Photo By Stephanie Becker – H1

For Team Oberto, it was different driver – same result.  Jimmy Shane replaced Steve David, the retired Columbia Cup champion, in the community owned Oberto/Miss Madison and put the boat at the top of the qualifying ladder for the 2014 HAPO Columbia Cup with a speed of 163.247 on Friday

Jon Zimmerman’s first round speed of 161.873 in the Les Schwab Tires-Team RedDOT appeared to put him in second place, but an N2 violation on that run meant the speed was disallowed and Zimmerman had to requalify.  His second effort speed of 158.537 put him in third place behind J. Michael Kelly who took second place on the ladder at  161.197 in the 1 Graham Trucking.

Shane was pleased with his boat ride, saying, “We ran a 166 in testing this morning and we definitely have the boat and the team to win this thing.”

The Oberto team is camped under the famous “Bernie Tree,” the traditional home of the defending champion, and Shane added, “That definitely is job one – winning the Columbia Cup again and making sure we have the best spot in the pits again next year.”

A couple of debuts created a lot of interest during testing and qualifying.  Kip Brown drove  Ellstrom  Racing’s brand new 96 Spirit of Qatar in its maiden voyage and qualified the boat at 142.517,tenth on the ladder.

Brown commented, “I love the boat. It’s really easy to drive.  It needs to go faster, and it will.  We need to do some tweaking on the setup and the speed will come, but it handles beautifully.”

Dave Villwock, who retired following the 2012 season with the highest number of victories of any driver in the history of the sport, returned to competition driving Schumacher Racing’s Cost Less Carpet presents Miss Beacon Plumbing. Villwock’s speed  of 153.927 placed him fourth on the qualifying ladder.

Villwock was happy with changes made to the 37 during the off season, saying,  “The boat’s really good. We just need to adjust the controls.  The first time out it wasn’t drivable. The second run it was pretty good and then we just slowed down and put it in the show.”

Asked about the boat’s potential, Villwock added, “I really think we could run a 160.”

Shane then joined Zimmerman and Kelly in the Legends Casino Dash For Cash along with Cal Phipps in the 7 Graham Trucking II and Jamie Nilsen in the 21 Lakeridge Paving.  Shane took the win in the four lap event with Kelly second and Zimmerman third.

Racing will begin at 3:05 pm Saturday with the running of Heat 1A and the 2014 HAPO Columbia Cup Champion will be decided in the Final Heat set for 4:40 pm  on Sunday.

Final Qualifying Results –