SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
It’s possible people will watch the
races on the river this year and
recognize the names of a number
of drivers on the program. For
them, the racing is fun and the rivalry is
intense no matter what size boat they
steer.
Andrew Tate drives the Hearn
Motorsports Legacy I boat in the HRL
Grand Prix class. He also drives the
Pennzoil boat in the 350 class. “The
way they run the schedule the smaller
boats go out first,” he explains. “Earlier
this year, at Cambridge, Maryland, I was
in the last 350 heat. I jumped right out
of that boat, made an adjustment to my
helmet and strapped myself into the
Grand Prix, because I was in the next
heat. It’s a lot of fun.”
Jimmy King, drives Steeler in the
Grand Prix class. His son, Bobby King,
will be driving a
new boat in the 350
class. The elder
King echoes Tate’s
comments. “The
other classes have a
lot to offer, too,” he
says. Jimmy King
won the Grand Prix
final at Valleyfield,
Quebec, in July.
That event is one
of the premiere
regattas on the HRL calendar.
Some drivers consistently
participate in a wide variety of classes,
including outboards and smaller
inboards. Tom Thompson drives in
the 2.5 Mod class. He clicks off a list
of drivers who compete in numerous
classes. “J. Michael Kelly still races in
smaller classes, Jimmy Shane does it,
Dustin Echols does it. There are a lot of
people who came out of the limiteds
that still race in the smaller classes.
That’s part of the fun. It’s all serious.
It’s real fun to go back to the small town
races, to the smaller classes and race.
It’s still competitive and you still have to
race hard.”
J. Michael Kelly explains why he
remains involved in numerous classes.
“Just because I drive a big boat doesn’t
mean that I don’t want to drive the
outboards or inboards,” he says. “I
know a lot of kids look up to me and
they think it’s pretty cool when I come
back and race against them, especially
when they beat me. They definitely
will rub it in from time to time. For me,
I like racing. It doesn’t matter if it’s an
outboard or inboard. I
think that’s the same
for a lot of the guys out
there. It doesn’t matter
if we’re going 35 miles
an hour or 200 miles
an hour. It’s just about
being on the water and
driving something.”
He acknowledges the
friends he has in the
different classes. “At
the end of the day we’re
all one big family and we’re all doing it
for the same reason.”
Jimmy Shane looks back at how
he made it to the top class. “It didn’t
come without a lot of learning from my
previous racing with the smaller boats,”
he admits. “I started in the Junior Hydro
outboards. Worked my way through the
inboard division, which is what my dad
raced for 35 years. I just always wanted
to go bigger and faster. I got lucky and
got an opportunity. It wasn’t without
a lot of hard work and a lot of time
invested in building up that background,
knowing how to set up a boat, knowing
how to build a boat, knowing how
to build an engine. All of that led to
where I am today.” Shane sees another
reason to return to racing in smaller
classes. “It’s nice to go back and race
with the new young people who are
coming up and just starting,” he says.
“I can almost use it as a mentorship
opportunity, to let them know if you put
in the work and put in the effort, good
things come. I’ve been very fortunate
to have many good boat rides over the
years. I’ve driven 20 or 25 different
classes of boats.”
A year ago Tate returned to the C
Stock Runabout outboard class and
participated in the Top ‘O Michigan
Marathon National Championships on
the Inland Waterway at Indian River.
“It’s 80-something odd miles split over
two days,” he says. “That’s a lot of fun
up there. It’s a completely different
BY CRAIG FJARLIE
“ IT’S NICE TO GO BACK
AND RACE WITH THE
NEW YOUNG PEOPLE
WHO ARE COMING UP
AND JUST STARTING.”
—JIMMY SHANE
PHOTOS BY ROBERT F PETERS
2019 Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Hydrofest 11