Seafair | Driver bios
Jimmy Shane
Boat: U-1 FormulaBoats.com
Owner: Ted Porter
Home port: Decatur, Ind.
Hometown: Havre de Grace, Md.
Age: 21 Victories: 1
Race outlook: Shane, who made his name in inboards, made his unlimited racing debut last week in the Tri-Cities taking over for Mike Allen, who suffered a hand injury in two flips.
Jimmy King
Boat: U-3 Hoss Mortgage Investors II
Owner: Ed Cooper
Home port: Evansville, Ind.
Hometown: Richmond, Mich.
Age: 46 Victories: 0
Race outlook: The lone piston-powered boat left is a contender when it's running well, but has finished only one final.
Jeff Bernard
Boat: U-5 FormulaBoats.com
Owner: Ted Porter
Home port: Decatur, Ind.
Hometown: Gig Harbor
Age: 22 Victories: 0
Race outlook: Bernard is in his third year on the circuit. He replaced veteran Mike Weber in this boat a year ago.
Steve David
Boat: U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto
Owner: Citizens of Madison, Ind.
Home port: Madison, Ind.
Hometown: Lighthouse, Fla.
Age: 53 Victories: 5
Race outlook: The ever-classy David says he finally has a boat that will let him consistently compete with the big boys.
Chris Bertram
Boat: U-9 Miss Tri Arc Electric
Owner: Mike and Lori Jones
Hone port: Seattle
Hometown: Eatonville
Age: 35 Victories: 0
Race outlook: Bertram, a rookie a year ago, will be making his fourth unlimited start. His best finish is sixth last week.
David Bryant
Boat: U-10 Hoss Mortgage Investors
Owner: Kim Gregory
Home port: Las Vegas
Hometown: Mesa, Ariz.
Age: 42 Victories: 0
Race outlook: Bryant is one of four rookies this year and has been the most competitive of the bunch, finishing third in the Tri-Cities and fifth in Evansville, Ind.
J. Michael Kelly
Boat: U-13 Spirit of Detroit
Owner: Dave Bartush
Home port: Detroit
Hometown: Puyallup
Age: 28 Victories: 0
Race outlook: Kelly is regarded as one of the better young drivers and has done a solid job this season of getting his boat into every final, with two third-place finishes.
Dave Villwock
Boat: U-16 Miss Elstrom Elam Plus
Owner: Erick Ellstrom
Home port: Ballard
Hometown: Auburn
Age: 51 Victories: 55
Race outlook: The undisputed favorite, having won the past four races, and nine of 15 since taking over as driver of the Elam midway through the 2005 season.
Nate Brown
Boat: U-17 Miss Red Dot
Owners: Nate Brown and the Our Gang Racing Team
Home port: Preston
Hometown: Preston
Age: 48 Victories: 5
Race outlook: This should be the debut race for a team led by veteran driver Brown that decided six months ago to build a hydroplane from scratch.
Brian Perkins
Boat: U-21 The Plumbing Joint
Owners: Jeffrey Michael Johnson/Kevin Aylesworth
Home port: San Diego
Hometown: San Diego
Age: 22 Victories: 0
Race outlook: Both boat and driver made their debuts in the Tri-Cities as the team built a new hull.
Ken Muscatel
Boat: U-25 Superior Racing
Owner: Ken Muscatel
Home port: Seattle
Hometown: Seattle
Age: 58 Victories: 0
Race outlook: Good-guy vet thought about retiring after last season, but once again decided to get back in the sport, buying one of Jim Harvey's old boats, the former T-Plus.
Jean Theoret
Boat: U-37 Miss Beacon Plumbing
Owner: Billy and Jane Schumacher
Home port: Seattle
Hometown: Maple Grove, Quebec
Age: 45 Victories: 5
Race outlook: Might be the biggest threat to the Elam, as Beacon seems to run better on rough water-courses like Lake Washington, and has won Seafair each of the past two years.
David Williams
Boat: U-48 Miss Lakeridge Paving
Owners: Greg O'Farrell/Jon Cheetham
Home port: Maple Valley
Hometown: Renton
Age: 50 Victories: 0
Race outlook: Williams is a longtime fan who is the director of the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum in Kent and has parlayed that into fulfilling a dream of driving an unlimited.
Greg Hopp
Boat: U-100 Mirageboats.com
Owner: Fred Leland
Home port: Kirkland
Hometown: Snohomish
Age: 39 Victories: 0
Race outlook: The Hopp-Leland team has been together since 1999 and while Hopp has yet to win, he's usually right there.
-- Bob Condotta
