Wily veteran hydroplane driver finds a way to win in Seattle and grab the national title
You have to give J. Michael Kelly credit.
When it comes to the important races, the veteran driver knows what he needs to do to take the checkered flag.
On Sunday, Kelly had perhaps the greatest day of his 20-year unlimited driving career when he won his second APBA Gold Cup in Seattle.
But it gets better. With the win in Sunday’s final, Kelly won the H1 national high points championship.
It was his second drivers title, but the first time his team — the U-8 Beacon Electric — won the national title too.
Kelly finished with 5,284 season points, while teammate Corey Peabody in the U-9 Beacon Plumbing was second with 5,200.
Peabody’s consolation was that, as team manager, he was also part of a national title team.
Judging off of the previous week’s race in the Tri-Cities at the Columbia Cup, Peabody seemed to have things clicking.
He had a perfect weekend on the Columbia River (fastest qualifier, won three preliminary heats, and won the final). He was never threatened, really.
But when it comes to the Gold Cup — boat racing’s most prestigious trophy — everyone brings their best.
No less than six boats had legitimate shots to win this race.
But here’s the deal: Kelly had won in Seattle four times before this Gold Cup weekend (the last two by virtue of a penalty). Even those wins via penalty, though, Kelly was near the front.
In the Lampson Pits the previous weekend, Kelly told me that in order to win a national championship, now’s the time to be avoiding penalties.
I liken Lake Washington to a big ol’ bathtub. There’s no water flow like there is on the Columbia River, and this will make for a different race course. It makes for rougher waters, and that’s something Kelly has always thrived in.
What made it even more tense was in that final heat, Kelly trailed Peabody by 91 points for the season championship. And officials figured out that if either driver won the final heat, they’d not only walk away with the Gold Cup victory, but a national championship.
So how did Kelly do it?
He found himself on the inside lane during the pre-race milling period. But the veteran allowed rookie driver Dylan Runne of the U-1 Miss HomeStreet Bank to sneak into Lane 1, and Kelly settled for Lane 2.
Meanwhile, Peabody found himself in Lane 4, with Andrew Tate of the U-91 Goodman Real Estate settled into Lane 3 between Peabody and Kelly.
All weekend long, drivers were finding that Lane 2 was the best lane to run in.
And while Tate hit the starting line almost perfectly, Kelly found the rough Lake Washington water to his liking and stayed right with him for the first two laps of the five-lap final.
It wasn’t until the middle of lap three that Kelly started to pull away for the lead. He built on that lead over the final two laps for the victory.
Tate would finish second, while Peabody placed third.
So for J. Michael Kelly to win for the fifth time in his career in Seattle on Sunday — and for his second Gold Cup — a victory shouldn’t be much of a surprise.
In three year’s time, it’s also been a great start for the Strong Racing team.
Its boats — the U-8 and the U-9 — won all four races on the circuit this year. In 13 race events since Darrell and Vanessa Strong put the team together, the two boats have combined for nine victories.
Here are Sunday’s final heat results: 1, J. Michael Kelly, U-8 Beacon Electric, 141.073 mph, 400 points; 2, Andrew Tate, U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate, 139.142, 300; 3, Corey Peabody, U-9 Beacon Plumbing, 135.977, 225; 4, Dustin Echols, U-40 Flav-R-Pac, 131.921. 169; 5, Jamie Nilsen, U-11 Legend Yacht Transport presented by The Old Cannery Furniture Warehouse, 119.216, 127; Dylan Runne, U-1 Miss HomeStreet, disqualified.
And here are the final H-1 Unlimited national standings: 1, J. Michael Kelly, U-8 Beacon Electric, 5284 points; 2, Corey Peabody, U-9 Beacon Plumbing, 5200; 3, Dustin Echols, U-40 Flav-R-Pac, 4181; 4, Jamie Nilsen, U-11 Legend Yacht Transport presented by The Old Cannery Furniture Warehouse, 4146; 5, Andrew Tate, U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate, 4014; 6, Dylan Runne, U-1 Miss HomeStreet, 3684; 7, Bobby King, U-12 Graham Trucking, 1252; 8, Gunnar O’Farrell, U-60 The Beast Unleashed presents Miss Thriftway, 762; 9, Jimmy King, U-3 Griggs presents Miss Ace Hardware, 670.
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