2021 H1 Unlimited season

The 2021 H1 Unlimited season is the sixty-fifth running of the H1 Unlimited series for unlimited hydroplanes, sanctioned by the APBA. The 2020 season would have been the sixty-fifth running but that season was cancelled because of COVID-19.[1]

Teams and drivers
2021 Teams[2][3][4]
No Boat Engine Owner Driver
U-1 Goodman Real Estate/Miss HomeStreet Lycoming T-55/L-7 City of Madison Jeff Bernard and Jimmy Shane
U-3Ṫ Grigg's Presents Ace Hardware Turbocharged V-12 Allison Ed Cooper Jimmy King
U-8 Miss Tri-Cities Lycoming T-55/L-7 Darrell & Vanessa Strong J. Michael Kelly
U-9 Pinnacle Peak Consulting Lycoming T-55/L-7 Darrell & Vanessa Strong Corey Peabody
U-11 J&D's Hydraulic Lycoming T-55/L-7 Scott and Shannon Raney Jamie Nilsen
U-12 Graham Trucking Lycoming T-55/L-7 Rob Graham Andrew Tate
U-40 Beacon Plumbing Lycoming T-55/L-7 Kelly and Sharon Stocklin Dave Villwock
U-440 Martin Nelson & Co. Lycoming T-53 Kelly and Sharon Stocklin Dustin Echols and Kelly Stocklin

Note: Ṫ—The U-3 is the only piston powered boat in the fleet, powered by a dual turbocharged Allison V-12.

Summary

The 2021 opened with the Guntersville Lake Hydrofest held at Guntersville, AL on June 26–27. J. Michael Kelly took home the Southern Cup Trophy for First Place Driver.[5]

The second race was the APBA Gold Cup held at the Madison, IN Regatta on July 2–4. Jimmy Shane, driving Miss HomeStreet, captured his fifth Gold Cup victory Sunday in H1 Unlimited Racing Series on the Ohio River in Madison, Indiana. His victory in the 111th running of the event was the fifth in his career, putting him fourth on the list of all-time Gold Cup champions, tied with the legendary Gar Wood. Shane grabbed the inside lane at the start of the winner-take-all final heat and was never challenged. Andrew Tate, driving Graham Trucking, took second in the final heat and third-place honors went to Corey Peabody, driving Pinnacle Peak Consulting.[6]

The third race was the HAPO Columbia Cup held at Tri-Cities, WA on July 23–25. Corey Peabody in the U-9 Pinnacle Peak Racing boat finished first. It's Peabody's first H1 Unlimited victory. J. Michael Kelly, driving the U-8 Miss Tri-Cities boat, finished second. Jimmy Shane, driving Miss HomeStreet, was forced to grab lane 5 on the outside before the race began and finished third.[7]

The fourth and final race of the season was the San Diego Bayfair on September 17–19. On Saturday, September 18, Jimmy Shane drove the U-1 HomeStreet Bank to two heat wins to clinch the team national high points championship.[8] In Sunday's final, J. Michael Kelly driving the U-8 Miss Tri-Cities is won the 2021 Bill Muncey Cup on Mission Bay and also won the National Drivers High Point Championship. Kelly was awarded the victory in San Diego after it was determined that Dave Villwock in the U-40 Beacon Plumbing — after crossing the finish line first in the final — was disqualified for going under 80 mph in the pre-race setup period.[9] Because he jumped the gun, the U-1 Miss Homestreet driven by Jimmy Shane was given a one lap penalty. Shane was awarded second.[10]

Season schedule and results
2021 Season Schedule[11] and Results[4]
Race title Location Date Winning Boat Winning Driver
Guntersville Lake Hydrofest Guntersville, Alabama June 26–27 U-8 Miss Tri-Cities J. Michael Kelly
APBA Gold Cup at the Madison Regatta Ohio River, Madison, Indiana July 2–4 U-1 HomeStreet presents Miss Goodman Real Estate Jimmy Shane
HAPO Columbia Cup Columbia River, Tri-Cities, Washington July 23–25 U-9 Pinnacle Peak Consulting Corey Peabody
San Diego Bayfair Mission Bay, San Diego, California, California September 17–19 U-8 Miss Tri-Cities J. Michael Kelly

Both the HomeStreet Bank Cup and Detroit Hydrofest were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12][13]

National High Points Standings
National High Points Results[4]
No Boat Driver Guntersville Madison Tri-Cities San Diego Driver Total Team Total
U-1 Goodman Real Estate/Miss HomeStreet Jimmy Shane 300 1,600 1,925 1,600 5,425 6,454
Jeff Bernard 1,029 — — — 1,029
U-8 Miss Tri-Cities J. Michael Kelly 1,580 750 1,705 1,570 5,605 5,605
U-9 Pinnacle Peak Consulting Corey Peabody 1,100 975 1,388 810 4,273 4,273
U-12 Graham Trucking Andrew Tate 925 1,500 955 — 3,380 3,380
U-40 Beacon Plumbing Dave Villwock 295 1,027 797 1,080 3,199 3,199
U-11 J&D's Hydraulic Jamie Nilsen 825 469 1,323 50 2,667 2,667
U-3 Grigg's Presents Ace Hardware Jimmy King — — 790 — 790 790
U-440 Martin Nelson & Co. Dustin Echols 0 — 649 — 649 649
Kelly Stocklin — — — 0 0

References
  1. Morrow, Jeff (2020-07-20). "Hydroplane races are officially canceled for 2020. There's still hope for an air show". Archived from the original on 2020-08-17. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  2. "2021 Teams". H1 Unlimited. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  3. "The 2021 Hydro Fleet". Unlimited NewsJournal: 2–6. June–July 2021.
  4. "Results". H1 Unlimited. 2021-07-25. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  5. Schuyler, Kailey (28 June 2021). "Guntersville Lake 2021 HydroFest wraps up". www.waff.com. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
  6. "Jimmy Shane Wins 5th Gold Cup". NBC Right Now. Retrieved 2021-07-17.
  7. Morrow, Jeff (2021-07-25). "Tri-Cities hydroplanes finish 1-2 in hometown Columbia Cup victory". Tri-City Herald. Archived from the original on 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  8. Center, Bill (2021-09-19). "Kelly still seeking top driver championship at Bayfair". San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on 2021-09-20. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
  9. Marrow, Jeff (2021-09-23). "Southridge High alumni promoted to Triple A Minor League Baseball". Archived from the original on 2021-09-24. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  10. "Miss HomeStreet Hydroplane Takes Second Place at the 2021 Bill Muncey Cup". www.businesswire.com. 2021-09-21. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  11. "2021 Schedule". H1 Unlimited. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  12. Paul, Tony. "Sinking feeling: Detroit Hydrofest pulls plug for second straight year". The Detroit News. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  13. P-I, Alex Halverson, Seattle (2021-04-21). "Seafair to go mostly virtual for 2021". seattlepi.com. Retrieved 2021-07-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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