Steve David flies the 6 Oh Boy! Oberto to the top of the Air National Guard Series 2012 point standings. Photo by Chris Denslow - H1

After wins in the season opener at Madison, Indiana and the Gold Cup in Detroit – Dave Villwock arrived at the third stop on the Air National Guard 2012 Hydroplane Tour with 3135 Series High Points and a comfortable 515 point lead over closest rival Steve David.

At the Lamb Weston Columbia Cup in the Tri-Cities, a blown gear box in the 1 Spirit of Qatar set the tone for a frustrating weekend for Villwock which saw Jimmy Shane take the win in the the 5 Graham Trucking and gain on both Villwock and David in high points.

David and the 6 Oh Boy! Oberto had a better weekend than Team Qatar and reduced the lead to just 190.

When the fleet moved across the state of Washington to the Albert Lee Cup at Seafair on Seattle’s Lake Washington, Villwock appeared to be back in top form – outqualifying the field to take the top spot on the Pole Position ladder ahead of David and Shane.

The Saturday preliminary heats went true to form with David and Villwock winning heats 1A and 1B.

Then came Sunday where nothing went well for the points leader.  Villwock finished second and sixth (after a penalty) in the Sunday prelims and needed a penalty on J. Michael Kelly in the 37 Miss Beacon Plumbing to finish third in the Final Heat.

Steve David’s dramatic dash to the checkered flag put him atop the podium and moved him past Villwock into first place in Series High Points with 5817 to 5620 for Villwock.

Shane is third with 5103 followed by Kelly with 4073 and Jones Racing’s Jon Zimmerman with 3781.