Jimmy comes out on top
It turns out that when hydroplane enthusiasts watched Jimmy Shane capture the first Diamond Cup on Lake Coeur d'Alene since 1968 on Sept. 1, they were witnessing the overall winner of the 2013 H1 Unlimited Hydroplane season.
Shane, of the Graham Trucking team, won the final race of the season on Sunday at San Diego's Mission Bay to finish atop the 12-team standings with 10,532 points.
The win followed victories at Seattle in early August and on Lake Coeur d'Alene over Labor Day weekend.
"This has just been an incredible experience driving for this team," the 28-year-old Shane said. "I always know I can drive the boat as hard as I need to because they are going to have everything working right."
The second- and third-place teams also finished in the season-ending standings how they also placed in the Coeur d'Alene race.
Steve David of the Oh Boy! Oberto team was second with 10,464 points and Kip Brown of the Spirit of Qatar group third with 8,234 points.
Jon Zimmerman of Team RedDOT was fourth with 5,926 and J. Michael Kell of Beacon Plumbing fifth with 5,864.
David on Friday announced he's retiring after 44 years of boat racing.
He has spent the past 13 years driving for the Oh Boy! Oberto team. David won the driver's high-point championship in six of those years.
David led Shane in the standings by 43 points (the difference between first and second in just one heat) heading into the San Diego event. David praised Shane for the victories.
"I have known Jimmy since he was born and I am really proud that young guns like him have come along," David said. "They are great people and great drivers and I am confident with the future of the sport in their hands."
The San Diego race had a lot of drama.
David led Shane by 163 points going into Sunday's final and only needed a second-place finish in that heat to take the season championship. But a review of the start showed David jumped the gun. The one-lap penalty moved David to the back of the field and gave Shane the San Diego and season victories.
Coeur d'Alene is expected to host another Diamond Cup hydroplane race next summer.