NW folks: Jet Sprint Race tomorrow!!!!

Just a follow-up from last weekend:

Very cool indeed! 13-foot runabouts with up to 900hp on a snaky water course about the size of a football field.

Some of the best drivers (skippers?) had the throttle wide open for virtually the entire (roughly 60-sec) run (including several acute and dogleg turns). Wow!

The rollcages aren't just for show, BTW. Most crews have their "moments" by crashing on shore. However, we saw one crew violently flip & land upside-down right in the murky water! Can you say soggy helmets and hydro-lock?

The sport still doesn't hold a candle to rallying (the surface never changes / there are no hills / it's all contained within a small area). Sure is spectator & TV friendly, though. This, or the fact that it was Cowlitz County, must be why the crowd had a bit of a NASCAR flavor (loud T-shirts, kettle corn, mullets, corn dogs).

The crowd quickly grabbed all the Wild West flyers we were handing out (I failed to mention the lack of V8's in rallying).

BTW - this event saw VERY little mention in the local paper before the race, yet drew 3,000 spectators (at $15 per head + $2 parking)!

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What gives?

-Don