DOIDGE RACING TEAM
Leaving 'Em In Our Wakes for Three Generations
Race Time
Keep checking back throughout the racing season and track our results. Our next race is Bakersfield, September 27-28.
One thing is certain, whatever our results, we will be having fun with friends and family!
Watch for P-94, the 2nd Cracker out of the Doidge Boat Works stable. Chuck will have his Cracker on the water during the 2008 season. The P-94 will have a Ford power plant.
LONG BEACH - August
Our 2nd race of the season was August 2 & 3 in Long Beach. We did not have our main engine back yet so we put in the "back-up" engine and went out for a great weekend of racing, friendship and wonderful SoCal weather at the beach.
There were 13 Crackers turning out for the weekend of racing. Saturday we had a Trophy Dash, sponsored by LNL Anodizing & Aviad Oil Systems, and Sunday was the 2008 Summer Nationals.
We went out in the first heat of Crackers on Saturday and were able to come away with a 3rd place finish. We did even better in the second heat of qualifying and came away with a 1st place finish. Next was the Trophy Dash, for which they took the fastest 4 boats of the day and we went out and raced for cash. We had some good competition and were able to come in 3rd. Thank you to Aviad and LNL for your sponsorship and donations to the Trophy Dash.
The final heat on Saturday had 8 boats competing. Unfortunately, we had to make a last minute engine modification and did not make the gun. We went ahead and went out on the course and used the heat of racing as a test session to see if our modifications would be successful for Sunday.
Sunday was another great day at Long Beach and we finished 2nd in the first qualifier (just beating out the P-96 at the finish line) and 4th in the second qualifier. The final heat on Sunday was our Summer Nationals and there was great racing to be seen. We came in 4th and Jerry Ross, in the Samson owned P-69 came home with the victory. Congratulations to the P-69 team!
BURLEY - June
We always enjoy Burley and this year was no exception. We saw old friends, made new ones and just had a great time. We did not have a good racing weekend, we blew up our race engine during testing on Thursday so had to sit out the Happy Hour Shoot Out on Friday and the races on Saturday. Thank you to the P-9 team (Scott Schatz & Ed Solis) for loaning us their spare engine for Sunday. However, we were not able to complete even one heat of racing on Sunday as we ran into problems with their engine as well. You can read more about the eventful weekend below in the section titled "Coming Live From Burley".
Despite all of the mishaps, we had a great time and we will be back next year. Thank you to everyone in Burley and the surrounding areas for making us feel so welcome during the Regatta. A big Thank You to the Best Western Burley Inn for their support during the Regatta.
We want to send a special Thank You out to Gomer and his friends for their support to the team. Hope you had a great birthday this year!
Our 2nd race of the season was August 2 & 3 in Long Beach. We did not have our main engine back yet so we put in the "back-up" engine and went out for a great weekend of racing, friendship and wonderful SoCal weather at the beach.
There were 13 Crackers turning out for the weekend of racing. Saturday we had a Trophy Dash, sponsored by LNL Anodizing & Aviad Oil Systems, and Sunday was the 2008 Summer Nationals.
We went out in the first heat of Crackers on Saturday and were able to come away with a 3rd place finish. We did even better in the second heat of qualifying and came away with a 1st place finish. Next was the Trophy Dash, for which they took the fastest 4 boats of the day and we went out and raced for cash. We had some good competition and were able to come in 3rd. Thank you to Aviad and LNL for your sponsorship and donations to the Trophy Dash.
The final heat on Saturday had 8 boats competing. Unfortunately, we had to make a last minute engine modification and did not make the gun. We went ahead and went out on the course and used the heat of racing as a test session to see if our modifications would be successful for Sunday.
Sunday was another great day at Long Beach and we finished 2nd in the first qualifier (just beating out the P-96 at the finish line) and 4th in the second qualifier. The final heat on Sunday was our Summer Nationals and there was great racing to be seen. We came in 4th and Jerry Ross, in the Samson owned P-69 came home with the victory. Congratulations to the P-69 team!
BURLEY - June
We always enjoy Burley and this year was no exception. We saw old friends, made new ones and just had a great time. We did not have a good racing weekend, we blew up our race engine during testing on Thursday so had to sit out the Happy Hour Shoot Out on Friday and the races on Saturday. Thank you to the P-9 team (Scott Schatz & Ed Solis) for loaning us their spare engine for Sunday. However, we were not able to complete even one heat of racing on Sunday as we ran into problems with their engine as well. You can read more about the eventful weekend below in the section titled "Coming Live From Burley".
Despite all of the mishaps, we had a great time and we will be back next year. Thank you to everyone in Burley and the surrounding areas for making us feel so welcome during the Regatta. A big Thank You to the Best Western Burley Inn for their support during the Regatta.
We want to send a special Thank You out to Gomer and his friends for their support to the team. Hope you had a great birthday this year!
COMING LIVE FROM BURLEY, IDAHO...
Saturday, June 28, 2008
We are at Burley and having a heck of a weekend! Arrived in Burley Wednesday night and immediately began to prepare for testing on Thursday.
Thursday was a full day of testing with everything starting out routine, testing props and set-ups and getting the boat faster & faster. Then we had a little accident with Gramp's slicing his finger with the grinder resulting in a trip to the emergency room at the end of the day. The big event of the day was a blown engine towards the completion of testing. Yep, a blown engine.....it overheated (probably a steam pocket) and a hole melted in the head. Top that off with Harry getting run over at least twice by the boat and dropping the rudder on his toe which is now black, no black & blue, just black. We thought that was it for the weekend! Then last Saturday afternoon things took a turn....
We sat out the Happy Hour Shoot Out on Friday as well as the heats of racing on Saturday. We put the boat on the beach for spectators to take pictures and talk to Danny and the crew throughout the day. But then around 5:00 Scott Schatz from the P-9 offered to put their spare engine in the P-21 for racing on Sunday. The crew immediately went to work tearing down our engine and preparing the boat to drop the P-9's engine in. Thanks to additional help from the P-9 crew, the use of Dave Rankin's engine winch and other volunteers, by about 11:00 pm our engine was out of the boat and the P-9 engine was sitting in it. They called it a day at that point and decided to come back early Sunday morning to complete the installation.
Sunday, June 29th
It is 8:00 Sunday morning and after working until about 11:30 last night the crew is back at the race course finishing up the engine installation. The engine change is almost complete and their shouldn't be any problems getting on the water today. We'll post results as soon as the day is complete. Wish us luck!
Oh what a day....the engine swap is complete and we even had a chance to run a couple of test laps. Some fine tuning is needed but we will be ready for race time.
Race time...we leave the pit area and our fans seem to be excited that we are back out on the water. Unfortunately, we are not able to complete the heat of racing, actually we only complete just over one lap when oil begins to blow everywhere. Afraid of damaging the P-9's engine, Danny shuts it off and we are towed in at the end of the race. After looking things over the crew finds that the engine is fine, it seems that excess oil overflowed out the tank and went everywhere, including all over Danny & Jennifer. We will be ready for the 2nd heat!
The 2nd heat was not successful either! this time the P-21 came out of the pits and thanked the fans for their support by tossing Frisbees from the boat onto shore. At the drop of the green flag we got a decent start but we were only able to complete about 2 laps before the oil pressure dropped. Dan reached up to shut off the engine and it shut off on it's own before he could hit the switch. Once we get home we will check to see if everything is okay in the P-9 engine and get to work on our engine to prepare for Long Beach in August.
Thank you to all of the fans at the Idaho Regatta and thank you to the Best Western Burley Inn!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
We are at Burley and having a heck of a weekend! Arrived in Burley Wednesday night and immediately began to prepare for testing on Thursday.
Thursday was a full day of testing with everything starting out routine, testing props and set-ups and getting the boat faster & faster. Then we had a little accident with Gramp's slicing his finger with the grinder resulting in a trip to the emergency room at the end of the day. The big event of the day was a blown engine towards the completion of testing. Yep, a blown engine.....it overheated (probably a steam pocket) and a hole melted in the head. Top that off with Harry getting run over at least twice by the boat and dropping the rudder on his toe which is now black, no black & blue, just black. We thought that was it for the weekend! Then last Saturday afternoon things took a turn....
We sat out the Happy Hour Shoot Out on Friday as well as the heats of racing on Saturday. We put the boat on the beach for spectators to take pictures and talk to Danny and the crew throughout the day. But then around 5:00 Scott Schatz from the P-9 offered to put their spare engine in the P-21 for racing on Sunday. The crew immediately went to work tearing down our engine and preparing the boat to drop the P-9's engine in. Thanks to additional help from the P-9 crew, the use of Dave Rankin's engine winch and other volunteers, by about 11:00 pm our engine was out of the boat and the P-9 engine was sitting in it. They called it a day at that point and decided to come back early Sunday morning to complete the installation.
Sunday, June 29th
It is 8:00 Sunday morning and after working until about 11:30 last night the crew is back at the race course finishing up the engine installation. The engine change is almost complete and their shouldn't be any problems getting on the water today. We'll post results as soon as the day is complete. Wish us luck!
Oh what a day....the engine swap is complete and we even had a chance to run a couple of test laps. Some fine tuning is needed but we will be ready for race time.
Race time...we leave the pit area and our fans seem to be excited that we are back out on the water. Unfortunately, we are not able to complete the heat of racing, actually we only complete just over one lap when oil begins to blow everywhere. Afraid of damaging the P-9's engine, Danny shuts it off and we are towed in at the end of the race. After looking things over the crew finds that the engine is fine, it seems that excess oil overflowed out the tank and went everywhere, including all over Danny & Jennifer. We will be ready for the 2nd heat!
The 2nd heat was not successful either! this time the P-21 came out of the pits and thanked the fans for their support by tossing Frisbees from the boat onto shore. At the drop of the green flag we got a decent start but we were only able to complete about 2 laps before the oil pressure dropped. Dan reached up to shut off the engine and it shut off on it's own before he could hit the switch. Once we get home we will check to see if everything is okay in the P-9 engine and get to work on our engine to prepare for Long Beach in August.
Thank you to all of the fans at the Idaho Regatta and thank you to the Best Western Burley Inn!
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