MICHIGAN CITY: Simmons, Reindl Victorious on Day 1
Teams comprising four different “P” bracket classes (2, 4, 5 and 7) gathered on Lake Michigan for the first of two weekend race days in Michigan City, IN — the fifth meet-up in the OPA/Powerboat P1 ABPA series.
Spreading the race across two days was a new strategy for the race, due to the high boat count. Saturday’s race was split up into two starts (2 and 4, followed by 5 and 7); classes 3 and 6 were scheduled to race on Sunday.
In Class 7, three boats raced four laps for a total of 22 miles. Goofin’ Around (with driver Matt Lauer and throttleman Joe Lauer) took the unofficial win, followed by NJI Motorsports (an MTI featuring Nick Imprescia and John Woods) and Tomahawk.
Racing for 9 laps on the 5.5-mile course for a total 49.5 miles, two teams raced in Class 2. The unofficial winner was : Summerset Boat Lift (with Mitchell and Jim Watson) finished with a substantial lead, followed by Mama Ain’t Happy.
When Team Woody broke down, that left SimmonsMarine.com (with Jim Simmons and Jason Zolecki) as the winner in Class 4; they are also the OPA points champions for the season.
Reindl One Design, with driver Chris Reindl and Kim Kramer, was the unofficial winner in Class 5. They were followed by All Fired Up, Specialized Racing and Bronx Phantom.
Visit St. Pete Clearwater ran uncontested in P1 Superstock class.
