2008 Bill Brow Memorial

Bill Brow Memorial

Campbell, Gilmore and Johnston Double Down at Bill Brow Memorial


The Czar and Jerry Courtway returned to ERCU racing at the Bill Brow Memorial.	Mark Gran qualified as a driver and did a great job driving his gorgeous Breathless II.

The Miss Lapeer and Thriftway Too, two brand new boats, duke it out.	Rick Lentz moved himself and the U-95 into second place in the Red Dot Championship Series Modern Class standings.

Henry's Kellogg's Frosted Flakes looking, and running, great as usual.	Henry shares some speed secrets with Doug Brow and Steve Baker (of Seattle Service).

Ron Hartley's $ Bill led the vintage first connie until the final lap.	A trio of modern speed demons rushing down the front straightaway.

For all of Jim Clark's Bill Brow Memorial photos, click here.

Race Recap

MARYSVILLE, Wash. – It wasn’t much of a surprise that the 1974 Country Boy was the fastest boat in the field for the modern connie at the Bill Brow Memorial.

The surprise was that Mike Campbell won from the trailer position in the final.

Another surprise was a rarity in itself – as the same three drivers finished 1-2-3 in both modern and vintage finals.

Campbell was followed by Brian Gilmore (Thriftway Too & Gilmore Special), and Jerry Johnston (Timex Clock & Natural Light in both finals). That’s the first time anyone could remember something like that had happened.

The third annual Bill Brow Memorial was a huge success, with a total of 40 boats in attendance, and a huge amount of great, deck-to-deck racing on the race course.

All of the owners and drivers, as well as the spectators who stopped by were entertained all day long by the great music that Contest Director Henry Marvin has made a staple of the Bill Brow Memorial. Henry also provided for entertainment at the end of the day with the annual Hydropalooza blowover contest. Mike Campbell flipped the Harrah's Club, using an extra-special 8s setup. Others who participated in Hydropalooza included Rick Lentz with his Miss Bardahl, Henry with his Miss Exide, and Dawna Gross with the Lil' Buzzard.

Seattle Service’s own Steve Baker was in attendance to check out the race. His support of the race over the last three years has always been appreciated, and has allowed Henry to do a lot of special things – including boxes of Frosted Flakes to connie finishers, prizes to be handed out randomly throughout the day, and a huge number of great trophies.

The modern connie had eight boats due to a tie for seventh between Mick Shutt in the 1976 Vernor’s and Nelson Holmberg in the 1973 Red Man Too – both of which started as trailers. Thankfully, the Twin Lakes course is big enough to handle eight boats.

Campbell easily won the connie with the 1974 Country Boy, followed by Robbie Roberts with the 1976 Miss Budweiser, Steve Twardus with the 1971 Country Boy, Craig Bradshaw with the 1988 Winston Eagle, Lentz with the 1975 U-95, Holmberg and then Shutt. Doug Brow was unable to finish with the 1978 Squire Shop.

In the vintage second connie, Bob VandenAkker took a break from his drivers rep duties and guided the Miss Lapeer to a first place finish, followed by Zane Courtway (driving Kirk Pagel’s Maverick in his first official ERCU race), Mark Gran (driving his own Breathless II for the first time in an ERCU race), and Ron Hornung (who completed an engine change just in time for the connie) in the Skip-A-Long. Rick Lentz in the 1958 Miss Bardahl and Craig Mullen in the 1971 Hallmark Homes were unable to finish.

The vintage first connie was another barnburner, won by Ron Daum who spent most of the race chasing Ron Hartley’s $ Bill with the Wildroot Charlie. At the apex of the right turn in the final lap, Hartley was called for a missed buoy and Daum moved from second to first. Second went to Bob VandenAkker with the 1963 Notre Dame, followed by Jim Latimer in the Miss Everett, Mullen in the Hawaii Kai III, and Hartley. Doug Brow was unable to finish in the Miss Budweiser.

As stated earlier, Campbell cruised from the trailer start to pass the entire field and win the modern final, followed by Gilmore and Johnston. Fourth place went to Mike Gossler, who spun the 1978 Circus Circus and recovered to keep going. Fifth was Hartley with the 1977 Squire. Bill Smiley was unable to finish with the 1977 Charlie’s Girl, and Marvin didn’t start with the 1993 Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes.

Daum finished fourth behind Campbell, Gilmore and Johnston in the vintage final and fifth went to Holmberg, driving Kirk Pagel’s Shanty I. Gossler was unable to finish with the 1963 Miss US V, as was Roger Newton in the 1968 Miss Bardahl.

Speaking of those who were unable to finish, Henry even put together a special heat for those who had zero points throughout the day. That heat was won by Craig Bradshaw with the 1971 Miss Budweiser, while Gross was second. Twardus' troubles with the Miss Seattle Too continued when he didn't finish. Mullen was also qualified to run his 1971 Pay 'n Pak, but gremlins continued and he was unable to start.

A special thanks goes out to Jason Hartley, who while unable to attend the event, contributed significantly by making some super modifications to the scoring and race management software, and to Jeff Campbell, who volunteered to spend the whole day helping Henry with the race management, serving as chief referee all day without racing any boats.

A great time was had by all, and Henry did another great job with is race – as of this writing, there are just 363 more days until the next Bill Brow Memorial. Start planning now.