August 26, 2025 • 48 mins
In this revealing conclusion to our three-part interview with Brad Luce, the voice of H1 Unlimited pulls back the curtain on race officiating, broadcasting challenges, and the passionate people working to grow the sport we love.
Throughout the interview, Brad's passion for hydroplane fans shines through. As an H1 board member, he constantly advocates for improved fan experiences – from ensuring venue gates open before boats hit the water to maximizing on-water time during race weekends.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Ruchetel Talk, the podcast dedicated to everything
about the sport that we all lovehydroplane racing.
I am your host, David Newton,and it's time once again to sit
back, relax and welcome.
Rooster Tail, Talk, tale, talk.
(00:48):
Hello race fans, Welcome backto the podcast.
Today is August 26th 2025, andthis is episode 159.
For today's episode, I havepart three and the conclusion of
my interview with Brad Luce.
If you haven't heard parts oneor part two, I have part three
and the conclusion of myinterview with Brad Luce.
If you haven't heard parts oneor part two, I highly recommend
(01:08):
that you go back and listen tothose before today's episode.
I have a link in the bio below,but otherwise, Brad's going to
talk more about his involvementwith H1, give us some fun
anecdotes around broadcastingfor the series, but he's also
going to talk more about hisinvolvement with HydroTown and
his other responsibilitiesfurther than broadcasting for H1
(01:30):
Unlimited.
And at the end, I think you'llfind a few things that he's
looking forward to in the seriesand hopefully it gives you a
little bit more insight to someof the work going on behind the
scenes to make next year evenbetter than this year was.
So, with that being said, let'sjump in and listen to the
(01:52):
conclusion of my interview withBrad Luce.
Well, I like to live in ahypothetical world all the time.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Good, I don't know if you do as well.
Can I be a driver in thisquestion?
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Not this one, but maybe the next one.
All right, but as an announcer,you've gotten a chance to share
the booth with some people thisyear it's Tanner, and you've
had other years with differentpeople.
But if you could say, the nextrace, add someone to your
broadcasting team.
Let's say someone that youcould get and someone that you
couldn't get, that maybe passedon, who would that be?
(02:21):
Wow, wow.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Wow, wow, wow, okay, yeah, that on who would that be?
Wow, wow, wow, wow, okay, yeah,go, that's.
That's really a good question.
Um, I guess the first couple ofnames come to mind that I can't
have because they're no longerwith us, but I guess um first
name that popped into my headwhen you said that was Ron
(02:45):
Musson I mentioned.
I love the 62 Bardol and thatpicture I have of Ron Musson
with the autograph.
I always liked him.
I guess he was articulate.
He did Camel Cigarettecommercials right, yeah.
So he must have been able totalk, so maybe he would.
I have no idea if this guywould have been any good, but
(03:06):
just because he was an idol.
And my first real hero I guessin the boat racing world was Ron
Musson, which and it had amassive impact upon me when he
died back in Washington DC.
I'll never forget that day andhow that all went down and that
(03:27):
was because of how much he meantto me and the sport meant to me
as a young kid.
So I guess Ron Musson, I guessthat comes.
I could throw out a whole bunchof names and while I'm thinking
that, I go.
Well, muncy was the spokesman,right.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Right, right right.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
And to me, to me we can argue, but to me, to me we
can argue.
But to me Bill Muncy is thegreatest driver of all time and
I say that because he was such agreat spokesman for the sport.
Obviously he knew the sport sowell.
He developed we've all seen theclips before he developed some
of the language of the sport,but he could.
(04:01):
There's a guy who could speakto the common fan and to the new
fan and not talk over theirhead.
Bill would have been amazing towork with.
I can only imagine somethinglike that.
And then I guess, if we canreally go out on a big, long
limb, there's a name back there,not back as far as Garwood, but
(04:24):
a guy I've been kind ofstudying lately a little bit and
I've become very impressed withhim is Danny Foster.
He was kind of the Bill Muncyof his era and I didn't realize
until I started digging intothis and there's a good story
why I started digging into it.
But I didn't realize he was asgood as he was and I didn't
(04:48):
realize he was the master thathe was.
I did meet him once.
I have a picture of me andDanny Foster.
Okay, yeah, danny Foster, fredAlter and myself in a photo back
in Detroit at a.
We were at the Detroit YachtClub.
Okay, and I guess I digress youask for an answer.
(05:09):
I've given you three, but thoseare three names that came to
mind and a current day guy.
I'm going to tell you I'veworked with a few and I'm going
to say somebody I've worked withbefore and I guess everybody
knows 2022, corey Peabody.
Yeah, he was awesome at Seafairin 2022.
(05:34):
I learned in Madison that I wasnot going to have my color
commentator for Seafair.
So what is that?
I've got a month, first week ofJuly to first week of August
and we're on the road and we gotTri-Cities in the middle of it
and I started talking to peopleabout it.
I said I got to just brainstormhere a little bit, just throw
(05:55):
names at a wall.
What are we going to do?
Well, corey blows the boat overin Madison and I know Corey and
he's not shy.
And I know Corey and he's notshy.
He knows the sport well, he'sarticulate.
All the conversations I hadwith other people, his name just
kept bubbling up, and so Iremember I thought, well, I'm
(06:15):
going to go about this the rightway, I'm not going to call
Corey.
I'm going to call Darryl Strongand I don't know Darryl Strong.
I mean, I've met him a fewtimes but, I really don't know
Daryl Strong.
I mean, I've met him a few timesbut I really don't know this
guy.
So I get the number and I callDaryl and he calls me back and I
told him what I wanted to doand what.
Would would that be okay withhim, because I know he's not
going to be driving in Seattleand he goes.
(06:37):
You don't have to call Corey.
He said I'm going to tell youright now, corey will do it.
He said and I'll tell Corey,he's going to do it.
So that all got taken care ofreal quick.
So Friday in the pit area atSeafair, I'm up on the tower,
the pit tower there, and we'reready to go.
The course is opening at Idon't know 8.30 or whatever time
it was, and we're like fourminutes from the course opening.
(07:00):
I got boats hanging over thewater and we're going to go
testing.
No Corey, no Corey.
All of a sudden I hear thisLowe's.
Lowe's.
I looked at here comes Corey,he's running, he goes, I'll be
there in a minute and he, corey.
The reviews were outstanding,everybody loved him, everybody
loved him and I remember in 2022, I guess that's part of the
(07:24):
streak of four for JMK Mike winsthe race in Seattle and I
remember we were talking aboutit after the heat had ended and
talking about the race win, andI looked over at Corey and he
was really looking down therekind of stretching to see the
pit area and I said, corey, howabout we cut you loose and get
you out of here?
I got a hunch, you want to godown?
And he said, yep, thank youvery much.
(07:46):
And we all said, as much as weliked you up here and this was
my producer and the sound guyand everybody else that's up
there as much as we enjoyedhaving you, we never want to see
you here again, we want you outdriving.
Yes, he saluted and took offCorey Peabody was outstanding.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yeah, he was.
He did a great job.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
I'll tell you, somebody else who got their
first broadcast gig this weekendis somebody that I said would
be a great color commentator,and I just thought of this
Dustin Eccles.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Oh, he did fantastic.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
He took my place on KONA and I stepped out of that
to go to the live stream fulltime this year and Michael
McDonald from KONA called me andhe says we're thinking about
Dustin Echols and he said whatdo you think?
Asked my opinion of it and Isaid I don't think you could do
any better.
I mean he knows all the people,he knows the sport and I
(08:44):
learned very quickly when hemoved from the 440 to the big
boat and suddenly I wasinterviewing him more.
He is extremely articulate and Imean that's kind of checking
all the boxes, right.
Right, you can string sentencestogether.
You're very articulate, knowthe sport, know the people.
Nobody's going to beintimidated by him, right?
(09:06):
And I don't know how it went.
I heard it was going very well.
I heard his voice a couple oftimes.
It sounded good, so good forhim.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Yeah no, he did a great job.
I listened to the konabroadcast on the shorelines and
many people I talked to thatwere there and some people back
east listening to it online saiddustin did a great job good,
I'm happy for him.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
He, he's good.
So there I danced all aroundthat question.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Before I gave you five guys yeah, and then number
six is david newton, right?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
of course yes all right of course, and quite
honestly again, we talk about.
We did the driver thing inmadison.
We need to pull in other people, other aspects of the sport.
A guy like you to come on talkabout the RC stuff Tell us
what's going on and I have tohave a conversation with you
(09:54):
about the Sharky hole that Davejust won in yesterday.
It's actually got a littledifferent color scheme on it
this weekend.
Did you notice?
that the gold was gone and therewas some red on there, that's
right.
How does that affect the RCguys?
It ran once with a little goldand now it's got a little.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I'll bet that's fun stuff, the different versions,
yeah, the differentregistrations you can get to
race them.
I like that All right.
Well, just part of yourbroadcasting.
You have so many differentchallenges and it seems you know
sometimes in the final heatsover the years, that things
happen on the water and you'renot sure what the call was or
(10:33):
whatnot.
How do you handle situationslike that, trying to figure out
the order, because I'm justthinking back many years where
we weren't sure if shane won,like in 2012.
Who won?
Kelly shane, or was or was itSteve David?
Like who was the winner?
How do you dance around that?
How do you handle thatchallenge?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
There's one very important aspect to all of that,
and nobody likes the fact thatour boats have to go through
tech inspection, but we allunderstand why the boats have to
go through tech inspection.
So and we were having thisconversation just a few weeks
ago that actually is on somelevel.
(11:12):
The broadcasters that's thecrutch Always temper it with
it's still unofficial.
It's still unofficial.
The boats have to go throughtech.
And if, when you're talking toa driver in an interview on the
dock we were talking about thislast night I did dock interviews
for 30 years and you'll learnreal quick You'd only have to
(11:36):
get bit once and make a mistakeon something like that.
You always lean on techinspection, tech inspection from
the announcer standpoint andthe interview with the winning
driver can be your best friendbecause, remember, these are all
unofficial.
But right now, corey Peabody orwhoever it may be, you're the
winner on the water and theyknow that.
But you plant that seed back inand then, when they repeat it
(11:59):
back to you, you know we thinkwe're good, I think we're good,
but we'll wait for Seth up inthe tech truck to tell us that
we're okay.
Yeah, it's been hard sometimes.
Um, there was a year out here.
I don't know the year but, um,you will remember when dave cut
off steve david at the top endof the race course on the final
lap right and dave came down forthe victory and then boom, they
(12:21):
took it away and nobody on ourbroadcast team wanted to go talk
to Dave.
I drew that short straw and Iremember I just went up to him
and said Dave, we're hearing ofa penalty, what are you hearing?
And he goes I don't know, Idon't know.
I remember it very well.
He just said I don't know, Idon't know what they're telling
(12:43):
me, I'm hearing all kinds ofthings.
And he just kind of walked away.
But that's okay In an interview, that's okay.
Yeah, because it's not how goodthe interview was.
It's that's what his reactionwas to it.
Seahawk fans all remember AaronAndrews talking to Richard
Sherman.
I mean, it was television gold,right.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I mean it got replayed millions of times.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
You can still see it today.
You never know what you'regoing to get and you're not in
control of that.
But you got to get themicrophone in front of them and
see what comes.
But I've always tried to haveto temper a little bit what I
said.
It's hard Sometimes you don'tknow where to go.
I was interviewing this iscoming back to me now I was
interviewing Scott Rainey withthe Beacon Plumbing and Jean
(13:33):
Fiorat in Seattle at the Seafairone time.
And I, finally, I had to waitfor television because I was
live radio, so TVs got to talkto them first and then they
stepped out of the way and Iwent up to scott rainey and I
started saying something aboutseafair champion and he goes.
(13:55):
Well, apparently you haven'theard.
We have been disqualified andthose are the winners over there
.
That's the cheer you're hearingcoming out of the ELAM camp.
So yeah, there's been someembarrassing moments.
It's going to happen.
But you try and temper it anddon't do anything until it's
(14:17):
official and make sure thatofficial word comes from
somebody who is official, thatofficial word comes from
somebody who is official.
I won't say it until I get itfrom one of three people within
H1.
And as I say that that's nottrue because there's a fourth
person who's not an official,but if they tell me I know right
(14:39):
where they got it, and they andI have had that conversation,
nick Kish, if you come down andtell me it's official, then I
know where he got it.
So you just have to make sureyou know your sources and be a
little late rather than beingsorry, just make sure you got it
right, don't jump the gun.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
That's one of many challenges of the gig, right.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
It is and you learn how to handle it.
Is you and you learn, you knowhow to how to handle it and,
like I say, you only have to getbit once.
It's like yesterday.
Uh, yesterday there was nickcame down and he said something
to me and he was jumping in thetruck.
I took my headset off.
We were in the middle of theheat and I said what?
And he said dump, dump, dump,dump, dump.
I said okay, is that official?
(15:23):
And he goes.
I think so, think so.
And I said no and I just wentright back to the broadcast.
No, I think so isn't going towork.
No, don't just wait.
100%.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Yeah, so you'll learn , oh yeah.
But that's part of hydroplaneracing, yeah, of our legend and
lore, the whole rhubarb thingand arguments, but that's okay.
Yeah, yeah, we try.
I will say this about ourofficials because I love what
(15:53):
we're doing now.
Our communication here inTri-Cities, because of our
locations with each other,wasn't ideal.
Madison is perfect.
I hope we never change it whenI stood on the overlook.
Have you been to Madison?
Speaker 1 (16:10):
I haven't yet.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
All right, front row of the overlook.
I got the Ohio River and thepit area at my feet.
I can see turn one, I can seeturn two and I'm right on start
finish and I'm on the front row.
To my left is the chief referee.
He's right there.
I got Jonathan right there andsomething happened.
Coming out for the final heat,one of the boats came out of the
(16:33):
pit area and went straightacross the course.
Everybody else went down towardturn one.
I knew that was a no-no acouple of years ago, so I saw it
happen and I called it and Isaid so-and-so is coming out and
going straight across the racecourse.
And as I'm saying it, I'mholding the mic and I'm looking
right at the chief referee andhe could hear me talking to him
and he turned to me and he justnodded his head up and down.
(16:56):
I said I'm not sure that is alegal maneuver and he's nodding
his head and so that reallyhelps.
But what he is doing that isdifferent is we watch a race and
we know there's been some stuff.
You know we saw boats get wet,we saw this, we saw that when
(17:19):
the boats come back to the dockhe will they start looking at
the three referees.
We'll start looking at the, thefootage that they have
available to them.
But if the boat that was thewinner on the water, if they're
not involved in any of the quoteunquote shenanigans that maybe
went on, he will come to me andsay the winter's clear, they're
(17:44):
clean.
We're looking at some otherstuff.
This happened at San Diego lastyear.
There was a lot of stuff goingon behind the leader, but
Peabody had appeared to be cleanfor his second gold cup and he
came to me.
Actually, he was across thebody of water, but he called me
so I stepped off the mic, I tookit because it was him and he
(18:09):
said we're looking at a lot ofstuff.
He said but I can tell youCorey Peabody is clean on the
water and I know what that means.
It means don't second, thirdand fourth may be messed up, but
if Corey clears tech inspectionhe's golden and I can tell the
fans we have a winner and it isconfirmed.
And he called me and told meCorey's clean.
(18:31):
We're not sure about what'sgoing on behind him.
I said so if he clears tech,he's our gold cup champion.
And he said yes, he is.
And oh, by the way, I just gotthat notification he has cleared
the tech truck.
I said so he's our 2024 GoldCup winner.
He said you got it.
He's really good about that andthat really helps to tell me.
(18:52):
If that's what the people wantto know is the winner Tell me
the winner's clean.
We'll figure out the rest of itafter and let you go dig all
that stuff out.
Another change we made was nowit's whoever is the winner on
the water.
That's the first box that goesto the tech truck.
Um, last year we confirmedevery winner.
(19:16):
I want to say it nick wastiming it.
From the time the winning boatcrossed the finish line to the
time we got tech truck cleared.
We were under 10 minutes.
Wow, I thought it was prettygood.
Yeah, I thought it was reallygood, and the tech because I was
(19:38):
.
This is again the stuff we weredoing behind the scenes.
How can we make it quicker?
And, honestly, I had tounderstand.
A few of us were on a committeeand we wanted to understand
exactly what happens from thetime the boat crosses the finish
line to the time he clears thetech truck.
Why does it take so long?
It doesn't help when JimmyShane shuts off the home street
(20:01):
in front of the Muncie Memorialin San Diego to stand up in
front of the Home Streethospitality area and you can't
get your hands on the black boxfor 20 minutes, there's another
discussion.
But things like this that youdon't think about, or if they
come back to the dock, likeTri-Cities and it's a traffic
jam and they shut the boat offand they're 50 yards offshore,
(20:25):
you can't get to the box, littlethings like that.
And we were looking at howcould we expedite it.
I went into with others intothe tech truck, we went in and
we looked at had self.
Show us what he does.
I'm just looking at it andgoing can we put this on a
mobile cart?
Can we take this test device?
(20:46):
Can we wheel it down on thedock?
Take this box out of the boat,shove it right in right there,
get a go, no go.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Anything.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Well, we found out that it really wasn't that much
of a hang up and we just startedprioritizing the boats number
one, number two, number three,in that order we designate now
official people.
That's your boat, that is yourboat.
It is your job when that boatgets in, to get on the deck with
(21:17):
the crew, get that box out andrun.
You can see them run, yeah, runit to the tech truck, yeah, and
then seph knows what order totake them.
So we've tried to cut as muchslop out of that system.
Last year it really showed.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
It showed well yeah, no, it has.
I mean, I'm thinking backfurther than past years, right,
I remember some seafarers where,oh, did they win?
Do they not win?
Like 10 minutes go by, 20minutes go by, 30 minutes go by
and hour goes.
Hour goes by and maybe we havea winner.
We are still waiting to hearthat.
But last year and this yearhasn't been that right.
(21:55):
It's been much more condensed,shorter period, which is what
the fans want.
So that's been, that's beengreat.
The h1 has prioritized that andimproved on that they really
have.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
And we've got, you know, a new officiating crew.
We went up to HRL and gotJonathan Abbott.
He came down and joined us lastyear and he's he's been great.
He's a really nice guy.
We give him a hard time, hetalks funny and all that stuff,
but he's he's really a nice guy.
But he really understands boatracing and he understands the
(22:27):
need to get the information tothe fan.
Now, the killer in what you justsaid, which is very, very true,
take what you said and what Isaid the tech truck isn't the
log jam.
When it goes to 15 minutes,when it goes to 20 minutes, to a
half hour or an hour, that'snot the tech truck.
(22:48):
We can take the box out andplug it in.
We we've got that.
So what's the hangout?
What's causing that hour delay?
And now, this is my opinion,we'll throw that out.
This is my opinion.
Um, sometimes we're looking ata lot of film and sometimes
we're taking a long time to makea call.
(23:10):
It's not the tech truck, that'sa go, no go, that's a yay or
nay.
Make a call on the water.
Now I am of the opinion get theinformation that you have
available to you, whateversource of information you have,
review it, make a call.
Make the call like a basketballreferee on a charge or a block.
(23:34):
Make the call and if you'rewrong you're going to have to
live with it.
If, if some footage comes uplater that shows Whoa, didn't
see that, didn't realize thatangle.
Yeah, we probably missed thatcall.
You're not going to change it,right, right, take what you have
available to you and make thecall, knowing full well you're
(23:57):
going to make a mistake.
It's going to look at the NFL.
Yeah, look at the NFL.
The new Orleans saints weresupposed to be in a super bowl
one time and now the rules areall different about pass
interference and all that.
It's going to happen, but it'sbetter than waiting a couple of
hours.
We cannot have our fans walkaway from the shoreline not
(24:22):
knowing who the winner is andhaving to go pick up the paper
Monday morning or go online andsee whoa, he won.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Yeah, when did that happen?
Right, can't do that, no, yeah.
And like you said, like, lookat other sport events, right,
nfl, nba, whatever it is it'smerely judgment calls.
So human error has it's gonnaplay into it.
It does.
And whether that's big boats,like we're talking, the Limited
today, or it's the RC boats thatI do as well, it's all human
(24:51):
error and you've got to make thecall.
With RC boats, we've got tomake the call within the first
lap.
You know if it jumped the gunor whatnot, so it's hard.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
That's funny it is.
It's the exact same thing.
And if my buddy Nick Kish wassitting here, he would say it's
the same thing on HydroZoom.
Yeah, it's the exact same thing.
You've got to make the call.
So, base it on something.
Base it on something.
And that's what I used to in mysales career.
That's what I used to tellsalespeople that work for me.
(25:23):
Sometimes the worst thing youcan do is not make a decision.
Salespeople that work for me.
Sometimes the worst thing youcan do is not make a decision.
And if you're faced with acustomer or something and you
have to make a decision, makethe decision.
All I ask is base it onsomething.
So if I come to you and go,David, what in the world were
(25:44):
you thinking?
Why did you do this?
Well, don't say I don't know, Ihad to make a decision.
No, base it on something andthen make it and we can have a
discussion.
Well, what you should have done, maybe, was this Get the
information you've got, make thecall.
And Jonathan has said that.
He said nobody comes up andsees me on the tower during race
day.
He said we're going to make thecalls Now, when everything is
done, somebody wants to come upand talk to me about it.
(26:05):
I'll show them why I made thecall and they might point
something out different to me.
And he says I will acknowledgethat yeah, we missed that call.
We missed it, we blew it.
I'm not going to change it andI think that's.
You're going to make somemistakes, but I think that's
that's a good thing.
I think that's the only way youcan do it Exactly, Exactly.
I think that's the only way youcan do it Exactly, Exactly.
(26:25):
Make the call.
Make the call.
Refereeing is not a fun job.
No, it's not Anybody that evergrabbed a whistle and said, oh,
I'll ref that basketball game,yeah, good luck.
It takes a special person to doit.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
And a thick skin, yep .
Well, I could talk for hours onends on boats.
I know you can too, but I don'twant to strain your voice
anymore.
No, no, it's fun, I got onemore question here for you let's
do it but just the fans.
They always clamor, they want tohear some more goodness or good
news coming out from the future, and we talked a bit about
(27:02):
Detroit and the.
I know there's efforts to be orbeing done behind the scenes to
get that back on the series andwe're really hopeful of that.
But is there anything else thatwe can, as a fan, clamor on and
hope for in the future for thesport?
Are there things, other thingsin the talks that you can share
with us?
Because everyone talks aboutthose golden years.
We want to get back to thosegolden years.
(27:22):
We want to see it be a biggershow.
What else is on your mind?
What can you share with us?
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Well, I would love to sit here and tell you yeah,
next year we're going to haveseven new race teams, six new
race sites, and all our problemsare just magically going to go
away.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Perfect, there we are , we're done.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
We'll leave it on that note.
But again, I'm the optimisticguy and I'm always.
I think the sport's in a verygood place right now.
But my opinion doesn't count.
But I'll tell you why I feelthat way.
And there is I think wementioned the name Daryl Strong.
(28:00):
Daryl's been very heavilyinvolved HydroTown and H1
Unlimited.
A lot of people don'tunderstand the difference
between the two.
Hydrotown is basically takingover the marketing aspect of the
sport and handling thecontracts and so forth with the
race sites.
But they're handling that sideof it where H1 Unlimited puts on
(28:22):
the events.
That's basically the line.
And HydroTown was four peopleright out of the box.
That has changed.
It went from four down to two,down to one, now up to two.
There are two people involvedin HydroTown.
Daryl Strong has been in thereall along and the name that
hasn't yet come out in thisdiscussion is Bruce Ratchford.
(28:45):
I don't know if you've metBruce.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
I haven't had the chance yet.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
And I will say this publicly, bruce, I'm sorry but
I'm telling everybody, if youever have the opportunity, do
(29:14):
not Unlimited.
And our boat racing that we alllove.
He is so bullish on this sport.
He's a local guy here in theTri-Cities with his Apollo
Mechanical.
He's a hoot to talk to.
He's just local guy here in theTri-Cities with his Apollo
Mechanical.
He's a hoot to talk to.
He's just a character and hekind of has a little bit of a
gruff exterior or the personayou might see out front.
(29:36):
He's got a heart of gold.
Very smart man, very, verysmart man.
I mean you look at the businessthat he has built here with his
own two hands.
I mean you look at the businessthat he has built here with his
own two hands and he startedthis little company here and
he's now the fifth largestmechanical contractor in the
United States.
Wow, this is a big deal.
Yeah, and he just loves boatracing.
(29:58):
And of everybody that was herethis past weekend for the APBA
Gold Cup in the Tri-Cities,nobody was more excited than
Bruce.
He was the sponsor of the race.
He had two boats in it At theend ofCities.
Nobody was more excited thanBruce.
He was the sponsor of the race.
He had two boats in it.
At the end of the day, he wonthe darn thing.
By the way, he's undefeated asan owner.
Just thought we'd throw thatout, by the way.
By the way, bruce, if you arelooking at yourself in the
(30:23):
mirror and listening to this,and you're a fan and you go, I'm
just a fan.
I just love boat racing.
I just want it to get betterand I want to go and I want to
see the boats and I loveeverything about them.
And da-da-da, that's BruceRatchford.
He's a kid.
He's giggling with excitementand I'm broadcasting this
weekend standing on the edge,just to the left of the
(30:46):
start-finish line tower, lookingat the river and the radio guys
for all the teams and all theclasses were just to my right.
They were on the lower level ofthe tower.
He was coming up there forevery heat and I'd look down as
we'd get going.
I'd go ah, that's right, one ofhis boats in this one.
I'd look over at him.
He'd smile, we'd nod at eachother.
(31:07):
He is a big reason to be bullish.
Now I know what everybody wants.
Same thing you want, I want.
We want more boats, more sites.
Obviously, we got the word ofthe decision from Guntersville
that they won't be back on thecircuit.
I don't think there was a bigsurprise there.
It would have been tough downthere the last few years.
(31:29):
Weather had just kicked ourrear end and and there's just
nothing we can do about it.
And people are going well, can'twe do this?
No, it was an ocean.
We at one point on Saturdaydown there were told we had 70
mile an hour winds coming.
We were told get out of here.
And we basically took the startfinish line tower and took it
(31:51):
down, took it apart, packed itup, put it away and we spent a
day putting that stuff together.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
And that wasn't the first time you had to evacuate
the feds, like the first yearyou had to evacuate, yes oh yeah
, yeah, the storm never cameright.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
That's right, 2018.
We did, and they bus everybodyinto that venue.
The buses all came.
Yeah, it was tough down there.
Great venue, venue, yeah, greatvenue.
And the people.
That whole southern hospitalitything is true, and Ted Grange,
wherever you are, bud was hisline, so I won't steal it, but
(32:27):
Ted used to say, yeah, there'ssouthern hospitality and then
there's Guntersville hospitalityand it's cut above.
It truly was, and so we'resorry to lose them.
But there is talk.
I will just simply say there'stalk of other sites.
We at the board level, the H1board level, which I'm a member,
(32:49):
we are very cognizant ofneeding more sites.
We need more fans, we need moresites, we need more boats, and
there's talks of ways we canmaybe get more sites.
We need more fans, we need moresites, we need more boats, and
there's talks of ways we canmaybe get more boats.
There's talks of how could wedo that, how could our current
owners maybe assist bringing innew owners?
(33:09):
So we know we need all thatstuff.
It's not going to happenovernight, but I think what I
(33:29):
was saying there was.
There's ways that some of theowners are talking about.
You know, could they help ateam get started.
A team that has multiple boats,brings in another boat and kind
of gets it started and thenhelps shift that off to a new
owner, because it's not just anew owner wants to come in and
say, I want to get involved inthis sport.
Well, it's not just getting aboat and the equipment and the
(33:51):
driver.
You need a shop, you need tools, you need a crew.
There's a whole lot that goesinto that, and so there's been
some discussions.
I've heard of you know howcould existing owners maybe help
facilitate that with new owners?
Because there are some peopleout there that are wanting to
get involved and you don'talways get a turnkey thing like
(34:13):
Bruce Rashford did.
Right, right, I get such a kickout of that team right now
because and I tell the fans, ifyou're a casual fan watching our
sport the 91, the Goodman RealEstate with Andrew Tate they
were here last year.
Same team, same boat looks, thesame driver, crew.
What's different Sponsor, howdo you know?
Oh man, well, who cares aboutthe owner?
(34:34):
But that was a big change, aswe all know.
But there are people out thereand so there are discussions
about that type of thing.
We've talked about Detroit toyour point.
I think everybody agrees weneed to get back there and I'm
convinced we will.
(34:55):
I'm absolutely convinced wewill.
I know I got friends in Detroitgoing.
Frank, great Luce, I heard youwhen.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
When, where do I?
Speaker 2 (35:02):
get tickets.
I'm with you.
I'm with you, I want to go.
But there are other places thatare being talked about and
there are other places whereperhaps and we've talked about
it and we've been invited on acouple of occasions One didn't
quite work out.
We thought it was going to wherewe could go, put on an
exhibition, and we knowexhibitions can sometimes lead
(35:25):
to other things.
So what I would say to the fanis we do not meet as a board
once every six months and spendthe first hour of an hour and a
half meeting saying how are you?
We meet every two weeks?
These are topics that are onthe table Right now.
(35:47):
Of course, we're going to havea meeting this week and it'll be
what went right in Tri-Cities,what went wrong, what do we need
to improve and, oh, by the way,what needs to be done before
next weekend.
Because we've got these twoback-to.
We're always, we always have aneye for the future.
Whether you, whether youappreciate or like what I do as
(36:11):
an announcer, what I'm trying tobring to the table on the board
and it was kind of explained tome this way I am trying to
bring the fan perspective, yeah,and because there's a bunch of
owners on there.
Sometimes when I first startedI was a little intimidated.
(36:32):
Mike Denslow is the chairman ofthe board of H1.
The rest of them are all owners, right?
Charlie Grooms, he's stillthere, but he was a
representative owner.
So it's a bunch of owners andthey start talking about what do
we need to do on this and someof that stuff I can't vote on.
I don't even understand thequestion that they're talking
about when it gets into themonetary side of it and all that
(36:54):
.
But it's kind of become alittle bit of a joke on the
board meetings because we havethese agendas and we get to the
end of the agenda and the laststatement is always is there any
other business we need to talkabout?
It's kind of almost become Brad, what have you got for us this
time?
Because I always have somethingand it's about the darn fans,
(37:16):
Because I said earlier, that'swhat I am, that's what you are.
You boil us all down.
We're just fans.
We all want and desire the samethings and I've kind of got
myself wrapped around the axleon something that seems so
simple, so simple.
(37:36):
But one of the items I'vebrought up is on occasion we get
the schedule for the event.
Have you ever noticed that thegates open at the same time the
course opens?
Well, in Seattle it's a six-daywalk from where you park to get
to the water's edge.
And if you're a fan like youand me, I would be livid.
(38:01):
I would be livid because I,first of all, I'd be sneaking in
because by the time I can parkmy car and walk down, I can hear
the boats running Right, and Imissed that whole first test
session.
There should be an hourdifference and to me that's just
so simple.
It's so simple.
(38:21):
I like to abdicate and I knowsome of the owners are probably
going to go loose.
Did you really say that withNewton?
Yeah, I did.
I look at sometimes theconstant erosion, for lack of a
better term but we seem to begetting less and less time on
the water.
We need to get the boats outthere more on the water.
(38:44):
I don't know and there's wayswe can talk about and things
that have happened to do that,but I want the boats on the
water.
What is it?
What did we say?
15 days a year?
They're only out there 15 days ayear.
Let's maximize the time.
Let's not cut down the heats,let's not make it.
You know, just one lap to goqualify.
We got to keep these threequalifying laps in there and
stuff like that.
(39:04):
So we do talk about the fanexperience.
It's part of our missionstatement.
The last part of our missionstatement is being ever mindful
of the fan experience.
I take it kind of as myresponsibility on the board to
make sure the board doesn'tforget that, because at the end
of the day, that's who I am andI'm not going to do this forever
(39:27):
and then I'm going to becomethat fan.
I guarantee you that gate'sgoing to open an hour before us
because I'm going to be downthere with you and we're going
to be watching.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Right, I'm really passionate about that part, so
yeah, I love to hear yourpassion when you're broadcasting
.
I love to hear that you're.
You're advocating for the fans,because the fans need a voice
and they have a strong voice andand they love they do.
I love to hear that they'rebeing heard and you're
advocating for them.
They do.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
I love to hear that they're being heard and you're
advocating for them.
And we all read the comments.
Okay, we all read the Facebookcomments, but you know what,
whether they're negative orpositive, it's because they're
passionate.
Oh, yeah, it's because they'repassionate.
Just know, we feel the same wayyou do and we want what's best
(40:16):
for the sport, the same way youdo, and we want what's best for
the sport, and I'm I'm nevergoing to, I'm, you're never
going to be able to talk to meand have me go.
Nope, sports done, we're goingaway.
This is it.
We're out.
No, there's too many people thatare dedicated to it.
Uh, and, as far as the fans, Iwill stand on my drum in front
of anybody and say you are themost important person at the
(40:37):
event.
I always say, oh, it's theboats, yeah, they're important.
And the drivers, the owners,okay, the venues.
But you know what?
If we have all that and nobodyshows up, guess what?
We're done, we're done.
And so the fans, you are themost important people there and
we're going to keep, I'm goingto keep shouting for you because
(40:57):
I are one, for lack of a betterterm.
You know, that's what I am.
I'm a fan.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
So are you?
Yes, exactly that's why we'rehere, right.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
That is exactly why we're sitting here in a hotel
room the day after the race inTri-Cities, and I will see you
next Friday down on the water'sedge at Lake Washington.
Yes, you will, and we're goingto do it again, yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
Well, I hope we do it again and again and again.
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
We're going to.
We are going to I'm going to bebullish on the sport.
We're going forward.
We got a couple of look.
It takes money and we've gotsome people leading the sport
who A they have some money andthey're not afraid to spend some
(41:43):
of that money.
Now they're going to be veryhonest with you.
They intend at some point toget it back.
But think about that.
If they do get it back, whatdoes that mean?
Well, that means we're suddenlysuccessful If this becomes an
investment on their part andthey're willing to invest this
money up front not forever,that's not going to go on
(42:03):
forever, but they've got tostart seeing the momentum build,
and that's a big part of thiswhole production trailer.
If you want to be a professionalsport and have these big
sponsors, you have to act thatway too.
We have to look like when weroll into town, we know what
we're doing, and that includesthis whole production broadcast
(42:24):
team.
Come by and see our trailer.
We've got some issues.
Yes, we are aware of them.
Yes, but, man, we look the part, and that's part of it.
Yeah, Not all of it.
And the big part is you got toactually do it and make it work
and we'll get there.
We're getting better, but atleast this was part of it.
We got to look the part when wecome into town and so we're
(42:46):
going to get there is every timewe wanted to talk about what
was necessary to make the sportbetter.
What these fans are talkingabout when they're saying you
know, h1 needs to do this andthat and everything else.
Yeah, we know that, but everytime we'd have that conversation
(43:08):
, it was always the retort to itwas do you have any idea how
much money that costs?
And these guys are trying totake that argument off the table
, take that roadblock away.
Then what happens?
If money's not an object notforever, but if money's not an
object, then how would we goabout doing that?
(43:31):
That's a big step.
That's a really big step,because it's always we don't
have that kind of money.
We don't Trust me.
There's nobody making a lot ofmoney here, and so I know I'm
off on a bit of a tangent there,but hopefully that gives fans
that are listening and I knowyou've got a big following,
(43:52):
because what you do and what youdo is terrific.
Well, if you're listening tothis, I hope that made you feel
like there are passionate peoplewith resources who want to make
this better.
It's just not going to happenovernight and we are trying.
We are really trying.
Every time we get on a call,there's some passion on that
call and these owners and theywant to make it right.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
Well, I love to hear that, brad.
I love your passion and I thankyou for what you've done for
the sport broadcasting and yourvoice for the fans, and I'm
looking forward to many morebroadcasts from you and what the
sport's going to bring us.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
Well, you're very welcome.
Thank you.
I think, like I just said, whatyou do is amazing.
And have you still got thatrunning?
Oh, yeah, Good, Keep it going.
Because I want to say somethingto the fans out there.
Uh, if you see me, if you seeme walking around, come up and
say hello, I love meeting fans.
I love meeting fans.
We have this, the meet andgreet over here, over there,
when they had the boats.
(44:48):
Bruce Ratchford has alreadytold me he's going to make that
a whole lot bigger next year.
He wants food vendors out there.
He wants some live music outthere.
Bruce has got a vision here,but I had some fans come up to
me.
It was really.
I love the young ones.
The young ones are the best.
And to get your picture takenwith some of these little guys,
(45:09):
you know, and the parents arewith them and they go.
Well, my, my son's a fan, anddah, dah, dah.
I immediately forget theparents.
And I want to go to that kidand you, and you know why
because that kid is you and me.
Yep, that was me, more yearsago than I'm going to admit, but
that was me and I remember andI'm all the way back to that
picture with Ron Musson.
(45:31):
When he came out and signedthat autograph he took the time
for me and that's what it's allabout.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
That small gesture he did just grew everything for
you right.
Speaker 2 (45:42):
It grew to this.
I am living a dream.
I'm truly living a dreambecause I grew up worshiping
these guys.
You know Ron Musson, rex,manchester, bill.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Muncy.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
Yeah, the Detroiters.
I still love Cantrell.
Cantrell is one of my favoritesof all time, and Shaneth and all
that.
I grew up in that.
I was fortunate enough to livethat, albeit as a young kid, and
now those drivers that Iadmired, these guys are my
friends.
I know them, I know their wives, I know the kids, and so, yeah,
(46:18):
I'm living a dream.
I really am living a dream.
I've been very, very fortunate,this sport's been very good to
me and it's been a hell of aride.
It's not over yet.
It's not over yet.
Speaker 1 (46:34):
It has been a hell of a ride, but unfortunately this
ride is over for us.
That's all the time we have forthis week.
Knuckleheads come back nextweek and we'll have another
interview with someone else fromthe sport of hydroplane racing.
I really hope you enjoyed theepisode with Brad loose, as you
get more insider informationaround the sport of hydroplane
racing and within H1 unlimited.
(46:54):
Again, thank you, brad, foryour time Really appreciated,
taking time out of your schedulethe day after the Gold Cup.
I know he was tired, I wastired, but hydrofans can never
stop talking boats, don't forget.
We're online, our websiteroosterteltalkcom.
We're on social media.
We're on Facebook, instagram.
(47:15):
Check us out there for moreinformation about the podcast
updates and just some other funthings around the sport of
hydroplane racing.
But I got nothing else for youthis week, so until next time, I
hope to see you at the races.
Ruchetel Talk, the podcast dedicated to everything
about the sport that we all lovehydroplane racing.
I am your host, David Newton,and it's time once again to sit
back, relax and welcome.
Rooster Tail, Talk, tale, talk.
(00:48):
Hello race fans, Welcome backto the podcast.
Today is August 26th 2025, andthis is episode 159.
For today's episode, I havepart three and the conclusion of
my interview with Brad Luce.
If you haven't heard parts oneor part two, I have part three
and the conclusion of myinterview with Brad Luce.
If you haven't heard parts oneor part two, I highly recommend
(01:08):
that you go back and listen tothose before today's episode.
I have a link in the bio below,but otherwise, Brad's going to
talk more about his involvementwith H1, give us some fun
anecdotes around broadcastingfor the series, but he's also
going to talk more about hisinvolvement with HydroTown and
his other responsibilitiesfurther than broadcasting for H1
(01:30):
Unlimited.
And at the end, I think you'llfind a few things that he's
looking forward to in the seriesand hopefully it gives you a
little bit more insight to someof the work going on behind the
scenes to make next year evenbetter than this year was.
So, with that being said, let'sjump in and listen to the
(01:52):
conclusion of my interview withBrad Luce.
Well, I like to live in ahypothetical world all the time.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Good, I don't know if you do as well.
Can I be a driver in thisquestion?
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Not this one, but maybe the next one.
All right, but as an announcer,you've gotten a chance to share
the booth with some people thisyear it's Tanner, and you've
had other years with differentpeople.
But if you could say, the nextrace, add someone to your
broadcasting team.
Let's say someone that youcould get and someone that you
couldn't get, that maybe passedon, who would that be?
(02:21):
Wow, wow.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Wow, wow, wow, okay, yeah, that on who would that be?
Wow, wow, wow, wow, okay, yeah,go, that's.
That's really a good question.
Um, I guess the first couple ofnames come to mind that I can't
have because they're no longerwith us, but I guess um first
name that popped into my headwhen you said that was Ron
(02:45):
Musson I mentioned.
I love the 62 Bardol and thatpicture I have of Ron Musson
with the autograph.
I always liked him.
I guess he was articulate.
He did Camel Cigarettecommercials right, yeah.
So he must have been able totalk, so maybe he would.
I have no idea if this guywould have been any good, but
(03:06):
just because he was an idol.
And my first real hero I guessin the boat racing world was Ron
Musson, which and it had amassive impact upon me when he
died back in Washington DC.
I'll never forget that day andhow that all went down and that
(03:27):
was because of how much he meantto me and the sport meant to me
as a young kid.
So I guess Ron Musson, I guessthat comes.
I could throw out a whole bunchof names and while I'm thinking
that, I go.
Well, muncy was the spokesman,right.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Right, right right.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
And to me, to me we can argue, but to me, to me we
can argue.
But to me Bill Muncy is thegreatest driver of all time and
I say that because he was such agreat spokesman for the sport.
Obviously he knew the sport sowell.
He developed we've all seen theclips before he developed some
of the language of the sport,but he could.
(04:01):
There's a guy who could speakto the common fan and to the new
fan and not talk over theirhead.
Bill would have been amazing towork with.
I can only imagine somethinglike that.
And then I guess, if we canreally go out on a big, long
limb, there's a name back there,not back as far as Garwood, but
(04:24):
a guy I've been kind ofstudying lately a little bit and
I've become very impressed withhim is Danny Foster.
He was kind of the Bill Muncyof his era and I didn't realize
until I started digging intothis and there's a good story
why I started digging into it.
But I didn't realize he was asgood as he was and I didn't
(04:48):
realize he was the master thathe was.
I did meet him once.
I have a picture of me andDanny Foster.
Okay, yeah, danny Foster, fredAlter and myself in a photo back
in Detroit at a.
We were at the Detroit YachtClub.
Okay, and I guess I digress youask for an answer.
(05:09):
I've given you three, but thoseare three names that came to
mind and a current day guy.
I'm going to tell you I'veworked with a few and I'm going
to say somebody I've worked withbefore and I guess everybody
knows 2022, corey Peabody.
Yeah, he was awesome at Seafairin 2022.
(05:34):
I learned in Madison that I wasnot going to have my color
commentator for Seafair.
So what is that?
I've got a month, first week ofJuly to first week of August
and we're on the road and we gotTri-Cities in the middle of it
and I started talking to peopleabout it.
I said I got to just brainstormhere a little bit, just throw
(05:55):
names at a wall.
What are we going to do?
Well, corey blows the boat overin Madison and I know Corey and
he's not shy.
And I know Corey and he's notshy.
He knows the sport well, he'sarticulate.
All the conversations I hadwith other people, his name just
kept bubbling up, and so Iremember I thought, well, I'm
(06:15):
going to go about this the rightway, I'm not going to call
Corey.
I'm going to call Darryl Strongand I don't know Darryl Strong.
I mean, I've met him a fewtimes but, I really don't know
Daryl Strong.
I mean, I've met him a few timesbut I really don't know this
guy.
So I get the number and I callDaryl and he calls me back and I
told him what I wanted to doand what.
Would would that be okay withhim, because I know he's not
going to be driving in Seattleand he goes.
(06:37):
You don't have to call Corey.
He said I'm going to tell youright now, corey will do it.
He said and I'll tell Corey,he's going to do it.
So that all got taken care ofreal quick.
So Friday in the pit area atSeafair, I'm up on the tower,
the pit tower there, and we'reready to go.
The course is opening at Idon't know 8.30 or whatever time
it was, and we're like fourminutes from the course opening.
(07:00):
I got boats hanging over thewater and we're going to go
testing.
No Corey, no Corey.
All of a sudden I hear thisLowe's.
Lowe's.
I looked at here comes Corey,he's running, he goes, I'll be
there in a minute and he, corey.
The reviews were outstanding,everybody loved him, everybody
loved him and I remember in 2022, I guess that's part of the
(07:24):
streak of four for JMK Mike winsthe race in Seattle and I
remember we were talking aboutit after the heat had ended and
talking about the race win, andI looked over at Corey and he
was really looking down therekind of stretching to see the
pit area and I said, corey, howabout we cut you loose and get
you out of here?
I got a hunch, you want to godown?
And he said, yep, thank youvery much.
(07:46):
And we all said, as much as weliked you up here and this was
my producer and the sound guyand everybody else that's up
there as much as we enjoyedhaving you, we never want to see
you here again, we want you outdriving.
Yes, he saluted and took offCorey Peabody was outstanding.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yeah, he was.
He did a great job.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
I'll tell you, somebody else who got their
first broadcast gig this weekendis somebody that I said would
be a great color commentator,and I just thought of this
Dustin Eccles.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Oh, he did fantastic.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
He took my place on KONA and I stepped out of that
to go to the live stream fulltime this year and Michael
McDonald from KONA called me andhe says we're thinking about
Dustin Echols and he said whatdo you think?
Asked my opinion of it and Isaid I don't think you could do
any better.
I mean he knows all the people,he knows the sport and I
(08:44):
learned very quickly when hemoved from the 440 to the big
boat and suddenly I wasinterviewing him more.
He is extremely articulate and Imean that's kind of checking
all the boxes, right.
Right, you can string sentencestogether.
You're very articulate, knowthe sport, know the people.
Nobody's going to beintimidated by him, right?
(09:06):
And I don't know how it went.
I heard it was going very well.
I heard his voice a couple oftimes.
It sounded good, so good forhim.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Yeah no, he did a great job.
I listened to the konabroadcast on the shorelines and
many people I talked to thatwere there and some people back
east listening to it online saiddustin did a great job good,
I'm happy for him.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
He, he's good.
So there I danced all aroundthat question.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Before I gave you five guys yeah, and then number
six is david newton, right?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
of course yes all right of course, and quite
honestly again, we talk about.
We did the driver thing inmadison.
We need to pull in other people, other aspects of the sport.
A guy like you to come on talkabout the RC stuff Tell us
what's going on and I have tohave a conversation with you
(09:54):
about the Sharky hole that Davejust won in yesterday.
It's actually got a littledifferent color scheme on it
this weekend.
Did you notice?
that the gold was gone and therewas some red on there, that's
right.
How does that affect the RCguys?
It ran once with a little goldand now it's got a little.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I'll bet that's fun stuff, the different versions,
yeah, the differentregistrations you can get to
race them.
I like that All right.
Well, just part of yourbroadcasting.
You have so many differentchallenges and it seems you know
sometimes in the final heatsover the years, that things
happen on the water and you'renot sure what the call was or
(10:33):
whatnot.
How do you handle situationslike that, trying to figure out
the order, because I'm justthinking back many years where
we weren't sure if shane won,like in 2012.
Who won?
Kelly shane, or was or was itSteve David?
Like who was the winner?
How do you dance around that?
How do you handle thatchallenge?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
There's one very important aspect to all of that,
and nobody likes the fact thatour boats have to go through
tech inspection, but we allunderstand why the boats have to
go through tech inspection.
So and we were having thisconversation just a few weeks
ago that actually is on somelevel.
(11:12):
The broadcasters that's thecrutch Always temper it with
it's still unofficial.
It's still unofficial.
The boats have to go throughtech.
And if, when you're talking toa driver in an interview on the
dock we were talking about thislast night I did dock interviews
for 30 years and you'll learnreal quick You'd only have to
(11:36):
get bit once and make a mistakeon something like that.
You always lean on techinspection, tech inspection from
the announcer standpoint andthe interview with the winning
driver can be your best friendbecause, remember, these are all
unofficial.
But right now, corey Peabody orwhoever it may be, you're the
winner on the water and theyknow that.
But you plant that seed back inand then, when they repeat it
(11:59):
back to you, you know we thinkwe're good, I think we're good,
but we'll wait for Seth up inthe tech truck to tell us that
we're okay.
Yeah, it's been hard sometimes.
Um, there was a year out here.
I don't know the year but, um,you will remember when dave cut
off steve david at the top endof the race course on the final
lap right and dave came down forthe victory and then boom, they
(12:21):
took it away and nobody on ourbroadcast team wanted to go talk
to Dave.
I drew that short straw and Iremember I just went up to him
and said Dave, we're hearing ofa penalty, what are you hearing?
And he goes I don't know, Idon't know.
I remember it very well.
He just said I don't know, Idon't know what they're telling
(12:43):
me, I'm hearing all kinds ofthings.
And he just kind of walked away.
But that's okay In an interview, that's okay.
Yeah, because it's not how goodthe interview was.
It's that's what his reactionwas to it.
Seahawk fans all remember AaronAndrews talking to Richard
Sherman.
I mean, it was television gold,right.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I mean it got replayed millions of times.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
You can still see it today.
You never know what you'regoing to get and you're not in
control of that.
But you got to get themicrophone in front of them and
see what comes.
But I've always tried to haveto temper a little bit what I
said.
It's hard Sometimes you don'tknow where to go.
I was interviewing this iscoming back to me now I was
interviewing Scott Rainey withthe Beacon Plumbing and Jean
(13:33):
Fiorat in Seattle at the Seafairone time.
And I, finally, I had to waitfor television because I was
live radio, so TVs got to talkto them first and then they
stepped out of the way and Iwent up to scott rainey and I
started saying something aboutseafair champion and he goes.
(13:55):
Well, apparently you haven'theard.
We have been disqualified andthose are the winners over there
.
That's the cheer you're hearingcoming out of the ELAM camp.
So yeah, there's been someembarrassing moments.
It's going to happen.
But you try and temper it anddon't do anything until it's
(14:17):
official and make sure thatofficial word comes from
somebody who is official, thatofficial word comes from
somebody who is official.
I won't say it until I get itfrom one of three people within
H1.
And as I say that that's nottrue because there's a fourth
person who's not an official,but if they tell me I know right
(14:39):
where they got it, and they andI have had that conversation,
nick Kish, if you come down andtell me it's official, then I
know where he got it.
So you just have to make sureyou know your sources and be a
little late rather than beingsorry, just make sure you got it
right, don't jump the gun.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
That's one of many challenges of the gig, right.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
It is and you learn how to handle it.
Is you and you learn, you knowhow to how to handle it and,
like I say, you only have to getbit once.
It's like yesterday.
Uh, yesterday there was nickcame down and he said something
to me and he was jumping in thetruck.
I took my headset off.
We were in the middle of theheat and I said what?
And he said dump, dump, dump,dump, dump.
I said okay, is that official?
(15:23):
And he goes.
I think so, think so.
And I said no and I just wentright back to the broadcast.
No, I think so isn't going towork.
No, don't just wait.
100%.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Yeah, so you'll learn , oh yeah.
But that's part of hydroplaneracing, yeah, of our legend and
lore, the whole rhubarb thingand arguments, but that's okay.
Yeah, yeah, we try.
I will say this about ourofficials because I love what
(15:53):
we're doing now.
Our communication here inTri-Cities, because of our
locations with each other,wasn't ideal.
Madison is perfect.
I hope we never change it whenI stood on the overlook.
Have you been to Madison?
Speaker 1 (16:10):
I haven't yet.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
All right, front row of the overlook.
I got the Ohio River and thepit area at my feet.
I can see turn one, I can seeturn two and I'm right on start
finish and I'm on the front row.
To my left is the chief referee.
He's right there.
I got Jonathan right there andsomething happened.
Coming out for the final heat,one of the boats came out of the
(16:33):
pit area and went straightacross the course.
Everybody else went down towardturn one.
I knew that was a no-no acouple of years ago, so I saw it
happen and I called it and Isaid so-and-so is coming out and
going straight across the racecourse.
And as I'm saying it, I'mholding the mic and I'm looking
right at the chief referee andhe could hear me talking to him
and he turned to me and he justnodded his head up and down.
(16:56):
I said I'm not sure that is alegal maneuver and he's nodding
his head and so that reallyhelps.
But what he is doing that isdifferent is we watch a race and
we know there's been some stuff.
You know we saw boats get wet,we saw this, we saw that when
(17:19):
the boats come back to the dockhe will they start looking at
the three referees.
We'll start looking at the, thefootage that they have
available to them.
But if the boat that was thewinner on the water, if they're
not involved in any of the quoteunquote shenanigans that maybe
went on, he will come to me andsay the winter's clear, they're
(17:44):
clean.
We're looking at some otherstuff.
This happened at San Diego lastyear.
There was a lot of stuff goingon behind the leader, but
Peabody had appeared to be cleanfor his second gold cup and he
came to me.
Actually, he was across thebody of water, but he called me
so I stepped off the mic, I tookit because it was him and he
(18:09):
said we're looking at a lot ofstuff.
He said but I can tell youCorey Peabody is clean on the
water and I know what that means.
It means don't second, thirdand fourth may be messed up, but
if Corey clears tech inspectionhe's golden and I can tell the
fans we have a winner and it isconfirmed.
And he called me and told meCorey's clean.
(18:31):
We're not sure about what'sgoing on behind him.
I said so if he clears tech,he's our gold cup champion.
And he said yes, he is.
And oh, by the way, I just gotthat notification he has cleared
the tech truck.
I said so he's our 2024 GoldCup winner.
He said you got it.
He's really good about that andthat really helps to tell me.
(18:52):
If that's what the people wantto know is the winner Tell me
the winner's clean.
We'll figure out the rest of itafter and let you go dig all
that stuff out.
Another change we made was nowit's whoever is the winner on
the water.
That's the first box that goesto the tech truck.
Um, last year we confirmedevery winner.
(19:16):
I want to say it nick wastiming it.
From the time the winning boatcrossed the finish line to the
time we got tech truck cleared.
We were under 10 minutes.
Wow, I thought it was prettygood.
Yeah, I thought it was reallygood, and the tech because I was
(19:38):
.
This is again the stuff we weredoing behind the scenes.
How can we make it quicker?
And, honestly, I had tounderstand.
A few of us were on a committeeand we wanted to understand
exactly what happens from thetime the boat crosses the finish
line to the time he clears thetech truck.
Why does it take so long?
It doesn't help when JimmyShane shuts off the home street
(20:01):
in front of the Muncie Memorialin San Diego to stand up in
front of the Home Streethospitality area and you can't
get your hands on the black boxfor 20 minutes, there's another
discussion.
But things like this that youdon't think about, or if they
come back to the dock, likeTri-Cities and it's a traffic
jam and they shut the boat offand they're 50 yards offshore,
(20:25):
you can't get to the box, littlethings like that.
And we were looking at howcould we expedite it.
I went into with others intothe tech truck, we went in and
we looked at had self.
Show us what he does.
I'm just looking at it andgoing can we put this on a
mobile cart?
Can we take this test device?
(20:46):
Can we wheel it down on thedock?
Take this box out of the boat,shove it right in right there,
get a go, no go.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Anything.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Well, we found out that it really wasn't that much
of a hang up and we just startedprioritizing the boats number
one, number two, number three,in that order we designate now
official people.
That's your boat, that is yourboat.
It is your job when that boatgets in, to get on the deck with
(21:17):
the crew, get that box out andrun.
You can see them run, yeah, runit to the tech truck, yeah, and
then seph knows what order totake them.
So we've tried to cut as muchslop out of that system.
Last year it really showed.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
It showed well yeah, no, it has.
I mean, I'm thinking backfurther than past years, right,
I remember some seafarers where,oh, did they win?
Do they not win?
Like 10 minutes go by, 20minutes go by, 30 minutes go by
and hour goes.
Hour goes by and maybe we havea winner.
We are still waiting to hearthat.
But last year and this yearhasn't been that right.
(21:55):
It's been much more condensed,shorter period, which is what
the fans want.
So that's been, that's beengreat.
The h1 has prioritized that andimproved on that they really
have.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
And we've got, you know, a new officiating crew.
We went up to HRL and gotJonathan Abbott.
He came down and joined us lastyear and he's he's been great.
He's a really nice guy.
We give him a hard time, hetalks funny and all that stuff,
but he's he's really a nice guy.
But he really understands boatracing and he understands the
(22:27):
need to get the information tothe fan.
Now, the killer in what you justsaid, which is very, very true,
take what you said and what Isaid the tech truck isn't the
log jam.
When it goes to 15 minutes,when it goes to 20 minutes, to a
half hour or an hour, that'snot the tech truck.
(22:48):
We can take the box out andplug it in.
We we've got that.
So what's the hangout?
What's causing that hour delay?
And now, this is my opinion,we'll throw that out.
This is my opinion.
Um, sometimes we're looking ata lot of film and sometimes
we're taking a long time to makea call.
(23:10):
It's not the tech truck, that'sa go, no go, that's a yay or
nay.
Make a call on the water.
Now I am of the opinion get theinformation that you have
available to you, whateversource of information you have,
review it, make a call.
Make the call like a basketballreferee on a charge or a block.
(23:34):
Make the call and if you'rewrong you're going to have to
live with it.
If, if some footage comes uplater that shows Whoa, didn't
see that, didn't realize thatangle.
Yeah, we probably missed thatcall.
You're not going to change it,right, right, take what you have
available to you and make thecall, knowing full well you're
(23:57):
going to make a mistake.
It's going to look at the NFL.
Yeah, look at the NFL.
The new Orleans saints weresupposed to be in a super bowl
one time and now the rules areall different about pass
interference and all that.
It's going to happen, but it'sbetter than waiting a couple of
hours.
We cannot have our fans walkaway from the shoreline not
(24:22):
knowing who the winner is andhaving to go pick up the paper
Monday morning or go online andsee whoa, he won.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Yeah, when did that happen?
Right, can't do that, no, yeah.
And like you said, like, lookat other sport events, right,
nfl, nba, whatever it is it'smerely judgment calls.
So human error has it's gonnaplay into it.
It does.
And whether that's big boats,like we're talking, the Limited
today, or it's the RC boats thatI do as well, it's all human
(24:51):
error and you've got to make thecall.
With RC boats, we've got tomake the call within the first
lap.
You know if it jumped the gunor whatnot, so it's hard.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
That's funny it is.
It's the exact same thing.
And if my buddy Nick Kish wassitting here, he would say it's
the same thing on HydroZoom.
Yeah, it's the exact same thing.
You've got to make the call.
So, base it on something.
Base it on something.
And that's what I used to in mysales career.
That's what I used to tellsalespeople that work for me.
(25:23):
Sometimes the worst thing youcan do is not make a decision.
Salespeople that work for me.
Sometimes the worst thing youcan do is not make a decision.
And if you're faced with acustomer or something and you
have to make a decision, makethe decision.
All I ask is base it onsomething.
So if I come to you and go,David, what in the world were
(25:44):
you thinking?
Why did you do this?
Well, don't say I don't know, Ihad to make a decision.
No, base it on something andthen make it and we can have a
discussion.
Well, what you should have done, maybe, was this Get the
information you've got, make thecall.
And Jonathan has said that.
He said nobody comes up andsees me on the tower during race
day.
He said we're going to make thecalls Now, when everything is
done, somebody wants to come upand talk to me about it.
(26:05):
I'll show them why I made thecall and they might point
something out different to me.
And he says I will acknowledgethat yeah, we missed that call.
We missed it, we blew it.
I'm not going to change it andI think that's.
You're going to make somemistakes, but I think that's
that's a good thing.
I think that's the only way youcan do it Exactly, Exactly.
I think that's the only way youcan do it Exactly, Exactly.
(26:25):
Make the call.
Make the call.
Refereeing is not a fun job.
No, it's not Anybody that evergrabbed a whistle and said, oh,
I'll ref that basketball game,yeah, good luck.
It takes a special person to doit.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
And a thick skin, yep .
Well, I could talk for hours onends on boats.
I know you can too, but I don'twant to strain your voice
anymore.
No, no, it's fun, I got onemore question here for you let's
do it but just the fans.
They always clamor, they want tohear some more goodness or good
news coming out from the future, and we talked a bit about
(27:02):
Detroit and the.
I know there's efforts to be orbeing done behind the scenes to
get that back on the series andwe're really hopeful of that.
But is there anything else thatwe can, as a fan, clamor on and
hope for in the future for thesport?
Are there things, other thingsin the talks that you can share
with us?
Because everyone talks aboutthose golden years.
We want to get back to thosegolden years.
(27:22):
We want to see it be a biggershow.
What else is on your mind?
What can you share with us?
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Well, I would love to sit here and tell you yeah,
next year we're going to haveseven new race teams, six new
race sites, and all our problemsare just magically going to go
away.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Perfect, there we are , we're done.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
We'll leave it on that note.
But again, I'm the optimisticguy and I'm always.
I think the sport's in a verygood place right now.
But my opinion doesn't count.
But I'll tell you why I feelthat way.
And there is I think wementioned the name Daryl Strong.
(28:00):
Daryl's been very heavilyinvolved HydroTown and H1
Unlimited.
A lot of people don'tunderstand the difference
between the two.
Hydrotown is basically takingover the marketing aspect of the
sport and handling thecontracts and so forth with the
race sites.
But they're handling that sideof it where H1 Unlimited puts on
(28:22):
the events.
That's basically the line.
And HydroTown was four peopleright out of the box.
That has changed.
It went from four down to two,down to one, now up to two.
There are two people involvedin HydroTown.
Daryl Strong has been in thereall along and the name that
hasn't yet come out in thisdiscussion is Bruce Ratchford.
(28:45):
I don't know if you've metBruce.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
I haven't had the chance yet.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
And I will say this publicly, bruce, I'm sorry but
I'm telling everybody, if youever have the opportunity, do
(29:14):
not Unlimited.
And our boat racing that we alllove.
He is so bullish on this sport.
He's a local guy here in theTri-Cities with his Apollo
Mechanical.
He's a hoot to talk to.
He's just local guy here in theTri-Cities with his Apollo
Mechanical.
He's a hoot to talk to.
He's just a character and hekind of has a little bit of a
gruff exterior or the personayou might see out front.
(29:36):
He's got a heart of gold.
Very smart man, very, verysmart man.
I mean you look at the businessthat he has built here with his
own two hands.
I mean you look at the businessthat he has built here with his
own two hands and he startedthis little company here and
he's now the fifth largestmechanical contractor in the
United States.
Wow, this is a big deal.
Yeah, and he just loves boatracing.
(29:58):
And of everybody that was herethis past weekend for the APBA
Gold Cup in the Tri-Cities,nobody was more excited than
Bruce.
He was the sponsor of the race.
He had two boats in it At theend ofCities.
Nobody was more excited thanBruce.
He was the sponsor of the race.
He had two boats in it.
At the end of the day, he wonthe darn thing.
By the way, he's undefeated asan owner.
Just thought we'd throw thatout, by the way.
By the way, bruce, if you arelooking at yourself in the
(30:23):
mirror and listening to this,and you're a fan and you go, I'm
just a fan.
I just love boat racing.
I just want it to get betterand I want to go and I want to
see the boats and I loveeverything about them.
And da-da-da, that's BruceRatchford.
He's a kid.
He's giggling with excitementand I'm broadcasting this
weekend standing on the edge,just to the left of the
(30:46):
start-finish line tower, lookingat the river and the radio guys
for all the teams and all theclasses were just to my right.
They were on the lower level ofthe tower.
He was coming up there forevery heat and I'd look down as
we'd get going.
I'd go ah, that's right, one ofhis boats in this one.
I'd look over at him.
He'd smile, we'd nod at eachother.
(31:07):
He is a big reason to be bullish.
Now I know what everybody wants.
Same thing you want, I want.
We want more boats, more sites.
Obviously, we got the word ofthe decision from Guntersville
that they won't be back on thecircuit.
I don't think there was a bigsurprise there.
It would have been tough downthere the last few years.
(31:29):
Weather had just kicked ourrear end and and there's just
nothing we can do about it.
And people are going well, can'twe do this?
No, it was an ocean.
We at one point on Saturdaydown there were told we had 70
mile an hour winds coming.
We were told get out of here.
And we basically took the startfinish line tower and took it
(31:51):
down, took it apart, packed itup, put it away and we spent a
day putting that stuff together.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
And that wasn't the first time you had to evacuate
the feds, like the first yearyou had to evacuate, yes oh yeah
, yeah, the storm never cameright.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
That's right, 2018.
We did, and they bus everybodyinto that venue.
The buses all came.
Yeah, it was tough down there.
Great venue, venue, yeah, greatvenue.
And the people.
That whole southern hospitalitything is true, and Ted Grange,
wherever you are, bud was hisline, so I won't steal it, but
(32:27):
Ted used to say, yeah, there'ssouthern hospitality and then
there's Guntersville hospitalityand it's cut above.
It truly was, and so we'resorry to lose them.
But there is talk.
I will just simply say there'stalk of other sites.
We at the board level, the H1board level, which I'm a member,
(32:49):
we are very cognizant ofneeding more sites.
We need more fans, we need moresites, we need more boats, and
there's talks of ways we canmaybe get more sites.
We need more fans, we need moresites, we need more boats, and
there's talks of ways we canmaybe get more boats.
There's talks of how could wedo that, how could our current
owners maybe assist bringing innew owners?
(33:09):
So we know we need all thatstuff.
It's not going to happenovernight, but I think what I
(33:29):
was saying there was.
There's ways that some of theowners are talking about.
You know, could they help ateam get started.
A team that has multiple boats,brings in another boat and kind
of gets it started and thenhelps shift that off to a new
owner, because it's not just anew owner wants to come in and
say, I want to get involved inthis sport.
Well, it's not just getting aboat and the equipment and the
(33:51):
driver.
You need a shop, you need tools, you need a crew.
There's a whole lot that goesinto that, and so there's been
some discussions.
I've heard of you know howcould existing owners maybe help
facilitate that with new owners?
Because there are some peopleout there that are wanting to
get involved and you don'talways get a turnkey thing like
(34:13):
Bruce Rashford did.
Right, right, I get such a kickout of that team right now
because and I tell the fans, ifyou're a casual fan watching our
sport the 91, the Goodman RealEstate with Andrew Tate they
were here last year.
Same team, same boat looks, thesame driver, crew.
What's different Sponsor, howdo you know?
Oh man, well, who cares aboutthe owner?
(34:34):
But that was a big change, aswe all know.
But there are people out thereand so there are discussions
about that type of thing.
We've talked about Detroit toyour point.
I think everybody agrees weneed to get back there and I'm
convinced we will.
(34:55):
I'm absolutely convinced wewill.
I know I got friends in Detroitgoing.
Frank, great Luce, I heard youwhen.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
When, where do I?
Speaker 2 (35:02):
get tickets.
I'm with you.
I'm with you, I want to go.
But there are other places thatare being talked about and
there are other places whereperhaps and we've talked about
it and we've been invited on acouple of occasions One didn't
quite work out.
We thought it was going to wherewe could go, put on an
exhibition, and we knowexhibitions can sometimes lead
(35:25):
to other things.
So what I would say to the fanis we do not meet as a board
once every six months and spendthe first hour of an hour and a
half meeting saying how are you?
We meet every two weeks?
These are topics that are onthe table Right now.
(35:47):
Of course, we're going to havea meeting this week and it'll be
what went right in Tri-Cities,what went wrong, what do we need
to improve and, oh, by the way,what needs to be done before
next weekend.
Because we've got these twoback-to.
We're always, we always have aneye for the future.
Whether you, whether youappreciate or like what I do as
(36:11):
an announcer, what I'm trying tobring to the table on the board
and it was kind of explained tome this way I am trying to
bring the fan perspective, yeah,and because there's a bunch of
owners on there.
Sometimes when I first startedI was a little intimidated.
(36:32):
Mike Denslow is the chairman ofthe board of H1.
The rest of them are all owners, right?
Charlie Grooms, he's stillthere, but he was a
representative owner.
So it's a bunch of owners andthey start talking about what do
we need to do on this and someof that stuff I can't vote on.
I don't even understand thequestion that they're talking
about when it gets into themonetary side of it and all that
(36:54):
.
But it's kind of become alittle bit of a joke on the
board meetings because we havethese agendas and we get to the
end of the agenda and the laststatement is always is there any
other business we need to talkabout?
It's kind of almost become Brad, what have you got for us this
time?
Because I always have somethingand it's about the darn fans,
(37:16):
Because I said earlier, that'swhat I am, that's what you are.
You boil us all down.
We're just fans.
We all want and desire the samethings and I've kind of got
myself wrapped around the axleon something that seems so
simple, so simple.
(37:36):
But one of the items I'vebrought up is on occasion we get
the schedule for the event.
Have you ever noticed that thegates open at the same time the
course opens?
Well, in Seattle it's a six-daywalk from where you park to get
to the water's edge.
And if you're a fan like youand me, I would be livid.
(38:01):
I would be livid because I,first of all, I'd be sneaking in
because by the time I can parkmy car and walk down, I can hear
the boats running Right, and Imissed that whole first test
session.
There should be an hourdifference and to me that's just
so simple.
It's so simple.
(38:21):
I like to abdicate and I knowsome of the owners are probably
going to go loose.
Did you really say that withNewton?
Yeah, I did.
I look at sometimes theconstant erosion, for lack of a
better term but we seem to begetting less and less time on
the water.
We need to get the boats outthere more on the water.
(38:44):
I don't know and there's wayswe can talk about and things
that have happened to do that,but I want the boats on the
water.
What is it?
What did we say?
15 days a year?
They're only out there 15 days ayear.
Let's maximize the time.
Let's not cut down the heats,let's not make it.
You know, just one lap to goqualify.
We got to keep these threequalifying laps in there and
stuff like that.
(39:04):
So we do talk about the fanexperience.
It's part of our missionstatement.
The last part of our missionstatement is being ever mindful
of the fan experience.
I take it kind of as myresponsibility on the board to
make sure the board doesn'tforget that, because at the end
of the day, that's who I am andI'm not going to do this forever
(39:27):
and then I'm going to becomethat fan.
I guarantee you that gate'sgoing to open an hour before us
because I'm going to be downthere with you and we're going
to be watching.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Right, I'm really passionate about that part, so
yeah, I love to hear yourpassion when you're broadcasting
.
I love to hear that you're.
You're advocating for the fans,because the fans need a voice
and they have a strong voice andand they love they do.
I love to hear that they'rebeing heard and you're
advocating for them.
They do.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
I love to hear that they're being heard and you're
advocating for them.
And we all read the comments.
Okay, we all read the Facebookcomments, but you know what,
whether they're negative orpositive, it's because they're
passionate.
Oh, yeah, it's because they'repassionate.
Just know, we feel the same wayyou do and we want what's best
(40:16):
for the sport, the same way youdo, and we want what's best for
the sport, and I'm I'm nevergoing to, I'm, you're never
going to be able to talk to meand have me go.
Nope, sports done, we're goingaway.
This is it.
We're out.
No, there's too many people thatare dedicated to it.
Uh, and, as far as the fans, Iwill stand on my drum in front
of anybody and say you are themost important person at the
(40:37):
event.
I always say, oh, it's theboats, yeah, they're important.
And the drivers, the owners,okay, the venues.
But you know what?
If we have all that and nobodyshows up, guess what?
We're done, we're done.
And so the fans, you are themost important people there and
we're going to keep, I'm goingto keep shouting for you because
(40:57):
I are one, for lack of a betterterm.
You know, that's what I am.
I'm a fan.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
So are you?
Yes, exactly that's why we'rehere, right.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
That is exactly why we're sitting here in a hotel
room the day after the race inTri-Cities, and I will see you
next Friday down on the water'sedge at Lake Washington.
Yes, you will, and we're goingto do it again, yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
Well, I hope we do it again and again and again.
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
We're going to.
We are going to I'm going to bebullish on the sport.
We're going forward.
We got a couple of look.
It takes money and we've gotsome people leading the sport
who A they have some money andthey're not afraid to spend some
(41:43):
of that money.
Now they're going to be veryhonest with you.
They intend at some point toget it back.
But think about that.
If they do get it back, whatdoes that mean?
Well, that means we're suddenlysuccessful If this becomes an
investment on their part andthey're willing to invest this
money up front not forever,that's not going to go on
(42:03):
forever, but they've got tostart seeing the momentum build,
and that's a big part of thiswhole production trailer.
If you want to be a professionalsport and have these big
sponsors, you have to act thatway too.
We have to look like when weroll into town, we know what
we're doing, and that includesthis whole production broadcast
(42:24):
team.
Come by and see our trailer.
We've got some issues.
Yes, we are aware of them.
Yes, but, man, we look the part, and that's part of it.
Yeah, Not all of it.
And the big part is you got toactually do it and make it work
and we'll get there.
We're getting better, but atleast this was part of it.
We got to look the part when wecome into town and so we're
(42:46):
going to get there is every timewe wanted to talk about what
was necessary to make the sportbetter.
What these fans are talkingabout when they're saying you
know, h1 needs to do this andthat and everything else.
Yeah, we know that, but everytime we'd have that conversation
(43:08):
, it was always the retort to itwas do you have any idea how
much money that costs?
And these guys are trying totake that argument off the table
, take that roadblock away.
Then what happens?
If money's not an object notforever, but if money's not an
object, then how would we goabout doing that?
(43:31):
That's a big step.
That's a really big step,because it's always we don't
have that kind of money.
We don't Trust me.
There's nobody making a lot ofmoney here, and so I know I'm
off on a bit of a tangent there,but hopefully that gives fans
that are listening and I knowyou've got a big following,
(43:52):
because what you do and what youdo is terrific.
Well, if you're listening tothis, I hope that made you feel
like there are passionate peoplewith resources who want to make
this better.
It's just not going to happenovernight and we are trying.
We are really trying.
Every time we get on a call,there's some passion on that
call and these owners and theywant to make it right.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
Well, I love to hear that, brad.
I love your passion and I thankyou for what you've done for
the sport broadcasting and yourvoice for the fans, and I'm
looking forward to many morebroadcasts from you and what the
sport's going to bring us.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
Well, you're very welcome.
Thank you.
I think, like I just said, whatyou do is amazing.
And have you still got thatrunning?
Oh, yeah, Good, Keep it going.
Because I want to say somethingto the fans out there.
Uh, if you see me, if you seeme walking around, come up and
say hello, I love meeting fans.
I love meeting fans.
We have this, the meet andgreet over here, over there,
when they had the boats.
(44:48):
Bruce Ratchford has alreadytold me he's going to make that
a whole lot bigger next year.
He wants food vendors out there.
He wants some live music outthere.
Bruce has got a vision here,but I had some fans come up to
me.
It was really.
I love the young ones.
The young ones are the best.
And to get your picture takenwith some of these little guys,
(45:09):
you know, and the parents arewith them and they go.
Well, my, my son's a fan, anddah, dah, dah.
I immediately forget theparents.
And I want to go to that kidand you, and you know why
because that kid is you and me.
Yep, that was me, more yearsago than I'm going to admit, but
that was me and I remember andI'm all the way back to that
picture with Ron Musson.
(45:31):
When he came out and signedthat autograph he took the time
for me and that's what it's allabout.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
That small gesture he did just grew everything for
you right.
Speaker 2 (45:42):
It grew to this.
I am living a dream.
I'm truly living a dreambecause I grew up worshiping
these guys.
You know Ron Musson, rex,manchester, bill.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Muncy.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
Yeah, the Detroiters.
I still love Cantrell.
Cantrell is one of my favoritesof all time, and Shaneth and all
that.
I grew up in that.
I was fortunate enough to livethat, albeit as a young kid, and
now those drivers that Iadmired, these guys are my
friends.
I know them, I know their wives, I know the kids, and so, yeah,
(46:18):
I'm living a dream.
I really am living a dream.
I've been very, very fortunate,this sport's been very good to
me and it's been a hell of aride.
It's not over yet.
It's not over yet.
Speaker 1 (46:34):
It has been a hell of a ride, but unfortunately this
ride is over for us.
That's all the time we have forthis week.
Knuckleheads come back nextweek and we'll have another
interview with someone else fromthe sport of hydroplane racing.
I really hope you enjoyed theepisode with Brad loose, as you
get more insider informationaround the sport of hydroplane
racing and within H1 unlimited.
(46:54):
Again, thank you, brad, foryour time Really appreciated,
taking time out of your schedulethe day after the Gold Cup.
I know he was tired, I wastired, but hydrofans can never
stop talking boats, don't forget.
We're online, our websiteroosterteltalkcom.
We're on social media.
We're on Facebook, instagram.
(47:15):
Check us out there for moreinformation about the podcast
updates and just some other funthings around the sport of
hydroplane racing.
But I got nothing else for youthis week, so until next time, I
hope to see you at the races.
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