Deck2Deck.us: Fantasy Unlimited Hydroplane Racing

As is customary, the APBA Gold Cup will take place on the wild and wooly Detroit River. Unlike last season, this year’s race weekend in the Motor City will feature just one trophy race and not two as the President’s Cup will not be run in 2018 as it was in 2017. The Gold Cup will feature four sets of qualification heats and a Final Heat for a total of a possible 2100 points. With respect to the D2D fantasy championship, all Deck2Deckers will have two fantasy picks at their disposal for a total of 4080 fantasy points for the weekend.

The H1 teams vying for all the money, marbles, and chalk:
U-1 Miss HomeStreet Bank, Jimmy Shane
U-3 Roostertail Restaurant, Jimmy King
U-7 Spirit of Detroit, Bert Henderson
U-9 Real Trac / Delta Gear, Andrew Tate
U-11 Reliable Diamond Tool Presents Miss J&D’s, Tom Thompson
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 returns to the scene of their 2017 incident with the ex-Budweiser Beer Wagon T-5 hull. It last campaigned in Detroit in 2017 where rookie chauffeur Bert Henderson played a round of bumper boats in the 2017 Gold Cup final. Henderson of Brockville, Ontario is a decorated and highly successful driver from Canada’s Hydro Racing League series and will look to improve on his Team’s 2017 outcome.

Rocketry: It has widely been reported that U1 HomeStreet Bank driver Jimmy Shane works for Blue Origin, a private company that specializes in aerospace manufacturing and spaceflight services, in other words, rocketry. Judging by the results at Seattle’s Seafair It appeared the new HomeStreet bank “white” hull (1801) may have been developed at Blue Origin rather than the HomeStreet’s Tukwila, WA ex-Bud boat shop. In the Hulls first race weekend it was top qualifier by more than 3 mph and was a min. speed limit penalty away from a perfect weekend right out of the box.

No Gold, No Glory: Unfortunately the list of boats not racing in the Gold Cup is a long one. And the reason theses Teams are not running is not a lack of guts, but a lack of funding and/or hull damage. The list includes: U-12 Graham Trucking, U-21 Payne West Insurance, U-27 Wiggins Racing, and U99.9 Carstar presents Miss Rock.

4200 points is an impossible total. Only one boat can be top qualifier and win in all 5 of its heats for 2100 points. The next highest total would be second qualifier, win all four preliminary heats, and finish second in the final, giving a total of 1980 points. The highest possible total for the weekend, therefore, is 4080 points.

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