Attached is a race report of the 2008 IHBA Nitro Nationals - SSRA Red Bluff  from Tom Timm at Spect8foto.com.

The 2008 Super Stock Racing Association season officially kicked off over the weekend of Memorial Day at Lake Red Bluff in Northern California. Many of the race teams towed their machines to downtown Red Bluff for the Friday night Palomino Room sponsored show n shine. Talk about an excellent place to show off your race machine to the fans! It wasn’t until the following weekend however that the SSRA race teams got to get their machines wet for some circle boat race action. Eight race teams were on hand over Memorial Weekend however only five of the teams were able to make it back for the postponed race. The five teams on hand put together a bunch of exiting heats as each of the five drivers raced hard up and down the short Red Bluff race course. It was another excellent weekend of Super Stock racing that was dominated by the SS80 team with Dave Bryant at the controls. 

The five race teams began their second weekend by getting some time on the water very early Saturday morning for some testing. The teams on hand included the Dave Rankin owned SS80 Wild Child team with Dave Bryant doing the driving. Hal Jones was behind the wheel of the Ray Pauli owned SS501 Pegasus machine. Skip Tuttle made his return to the SS ranks after quite a few races in the seat of his Kryptonite SS711 entry. Mike Darner made the tow from Arizona to compete in his SS8 Mango Madness ride. And making his return to the circle boat wars was Tony Scarlata who suffered serious injuries in an extremely hard crash at a race in March at Lake Ming. Scarlata was once again teamed with Jeff Brochheuser and the Loud n Proud SS68 team. 

In the first heat on Saturday Hal would get the inside lane with Dave in lane two, Mike in lane three, and Tony was on the outside as Skip had trouble with his machine before the flag dropped. As the machines raced up the back stretch to take the flag start both Dave and Mike were side by side but it was Tony in the outside lane that was ahead as Scotty dropped the flag. Dave was the first to get to and come out of the turn as Hal fought for second with Mike and Tony. As the foursome raced up the front stretch in front of the huge Red Bluff crowd Dave would take the lead by a couple boat lengths. Behind him Tony was slightly out in front of both Mike and Hal. Skip would get his machine fired up and take the start where he was about a half lap down. As the race wore on Dave had a good sized lead over Hal who also had a good sized lead over Mike and it looked like the SS80 machine was going to take yet another heat win. As the heat wrapped up both Dave and Tony had to be towed back to the out ramp as they broke on the course and the winner of the first heat would be Hal with Mike coming in second. 

As the race teams started into their parade lap for the Saturday final Skip once again had some trouble getting his machine fired up. This time however he did get going and into his lane position so he could take the start flag with the group. The lane draws for the final saw Dave in lane one, Mike in lane two, Skip in lane three, Tony in lane four, and Hal started from the outside. As the teams charged hard to the start line they were all within one boat length of each other for an excellent start. Dave made another text book turn and could be seen out in front with a slight lead as the pack came out of the turn in real good fashion. Skip looked to be the closest to Dave as Mike was sandwiched in between the two right on Dave’s transom. As the teams race up the front stretch in front of the very attentive crowd Dave would take the lead but not by much as Skip was up for the chase. Dave could clearly be seen with the lead coming out of the second turn as Mike and Hal were all bunched up together pretty close. Tony cut the turn a little too tight and actually hooked onto one of the course buoys and he dragged it for half a straight away. With Dave still leading Hal was able to get around Skip on the outside in the first turn of lap two. Mike was also trying to put a move on Skip as he was pushing hard on the inside as he came out of the second turn on lap two. From there on out Skip and Mike would battle deck to deck for third place as Dave easily drove to the win and Hal finished in second. It was an extremely close photo finish and it was so close that I could not tell you who took third place. Skip and Mike put on an awesome race for the Red Bluff crowd. 

The lane assignments for the first heat on Sunday morning showed Dave in lane one, Hal in two, Tony in three, Skip in four, and Mike in lane five. As Dave and Hal came out of the first turn it almost looked like they were going to bump into one another and Dave whipped the steering wheel in the Wild Child machine to get closer to the very inside of the race course. This opened the door a little for Hal and he and Tony challenged Dave for the lead as the three machines started up the straight away. Dave hammered the throttle in the 80 machine and the Pfaff powered entry drove away from the pack up the straight. As the group came out of turn two Hal was in second and Skip looked to be in third ahead of Tony and Mike. Dave would open up about a six to seven boat length lead as he and Hal finished their second lap. Skip continued in third place and Tony was holding off Mike for fourth. At the completion of three laps Dave continued to increase his lead with Hal in second and Skip in third. Mike was able to get around Tony as the two came around the second turn on lap three. The finishing order for the heat showed Dave in first, Hal second, Skip third, Mike in fourth, and Tony finished in fifth place. 

With the weekend coming to a close the final heat of Super Stockers took place late Sunday afternoon. Mike began the heat in lane five with Skip in lane four, Tony in lane three, Hal in lane two, and Dave once again started from the inside lane. As the five racers came out of the turn and began to charge up the straight away it was the inside machines that were slightly staggered ahead of each other in a close battle. The big power in the 80 machine was too much as Dave began his march to distance himself from the crowd. With one lap in the books Dave led and Hal was trying to catch him in second place. As the racers closed in on the completion of lap two Skip was in third and being chased by Tony who was definitely taking a much more cautious approach making some very wide turns in the Loud n Proud machine. Tony and Mike had a good battle going for fourth place as Mike made really tight turns and Tony swung wide. As the checkered flag came out it was Dave getting the win and Hal taking second place. Skip would finish the Sunday main in third place and Mike would finish ahead of Tony in fourth place. 

Just when you thought the circle boat race action was complete the Red Bluff fans got a little bonus. If you follow some of the internet banter you might have seen the bench racing between Tony and the Dave’s with Dave Rankin and Tony talking about a K5 versus SS80 match up. Low and behold the K5 and SS80 machines were on the race course and off Tony and Dave went. At last years event Dave Bryant shoed the 80 machine to the win over Tony in the K5. The outcome at the 2008 Nitro Nationals would be the same as Dave beat Tony in an exciting four lap heat. For a couple of laps Tony could catch and get out in front of Dave heading into the turn with Dave taking the inside lane. Dave however made up enough ground in the turn that he would put a bunch of distance between himself and Tony as the two hammered the throttle heading down the straights. On the third lap Tony took a couple hops coming out of the turn two and that was it as there was no way that he could make up the distance between he and Dave and Dave would take the huge grudge match win.  
 
Thanks Tom for your report update.

The Next Race is Burley the weekend of June 27 - June 29.
Look forward to another great race.