Dan Francis of Imperial, Mo., made history when he became the first Champ Boat driver to be electronically timed at the Bud Light St. Louis Grand Prix. The Finish Lynx electronic timing system, which captures thousands of images per second, was being evaluated at its first event and Francis was the first driver to qualify. He made the historic event more memorable by starting to blow over backwards as he crossed the start line. This is the lift-off image captured by Finish Lynx as Francis took the checkered flag. Dan's boat rotated more than 360 degrees before crashing into Creve Coeur Lake. He was not injured. His boat was repaired in time for him to compete in the class final on Sunday.

Photo courtesy Mike Chatfield.