Orange Beach in the News
08-22-2006, 03:43 PM
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Orange Beach in the News
Thunder on Gulf cool fun on hot day
Huge crowds watch series of exciting powerboat races in Orange Beach
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
By DEREK BELT
Sports Reporter
ORANGE BEACH -- Sunday's hot weather, clear skies and inviting water would have made any beachgoer happy. Throw in 37 of the rip-roaringest powerboats the Offshore Super Series has to offer and you have the makings of a memorable afternoon.
Welcome to Thunder on the Gulf.
Sunday's races went off without a hitch, according to Race Director Eddie Sue Winter of the Gulf Coast Powerboat Association. The condominiums lining the Gulf of Mexico were filled to capacity. The beaches were packed with thousands upon thousands of eager race fans. Even the traffic flowed relatively smoothly.
All in all, the fourth installment of Thunder on the Gulf was considered an overwhelming success by the hard-working individuals who make it happen every year.
"I can't even express how happy I am. I thought it was perfect," Winter said of the overall experience. "The weather was impeccable, we had a lot of people in the dry pits looking at the boats and there were a lot of people at the concert. In my eyes, it was the best one yet."
Of course, Sunday's races took center stage.
For the second year in a row, driver Tom Abrams and throttleman Steve Curtis powered the Reliable Carriers Super Cat to a workmanlike victory in Thunder on the Gulf's feature race, besting points leader WHM by 18 seconds.
The win moved Reliable Carriers five points closer to WHM heading into the regular-season finale Sept. 17 in Las Vegas. Abrams and his crew are still 14 points back, however, meaning they'll need plenty of help if they hope to claim the national championship.
Still, the Reliable Carriers camp was all smiles after Sunday's race.
"Every little bit helps," said Abrams, whose boat covered the 14-lap race in 53 minutes, 3 seconds. "WHM started out in the lead because it was much faster in the straightaways, but we made up a lot of ground on the corners. Every time we'd take turn six, we'd gain about 7 or 8 boat lengths."
In the dry pits after the race, Abrams pointed out the Reliable Carriers' shattered tunnel flap, which he said snapped on lap seven. When engaged, the tunnel flap helps lift the boat above the surf, allowing for less friction and faster speeds. Abrams said the break forced him to run the remainder of the race at a much slower pace.
"At that point, we knew we just had to finish because in this sport you have to finish to win," he said. "It's a good thing we had a big lead. I guess that's why you try to get out in front of the pack."
Orange Beach native and fan favorite Gary Nichols, owner of the Nichols Offshore Super Cat, also had a tunnel flap break. In his case, however, the incident spun the boat out and forced the team to call it quits after just two laps.
"It came out of nowhere," driver Todd Werner said. "We were just sitting there keeping a nice straight line and the boat just went 'Wham!' and spun itself around. When the boat started to dip I saw solid water start to come up the side. Usually, all you see is white. Well, it was turning green."
Nichols Offshore finished fifth in its first race back since finishing second at the World Championships last November.
Warpaint was the third-place finisher in the Super Cat division.
Elsewhere, veteran driver Dave Scott and throttleman John Tomlinson picked up their fifth win of the season by guiding the Budweiser Select -- formerly the Bacardi Silver -- to an impressive victory in the Cat Extreme classification. They finished exactly 2 minutes ahead of runner-up Cintron and 3:16 in front of third-place Team CRC.
With the win, Budweiser Select leapfrogged Team CRC and grabbed a one-point lead in the points standings. Cintron is third, just 14 points behind.
Motley Crew took a 16-second win over Hooters Hotel & Casino in the Cat Light division, but driver Scott Roman was literally forced to hand over the checkered flag he'd procured after the race due to an infraction.
Each boat has a minimum weight requirement it must reach, and Motley Crew's rig came in 50 pounds light. As a result, a one-minute penalty was tacked onto their finishing time, dropping them to second place behind Hooters.
"This was a very important win for us," said Hooters driver Steve Page, whose team stretched its points lead over Popeye's Famous Chicken to 26 points. "This put some more distance between us and the competition. The Motley Crew ran really hard, but we'll take what we can get."
Roman, who powers the Motley Crew along with brother Ron, wasn't too bummed about having to give up his hard-earned first-place finish. He felt the Crew ran the best race of the day, and no inspectors were going to deny him that claim.
"In my opinion, I came across the finish line first," said Roman, who also won last year's Cat Light race in Orange Beach. "I got the checkered flag. I may have had to give it to somebody else, but I did the best I could and that's what matters."
Team Imco took the title in Vee Light competition, with Wild Ride second and Hometown Mortgage third. Wild Ride extended its points lead to 12 over Screamin' Eagle, which finished ninth.
Competing as the only boats in their respective fields, AMF Platinum Princess was the winner in Turbine Extreme while Cintron took home the trophy in the Vee Extreme division. Obviously, both teams are leading the points race and well on their way to a pair of national championships.
Taking top honors as the most exciting race of the day was Miccosukee Indian Gaming's one-second win over Love Muscle in the Vee race.
Miccosukee -- which boosted its lead in the points standings to a whopping 42 points -- set the pace for much of the race only to see Love Muscle pull alongside near the finish line.
"It was wild out there," Miccosukee throttleman Joe Sgro said. "The Muscle was on us from the beginning. I kept looking back for him but I couldn't see him, and that either means he's broke down or he's in your backyard.
"It was a great race, and we were lucky enough to hold him off at the end," Sgro added. "We kind of returned the favor from the last race, when he beat us by 5 seconds. That's just boat racing, I guess. That's why we do what we do."
Sgro, a longtime racer who hails from Long Island, N.Y., said this year's Thunder on the Gulf was a "typical Orange Beach experience." And that, believe it or not, has become the compliment of compliments for this resort community.
"You can always tell a race site that actually wants you," Sgro said. "Some of them don't really care, but Orange Beach really rolls out the red carpet. All the locals here are so friendly, and the fans are just great.
"We love coming here. It's one of the best kept secrets around. It's paradise."
Huge crowds watch series of exciting powerboat races in Orange Beach
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
By DEREK BELT
Sports Reporter
ORANGE BEACH -- Sunday's hot weather, clear skies and inviting water would have made any beachgoer happy. Throw in 37 of the rip-roaringest powerboats the Offshore Super Series has to offer and you have the makings of a memorable afternoon.
Welcome to Thunder on the Gulf.
Sunday's races went off without a hitch, according to Race Director Eddie Sue Winter of the Gulf Coast Powerboat Association. The condominiums lining the Gulf of Mexico were filled to capacity. The beaches were packed with thousands upon thousands of eager race fans. Even the traffic flowed relatively smoothly.
All in all, the fourth installment of Thunder on the Gulf was considered an overwhelming success by the hard-working individuals who make it happen every year.
"I can't even express how happy I am. I thought it was perfect," Winter said of the overall experience. "The weather was impeccable, we had a lot of people in the dry pits looking at the boats and there were a lot of people at the concert. In my eyes, it was the best one yet."
Of course, Sunday's races took center stage.
For the second year in a row, driver Tom Abrams and throttleman Steve Curtis powered the Reliable Carriers Super Cat to a workmanlike victory in Thunder on the Gulf's feature race, besting points leader WHM by 18 seconds.
The win moved Reliable Carriers five points closer to WHM heading into the regular-season finale Sept. 17 in Las Vegas. Abrams and his crew are still 14 points back, however, meaning they'll need plenty of help if they hope to claim the national championship.
Still, the Reliable Carriers camp was all smiles after Sunday's race.
"Every little bit helps," said Abrams, whose boat covered the 14-lap race in 53 minutes, 3 seconds. "WHM started out in the lead because it was much faster in the straightaways, but we made up a lot of ground on the corners. Every time we'd take turn six, we'd gain about 7 or 8 boat lengths."
In the dry pits after the race, Abrams pointed out the Reliable Carriers' shattered tunnel flap, which he said snapped on lap seven. When engaged, the tunnel flap helps lift the boat above the surf, allowing for less friction and faster speeds. Abrams said the break forced him to run the remainder of the race at a much slower pace.
"At that point, we knew we just had to finish because in this sport you have to finish to win," he said. "It's a good thing we had a big lead. I guess that's why you try to get out in front of the pack."
Orange Beach native and fan favorite Gary Nichols, owner of the Nichols Offshore Super Cat, also had a tunnel flap break. In his case, however, the incident spun the boat out and forced the team to call it quits after just two laps.
"It came out of nowhere," driver Todd Werner said. "We were just sitting there keeping a nice straight line and the boat just went 'Wham!' and spun itself around. When the boat started to dip I saw solid water start to come up the side. Usually, all you see is white. Well, it was turning green."
Nichols Offshore finished fifth in its first race back since finishing second at the World Championships last November.
Warpaint was the third-place finisher in the Super Cat division.
Elsewhere, veteran driver Dave Scott and throttleman John Tomlinson picked up their fifth win of the season by guiding the Budweiser Select -- formerly the Bacardi Silver -- to an impressive victory in the Cat Extreme classification. They finished exactly 2 minutes ahead of runner-up Cintron and 3:16 in front of third-place Team CRC.
With the win, Budweiser Select leapfrogged Team CRC and grabbed a one-point lead in the points standings. Cintron is third, just 14 points behind.
Motley Crew took a 16-second win over Hooters Hotel & Casino in the Cat Light division, but driver Scott Roman was literally forced to hand over the checkered flag he'd procured after the race due to an infraction.
Each boat has a minimum weight requirement it must reach, and Motley Crew's rig came in 50 pounds light. As a result, a one-minute penalty was tacked onto their finishing time, dropping them to second place behind Hooters.
"This was a very important win for us," said Hooters driver Steve Page, whose team stretched its points lead over Popeye's Famous Chicken to 26 points. "This put some more distance between us and the competition. The Motley Crew ran really hard, but we'll take what we can get."
Roman, who powers the Motley Crew along with brother Ron, wasn't too bummed about having to give up his hard-earned first-place finish. He felt the Crew ran the best race of the day, and no inspectors were going to deny him that claim.
"In my opinion, I came across the finish line first," said Roman, who also won last year's Cat Light race in Orange Beach. "I got the checkered flag. I may have had to give it to somebody else, but I did the best I could and that's what matters."
Team Imco took the title in Vee Light competition, with Wild Ride second and Hometown Mortgage third. Wild Ride extended its points lead to 12 over Screamin' Eagle, which finished ninth.
Competing as the only boats in their respective fields, AMF Platinum Princess was the winner in Turbine Extreme while Cintron took home the trophy in the Vee Extreme division. Obviously, both teams are leading the points race and well on their way to a pair of national championships.
Taking top honors as the most exciting race of the day was Miccosukee Indian Gaming's one-second win over Love Muscle in the Vee race.
Miccosukee -- which boosted its lead in the points standings to a whopping 42 points -- set the pace for much of the race only to see Love Muscle pull alongside near the finish line.
"It was wild out there," Miccosukee throttleman Joe Sgro said. "The Muscle was on us from the beginning. I kept looking back for him but I couldn't see him, and that either means he's broke down or he's in your backyard.
"It was a great race, and we were lucky enough to hold him off at the end," Sgro added. "We kind of returned the favor from the last race, when he beat us by 5 seconds. That's just boat racing, I guess. That's why we do what we do."
Sgro, a longtime racer who hails from Long Island, N.Y., said this year's Thunder on the Gulf was a "typical Orange Beach experience." And that, believe it or not, has become the compliment of compliments for this resort community.
"You can always tell a race site that actually wants you," Sgro said. "Some of them don't really care, but Orange Beach really rolls out the red carpet. All the locals here are so friendly, and the fans are just great.
"We love coming here. It's one of the best kept secrets around. It's paradise."
