Sacramento fans cheer BigWake Weekend winner Steve David - Photo by Chris Denslow H-1

When Steve David was forced to start the Championship Final Heat of BigWake Weekend on Sacramento’s Folsom Lake in lane four, it looked like the Lighthouse Point, Florida driver would have his work cut out for him.

Bud David accelerated to the start line, timing his run perfectly, and had established a lead by the time the fast final heat field got into the first turn.  The remainder of the five lap final on the two mile course was all Steve David and the 1 Oh Boy! Oberto.

J. Michael Kelly, Steve David and Jimmy Shane
Photo by Craig Barney

Challenger Jimmy Shane in the 5 Graham Trucking had won all three of his prelims and started the heat two lanes to David’s left, appearing to have an advantage.  But the superior speed of the top qualifier and defending H1 Unlimited Series High Point Champion was too much for Shane and the rest of the field to handle.

Shane finished second with J. Michael Kelly in the 37 Performance Chevrolet rounding out the top three podium finishers.

Apparent third place finisher Jon Zimmerman in the 9 Team Red Dot appeared to be running third, but was penalized a lap for a racing infraction and dropped back to seventh.

Earlier, a mistake by David cost him the lead in season high points.  He arrived at the one minute score-up buoy in Heat 2B too early and was penalized a lap, dropping him from first to fifth place and costing him 373 series high points.  Shane’s series of three straight preliminary wins and the second place finish in the final allowed him to leave Sacramento with his team leading the series high point chase by 23 points.

“Except for a mistake in 2B, we had a great weekend and it was great to get back to our winning ways,” said David.  “That will be my last mistake of the year and we’ll go win all our heats in our home town of Madison and get the points lead back.”

I big crowd of sun-baked Californians lined the shores of Granite Bay on Folsom Lake, near Sacramento, braving temperatures in the mid-90’s as they enjoyed the return of Unlimited Hydroplane Racing to the area after an absence of 46 years.

David also praised the race organizers and fans saying, “The reception by the fans and media in Sacramento has been tremendous and we had a great experience here.  After the reception the sport received here and the great job done by the event organizers, we are already looking forward to coming back in 2014.”

The H1 Unlimited Tour will reconvene in Madison, Indiana July  5 – 7.