Written by Barry Oblier - Obnoxious Racing Engines

I had never been to the Burley Regatta prior to this past weekend, but this year I was able to combine a trip to dyno a friends Comp Jet engine in nearby Twin Falls, Idaho with the weekend of the famous race.

In order to not have to make the entire drive myself, I needed to be in Blythe, CA by 8AM to meet my ride that was traveling from Yuma. I didn't even know there was a 4:00 in the morning! I made it on time, only to get a call saying my ride was running late, so I had an hour to enjoy Blythe and think about the extra hour I could have stayed in my bed back home.

Fast forward a few hours and I find it necessary to grab my camera for the first time to prove there are real live space ships in Nevada!



We finally rolled into Burley at around 11:30PM or so. My friend and engine customer, Louis Schindler, lives two weeks out of every month up there, so I would be staying at his beautiful home and not have to deal with a motel.

I woke up Wednesday morning, with plans to drop an engine over in Twin Falls so it would be ready to run on the dyno Thursday. I was also to get a tour that included the Moyle mink farm where the famous Idaho Regatta mink coats are raised. Mark Moyle's father, Don, started the Burley Regatta a long time ago, it was fun talking to him about some of the attempts he made at building horsepower, and seeing some of the boats in their barn, even though they were not racing one this year. I also got to see the Snake River for the first time, including Shoshone falls and the site of Evil Knevil's failed jump attempt, still marked on the tourist maps even though it's merely an in accessible mound of dirt on private property. Later we sat outdoors at a Mexican restaurant for dinner, watching the sun start to set around 9:30PM when race director Kristy Dilworth and her fiance Jeff showed up to dine with us. One thing I noticed is it didn't get dark until about 10PM!

Bright and early Thursday morning we were off to Twin Falls again for the dyno run. Mark Kidd of Kidd Performance was great to work with, and we were pretty happy with the results of the new comp jet engine. No parts fell out and it made pretty darn good power. Now he just needs a boat to put the thing in so he can go racing again.



Thursday evening was the first of two show and shine events, over at Morey's Steakhouse. Boat counts were a little low there as teams were still settling in over at the race course. Speaking of the course, here is a photo of the calm before the storm shot from a home on the hill.



Friday morning,, off to the parade of boats through town before the days events at the race course. Lots of candy and goodies thrown to the spectators, and title sponsor Maverik (convenience stores) didn't disappoint either, with runners behind their boat tossing frisbees, key floats and candy the whole way.



Finally at the track for the first of three days of racing. They bring out a control tower that prominently displays all of the sponsors names

By the way, I didn't shoot a photo, but the little place just across the street from the race course, "Edith's" serves a great burger. We had lunch there earlier in the week. For the race weekend we patronized the Maverik burger stand since they were the title sponsor.



This Buds for you RD! The offical K Boat sponsor "The Natty Wagon!"




Friday started off with test and tune,, then got into some heat races, including the "Flatbottom Shootout", with $5,000 among the 6 randomly drawn (everyone got to see the boat numbers drawn from a hat) participants include two boats from Superstock, two from Pro stock, and finally two K boats. They handicap the pro stocks 300 or so feet behind the Superstocks, with the K boats another 300 feet behind the pro stocks. Louis and I took his boat downriver a bit so the pro stocks and K boats would have a flag visible to them as the the main green dropped. There was a little controversy over whether Duff Daly may have jumped the flag, but from our position I would say he was right on top of it, and he went on to win on the last lap.



After the races Friday Louis and I took Billy Mason for a ski ride to aid in his Catalina Race training, and the Snake River didn't disappoint him. We had to go upriver from the closed course, but then found ourselves in some decently rough water from the wind, even though there were no other boats on it. I tried a few photos but was getting bounced around and got more of the sky than Billy.

Friday evening found us at Morey's Steakhouse again for another show and shine. This really shows that the race organizers like to put on a show for the people of Burley while at the same time bringing attention to their sponsors.

Saturday would be the first full day of racing. After a drivers meeting, Kristy flew the American flag in the Maverick boat for the National Anthem, and it was time to go. It was a bit breezy all weekend, some of the drivers commented that it was the roughest water they had driven in, while others made it look easy.




1 liter hydros were up first. I liked the way this one looked



One of the comp jet races,, left to right Billy Mason, Mark Yonkers and Glen Dilworth driving Joe Dilworth's freshly painted boat.



I shot a bunch on Saturday, but on Sunday I borrow a longer lens from Louis and got some of my favorite shots of the weekend. I am still sorting and editing, but will post more as I have time. Saturday night we were back to Morey's, in an effort to continue to support a sponsor. They had a live band, but we were sunburned tired and hungry, so chose to go inside to eat. We got introduced to the Maverik guys who were sitting at a table, and Louis happened to mention his new "Obnoxious" engine, and one of the other guys stuck out his hand and introduced himself as "TBI!" (A moderator here on RDP) I spent a great deal of the weekend in a patrol/tow boat with Louis, so didn't get as much time in the pits as I may have liked. I did see Campbell Carl and talked to a number of the drivers and owners I have known for years.

Dave Rankin/Tom Buckles pits




Tony Scarlata back in a K boat (Oh no you didn't!).



SE class had a good turnout


Let's not forget this race was in farm country, note the background. We started the GN races so I had the chance to shoot some from inside the course.



Ty Newton did a nice job driving Dave Rankin's #80 superstock



The Faulkner family #70 pro stock boat, which incidentally won the Faulkner memorial trophy and mink coat prizes, crushed the previous pro stock course record by over 106%!




It was a long trip, but a memorable weekend. I am still sorting photos, having "casually" shot over 1600 frames which included some on the trip up through Nevada as well as the trip home via an alternate route though Utah just to see different scenery, or so Louis said. As it turned out he wanted to stop at the Cabelas store for a few pounds of his favorite beef jerky.

written by Barry Obler - Obnoxious Racing Engines
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