Welcome to the 2014 Awards Banquet
2014 Twin City Power Boat Association year in review
Our 2014 Board: Commodore
Vice Commodore
Treasurer
Records
Brian Tabara
Jeff Krischano
Nancy Landgraf
Mike Hansen
Board Members:
Tony Fortuna Scott Stricker
Tyler Welch Al Tucker
Aaron Wachholz Dean Hansen
Our 2014 Schedule: Cannon Falls, MN Champlin, MN Detroit Lakes, MN Crosby, MN Crane Lake, MN Forest Lake, MN
(5/17 – 5/18) (6/8) (6/14 – 6/15) (7/26 – 7/27) (8/9 – 8/10) (9/13 – 9/14)
Our 2014 “New Faces in the crowd”: VP 75 First Time APBA Racers: Cameron Brandel Jesse Veil Jeff Erickson Lisa Miller GT Pro First Time APBA Racers: Thayne Ziemet Mae Hiser Lindsey Johnson SST 120/SST 200/Formula 150 First Time APBA Racers: Nate Kraus Aaron Bjork Richard Myrhe SST 60 First Time APBA Racer: Tim Homeszyn Our 2014 (Non-Racing) Volunteers: Dave McCormick
Gene Bobick
Angela Orlander John Budrow Ernie Monroe
Deb Halver
Marcus Gahn Wally Shafer Michelle Fortuna
Elisha Krischano Jim Anderson Doug Kruse Dave Halver Stacy Wachholz
Brett Cummings
Megan Halver
Frank Nielsen Steve Michaels
Aubrey Wachholz
Kacey Wachholz Eric Andersen
2014 in pictures‌
The Commodores Corner……..a word from the TCPBA 2014 commodore I want to congratulate the TCPBA on a very successful 2014 racing season. This season brought several “firsts” to the organization which has me optimistic for the future. TCPBA led APBA OPC by introducing the most (11) new rookie drivers to the sport. A big thank you for all of the generous teams for assisting newcomers in the sport and in many cases lending equipment! Your unselfish generosity and guidance truly sets TCPBA apart from other forms of motorsports. TCPBA also hosted for the first time a highly successful TCPBA Casino Bus Tour. This innovative idea brought the organization together by raising nearly $1,000 to assist TCPBA in operating expenses. For those of you who were unable to attend, you were By Brian Tabara missed! The event was well planned and the prize giveaway lasted nearly the entire bus ride. Thanks to all who coordinated the event and donated prizes to make the event successful. Please join me this evening to thank/congratulate Pilot Racing and others for their generosity of donating the prizes. I am excited to report that a new innovative approach to growing TCPBA and the sport was identified during a general membership meeting. The idea focuses on the premise of forming committees to share ideas and workload among several members to ensure we do not exhaust any of our dedicated volunteers. As of November, five committees have been formed with much enthusiasm. For those of you, who do not know how to get involved or would like to become involved, please reach out and we can get you included. I want to also thank everyone for their contribution and participation on TCPBA online efforts. TCPBA had over 673,000 hits over the last year on social media alone. Did I mention it is FREE? This is a result of your posts, photos, comments, likes, shares, and inviting friends to follow TCPBA. What does this mean to us? We are very quickly building the TCPBA brand where we are increasing our marketability and able to communicate quickly/efficiently with TCPBA followers. As many of you begin looking for offseason sponsors, please reach out if any data is needed regarding how many people TCPBA reaches. Please coordinate with our social marketing committee this offseason to discuss your 2015 plans and we can get you some online exposure! Please assist in keeping the momentum over the offseason. I would also like to thank all of our new and long-time volunteers who help make TCPBA power boat racing successful. It is your selfless hard work and dedication that promotes quality execution at TCPBA events.
Beyond the TCPBA The Twin City Power Boat Association has a long tradition of having some of the best racers in the nation within its membership, and this year was no different. In 2014 TCPBA racers traveled across the nation as far south as Texas and Florida, and as far east as West Virginia to make their mark on the OPC category of the APBA. By Jeff Krischano
Merv Bjork has finished on the podium multiple times across the country, highlighted by a top three finish in the North American Championships in Pittsburgh, PA which netted Merv a top three spot in both the APR Superleague and the APBA National High Point Championships in SST-200 David Garza raced in the APR, Buckeye, and Powerboat Nationals series scoring several podium finishes in SST-60 Brothers Tabara raced in the APBA Nation Championship in Rising Sun, IN and scored a tremendous victory by placing second (Brian) and third (Steve) in the SST-120 finals Jessica Olsen raced in her first ever SST-60 APBA National Championship in Rising Sun and placed in the top 10 th
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The Welch Formula One Prop Tour team of Mark and Tyler respectfully finished 7 (Mark) and 15 (Tyler) overall in Formula One (F1) th
Tim Homeszyn, a new member of the TCPBA, raced in the APR, Buckeye, and Powerboat Nationals series and finished 13 overall in the APBA National High Point Championships in his SST-60 rookie season Jeff Krischano has finished on the podium multiple times across the country, highlighted by finishing first in both the 2014 APBA National Champion Title race and the 2014 APBA National High Point Championships in SST-60 Al Tucker raced with the APR Superleague in West Virginia this season in SST-200 Jeff Wagner ran the ¼ mile record run in West Virginia this season in Sport C
Let’s hear it for and from this year’s race Directors…… “Cannon Falls 2014 was the inaugural race at this location. Just 30 minutes south of the twin cities, the local community was excited about the race as something like this had not been to town since the 1960’s. Attendance was estimated at 1000 people plus per day, with wonderful weather in the 70’s, and a boat count of 21 boats. I am looking forward to a much larger event in 2015 now that everyone is aware of the dates, and the excellent race site. Several sponsors have already committed to next year, some even doubling their contributions, with this and the full support of the Lake Home Owners association I am looking forward to a great 2015 race!” - By Scott Stricker Scott Stricker Cannon Falls
Father Hennepin Day’s and boat racing in the past have been synonymous in the city of Champlin. Now while the TCPBA has participated in the festival parade for the last 3 years, we unfortunately have not had the pleasure of racing on the Mississippi. The weather has simply not cooperated recently, but leave it to race director Al Tucker to come to the rescue. Al has been working with the community to identify potential make-up dates for the race if the scheduled date is cancelled due to weather in 2015. Also in Al’s bag of tricks is an effort to bring back the Aquatennial boat race to the city of Minneapolis, so don’t be surprised if you see Al as the race director of more than one race in 2015, let’s keep our figures crossed - By Jeff Krischano
Al Tucker Champlin
After the retirement of long time race director Ross Rolshoven in 2013, the TCPBA’s very own Donny Lick took the lead in Detroit Lakes. With radio advertising and a live broadcast from the race site, this year’s race generated a lot of buzz within the community, but unfortunately “Mother Nature” had different plans and both race days were cancelled due to weather. Donny worked hard trying to secure a secondary make-up date for the highly anticipated 2014 race, but unfortunately it was not to be. Donny has indicated that the 2015 race will be bigger and better and he has been working vigorously with the Detroit Lakes community to make that happen. - By Jeff Krischano Donny Lick Detroit Lakes th
“2014 marked the 28 year that TCPBA has been racing on Serpent Lake in Crosby, MN. Thanks to our major sponsor ‘Grand Casino – Mills Lacs’ we were able to host the Central Divisionals for SST-60 and Formula 150. Additional sponsors were Hansen Sports, Cuyuna Lakes Chamber of Commerce, Crosby Bar, The Deerstand, Rice Lake Contracting, Precision Propeller, Foam On the Range, Deerwood Technologies, K&M Signs, Superior Balancing, Christenson Agency, Country Inn & Suites, Deerwood Bank, Spalding Bar, City of Crosby, Dairy Queen, Coaches Corner, and Lonesome Pine. Preparations are underway to return again July 25-26, 2015” - By Dean Hansen
Jeff Larson Crane Lake
“God’s Country” that is the only way to describe Crane Lake Minnesota, and who else but Jeff Larson would take the initiative to spice it up a little with TCPBA powerboat racing. This year was the second season for the Crane Lake event, and for those of you that have not had the pleasure of being part of it, you missed out. There is no venue on the schedule with the natural beauty Crane Lake offers, and Jeff is always looking for new ways to entertain the crowd. This year he added Match Racing to the race schedule and it was a big hit amongst the SST60 drivers. Next year Jeff promises even more surprises for the racers and race fans. With the full support and sponsorship of the Crane Lake Tourism Bureau look for the 2015 race to be even better . - By Jeff Krischano
“What a great way to end the 2014 season. The fourth annual Ron Baker Sr. Regatta was host to the SST60 North American Championship and the Formula 150 and Mod-U National Championships. It was a privilege to have in attendance Janet Baker (Ron’s widow), Jeff Baker (son), Sam (son) and Patty Baker, Mare Baker (daughter-in-law) and Josh Baker (grandson). With over 50 boats in 9 different classes and drivers from as far away as Puerto Rico (Anthony Acosta), Arizona (Bruce Washburn), Ohio (Jeff Vasko), Indiana (Jeff Wagner), Illinois (Sam LaBanco) and Michigan (Jim Robb & Tim Homeszyn). Race highlights included: Mark Welch reached a new benchmark of 30 blowst overs from his long racing career, he had no injuries. Jeff Wagner took his first 1 in Sport C, Sam LaBanco cleaned house in SST60, Bruce Washburn was again a fan favorite and took home the Mod-U Championship, Steve Tabara st grabbed the Formula 150 Championship, Stephanie Hansen earned 1 in GT Pro, Chris Lazarz battled all weekend to st st st earn 1 in VP75, Tim Fortuna took 1 in Hobby Stock, Brian Tabara dominated SST120, and Merv Bjork earned 1 in SST200. Due to many volunteers and the cooperation of racers and crew, the race went off like clockwork, thank you. We look forward to making 2015 even better. For more information check out www.Forestlakeboatrace.com” - By Aaron Wachholz
Dean Hansen Crosby
Aaron Wachholz Forest Lake
TCPBA High Point Champions
SPORT C Nancy Landgraf Stephanie Hansen Bob Dillon GT PRO Stephanie Hansen Emma Wachholz Bob Dillon
SST-120 Brian Tabara Tyler Welch Nate Kraus
2014
SST-200 Merv Bjork Alan Tucker Aaron Wachholz
VP-75 Paul Jorgenson Andrew Wachholz Chris Lazarz
SST-150 Steve Tabara Merv Bjork Alan Tucker
SST-60 Dean Hansen Michael Hansen Jessica Olson
2014 TCPBA Race and Series Sponsors
Pilot IT Guiding success
Please support our sponsors……..
That’s All Folks See you in 2015
2015 Tentative Race Schedule Cannon Falls, MN
5/16 - 5/17/2015
Champlin, MN
6/14/2015
Detroit Lakes, MN
6/20 – 6/21/2015
Lakeville, MN
7/11 – 7/12/2015
Crosby, MN
7/25 – 7/26/2015
Crane Lake, MN
8/8 – 8/9/2015
Forest Lake, MN
9/12 – 9/13/2015
Superior, WI
9/19 – 9/20/2015
Other potential venues: Pine City, MN - Lake City, MN - Minneapolis, MN