The Unlimited Lights - 2002 in Review

By Fred Farley - Unlimited Hydroplane Historian

The Unlimited Light hydroplanes had another stand-out season in 2002. Nineteen teams and twenty-three drivers entertained thousands of fans all over North America with lots of good old-fashioned competitive action.

For the third year in a row, the bright red BUDWEISER/POCKET MECHANIC (UL-72) emerged as High Point Champion for the Unlimited Light Racing Series (ULRS). Co-owned by Joe Frauenheim and Phil Bononcini, the Issaquah, Washington-based UL-72 scored victories in four out of eight races: Issaquah; Kamsack, Saskatchewan; and Detroit, Michigan, with Bononcini driving; and the Tri-Cities, Washington, with Pat Haworth in the cockpit.

The other multiple winner in 2002 was the MIKE'S HARD LEMONADE (UL-15) team from Snohomish, Washington, co-owned by Jerry and Greg Hopp. Jerry was the winning driver at Seattle, Washington, and San Diego, California. ! His son Greg claimed the victory at Olympia, Washington.

Newcomer Pingree Conflitti scored a surprise victory at Valleyfield, Quebec, with the UNION DOOZ (UL-58). In only his second appearance as an Unlimited Light driver, Conflitti was in the right place at the right time when frontrunners Bononcini (UL-72) and Dave Bender (UL-38) both jumped the gun in the winner-take-all Final Heat.

BUDWEISER/POCKET MECHANIC totaled 7729 points in 2002, followed by MIKE'S HARD LEMONADE with 7420, GOLDEN NUGGET CASINO (UL-38) with 5345, THE SPIRIT OF COEUR D'ALENE (UL-19) with 3246, THUNDER VALLEY RACING (UL-40) with 3235, XAUDARO RACING (UL-929) with 2956, NO FEAR.COM (UL-23) with 2855, UNION DOOZ with 2747, HOGAN RACING (UL-37) with 1560, and HAAS RACING (UL-110) with 1425 in the top ten.

Much was said and written in 2002 on the matter of supercharging in the Unlimited Light Racing Series. This was an issue that generated considerable debate even before the introduction of the restricted blower motors in 2001.

The first victory by a supercharged boat was recorded at Seattle by the Hopp racing team. Now that a blown motor has worked successfully in one of the most victorious boats in UL history, more owners are expected to change over from naturally aspirated to supercharged power plants.

In the words of engine expert Glen Davis, "This is because blown motors are much less expensive to own and to maintain."

In the season-opener at the "Tastin' 'N' Racin'" Regatta on Issaquah's Lake Sammamish, BUDWEISER/POCKET MECHANIC scored a decisive win. Pilot Bononcini averaged 109.502 in the Final Heat, compared to 100.351 for second-place Jerry Hopp in the UL-15, sponsored this time by FREDDIE'S CLUB CASINO OF RENTON. Nick Badolato took third with PLATEAU SHELL (UL-21), followed by JW Myers in NO FEAR.COM and Steve Hook in THE SPIRIT OF COEUR D'ALENE.

Bononcini and Hopp duplicated their Issaquah performance by likewise finishing one-two at the second stop on the ULRS tour at Kamsack. BUDWEISER/POCKET MECHANIC did 109.556, while FREDDIE'S CLUB CASINO made the BUD work for it by averaging 107.143. Vince Xaudaro was a distant third with YORKTON DISTRIBUTORS (UL-929).

Kamsack's first annual "Thunder At The Duck" Regatta was declared a success by UL Commissioner Patti Darling, who promised a return visit by the Lights in 2003.

Moving on to tradition-rich Valleyfield, Pingree Conflitti had to be convinced that he had in fact won the race. Bononcini and Bender had staged a barn-burner of a battle in the Final Heat. But it was all for naught because they had both beaten the clock. Randy Haas was right behind them with HAAS RACING and appeared on his way to the bank. But he too fell by the wayside because of two broken rocker arms in the last turn of the white flag lap.

The corrected order of finish at Valleyfield read UNION DOOZ in first, followed by Xaudaro in XAUDARO RACING and Kelly Stocklin in THUNDER VALLEY RACING, while BUDWEISER/POCKET MECHANIC and SECURITY RACE PRODUCTS (UL-38) officially placed fourth and fifth.

The Detroit race witnessed the welcome return to the UL series by Milton and Charley Wiggins after a two-year absence. The Gadsden, Alabama-based team took a strong second with Cal Phipps at the wheel, sponsored by POST BAR (UL-10).

The Final Heat at Detroit was a classic. Bononcini and Phipps dueled for first with Haas close behind. BUDWEISER/POCKET MECHANIC took the checkered flag but only after a titanic struggle.

The special one-heat exhibition at Detroit for the Automotive Gold Cup went to Haas and the BEACH GRILLE (UL-110). Dave Bender and the VILLAGE IDIOT (UL-38) led out of the first turn but were passed by the UL-110 before the end of lap-one. Bender finished second, while Jerry Hopp and HAPPY GO LUCKY (UL-15) took third.

For the Tri-Cities race on the Columbia River in eastern Washington, Pat Haworth substituted for regular driver Phil Bononcini in the BUDWEISER/POCKET MECHANIC. (Haworth had previously piloted the BUD in one preliminary heat at Valleyfield.)

Haworth traded off with Bononcini during the Tri-Cities preliminaries. Then in the Final Heat, Haworth outran second-place Bender in GOLDEN NUGGET CASINO and third-place Xaudaro in BABCOCK SERVICES (UL-929).

This was Pat's first major appearance on the ULRS Tour but likely not his last.

The single most exciting heat of the 2002 Unlimited Light season had to be the finale at Seattle on Lake Washington, which was won by Jerry Hopp in MIKE'S HARD LEMONADE, the former ALAMO. The heat featured a sensational duel between Hopp, Bononcini in BUDWEISER/POCKET MECHANIC, and Bender in GOLDEN NUGGET CASINO.

Hopp, Bononcini, and Bender shared the same roostertail for three heart-stopping laps. MIKE'S HARD LEMONADE nearly blew over on the third backstretch. But "Grandpa" ! Jerry managed to recover and coax the boat back down.

Second-place Bononcini was concentrating so much on the competition that he miscounted his laps and flipped the UL-72 upside-down on what should have been his cooling-off lap. The BUDWEISER/POCKET MECHANIC caught a stray wave that kicked the boat into the air. Bononcini, fortunately, escaped injury.

After nearly two decades of driving Unlimiteds and Unlimited Lights, this was Jerry Hopp's first victory--and a richly sentimental one it was before the hometown crowd. After so many years of driving anything that would float, Jerry had finally achieved racing's big time.

And at Olympia, Washington, on Black Lake, a week later, the Hopp racing team continued its winning ways with a second straight triumph--this time with Greg Hopp in the cockpit.

Dave Bender led for the first few laps of the Final Heat at Olympia with SECURITY RACE PRODUCTS but conked out, leaving Greg to pick up the marbles wit! h MIKE'S HARD LEMONADE. JW Myers took second with NO FEAR.COM, followed by Pingree Conflitti in UNION DOOZ and Vince Xaudaro in CONTOUR AEROSPACE (UL-929).

The younger Hopp had the week off from his regular driving assignment with Fred Leland's AMERICAN PRIDE (U-100) Unlimited team.

Ten UL boats gathered for the season finale on San Diego's Mission Bay. It was a race that saw quite a few teams experience mechanical difficulties. These included the 2002 High Point winners Phil Bononcini and BUDWEISER/POCKET MECHANIC, which scored DNF in all three heats. Bender and SILVER DOLLAR CASINO (UL-38) likewise were not around at the finish after taking a bad bounce in Heat 2-A.

The fleet was augmented by the return of John Hogan's UL-37 team, which was fresh from a victory in the Grand National Hydroplane (GNH) World Championship at Hampton, Virginia, with Doug Brow at the wheel.

Sponsored in San Diego by THE SIGN COMPANY, Brow and the UL-37 took an ear! ly lead in the Final Heat. Brow was then challenged by Jerry Hopp and MIKE'S HARD LEMONADE. Hopp finally overtook Brow at the start of lap-three and pulled away for Jerry's second--and the UL-15 team's third--straight victory on the Unlimited Light tour.

A battle also raged for second-place as hard-charging Cal Phipps and FRAZEE PAINT (UL-10) finally caught up with and passed the UL-37 to claim the runner-up spot. It was an exciting climax to a memorable campaign.

In summarizing team performance, BUDWEISER/POCKET MECHANIC and MIKE'S HARD LEMONADE tied for the most podium finishes in 2002 with five. The UL-72 had four firsts and one second; the UL-15 had three firsts and two seconds. Next came XAUDARO RACING, which finished in the top-three three times with one second and two thirds.

Honorable mention goes to UNION DOOZ (a first and a third), WIGGINS RACING (two seconds), and GOLDEN NUGGET CASINO (a second and a third).

BUDWEISER/POCKET MECHANIC and co-owners Frauenheim and Bononcini became the winningest team in ULRS history in 2002. They brought their victory total since 2000 to thirteen. This exceeds by one the previous high established by Ned Allen's THE ALAMO between 1997 and 1999.

For the second year, the UL boats operated under the aegis of their own corporate identity--the Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Association (ULHRA). After having served as a support class for the larger Unlimited hydroplanes between 1995 and 2000, the Lights now hold their own as one of the American Power Boat Association's finest showcases.