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View Full Version : Ft. Lauderdale APBA Race This Weekend



GeneD
09-27-2001, 05:25 AM
Below is the press release for this upcoming race in Lauderdale. It looks to be a very well organized event with lots of parties planned. One of which is being sponsored by us...Zero Cavity (http://www.zerocavity.com/)! At the world famous Parrot Lounge.
Hope to see all you south Florida Donzi Dudes there! Look for the yellow and blue tents.
The party list can be found at Team Parties (http://www.forceseries.com/racers/cgi-bin/news.pl?action=gen_read_page&id=LqwqWCs7Ow)

Fort Lauderdale, FL - - Not since 1996 have the fastest powerboats in the nation been seen off the shores of Fort Lauderdale Beach. The weekend of September 27th - 30th, over sixty teams from across the nation will kick up the surf of the mighty Atlantic as the Offshore Power Boat Racing Association's Art Kriner Memorial FORCE Gold Cup Offshore Championships speeds into town.

Local residents Rob Stopanio, of Scorpion Performance/ Blue Thunder Engines and Rick Turmel of Competitive EDGE Marine have been racing together for years, even winning last years National and World Championship titles in the SBI circuit in Extreme Stainless Marine. This year, the two will be competing against each other for the prestigious Gold Cup Offshore Title in the Super Vee Light Class, taking out their aggression on each other at speeds in excess of ninety miles an hour. "Onshore, Rob and I consider each other great friends, but Offshore, we both refuse to lose" said Turmel, of Tamarac, who added that rough or not, neither competitor is afraid to air it out. "Fans can expect both of us to push it to the limit, right to the very end," he added.

All teams are competing for the prestigious Gold Cup Offshore Florida State, and have attended race events earlier in the season in St. Cloud, Daytona Beach, Fort Myers, and Sarasota. All competitors will receive double points for attending the Fort Lauderdale Championships, to benefit Kids In Distress.

Highlights of Race Weekend include a Thursday Night Block Party on A-1-A between Las Olas and Beach Place with race teams and their boats, an exotic auto display from the New Auto Toy Store and racing souvenirs. The Block Party, sponsored by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce Beach Council is free to the public. An American Red Cross Blood Mobile will also be on hand as part of a joint effort with the OPBRA, Sloppy Joe's and Cafe Iguana at Beach Place.

The New Auto Toy Store Thunder Row Pit Area gates will be open to the public on Friday and Saturday from 9:00 am until 8:00pm, and on Sunday from 9:00am until 6:00pm. Thunder Row will feature all competitors and their high tech equipment, a boat show, vendors, food concessions and a number of autograph sessions with each days winners, following the races, which begin at Noon on Saturday and Sunday.

Pit Passes are $5 per day and $15 per weekend. Children under 12 are Free. An Awards Presentation and Dinner, sponsored by the New Auto Toy Store will be held on Sunday at the Radisson Bahia Mar Beach Resort Ballroom and tickets are available for $40pp by calling 954-923-2777. Formula Powerboat sponsored play-by-play racing action will be broadcast live from Sloppy Joe's and LuLu's Bait Shack at Beach Place and will air globally on the internet via an Audio Webcast at www.marinemachine.com. (http://www.marinemachine.com.)

The Radisson Bahia Mar Beach Resort & Yachting Center is located at 801 Seabreeze Boulevard (A-1-A), one block south of Las Olas. For those wishing to stay in the heart of the Pits, special Race Room Rates apply by calling 954-764-2233 and requesting the Offshore Power Boat Race Rate.