The defending Seafair champion, the defending series and Gold Cup champ, and a young driver coming off his first win are three of the people to watch in the 2012 Albert Lee Cup at Seafair.

And there are more good stories in the big fast 13 boat field that will churn up Lake Washington as the Air National Guard Hydroplane Series makes its annual stop in Seattle.

A mistake during the score-up before the final heat at the Lamb-Weston Columbia Cup last weekend kept Steve David in the 6 Oh Boy! Oberto from his seventh win in the last ten races in the state of Washington.  And the defending  Seafair champion has yet to be atop the podium after three races in 2012.

But strong finishes and a boat that is running very well have the Florida driver in second place in series high points and confident coming to Seattle. “This is our sponsor’s home town and we have tremendous support here,” said David.  “We have had success on this race course and are looking forward to doing well again.”

Points leader and Gold Cup champion Dave Villwock had a frustrating Sunday in the Tri-Cities driving the 1 Spirit of Qatar 96.  After being top qualifier for the third time in 2012 and winning his Saturday prelim, Villwock experienced a gear box failure on Sunday that pretty much ruined his day, doing considerable damage to the boat.

The Ellstrom team got the boat back on the water, but Villwock finished third in the final and saw his points lead reduced to just 190 with David making up half the previous difference.

The third and fourth place boats in the standings put on a tremendous battle for the Columbia Cup, with Jimmy Shane edging J. Michael Kelly by half a boat length.

Shane, in his first full time ride in the ANG series, has been impressive in the 5 Graham Trucking and is the only winner on the 2012 circuit other than Villwock, who won in Madison, Indiana and at the Gold Cup in Detroit.

Kelly’s 37 Miss Beacon Plumbing lost the engine cowling mid-way through the Tri-Cities final heat, but he was still able to keep the boat at speed and led Shane off the final corner.  Kelly scored two wins in preliminary heats on Sunday and has shown an uncanny ability to secure the inside lane.

Scott Liddycoat, the 2011 Rookie of the Year, and Jon Zimmerman are fifth and sixth in the point standings, driving boats that are returning to full-time racing after being off the circuit.  Both have been fast and competitive.

The last time the USA Racing Partners of Las Vegas appeared at a race  in Seattle was 2008. Driver David Bryant had a blow-over accident in the South turn which ended the team’s day.

While the boat was being repaired in Seattle, owner Kim Gregory lost a short battle with an aggressive cancer and the team went on a long hiatus.

In 2012 the Gregory family is back with the 88 Degree Men driven by Liddycoat.  The 2011 Oryx Cup champion is always fast and aggressive and finished second at last year’s Seafair Race driving the 7 Valken.com.

Zimmerman is driving for Mike and Lori Jones of Kent, whose boat underwent a major overhaul in the off season.  Three former members of the Miss Budweiser crew have the boat running very well and it will be the 9 Seattle Sun Tan presents Miss Sound Propeller Services.

Edmonds based 11 Miss Peters & May needed a lot of work after a blow-over accident at the Gold Cup, but was ready for the Columbia Cup and is in seventh place with JW Myers driving.

Veteran owner/driver/builder Nate Brown of Preston will be in the 7 Miss Red Dot, subbing for nephew Kip Brown, who suffered a broken tibia when the boat spun in the Tri-Cities.

After skipping the first two races of 2012, Brian Perkins returned to action last weekend and will drive the race sponsor’s 21 Albert Lee Appliance.

A sentimental favorite will be Greg Hopp in Leland Unlimited’s 100 Miss Fox Plumbing. The Leland team is racing on following the recent loss of Fred Leland to cancer.

An interesting twist in the thirteen boat field is Kelly Stocklin’s converted “G” boat which is lighter than the rest of the fleet and powered by a smaller turbine engine.  Stocklin turned a lap over 134 mph to qualify last weekend.

The 2012 Albert Lee Cup at Seafair begins with testing and qualifying on Friday and racing on Saturday and Sunday.  The championship final heat is scheduled for 4:45 on Sunday.

 

#	Boat Name	Driver	Hometown	Owner	Hometown
1	Spirit of Qatar 96	Dave Villwock	Monroe, WA	Marine Technologies, LLC	Seattle, Wa
5	Graham Trucking	Jimmy Shane	Havre de Grace, MD	Precision Performance, LLC	Decatur, IN
6	Oh Boy! Oberto	Steve David	Lighthouse Pt. FL	City of Madison, Indiana	Madison, IN
9	Seattle Sun Tan	Jon Zimmerman	Maple Valley, WA	U-7 Racing, Inc.	Kent, WA
	Sound Propeller Serv.
11	Acura of Bellevue-	JW Myers	Burien, WA	Unlimited Racing Group, LLC	Edmonds, Wa
	Miss Peters & May
17	Miss Red Dot	Nate Brown	Preston, WA	Our Gang Racing, LLC	Preston, WA
18	Bucket List Racing	Kelly Stocklin	Edmonds, WA	Bucket List Racing, LLC	Samammish, WA
21	Albert Lee Appliance	Brian Perkins	Black Diamond, WA	Go Fast Turn Left Racing	Maple Valley, WA
37	Miss Beacon Plumbing	J. Michael Kelly	Bonney Lake, WA	Schumacher Racing, LLC	Seattle, WA
57	Miss DiJulio	N. Mark Evans	Chelan, WA	Evans Bros Racing, LLC	Chelan, WA
88	Degree Men	Scott Liddycoat	Suffolk, VA	USA Racing Partners, Inc.	Las Vegas, NV
99	Miss Fox Plumbing Too	Ryan Mallow	Tacoma, WA	Leland Unlimited, LLC	Kirkland, Wa
100	Miss Fox Plumbing	Greg Hopp	Lake Stevens, WA	Leland Unlimited, LLC	Kirkland, Wa