Jimmy Shane

Count the newest Gold Cup champion among those glad about the date change for the annual unlimited hydroplane race on the Detroit River.

“We’ll be back; I’m excited,” Jimmy Shane, whose U-6 Oberto won the APBA Gold Cup on Sunday, said of the move to late August 2015.

“There’s going to be some fantastic racing coming in. It’s going to be an exciting time.”

One feature of the move from the weekend following the Fourth of July holiday, race director Mark Weber said, will be the addition of Grand Prix boats to the racing program.

That’s fine with Shane, who went undefeated in qualifying, heat races and the Gold Cup final last weekend.

“Those Grand Prix boats are going to rock your world,” Shane said. “Those guys put on a great show. Crazy drivers. Crazy boats.”

“You guys are going to be really happy that they changed the date for the Gold Cup, because it’s going to be a great show next year.”

The Detroit River Regatta Association, which puts on the Gold Cup, is considering changing the event from three days to two, Weber said.

But, for the time being, the Gold Cup is scheduled for Aug. 21-23.

“We’re saying it’s three days right now, because those are our traditional dates,” Weber, a Washington Township resident, said.

The DRRA sought a date change because many fans are on vacation and out of town the first two weeks in July due to widespread automotive industry shut-downs, Weber said.

“That was a big part of the problem,” Weber said. “The holiday draws people out of town.”

June weekends were not good, Weber said, because of events like the open-wheel automobile race on Belle Isle and the annual Detroit fireworks show, the latter of which compels the City of Detroit to maximize police overtime expenses.

With July comes the city’s new fiscal year, Weber pointed out.

The weekend of Aug. 21-23 will not interfere with events like NASCAR racing at Michigan International Speedway and the Woodward Dream Cruise.

“Making a major event change is not something you take lightly at all,” Weber said. “That weighed very heavily on our decision. It’s a little scary.

“But we’ve got to embrace this thing the best way we can.”

A casualty of the change will likely be the loss of 5-liter boats racing during Gold Cup weekend, Weber said.

The 5-liters are scheduled to race in Ohio on the new Gold Cup weekend.

“It’s a business decision, nothing against them whatsoever” Weber said. “They will be fine.”

In recent years, unlimited hydroplane teams have traveled to Detroit after racing at Madison, Ind.

Unless the H1 Unlimited order of events changes, Detroit will be fourth on the 2015 schedule, following Madison, Tri-Cities (Washington state) and Seattle.

“There’s a level of concern (about travel),” Weber said. “At the end of the day, we needed to make what we feel is the best decision for this association.”

H1 Unlimited, which sanctions the Gold Cup and other unlimited hydroplane events, is “supportive” of the date change, chairman Sam Cole said.

“H1,” Cole said, “is committed to assisting the DRRA and (ensuring) the long-term viability of the Detroit event and the APBA Gold Cup race,” Cole said in a statement. “H1 leadership will work to integrate the new dates into the 2015 schedule and coordinate changes with any events which might be impacted.”

Grand Prix hydroplanes look similar to unlimiteds and use supercharged engines. The 2014 ACHA schedule includes stops at Valleyfield, Quebec, and Brockville, Ontario.

“They make gobs of noise,” Weber said.

Jon Zimmerman got a chipped tooth, a disappointed psyche and an uncertain immediate racing future after he and the U-9 unlimited hydroplane crashed during a Detroit Gold Cup heat race on the Detroit River.

“I’ve got a little bump in my ribs; that’s about it,” Zimmerman, who said he also chipped a tooth in the Saturday crash. “Everything else is just fine.”

The same could not be said for the U-9 Red Dot/Spirit of Qatar, the Jones Racing boat based in Kent, Wash.

“We’re going to have to work hard to get it to Tri-Cities (to race the final weekend in July in Washington),” Zimmerman said Sunday. “The biggest deal is, we’ve got to find some parts, or build some parts.”

The U-9 crew took the boat engine apart.

“We had to get all the water out of the engine and get it so it doesn’t rust up and (become) unusable before we get home,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman thought the U-9 was capable of winning the Gold Cup.

“We went out there with a plan,” he said. “We had a plan to babysit the boat and save it for the final.

“We were laying up a little bit to save something for the final.”

But the plan was foiled when Zimmerman hit a “bump” in the water on the final lap of a heat race.

His boat went into the air and turned completely around before landing on its bottom.

“It hit that bump, it popped up, did a little wheelie and wouldn’t come back down,” Zimmerman said.

“It’s hard to see that stuff coming, and you can’t really do anything about it anyway. It’s there. You’re going to go through it.”

Jimmy Shane won Heat 4A Sunday, giving the driver of the U-6 Oberto a sweep of four heat races during the Detroit Gold Cup on the Detroit River.

Shane won two heats Saturday and two more Sunday in advance of the Gold Cup final.

J. Michael Kelly in the U-1 Graham Trucking won Heat 4B, the final heat of the H1 Unlimited event.

Kelly also won Heat 3B Sunday.

Kelly won three of his four heats for the weekend, finishing out of the top spot only in Heat 1A that included Shane.

The field for the APBA Gold Cup is dwindling, and that’s OK with U-7 driver Cal Phipps.

“No,” the Sterling Heights resident said when asked if he was disappointed the original eight-boat roster had been cut by at least three.

One of the boats still in the running was the U-1 driven by J. Michael Kelly.

Phipps and Kelly are Graham Trucking teammates.

“If the only two boats standing are the two Graham Trucking boats, if either one takes the Gold Cup, because I’m a team player, I’ll take it,” Phipps said.

“If (Kelly) wins, I get my hands on it. If I win, he gets his hands on it. The goal at the end of the day today is to get our hands on that Gold Cup.”

The U-9 withdrew Saturday after being damaged in a crash. The U-12 and U-11 have had mechanical failures and did not leave their pits Sunday.

The U-22 raced after ignition issues were resolved, team owner Steve Webster said.

Jimmy Shane kept his APBA Detroit Gold Cup record clean with a heat race victory Sunday morning.

The driver of the U-6 Oberto won Heat 3A.

Shane on Saturday won Heat 1A and Heat 2B.

On Friday, he was the fastest qualifier in the H1 Unlimited event on the Detroit River.

J. Michael Kelly won Heat 3B on Sunday. Only two boats started that heat, Kelly's and the U-21 driven by Brian Perkins.
"It's pretty lumpy out on the course right now," Shane said. "It's white-capping out there a little. This is the Detroit water that I expected to be racing on. We set the boat up for this kind of conditions. The Oberto handled it beautifully."
The wind blew from the north during heats 3A and 3B.
"It can stay in that direction as long as it gets a little bit lighter," Shane said. "Everybody's got to race in it. Hopefully everybody will use their heads. The Belle Isle turn was nice and calm today. The straightaways are pretty lumpy."

Jon Zimmerman

Driver Jon Zimmerman was not injured in a final-lap crash during a heat race for the Detroit Gold Cup on Saturday, according to a post on the U-9 Jones Racing Facebook page.
"... As a matter of fact, he helped us tear down our equipment this evening,"  the post said.
The U-9 Red Dot/Spirit of Qatar lifted out of the water and landed right-side up during Heat 2B, which was won by Jimmy Shane in the U-6.

The U-9 Jones Racing hydroplane

Jones Racing is evaluating damage to the U-9 and has not determined whether the craft can race at Tri-Cities in Washington state on the final weekend of July, the Facebook post said.

Top qualifier Jimmy Shane went 2-for-2 in heat races on the Detroit River on Saturday.
Shane drove the U-6 Oberto to first-place finishes in a pair of heats for the DYC Detroit APBA Gold Cup. Two more flights of heat race

Jimmy Shane

s and the Gold Cup final are scheduled for Sunday.
Shane had an average speed of 157.197 in Heat 1A, which for awhile featured side-by-side racing between the U-6 and the U-1 Graham Trucking driven by J. Michael Kelly.
Only three boats, the U-6 included, started Heat 2B. Shane, of Renton, Wash., averaged 148.941 mph as he finished ahead of Sterling Heights resident Cal Phipps in the U-7 Graham Trucking. The U-9 Red Dot/Spirit of Qatar driven by Jon Zimmerman crashed on the final lap.
Kelly and Brian Perkins won the other heat races. Perkins drives the U-21 Miss Al Deeby Dodge.
The U-11 Peters & May boat did not start either heat to which it was assigned. Nor did the U-12 SERVPRO/Miss DiJulio.
Heat victories were worth 400 points apiece in the H1 Unlimited standings.

The APBA Gold Cup unlimited hydroplane race will be in August in 2015, the Detroit River Regatta Association said Saturday. Racing is scheduled for Aug. 21-23 on the Detroit River, although a three-day show is not certain, race director Mark Weber said.
One reason for the change was to get the Gold Cup away from the July 4 holiday.
"When the third weekend in August opened up, we jumped at the chance," Tom Bertolini, president of the DRRA, which produces the race, said.
The Grand Prix racing class will be part of the 2015 Gold Cup, Bertolini said. They will compete for the Silver Cup.
Sam Cole, chairman of H1 Unlimited, said his organization supports the date change.
"Our priority," Cole said, "is to ensure that the move benefits fans, sponsors and our teams in a manner that provides a positive impact on our series. H1 is committed to assisting the DRRA and help ensure the long term viability of the Detroit event and the APBA Gold Cup race."

Teddy Dudley can’t kick the racing bug.

Cal Phipps, left, and Teddy Dudley

The Rochester Hills resident used to drive race boats, but moved out of that side of the sport when he started a family.

Now he’s responsible for the cockpit for the U-7 Graham Trucking unlimited hydroplane driven by Sterling Heights resident Cal Phipps.

“I keep Cal safe,” Dudley said. “And I do repair on the boat when we need it.”

Dudley started racing in 1985. He drove 5-liter, 7-liter and Grand Prix boats.

“Then when I started having kids, having a family, I had a lot of liabilities,” he said.

Dudley and his wife, Camilla, have four children.  Jada, Justin, Michael and D’Mario range in age from 12 years to 27.

Teddy Dudley owns a Rochester Hills construction business and a Detroit collision shop.

This weekend, he has left his businessman’s cards at home and taken on the persona of a racer and competitor.

The U-7 is among eight boats trying to win the DYC Detroit APBA Gold Cup on the Detroit River.

“We come to win,” Dudley said.

Jimmy Shane drove the U-6 Oberto to a top qualifying speed of 162.613 mph for the DYC Detroit APBA Gold Cup on the Detroit River on Friday.

Jon Zimmerman in the U-9 Red Dot/Spirit of Qatar was second and J. Michael Kelly in the U-1 Graham Trucking third for the H1 Unlimited hydroplane event. Zimmerman's speed was 160.432, and Kelly turned a lap of 159.454.

Cal Phipps of Sterling Heights was fourth in the U-7 Graham Trucking (150.707), followed by Brian Perkins in the U-21 Al Deeby Dodge (148.302) and Mike Webster in the U-22 Webster Racing (141.261).

Greg Hopp's U-12 ServPro/Miss DiJulio had a speed of 133.836 mph.

Heat races will be Saturday.

More heat races and the Gold Cup final will be Sunday.

Jimmy Shane signs autographs for fans Friday.

J. Michael Kelly drove the U-1 Graham Trucking unlimited hydroplane to victory in the season-opening Madison (Ind.) Regatta last weekend.

Next up for the H1 Unlimited Series racers is the APBA Detroit Gold Cup on the Detroit River, Friday-Sunday, July 11-13.

Qualifying begins at 5 p.m. Friday.

Heat races will be run Saturday and again Sunday, with the Gold Cup final Sunday.

Go to www.gold-cup.com for more information.

The Detroit Gold Cup hydroplane races will be July 11-13 on the Detroit River.

Kip Brown is the defending champion of the event.

Jimmy Shane edged J Michael Kelley by less than one boat length to win the Air National Guard H1 Unlimited Series hydroplane racing event at Tri-Cities, Wash., on Sunday.
Dave Villwock, the Detroit Gold Cup champion, finished third in the first ANG event since the race on the Detroit River.
Shane, of Havre de Grace, Maryland, who drives the U-5 Graham Trucking, called the victory, "the fulfillment of a childhood dream."