UMPBA Pelican Lake Race
The Upper Midwest Powerboat Association hosted its second race of the season at Pelican Lake off the shores of Gerrit’s Lakeview Inn.
A total of 38 boats hit the water on July 16, leading to plenty of photo finishes, dead heats and racers setting up for making a run at the season high points trophies for each of the UMPBA classes. The UMPBA is unlike other race organizations as brackets are determined by Miles Per Hour, not engine, boat and propulsion type.
The 65-mph class started the day off with Kevin Johnson’s Mercury powered hydrostream earning top honors and Jack Stanaszek’s hydro stream with Mercury power scooping up second place. A big block jet boat powered by Steve Nelson earned third.
The second class at Pelican Lake saw boats racing in the 65-75 mph bracket. First place in this class was Marc Gajdos, Jack Stanaszek changed props and secured a second place finish, and Kevin John took third.
Racing at 75-85 mph and carrying over his winning streak from Rice Lake in June, Mark K. collected first place honors, while Jack Devlin and Kristian Kozan finished second and third, respectively.
The largest class of racers saw 14 boats competing at 85-95 mph. Racers faced heavy competition with entrants from Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota and Canada. A Mercury-powered Allison XR2002 driven by Kyle Cleinmark won the class, followed by Bob Carlson and Jena Seubert.
In the final round, 11 boats competed at 95-105 mph. Kyle Cleinmark conducted a quick set up change to compete in this class and knocked out a win. Brad Rittenhouse secured second and Scott Bilda finished third.
There are two more events in the 2022 UMPBA season with races on August 13 in Stevens Point, Wis., and September 10 in Fremont, Wis., and turnouts should be large as racing and summer heat up!
