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Controversy
reigns as Seebold races to another crown
By
Scott Fitzgerald
With the checkered flag proudly flying from
his opened capsule, Todd Bowden was one beaming boat driver as he
coasted through a victory lap at Creve Coeur Lake Sunday
afternoon.
Bowden's day behind the wheel in the 36th annual Bud Light Grand
Prix had not come without a few anxious moments. A number of
dangerous collisions kept drivers checking their rear view
mirrors, wondering what was next.
Unfortunately for the California native, his surprise was still
waiting at the dock.
Afterward, Bowden was assessed a penalty for knocking over a buoy
back on lap No. 6 of the 44-lap event. Since second-place finisher
Terry Rinker was ruled to have caused an accident on the same turn
and also was slapped with a penalty, the title fell to third place
driver and St. Louis native Tim Seebold.
Coincidence? Rinker thinks not.
"Unbelievable," Rinker grumbled to no one in particular. "This is
ridiculous."
Seebold, 43, who had earned the pole position with the fastest
qualifying time on Saturday, said he didn't feel good about
winning the event that way. But he wasn't about to forfeit it,
either.
"Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good," Seebold said.
"There isn't one person over there who wouldn't take this
victory."
Especially Bowden. The 35-year-old, in his dark red California
Gold Racing powerboat, led the last half of the race after Seebold
and Rinker had jockeyed back and forth in the first half. It would
have been Bowden's first victory since 2004, breaking a 17-race
winless streak.
Following the announcement of penalties and change in the top
three finishers, Bowden, Rinker and members of their camps
gathered together and filed simultaneous protests. But the
decisions of race judges along the course were upheld.
So much for that victory lap. It was a tough pill to swallow for
Bowden, whose father Fred had won the St. Louis race exactly 20
years earlier and was on hand to watch.
"I want to see a video on it, because I did not take that buoy
down," Bowden told race officials. "I went around it, and when I
looked back, it was still fine and Timmy was behind me."
Bowden ended up being penalized just one lap, which only dropped
him down to third place. Second went to teammate Shaun Torrente,
giving California Gold a pair on the podium.
"A second and a third place is great for our team," Bowden said.
"I have to be happy with third; sometimes this stuff happens.
"There were extenuating circumstances. Not necessarily because
this is Seebold Country. But it was definitely tainted, and that's
a bad thing."
Seebold said he's been penalized before and lost his share of
disputes during his long career.
"It's happened to all of us before," Seebold said. "If they don't
enforce the rules out there, why have them?"
It was the second straight victory of the season for Seebold, and
the third in his hometown in the third round of the 2007
F1-ChampBoat Grand Prix Series. Points leader Chris Fairchild
ended his weekend in second with 1,552 points, now 47 behind
Seebold's 1,599.
Fairchild and Rinker collided in the first turn, stopping the race
on the sixth lap. Both drivers were able to go back to the dock
and restart. Louisiana driver Brian Normand crashed on the right
hand turn on the restart, forcing the second of three restarts.
Then six time St. Louis winner Michael Seebold crashed at the same
spot, forcing the boats back to the dock for the third time.
St. Louis native Todd Beckman, who had climbed as high as third
early in the race in a guest ride in Matt Sadl's boat, got caught
up in a crash with another boat and barely made it back to the
launch ramp.
Team Seebold had dedicated the race to Bill "Grandpa" Seebold Sr.,
who passed away last winter. The fact that Tim ended up with a
victory, regardless of how it came about, left him satisfied.
"I about went over after the first restart," Seebold said. "I
could tell something wasn't right the rest of the way. It never
ran like it did early in the race.
"But we'll take it." |
