Lake Nasworthy Drag Boat Races

SHOWDOWN IN SAN ANGELO

On Saturday June 30th and Sunday July 1st 2007 San Angelo Texas will put on its first annual drag boat races. Come see one of the fastest shows on the water, SHOWDOWN IN SAN ANGELO. This venue is the newest of the Southern Drag Boat Association (SDBA). Boats will line up side by side and run a liquid quarter mile at speeds of up to 250 miles per hour in less than 5 seconds. The liquid quarter mile lies between two of the most awsome spactator areas that you will see on the SDBA circuit. Walk the pits and see the boats up close. Talk to the drivers and crew and see them working on the boats for the next round. Buy t-shirts and posters and have your favorite driver autograph them.

Here is the Breaking New From the Standard times

City launching drag boat race
By Jayna Boyle
Saturday, January 13, 2007

San Angeloan Reagan Everett is used to traveling hundreds of miles to participate in drag boat races.

Now, at least for one race, it will just be a matter of moving his boat from his home on Lake Nasworthy to the Spring Creek Marina.

The first Southern Drag Boat Association race in San Angelo is scheduled for June 30 and July 1 on Lake Nasworthy.

“I’ve been wishing for it for many years,” Everett said. “I never thought it would happen.”

San Angelo Chamber of Commerce President Phil Neighbors said area drag boat race participants including Everett contacted the chamber and the San Angelo Convention & Visitor Bureau to seek their help in bringing a drag boat race here. For two months, Neighbors said, the organizations examined the feasibility of holding a race in San Angelo.

After ensuring the proposed area of Lake Nasworthy meets safety requirements and approaching the City Council with adjustments to a city ordinance, the race plan is in the works, Neighbors said.

It could become an annual event.

“On the first time of any event, you have to gauge the benefits and costs to the community,” Neighbors said.

The two-day event is estimated to have a positive economic impact of $912,000 in San Angelo, said Jenni Hutcheson, director of sales and servicing for the convention and visitor bureau. The figure is based on estimates of how much will be spent on food, gas and lodging.

Neighbors said the chamber of commerce and the convention and visitor bureau will work to secure sponsorship to cover infrastructure expenses, such as insurance. He said exact expense figures have not yet been determined.

The event also will create expenses for the city, in the form of increased security at the lake and a cleanup crew, Neighbors said, but those costs also are not yet known.

Hutcheson said the San Angelo Convention & Visitor Bureau anticipates a turnout of between 150 and 175 racers and their crews, as well as up to 5,000 spectators.

With the recent scheduling of the drag boat race in San Angelo, Hutcheson said, it leaves a relatively short amount of time to plan the event. She said the convention and visitor bureau will need about 700 volunteers.

A committee is forming to put the event together, Hutcheson said. The chamber and the bureau will seek local and national sponsors for the race, and will look for vendors to fill both sides of the lake.

Hutcheson said a name has yet to be selected for the San Angelo race.

The Southern Drag Boat Association season begins in April and finishes in August. Other cities that host races include Waco, Brady, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, Bryan and Lubbock.

Everett said this also will be the first year for the Lubbock race.

Participants race two at a time on a quarter-mile course. Everett said the competition’s first day features qualifying races, while the second has brackets, and racers get eliminated.

He said the drag races involve 11 classes of boats. The smaller boats typically vie for prizes in the neighborhood of $1,000, while owners of bigger boats can earn $4,000 to $5,000 for a good day at the races.

Everett said his boat, which he calls Spanky Spanky, is an Earl Smith 18-foot jet boat that weighs less than 300 pounds without the motor. The boat has more than 1,000 horsepower, and goes from zero to 120 mph in fewer than 9 seconds.

Everett said he built the boat himself. He has been drag racing for about three years and does not know of any other San Angeloans who drag race boats.

“You can’t really practice for these races,” Everett said. “It’s pretty thrilling because it’s just so exhilarating.”

How to help

About 50 volunteers are needed to put on the Southern Drag Boat Association race, scheduled for June 30 and July 1 on San Angelo’s Lake Nasworthy. To volunteer, call Jenni Hutchesonat the San Angelo Convention & Visitor Bureau, (325) 655-4136.

© 2006 The San Angelo Standard-Times

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