Rinker Ties All-Time Streak With 4th Straight Win
Bud Light Seebold Team Take 2nd & 3rd in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS, Missouri – Sunday, August 20, 2006 – Terry Rinker held off the hard charging two boat Bud Light Racing Team of Mike and Tim Seebold to win in St. Louis for the 2nd time in his career and tie the all-time consecutive winning streak by a driver, by winning his fourth straight event of the 2006 ChampBoat Grand Prix Series season.

The 12th career victory for the driver of the Rinker Boats/Amsoil sponsored team now has moved ahead of 2nd place driver Tim Seebold, who was hoping to win this event for third straight year, by 239 points as the 8 race season reaches its half way point.

“This was an important day for us,” stated Terry. “Winning here in St. Louis for the 2nd time and beating the professional effort that the Seebold’s always present us with, makes it real gratifying. We got the job done and never missed a step in the rough conditions on the lake.”

Mike Seebold, coming back into the St. Louis limelight after spending all season racing off shore, proved when in the right boat he can be a force in this sport. “It was great to get back into a boat that I feel comfortable with again,” stated the St. Louis native. “I hope my brother Tim gives me another chance this season, it was great to once again be on the podium at my home event.”

Tim, who struggled early in the event with an ill handling boat and almost going a lap down, got another shot at the front when on the 35th tour of the 50 lap race on Creve Coeur Lake, Michael Schubert and Jeff Shepherd got caught up in limited visibility in turn 1 and both boats sunk before the lap was over stopping the event.

On the restart, Rinker and the two Seebold Bud Light boats shot off the dock and stayed in close formation for the remaining 15 tours. Canadian driver Mark Major ran strongly to take 4th tying his personal best finish while another local driver Lynn Simburger came home in 5th in his Famous Craft sponsored boat.

First time driver Jimmi Merleau stepping up from the SST-45 class joined the Hooters Team and impressed everyone with a 6th place finish in his first event. Brian Normand of Louisiana in his Swipes sponsored boat was 7th while the 2nd Hooters boat with number one driver Chris Fairchild finished 8th after starting last in 20th place after a last minute engine change moved him to the end of the dock.

Brian Venton of Ontario, Canada came home 9th after starting 15th and Michigan driver Dennis Klepadlo finished 10th in just his 2nd race of the season.

The next event on the 2006 ChampBoat Grand Prix Series calendar will be in Kankakee, Illinois on Labor Day weekend during the annual Kankakee River Roar with race day scheduled for Monday, September 4th. As the season heads into its second half, the question remains, can Terry Rinker be beaten and will it happen in Kankakee? We’ll soon know the answer. Stay tuned.

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OFFICIAL RACE RESULTS

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Torrente & Seebold Brothers Put On Show In St. Louis
Sunday’s Race Should Be Full of Surprises
ST. LOUIS, Missouri – Saturday, August 19, 2006 – The largest field of the 2006 season is only half way thru its race schedule for the weekend to determine Sunday’s 35th Bud Light St. Louis Grand Prix. This event, which is the longest running inshore powerboat race in the world is expecting thousands of race fans from throughout the Midwest when the 50 lap main event the 4th round of the ChampBoat Grand Prix series takes place at 3:00 pm local time

After qualifying and two heat races, Shaun Torrente charged out of the gate from his pole position in Heat #1 of Group A and built up an 8 second lead on second place driver and series points leader Terry Rinker in the Rinker Boats/Amsoil boat. The 2003 St. Louis winner reeled back the California Gold Racing Team driver and closed the gap finally winning by a 2 second margin after the 15 lap event.

Chris Fairchild, in the Hooters boat was third, followed by Lynn Simburger in the Famous Craft hull taking 4th after charging up from 9th on the dock. Louisiana driver Brian Normand was 5th, Jeff Shepherd 6th; Michael Schubert finished 7th, Dennis Klepadlo was 8th and Brian Venton finished 9th.

In the second heat, Tim and brother Mike Seebold put together one of the closest races in St. Louis history with the two time defending champion beating his sibling by three feet (1 meter) in a real nail biter that had the fans on their feet for the full 15 laps. Mike, racing for the first time this season, took a quick 10 boat length lead while brother Tim was sliding past Wyatt Nelson. Once past the New York driver, Tim took up the chase for his brother, passing him on the final corner and out dueling him to the checkered flag.

Behind these two were, Wyatt Nelson, Mark Major, rookie Jimmi Merleau, Randy Rinker and Matt Sadl coming home in close formation to the end.

Sunday, will be a heavy day of racing with two more heat races of 15 laps to help determine pole position for the 50 lap main feature. The question remains, will Tim Seebold win in St. Louis for the third straight year and become the only driver to do so in its 35 year history? Or, will Terry Rinker continue to dominate the series and become only the 2nd driver in the history of the sport to win four straight races? Stay tuned, we are about to find out.

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Six-time Winner Mike Seebold Returns To St. Louis
Rinker & Torrente Want To Spoil The Party
ST. LOUIS, Missouri – Friday, August 18, 2006 – Legionary driver Mike Seebold has officially announced that he will return to the ChampBoat Grand Prix Series this weekend and drive for his old team the Bud Light Racing effort headed by his father Bill Seebold for the 35th Bud Light St. Louis Grand Prix.

The 47 year-old native son comes back from a busy season in the offshore racing circuit down in his second home in the state of Florida. Mike arrives having tested the past week with the Bud Light Race Team. Despite having not raced in the ChampBoat series in almost a year, Mike was within 2/10’s of a second behind younger brother Tim who currently sits 2nd in the championship and who is looking for his third straight win here at Creve Coeur lake.

“It felt great to get back into an F1 boat again,” stated Mike. “I really want to thank both my brother Tim and my father Bill for giving me a chance to win for a seventh time here in front of fans who I know and love and who have been such a big part of my racing career. It should be a great weekend.”

While all the attention has been on the Bud Light Team going into the weekend there are a host of drivers hoping to buck the trend that has seen the trio of Seebold’s win 15 of the previous 34 races in their home town.

Series points leader and defending ChampBoat champion Terry Rinker in his Rinker Boats/Amsoil machine has won three straight and with another victory this weekend the Tampa, Florida driver will match the all-time win mark of four straight set by Tim Seebold.

Shaun Torrente of the California Gold Racing Team comes to St. Louis hoping to finish his 2nd straight race and get back into the championship hunt searching for his 2nd career victory. The much talked about rookie from Miami, Florida has been in the chase for wins at the first two events in Bay City, Michigan and Newport, Kentucky only to fail to finish. This weekend he hopes to change his luck as he did in Minneapolis three weeks ago with a fourth place.

Chris Fairchild abandoned his new race boat for his old 2003 edition at the Grand Prix of Minneapolis and pushed hard for a victory eventually finishing 2nd ahead of Tim Seebold and Shaun Torrente. Look for him to again run a boat he truly feels comfortable.

A large group of drivers are expected for the 35th Bud Light St. Louis Grand Prix, the longest standing inshore powerboat race in the world. It all starts with ChampBoat practice on Saturday morning culminating with the 50 lap main feature on Sunday, August 20th at 3:30 pm local St. Louis time.

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Seebold Set To Scuttle Rinker Roll In St. Louis
Bud Light Driver Looking For 3 Straight At Home GP
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – July 30, 2006 – Native son Tim Seebold returns to his hometown itching to continue his string of domination at his home Grand Prix as a large field of drivers are scheduled to meet for the 35th Bud Light St. Louis Grand Prix at Creve Couer Lake on August 19th and 20th for the 4th stop on the 2006 ChampBoat Grand Prix Series.

The native of Fenton, Missouri looks to be the only driver ever to win three straight in St. Louis, while at the same time he’ll try to put a stop to Floridian Terry Rinker of the Rinker Boats/Amsoil sponsored Team that has been dominating the season thus far with three straight victories since the start of the 2006 ChampBoat Grand Prix Series opening round in Bay City, Michigan.

“We feel we are about ready to peak with his Bud Light Team,” stated Tim. “We live here, we know every inch of this lake and we are hungry to take over the point’s championship since we are only 181 points down. It would be great for me to win my 20th career victory here at home.”

As Tim prepares for his run to the checkered flag, Rinker from Tampa, Florida is also confident of keeping his win streak alive. “We have been on a roll all season and we really want to win our fourth race in a row here,” stated Terry. “The only driver to ever do this is Tim and it would be great to tie him with this feat here in St. Louis.”

While Rinker’s 1760 points lead the championship and Tim’s 1579 are just 81 points back, the next seven drivers are just 87 points between third and ninth in the championship in a real scrum for the top third in the title chase. Jeff Shepherd of Tennessee in his Hooter’s boat has been a real pleasant surprise this season now third with 1491 points after a 7th in Minneapolis last week after taking a 3rd on the podium in Greater Cincinnati two weeks ago.

Right behind Shepherd is Wyatt Nelson of Syracuse, New York who is 12 points back in 4th place also picking up a podium once this season and finishing 5th at the Grand Prix of Minneapolis on the Mississippi last Sunday. Louisiana driver Brian Normand had a weekend he would like to forget in the Gopher State barrel rolling in morning warm-up on Sunday and never really getting going in his Swipes sponsored machine finishing last but still sitting well in 5th in the title run 12 points back of Nelson.

Lynn Simburger of Elsah, Illinois in the Famous Craft machine was 8th in Minneapolis and is hoping for a podium in St. Louis to get back in the top 5 of the championship, something he has done for five of the past 6 seasons. Rookie Shaun Torrente of Miami, Florida finally finished a race this season with a fine 4th in Minneapolis after having heart breaking premature endings to his races in Bay City when he crashed out fighting for the lead and dropping out in a comfortable lead at Greater Cincinnati. The California Gold Team will be looking for their “East-West Xpress” to motor to their first podium of the season.

Japan’s Yuzo Okawa was a pleasant surprise in 6th position after starting an even better 3rd at the Grand Prix of Minneapolis for the veteran of Asian F1 racing but a rookie to North America. He also looks for his first podium as he sits in 8th in the championship. Twenty points back with 1404 is Illinois driver Chris Fairchild who reached back last weekend to his old reliable 2003 Pugh hulled boat to take a strong 2nd place finish and looked for a while like he was going to get his 2nd career victory. He will be hoping his momentum carries over in St. Louis.

A pair of first timers who raced in Minneapolis and put a good show on in front of their hometown crowds were Allen “Big Al” Robinson in his first ever professional race finishing 11th and Mark Welsh of Wayzata, Minnesota who battled through a myriad of little problems to take 12th. Both are expected to attend the St. Louis event.

Canadian Brian Venton who crashed heavily on Saturday in Minneapolis did well in a damaged boat to finish 10th on the Mississippi River and now will be ready to tackle the waters in the state of Missouri.

All in all the 35th Bud Light St. Louis Grand Prix at Creve Coeur Lake could be a historic event with Tim Seebold chasing his 3rd straight at his home Grand Prix which that and Terry Rinker’s fourth straight win which would tie Tim for the all-time win streak. All this and many more drivers are expected for a full weekend of racing on August 19th and 20th for the 4th Round of the 2006 ChampBoat Grand Prix Series.

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