane three but officials quickly determined Henderson had jumped the start line.
Jeff Bernard in the U-1918 “Oberto Super Salami” trailed even further by about four roostertails at the end of lap two.
Corey Peabody in the U-98 “Graham Trucking American Dream” went dead-in-the-water in the backstretch of lap one but was able to restart and continue racing.
By the end of lap two, Kelly had increased his lead by another half of a roostertail despite Shane’s constant pressure.
When the boats completed lap three it was evident that Shane would not be able to catch Kelly from the outside unless Kelly experienced a mechanical failure.
When the spray settled at the final lap, Kelly had increased his lead in front of Shane by several roostertails, capturing Sunday’s winner-take-all final. Shane was second, followed by Bernard. Despite jumping the gun and being assessed a one minute penalty, Henderson gained enough to score fourth place. As these drivers finished and returned to pit row, Peabody was still completing his last lap after earlier going dead-in-the-water.
HomeStreet Bank Cup at Mission Bay Final
1 J. Michael Kelly, U-12 “Graham Trucking,” 150.490 mph average
2 Jimmy Shane, U-6 “Miss HomeStreet,” 146.307 mph average
3 Jeff Bernard, U-1918 “Oberto Super Salami,” 133.589 mph average
4 Bert Henderson, U-7 “Spirit of Detroit,” 116.318 mph average
5 Corey Peabody, U-98 “Graham Trucking American Dream,” 106.856 mph average
Did Not Finish: Jamie Nilsen, U-11 “J&D’s presented by Reliable Diamond Tool”
Fastest Lap, U-6 “Miss HomeStreet,” Jimmy Shane, lap 4, 152.583 mph
September 16th, 2019
Both the U-12 Graham Trucking and U-98 Graham Trucking American Dream are heading back east to the Guntersville Lake Hydrofest and the Madison Regatta Gold Cup. J. Michael Kelly and Corey Peabody will be competing on Lake Guntersville to kick off the H1 season and a week later on the Ohio River for the Gold Cup.
Both boats leave later this week to begin the trek across country to Alabama. Tom Anderson will head up the U-12 race team all season. Brooke Tyler will be the crew chief for the U-98 in Guntersville, with Johnny ‘Luv” Walcker taking over the 98 crew chief role in Madison for the Gold Cup event.
With some hard, dedicated work in the off-season by the Graham Racing crew, good results from the spring testing session, Rob made the decision to send the 98 back east, along with the 12 to support the H1 Unlimited season events.
Great news from Rob Graham, the boats roll out of the Milton, WA. shop on Friday.
From Hydro News
We are excited to announce that our second boat, the U-98 Graham Trucking American Dream will also be at spring training testing on Friday May 31st in Tri-Cities!
We are also excited to announce that Budd’s Broiler will be a sponsor for us at the Columbia Cup this summer! Budd’s Broiler, an Anthony’s Restaurant, is a premier waterfront steakhouse showcasing the best beef, seafood and seasonal produce coming from the Pacific Northwest. Be sure to head into Budd’s Broiler this summer every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night for live music on the deck! Local musicians are featured beginning at 6:00pm!
https://www.h1unlimited.com/…/graham-trucking-adds-second-…/
Saturday, October 13, 2018
at Three Rivers Convention Center in
Kennewick, Washington.
https://vimeo.com/oucommercial/review/291583064/7c17304c37
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Dynamically target
The Washington Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), an agency of the Department of Defense, announced today that Rob Graham, Owner of Graham Trucking was honored with a Patriot Award in recognition of extraordinary support of its employees who serve in the Washington National Guard.
According to Larry Kirchner, ESGR’s King County Chairman, “the Patriot Award was created by ESGR to publicly recognize individuals who provide outstanding patriotic support and cooperation to their employees, who like the citizen warriors before them, have answered their nation’s call to serve. Mr. Graham was nominated for being highly supportive of his reserve component employee, SGT Tom Howard. Supportive supervisors are critical to maintaining the strength and readiness of the nation’s National Guard and Reserve units.”
As the 1.3 million members of the National Guard and Reserve continue to perform an increasing number of unique missions with America’s borders and beyond, ESGR will continue to be the resource for the employers of citizen warriors. ESGR provides education, consultation, and if necessary mediation for employers of Guard and Reserve employees. More information about ESGR Employer Outreach Programs and volunteer opportunities is available at www.esgr.mil, or by calling the WA State office at (877) 306-1971.
professional markets via parallel functionalities. Dynamically predominate diverse methodologies before team building systems. Efficiently redefine enterprise-wide meta-services via frictionless ideas. Compellingly build maintainable collaboration and idea-sharing whereas 2.0 action items. Seamlessly network extensive experiences for resource-leveling imperatives.
