Deck2Deck.us: Fantasy Unlimited Hydroplane Racing

As is customary, the APBA Gold Cup will take place in "The D," but unlike past seasons, this year’s race weekend in the Motor City will feature two distinct trophy races – a Detroit doubleheader! Saturday will provide two sets of qualification heats and a Final Heat for the awarding of the President’s Cup. This trophy, contested for many years on Washington D.C.‘s Potomac River, retired since 1977, has been brought out of retirement in 2017. Sunday will showcase Detroit’s big dance — THE GOLD CUP. Three sets of qualification heats and a final are slated for the eight boat teams set to pack the Horace Dodge Pits. How has the complexion of the D2D points battle changed? The 2017 running of the Gold Cup does not feature four sets of heats, as is typical. The Columbia Cup in Tri-Cities carried more fantasy weight this season with its four sets of qualification heats and the winner-take-all final. The short President’s Cup format will make it the least valuable race of the short five-race season.

The teams vying for all the money, marbles, chalk, and glory are:

U-1 Miss HomeStreet Bank, Jimmy Shane
U-3 Griggs presents Miss Ace Hardware, Jimmy King
U-7 Spirit of Detroit, Bert Henderson (Rookie)
U-9 Real Trac / Delta Gear, Andrew Tate
U-11 DiJulio Presents Miss J&D’s, Tom Thompson
U-12 Graham Trucking, J. Michael Kelly
U-99.9 Leland Unlimited presents the Carstar powered Miss Rock, Kevin Eacret
U-440 Bucket List Racing, Dustin Echols

HydroDan’s Three 2 Think About:

The Spirit Returns: Detroit’s own Dave Bartush and his Spirit of Detroit race team have purchased the ex-Budweiser Beer Wagon T-5 hull. It was last campaigned by Ted Porter and Precision Performance Engineering as Graham Trucking II in 2016. The U-7 will run in Detroit chauffeured by Bert Henderson of Brockville, Ontario. Henderson is a decorated and highly successful driver from Canada’s Hydro Racing League series. It should be understood that Henderson will need to qualify as a driver in the unlimited ranks, and will likely have to start heats from behind and outside until the officials declare him fully qualified.

Orange Crush: Barring a minor miracle, the undersized and underpowered U-440 likely isn’t a threat to win a President’s Cup or Gold Cup trophy this weekend. But it’s impossible not to root for the hard-luck team that keeps coming back from blowovers, gear box gremlins, and broken propellers. Like they say, if this team didn’t have bad luck it wouldn’t have any at all, but the love affair between hard core boat fans and Bucket List Racing is real!

Her Name is Miss Rock!: Although outclassed in many respects, the U-99.9 Miss Rock has finished every heat she has entered in Seattle and Tri-Cities in 2017. Her best finish was a 2nd place in Heat 1B at Seafair. Back at the controls of the old girl is regular driver Kevin Eacret, who returns after rehabbing a leg injury. Eacret replaces relief driver Greg Hopp who filled in admirably thus far. For those D2D fantasy players searching for a depth pick at this point in the season, consider asking Miss Rock to the big dance this weekend.