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10.23.08 - Easing off the throttle
Hyrdo racer leaves cockpit but not sport
By Aaron Wasser | For The Olympian • Published October 21, 2008
Ed Preston went about his business, working with his crewmates to recover the severely damaged boat while trying not to think about the possibility that his friend might be dead.
"There was too much stuff going on to believe what we had heard over the radio," said Preston, the then-boat builder in Rick Bridgeman's hydroplane racing crew. "You get yourself in a different mode. Not to sound hardened but you have to focus on what you have to do."
Preston saw the accident. He saw the Olympia resident's boat flip, land upside down while traveling at nearly 150 miles per hour and break apart.
10.13.08 - NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!
We won the final race and the National Championship! Heading into Port Angeles, the team had a big lead and we had to finish a heat to sew it up Well the season is finally over and I couldn’t be happier.
In the first heat, I just wanted to finish but I got a great start and lead the field into turn one. I backed off the throttle and fell into a conservative pace but no one chased us down so we won. After that, there was no way anyone could catch us in points. The team was relieved but now our sights were on winning the weekend.
Due to some attrition in the class, the final was a two boat shoot out, Marty Wolfe against us. Leading up to this weekend, we had beat Marty in every heat race but bad luck has kept us from winning in the finals. Marty got lane one but he got to the line a bit early. I hit the start perfect on the outside and led him through turn one. We pulled him all of the way down the back straightaway and opened up a sizeable lead after the first lap. I backed off of the throttle after the first lap and went just fast enough to stay ahead. It was a perfect weekend for our team and it was the end to a fantastic season.
We started off the year with hopes of making our boat consistent, fast and represent the G class in a professional manner and we accomplished all of our goals. The only “G” heat that we didn’t finish was the final at Phoenix and we posted the fastest “G” lap times at every race. At South Dakota, we ran one of the fastest heats in ULHRA history.
The announcement of the 2009 Thunderboat Invitational has many teams jumping onboard the “G” class for next year. We hope to have the fastest supercharged boats in the world at the same place to compete for the title. This will be every hydroplane fans dream. This was the first full season for the Thunderboat class and I am proud to be part of the team to win the first ever National Championship for the class. We are already getting prepared for next year and I will try to keep everyone updated on our progress.
- Dustin Echols
9.30.08 - Summer Nationals Recap
GP Summer Nationals has come and gone and what a race it was. The race committee decided to change the GP rules before the race to make us hold our lanes from the start line instead of the entrance buoy, even though this went against the set rules for the class and made it difficult to establish a good lane and go slow enough to score up properly.
The first heat was a practice heat and I am glad it was. I really messed up my start and we had a mechanical problem so I shut the boat down. When we got back to the pits we found a problem with an exhaust valve and running the engine for another heat was a huge gamble. Rick made the call to run the boat and we were off to the finals.
Before the start I noticed that Greg Hopp was dead in the infield. Greg has one of the fastest boats around so I was surprised to see them broken down. I snuck into lane one and Marty Wolfe went to my outside with Jeff Bernard outside of him. Coming around the final turn coming down for the start, I was scrubbing speed off and I saw Marty change lanes and go into lane one. I didn’t expect a call on him since it didn’t affect anyone else and all of the boats on the course did the same thing. We all hit the start together and Marty lead me into turn one.
We were about a boat length behind and I was going as hard as I could into the corners to try to gain some ground. After a lap and a half of being behind, I finally caught him and pulled up side by side. Coming out of turn one, Marty left us just shy of a lane and we tagged a buoy and his boat at the same time. We went down the straightway together but then we pulled away. Our engine and hull were in perfect sync and it was our time. We had finally won the Summer Nationals. No penalties were called and the team began to celebrate. The inspectors started to do their jobs and all of the other teams began to congratulate us . It was great.
About thirty minutes after the heat we hear word that there was a protest. A few minutes later, I was informed that the referee thought about the heat some more and decided that we should have a penalty assessed for changing lanes before the start of the race. He also decided that the other boats that changed lanes before the start would not be penalized. I am very disappointed that our officials can choose to call some penalties but not others to change the outcome of the race. I enjoy a close boat race and I really enjoy the people I race against. Our team works awful hard not to get a fair shake by the referees. The fans and other teams all expressed their disgust with the bad call but the referees mind was already made up.
The GP-17 turned the fastest lap of the day and we showed everyone that we had the best boat. I am looking forward to this coming weekend in Port Angeles so we have a chance to race again. The boat is running perfect and we hope to be celebrating a National Championship.
See you in P.A.
- Dustin Echols
9.25.08 - G SERIES PRESS RELEASE
ULHRA Thunderboat Invitational 2009 presented by Ted’s Red Apple Market and the Westport-Grayland Chamber of Commerce
The G-Class will thunder in 2009.
Tukwila WA September 24, 2008
The Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Association will launch a new element in the growth of the Thunderboat (G) class. It is designed to bring more teams to the series, and more entertainment value for racing fans, racing teams, and racing promoters. The 2009 Thunderboat Invitational is that step. It’s a 4 race “series within a series” for supercharged engine hydroplanes. The series will be sponsored by Ted’s Red Apple Market of Westport WA and the Westport-Grayland Chamber of Commerce located on the coast of Washington State.
The relationship has been formed to promote year round tourism in the Westport, Washington area, well known as a spectacular spot for salmon and halibut fishing and also for many other features. For further information, log on to www.westportgrayland-chamber.org.
Each race in the 4 event series will feature a minimum of 6 entries. G-Class Thunderboats in ULHRA are larger than Unlimited Lights with more powerful purpose built racing engines. The first year of the Thunderboat Invitational will present a minimum series prize fund of $50,000. The 4 race sites will be announced in the near future.
The series will promote a homogenous class of the fastest automotive powered hydroplanes in boat racing where technology, hulls, engine packages and drivers are comparable to provide close, exciting competition. Teams from the G Class of ULHRA and the GP Classes of APBA and ACHA will be eligible to participate with rules established to “equalize” the competitive opportunity of the various categories.
The Ted’s Red Apple Market-Wesport/Grayland Chamber of Commerce sponsored Thunderboat Invitational series will also highlight the year round tourism experience in the Westport-Grayland Washington area. The 4 race “series within a series” will be part of “Racing, ULHRA Style” that will be expanded to new locations in 2009 and encompass ten or more events for the organization’s legacy series, Unlimited Light hydroplanes.
Pat Malara, Executive Vice President and General Manager ULHRA, Inc.
9.22.08 - Eye on the prize
The season has been full of close heats and fast speeds, now all we have to do is keep our focus and finish the season how it started. The South Dakota and Montana races were some of the best races of the season so far. We were able to race a boat from Chicago and put on a great show for the crowd. The boat ran perfect in every heat and we won seven out of eight heats and proved that we have the boat to beat. We took over the points lead in South Dakota and stretched out the lead in Montana. After that, we ran a few exhibition heats with the UL’s to put on a show. Now, its back to racing. Our next race is this weekend for the APBA G.P. Summer Nationals in Chelan, Washington. The team and I are very excited to compete for this championship. Some very fast boats are expected including Kip Brown, Greg Hopp, and Marty Wolfe. You can bet that we are coming to this event “loaded for bear.” The team has done some minor changes to the boat to fine tune the handling and we have triple checked all of our equipment. Members of our team have raced in several different classes at Lake Chelan and we know just what it takes to win.
After Chelan, we will be off to Port Angeles for the season finale. We lead the points going into the final race and can sew it up by staying consistent. We expect a strong field of G’s at the final race of the year and look forward putting on a great show for all of our fans. As the season starts to come to an end, I have to say thanks to the entire crew for making this the best boat on the water. The G-17 has the most dedicated crew in the pits and has overcome the biggest hurdles. It is a great feeling to experience the success we have with this group of people. With our experienced crew and dedicated sponsors, I am very confident that we will be the boat to beat in the coming weeks.
Dustin Echols
7.30.08 - Race Results
The G-17 brought home two big wins in Chamberlain-Oacoma, SD and Polson, MT in July! Check out the race results and current standings.
7.30.08 - Photo Update
Lots of new photos are up in the photo gallery!
Check them out:
Chamberlain-Oacoma, SD
Road Trip from SD to MT
Polson, MT
6.29.08 - Photo Update
Pictures of the G-17 on display at the Silverdale, WA Costco have been added the photo gallery.
6.24.08 - Get Torco Oil from Shockwave Racing
Shockwave Racing is now an offical Torco Dealer, order yours today!
TorcoRacingOils.com
Download Catalog
Order now
These links will always be available on the Shop page .
6.21.08 - On Display
The boat on display at the Grand Opening of the Woodinville Venture Bank.
6.17.08 - Press Release
SHOCKWAVE RACING IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE ADDITION OF VENTURE BANK AS A 2008 ASSOCIATE SPONSOR. The boat will be on display at the Grand Opening of the Woodinville Venture Bank on Tuesday June 17th from 9am until 5pm. The address is 14111 Woodinville-Duvall Road.
5.23.08 - BEHIND THE WHEEL WITH DUSTIN ECHOLS : Richland Recap
Richland started off with testing on Saturday Morning. The weather was hot and we had to test out the repairs that were done to the boat. As soon as I started to run the boat, I knew that we needed to make some slight changes but the boat felt good. I cam back in and the crew got the canard adjusted and the boat ready for the heat.
The first heat started with three boats but quickly dropped to two. The 13 and I started the heat dead even but we pulled a head into the first turn. The water was awful so we took it pretty easy. We were trying out a few new systems so it was a chance to test everything out. We won the heat and everything was running great. We had some oil on the deck from a small problem but it was a quick fix.
Our second heat for Saturday was moved to Sunday but only two boats were able to make the start. The other boat wasn’t able to score up properly so I made the start by myself. On the third lap we were the only boat running. It wasn’t worth running the boat hard so we just took it easy and finished the race. Again, everything with the boat ran perfect and we were ready for the final.
Right before the final we got word that the other boat wasn’t going to be able to make the final due to mechanical problems. The team was disappointed that we couldn’t put on a show for the crowd and we really wanted to run the boat. The Shockwave team had a perfect weekend and the boat is ready for the next race. We’ll see you in South Dakota.
- Dustin Echols, Driver
5.6.08 - BEHIND THE WHEEL WITH DUSTIN ECHOLS : Phoenix Recap
The weekend started off well with our first test session. The team worked in the off season to improve the handling of the boat. After two laps I was sure that the improvements worked. After I brought the boat back to the pits, the crew found a problem with the oil pump and our mood quickly changed. Then the race was on as we scrambled to get the engines swapped before the crane left for the day. The team worked together like a well oiled machine and they got a new engine in the boat in no time
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Saturday went well and we won both of our heats. Our back-up engine was made up of spare parts that we had around the shop so we didn’t really know what to expect. After we checked the boat over at the end of the day, we were relieved to find everything in the boat was perfect for Sunday.
Sunday was the day that we had all been waiting for, the boat still had untapped speed and everything was good to go. Our first heat was great. The boat ran fantastic and we had plenty of power left if we needed it. The crew gave the boat one last check over and we were ready for the final. On the warm up lap, all of the boats stayed side by side. As we were making our way down the straightaway for the start, I could see some big waves in turn one. The race course is very narrow and I didn’t want to move out and risk not leaving the other boats room. I decided to go through the rough water and try to make it through. As soon as the boat hit the deep swells, the bow went under water and I could feel the boat spinning. As soon as I could see through the windshield, I tried to restart the engine. Rick was telling me on the radio,”try to re-fire!” After trying to restart for a minute, it was clear that our weekend was over. When we got back to the beach the team looked over the broken boat and decided how they were going to fix it in time for the next race. Jason decided he wanted to get the boat back right away so that the repairs could begin. He left the races shortly after they ended and made it home early Tuesday.
This past week the crew has been working feverishly to get the engines and the boat ready for Richland. We had to make a new canard wing and fix the Spar. We have some other cosmetic damage also. If any group of guys can get it fixed in time, it’s our team. We’ll see you in Richland!
- Dustin Echols, Driver
4.21.08 - News Update
April 25-27 is Trafficade presents Unlimited Lights at Firebird Lake, Chandler, AZ (outside of Pheonix). The G-17 will be running under the sponsorship name of Checker Auto Parts a partner company of Schucks Auto Supply. Shockwave Racing will also be handing out 100 free t-shirts to fans at each of the race sites all year.
We tested last weekend at Moses Lake and won 2 out of 4 heats, the boat ran very well under the new engine combination for the G Class. Our best lap speed was 115.6 mph.
2.11.08 - Photos Added
The photo gallery has been updated with pictures of the crew busy at the shop on Saturday Feb 2nd building another gantry crane and checking one of the engines out. Gantry crane built by rudy.smith@capitalindustrialinc.com
1.27.08 - 2008 Season News
Shockwave Racing (17) is pleased to announce that we are joining the NACCS (G boat) class for 2008. Our team decided to make the change when an additional engine package (468 c.i. supercharged engines at 120%) was adopted by the ULHRA Board of Directors.
We would like to recognize and THANK our dedicated crew who have been with us since 2003, without them our team could not have built a new boat and rebuilt another one 3 times in 3 years, sometimes owners and drivers receive all the recognition and the crews are left in the shadows so fans do not realize how much work and dedication they put into a team.
Ed Preston Ed has worked very hard building our new hull with Ron Jones Jr at CLS and also rebuilding our former hull 3 times. He is a hull specialist with years of experience in composites and fiberglass and does all the gearbox changes at the race sites. |
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Jason Crawley Jason is the team truck driver driving the transporter and boat to all the race sites across the country. Jason also works for Ron Jones Jr and was one of the key builders of the new 17 hull, at the race site he is in charge of all propeller duties. |
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Earl Smith Earl is our Fuel System Specialist, he has been involved in drag boat racing for years and is very knowledgeable with all the latest fuel and injection technology. |
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Bill Thompson Bill is our communications expert, he is charge of all aspects of radio communications. |
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Larry Linn Larry is the team marketing representative. Larry has an extensive history in the world of finance and marketing, he also helps in all aspects as needed at the race site. |
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See you in Phoenix (April 25th-27th),
- Rick & Shawn Bridgeman
1.08.08 - Photos Added
Photos from Port Angeles, the November Dino Test, and Firebird Lake, AR have been added to the photo gallery.
1.2.08 - 2007 SEASON RECAP - Dustin Echols
2007 started off with the team working around the clock just to get the boat ready to race. We had a lot of problems to overcome but with the help of a ton of people, we made the first race. We were only able to get the boat on the water For Sunday of Desert thunder but we accomplished everything thing we could have hoped for. The brand new Ron Jones Jr hull finished every heat and we had a good base line on what we needed to make this a winning hull.
The second race of the season was Tastin’ and Racin’ in Issaquah. The team made some changes and we noticed a big improvement. The boat handled flawlessly and the engine ran great. We missed the set up on our gear ratio and had some bad calls by some officials but still finished well. I won the “Wyatt’s Watch” award for the best start of the weekend and the boat turned some impressive lap times.
The third race was in Valleyfield Quebec. This was a very hard course for me to learn to drive. With very rough water and the tightest corners I have ever seen, this was a challenge. The team hit the boat set up perfect the first time. The engine was running great and our fastest testing time was as fast as the GP boats. We ran well all weekend and made it into the final. We were set up perfectly for the start but two boats right in front of me took my lane. I chock this one up to a lesson learned and won’t let it happen again. We finished the final but were disappointed because the boat should have finished much better than it did.
Seattle Seafair was a chance for the team to run in front of our home crowd. The boat was running well but we had some major handling problems. I talked with the crew about what I was feeling and they made the changes that they thought would fix the problems. Every change they made put our boat closer to where it needed to be. We made the final and the boat was handling great. The final ran nine boats and it was almost a survival race. We finished fourth and noticed some more things we could change to make the boat faster in the future.
Silverdale was the fifth race of the series and we were excited. The boat qualified third fastest and everything looked great. Going into the final turn before the start, the boat on our outside cut across three lanes washing me and another boat down. The water that was sucked into the engine destroyed the engine and we were done for the day. The team worked well into the night putting the back up engine in the boat. The next day we were in the third heat and the boat ran great. We had an oil leak and I had to shut the boat down before the finish so we weren’t able to make the final.
Port Angeles was the final race of the regular season and we were hoping that we finally had all of our problems sorted out. We qualified second fastest and knew what changes we needed to make to run faster. We made the changes but unfortunately had another oil leak and I shut the boat down. Due to bad weather the race was cut short and we didn’t have a chance to make the final.
Phoenix was an exhibition for the series but we looked at it as a test session to make sure we are ready for next year. We ran some of the fastest laps of the weekend and this was the fastest the boat has ever gone. The team is confident that our new boat problems are behind us and we are ready for 2008. We have one of the most experienced teams on the circuit and the best boat. We have learned a lot from this past season and will use that knowledge to be the very best next year.
- Dustin Echols, Driver
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