SPRINT BOATS: Leaders hold top spots after weekend races at ESP

Published 4:30 pm Monday, July 27, 2026

PORT ANGELES — There will be some shuffling of the top boats in this year’s sprint boat standings, but for the most part, the leaders in each class held their positions in the American Sprint Boat Racing competition this weekend at Extreme Sports Park outside of Port Angeles.

A total of 20 boats in four categories moved on from Saturday’s qualifying rounds to Sunday’s finals. Boats from the Clarkston/Lewiston area dominate the top of most of the standings.

Taking first in the modified class was driver Eric Petring and navigator Alyssa Frey in the Bad Idea boat No. 509 out of Clarkston. Bad Idea came in to this weekend in sixth place in the modifieds and will definitely tighten up the standings as the top two boats were not in the finals.

Finishing second and likely moving into second place overall in the ASBR standings was Jeff and Margaret Purcell of Purcell Racing No. 154. Purcell Racing came into this weekend in third place. Finishing third was Seldon Glebe and Summer Shoop in Full Tilt No. 3. Full Tilt came into this weekend fifth.

Slippery Pickle, driven by Jesse Denton and navigated by Keith Brownsburger, won ASBR races in Lewiston, Idaho, and Yakima earlier this season and will likely hold on to the modified top spot despite not getting a top finish at the ESP.

LS Class

The LS Class was won by Kyle St. Onge and Chris Christensen in Instant Velocity No. 219. Taking second was Scott and Jaelin Rapp in Bad Habit No. 36. Bad Habit came in to this weekend leading the LS Class standing by six points over Instant Velocity. The two boats should be virtually tied in the standings after this weekend. Coming in third was Naia Donaldson and Deon Olinghouse in Bad Influence No. 77.

400 Class local winner

Winning the 400 Class were driver Leighton Lillie of Lewiston, Idaho, with his navigator Sami Gustafson of Port Angeles in Preventing Insanity No. 27. Preventing Insanity had a slight lead over Steven and Randi Church in Bad Influence No. 156 coming in to the weekend. They will extend that lead a little as Bad Influence finished second.

Coming in third were Frank and Kelly Toftemark in Checkmate No. 55, which should help this Castle Rock team jump up in the overall standings. The Toftemarks were seventh in the standings coming in to this weekend.

Unlimited

Winning the powerful unlimited category with an incredible time of 37.778 seconds in their final run were River Rogers and Cole Keatts of Lewiston in Pure Insanity No. 285. Rogers and Keatts already had the lead in the unlimited class with wins in Yakima and Lewistown and will extend that lead over Eric Werner and Jen Warner of Jolly Rogers 907M, which, for the third straight race, finished second to Pure Insanity.

Coming in third was a new boat in the unlimited standings, Ramjet No. 23, driven by Phonsy Mullan and navigated by Kaily Loper.

The next ASBR races will be held Aug. 15-16 in Yakima and then will return to Port Angeles on Sept. 12-13. The season will wrap up in Lewiston on Oct. 3. The World Sprint Boat championships will be held at the Extreme Sports Park on Aug. 7-8, 2027, with many boats coming from New Zealand and Australia. More on that will be upcoming.