Qualifying

A Breathtaking Finish- Scott Dunn Wins the Gold Cup

It's the Gold Cup. It's the most prestigious, and quite possibly the only, trophy in Casper-Prop history. It's the race that dreams are made of...dreams of those at or approaching their middle-age crisis and have "found Casper".

Yet...it was one of the young, upstart challengers that would dash those dreams for yet another year. Scott Dunn, 13, and his Mariner Too took the Gold for 2003. The Mariner had the luck of the draw in lane one, got through the first corner clean while the others piled on each other, then held on for 6 laps without sinking. Hank Kosciuszko had the quote of the day after the Final Heat. "Scott...you can breathe now!"

It was a GREAT day of racing as there were many great duels, lead changes turn-judge disqualifications and a host of other surprises.

• New boats! 1967 Atlas Van Lines, Such Crust IV, Miss Vernors, Miss U.S. 1 and a replacement for the Hawaii Kai III.
• Best heats of the day was Heat 1B and 1I. In Heat 1B, every boat was in the lead at one time or another. In Heat 1I, it was a photo finish with "That Boat" edging out the Notre Dame.
• The 1958 Bardahl is the "underwater specialist" as it finished two heats underwater! The batteries were immediately donated to the "Everyready Energizer Hall of Fame".
• Heat 2F had only one boat running at the end...3 DNF's!!! Maybe Casper motors are not the "wave of the future".
• Defending Gold Cup champion Miss Madison (Kathy Shuler) and Silver Cup winner Miss U.S. 5 had costly DNF's. The Madison was clearly the fastest boat in the fleet and just missed making the cut by 25 points.
• Mark Weber showed the field how to making a "flying start" - Casper Style - with his Notre Dame in the Consolation Race.
• Many, many, many thanks to Hank and Laura Kosciuszko for hosting the event. It was another great Saturday!!

Gold Cup Final Point Standings

2003 Highpoint Standings after 2 Races

2003 Owner Highpoint Standings after 2 Races
(no awards or even honor...just interesting)