Blaze sends driver diving for his life

In a medical sense, Kevin Aylesworth died twice in September -- once in the water and once in the hospital -- but was revived both times after an accident in San Diego in his final race in an unlimited lights hydroplane.

On Sunday, Aylesworth went diving for his life at the end of Heat 2B of the Chevrolet Cup at Seafair after his unlimited hydroplane caught on fire rounding the last turn on the Lake Washington course.

The U-21 The Plumbing Joint, a hull that Aylesworth and business partner Jeffrey Michael Johnson purchased from driver Ken Muscatel, had fuel issues last weekend racing in the Tri-Cities. The team repaired the problem with revisions to the fuel system.

But the team's day ended early, and disappointingly, Sunday when the U-21 was towed back to the Stan Sayres Pits in a charred condition -- a blackened carcass of a boat.

"It went into the turn and the turbine blew up," said Aylesworth, who was on pace to finish the heat after that final turn. "I looked in the mirror and flames were coming out both sides of the cowling."

Aylesworth said he unfastened his seat belt and grabbed for the fire system, two five-gallon fire bottles located in the cockpit, but the fire was too hot and the extinguishers only worked briefly.

"By the time I was able to get the canopy door open, the cockpit was toasty," Aylesworth said. "I rolled over the front windshield to go to the only piece of water I could find."

Aylesworth injured his left knee getting out of the boat, but was otherwise unscathed. He remained in the pits with his knee packed in ice to watch the rest of the race.

The boat suffered extensive damage in the fire. However, Aylesworth and his crew said they hope to repair the boat in time for the San Diego race Sept. 15-17.

That's the same race where he was injured last season.

"I want to go back and reclaim Mission Bay one more time," he said.

Flaherty wins lights event

Piloting the UL-72 Miss Boat Electric/Powerboats NW, Michael Flaherty drove to victory in the Graham Trucking Cup unlimited lights event.

"We had a good start, good run, just kept the boat down on the water," Flaherty said. "I started in Lane 3 and just tried to stay there and win the race."

It had been a rough start to the season for the team, but the win gives them confidence for the remainder of the season.

"We started out and had the wrong setup and we've been fighting it the last couple weeks," Flaherty said.

Bernard plays musical boats

Gig Harbor's Jeff Bernard won Sunday's provisional heat to qualify as the trailer in the championship heat.

But that wasn't the biggest news of his weekend. Bernard, who was introduced at a Tuesday press conference as the driver of the U-99 boat, went racing Friday as the driver of the U-5 Miss FormulaBoats.com, a former Miss Budweiser hull.

"On Wednesday, we got a phone call," Bernard said. "I had to call Fred (Leland, U-99 owner) and tell him. This is all the old Budweiser stuff, it's pretty hard to pass up."

Mike Weber, who had piloted the U-5 through last weekend's races in the Tri-Cities, retired after that race. Bernard is Weber's nephew, as well as the nephew of Terry Troxell, who was named to pilot the U-99 after Bernard switched teams.

"It was fun to watch Jeff race (in the final)," said Troxell, who watched the final with Bernard's crew. "Just great, great fun. I loved it."

Matching boats

The U-5 and U-7, the two former Miss Bud boats now owned by FormulaBoats.com, are both the same shade of Miss Bud Red that they were when Dave Villwock drove them to 34 race victories and six national championships.

Although the boats are different models, and the cockpits are shaped differently, Villwock couldn't tell them apart on the water.

"In the driver's meeting, he was a little cranky yesterday," Bernard said.

"He said he was having a hard time telling them apart."

So a member of Bernard's crew added a little detail to help Villwock: Bright yellow tape on the side of the right wing that read, "Hey, Dave, this one is Jeff!"