Dunlap, Reunanen, McKeon claim victory at 50th Sayres race

Paul Dunlap, Paxton Reunanen and Jim McKeon earned top honors atop the podiums for the ERCU Pentair Championship Series, Stan Sayers memorial, presented by American SaniCan. The fifth race of the 12-race ERCU season was completed yesterday with 28 boats vying for the four top spots.

Paul Dunlap improved upon his already stellar success this season by nabbing the top spot in both 1/10 Classic and 1/10 vintage divisions. Dunlap posted a perfect 1600 points driving Rick Evans 1972 Notre Dame in classic and nearly perfect 1,500 points with his Exide in 1/10 vintage. Jerry Dunlap and his newly built 1985 Coors Light turned in a respectable 1,125 points and finished second to his son Paul in 1/10 classic.

This is ERCU history as the first time a father has finished as race runner up with his son standing next to and just above him on the podium. Congratulations Jerry and Paul for achieving such a wonderful accomplishment. This was an impressive moment, and we all salute you.

Honorable mention goes out to John Earnest who quietly piloted his Gale V to a second-place finish in the 1/10 vintage class. Earnest finished all four heats on the day with three seconds, a third and 1125 points. This was just John’s first race this season and was another incredibly solid veteran performance.

Honorable mention also goes to Nelson Holmberg who won all three preliminary 1/10 modern heats and took his Bucket List Racing boat into the winner take all final with a perfect 1,200 points on the day. Paxton Reunanen had picked up DNF’s in round one and two. Reunanen then finished last in round three but that last place finish was good enough to punch his ticket into the 1/10 modern final. The final saw Holmberg’s Bucket List blow over on the first lap, David Heilbrunn’s Goodman Real Estate nearly crushed the disabled Bucket List on lap number three but narrowly avoided the mishap albeit flipping the Goodman in the process. That left just Tom Markos and Reunanen and Markos’ Graham Trucking lost power before finishing the final lap leaving Reunanen all alone to take the 1/10 modern trophy for the fourth time (out of five races) this season. Reunanen and his 2010 Graham Trucking have won all four of the four races he has attended this season.
 
The big boats came next with 1/7 scale vintage providing entertainment throughout. The first round saw every boat lose power or otherwise become disabled leaving each of them with a DNF. Round two saw just two boats make the start with John Sjostrom’s 1960 Miss Thriftway topping Dennis Caines’ 1968 Eagle Electric. Round three included Jim McKeon’s 1957 Maverick return to finish second to the Eagle Electric. For the final heat every boat made the start and three of them finished. Winning his first Heat on the day but the all-important winner takes all final was McKeon who remained steady as the others each picked up driving infractions. This was Big Jim’s second 1/7 scale vintage class race win on the season.
 
Chuck Murray made his season debut with a successful third place podium finish in 1/10 classic and fourth place in 1/10 vintage, although third in points with 1,050. Welcome back to Chuck and to Brad Lewis who made his return to the club and was embraced by all for his humble words early and exuberant competitive spirit throughout the day.

The Pentair ERCU Championship Series continues with a return to Lake Waughop in Lakewood for the season halfway race number six on Saturday June 15. Registration is open and everyone is encouraged to preregister by clicking here.