News from Norfolk

4:30 PM, 7/18/99

Miss Madison finishes an impressive third in the final! Todd did some dandy driving to get around on the outside of U-2 (Harvey Motorsports) to take that posiiton. He then went after the U-10 (York Intermational), but decided to just try amd keep it on th water as the winds had picked up nd were making conditions a little less than ideal. Congrats to the entire Miss Madison team!

2:45 PM, 7/18/99

Miss Madison is on the front row for the final! With a second in heat 3B, that gives us 1000 points. In that heat, Todd had the outside, but really pushed the U-10 (York) and then settled into second to keep the boat on the water and in the final. We have experienced a thunderstorm, so I don't know what that will do to the remainder of the schedule. We'll keep you posted.

12:59 PM, 7/18/99

Miss Madison took second place in heat 2B and now has a whopping 700 points on the day! Todd was able to overtake the U-9 when Hanson encountered some problems. Miss Madison is in heat 3B along with U-10, U-2, andb U-3.

11:45 AM, 7/18/99

YEEEEHAAAWW!!! Those were the first syllables driver Todd Yarling uttered after the team made a major change to the motor this morning and he first took the boat out for a test. He said he knew the boat had more power as soon as he left the dock. That was the case for 1A, where Todd took the Miss Madison to a win.

When asked about the race in terms of the damage done to the boat in Barrie, Todd replied "we found a lot of problems that we weren't aware we were having not necessarily because of that (the Barrie accident), but different things. Finally this morning we made a gutsy move, made a decision and Miss Madison is back... get ready!"

When asked asked about damage to the rudder this morning he indicated that they just bumped it while returning to the dock and it was very minor and had no real impact on their performance.

A great start to the day for the U-6 team!

2:31 PM, 7/17/99

Miss Madison has tested off and on throughout the day, but are probably done at this point. They are currently doing some engine work.

10:49 PM, 7/16/99

Here are a few additional photos to round out the day.

• Bo Schide checks out the cockpit of the Miss Madison.
• Miss Madison: face forward!
• Miss Madison in the air.

Have a great night and we'll be back in the morning.

Chuck

5:05 PM, 7/16/99

Interested in a few photos from the pits in Norfolk? Here's a few and with any luck we will add more over the weekend.

• Miss Madison on the water.
• Miss Madison on the trailer.
• Miss Madison with Todd on deck.

More to come - Chuck

2:47 PM, 7/16/99

Putting first things first, we're qualified!! Even though there is moderate chop, Todd turned a lap at 131.608 and another lap at 132.979.

Cindy

1:07 PM, 7/16/99

We've had two boats test this morning, the U-1 and U-6. U-6 was to be the first on the course until they had a problem with the slings and let the U-1 have the crane. Upon returning from testing, the U-6 ran into a second small problem; they taped the canopy down a little too well and Todd Yarling had a bit of a rough time getting out. Once out he joked about the situation with the announcer and returned to the U-6 trailer. The U-100 is just taking to the water as we make this update.

Also, UL-23 has pulled into the pits.

Here's the qualifying ladder:
U-15
U-2
U-100
U-14
U-10
U-9
U-1
U-3
U-8
U-6

We also have an advance look at the ESPN2 air dates for the remainder of the season (all times EST):

July 18,4:30 - Madison
August 1, 12:00 noon - Detroit
August 8, 3:30 PM - Norfolk
August 21, 4:00 PM - Tri-Cities
September 12, 3:00 PM - Seattle
September 19, 11:30 PM - Kelowna
September 26, 3:00 PM - San Diego
October 24, 3:30 PM - Honolulu

Cindy

7/15/99, 11:03 PM

After about ten hours on the highway we have arrived in Norfolk. We passed the pits as we drove in, but couldn't really see anything from the highway. The Miss Madison should have arrived earlier today. We plan to head over to the course well before it opens. We are looking forward to the weekend. Cindy has been coming here for a few years, but this is my first time in Norfolk. I can't wait to experince the race.

Chuck

Coverage begins on Friday (7/16/99)!

We will begin live updates Friday morning and we plan to continue updating this page throughout the weekend with all the details on the U-6 Miss Madison, the team and the competition in Norfolk. We hope to post updates every few hours while the course is open to keep you informed regarding what's taking place.

In addition, we're hoping to add to our coverage by taking your e-mail questions and answer them directly through this page. If there is something you want to know, just send us a message at the address listed below and we'll see if we can't track down the details. Saturday night (7/17/99) we will add photos direct from the Miss Madison pit area. Please check back often throughout the weekend and join us for all the fun an excitement.

Here's an early look at the schedule:

FRIDAY, July 16, 1999

Noon-1 p.m. Unlimited Testing
1-3 p.m. Unlimited Qualifying
3-3:30 p.m. Unlimited Lights Testing
3:30-4 p.m. Unlimited Testing
4-5 p.m. Unlimited Qualifying
5-5:30 p.m. Unlimited Lights Testing

SATURDAY, July 17, 1999

9 a.m. Gates open to the Public
9 –9:45 a.m. Unlimited Testing
10-11 a.m. Unlimited Qualifying
11-11:30 a.m. Unlimited Lights/5 Liter Testing
11:30 a.m. –12:30 p.m. Unlimited Qualifying
12:45-1:30 p.m. Driver’s Autograph Session
1 p.m. Jersey Speed Skiff Heat 1A
1:15 p.m. 5 Liter Heat 1A
1:30 p.m. Unlimited Lights Heat 1A
1:45-2:30 p.m. Unlimited Qualifying
2:45 p.m. Jersey Speed Skiff Heat 1B
3 p.m. 5 Liter Heat 1B
3:15 p.m. Unlimited Lights Heat 1B
3:30-4:30 p.m. Unlimited Testing
4:45 p.m. Unlimited Driver’s Meeting

SUNDAY, JULY 18, 1999

9 a.m. Gates open to the Public
9-10 a.m. Unlimited Testing
10-10:30 a.m. Unlimited Lights/5 Liter Testing
10:30-10:45 a.m. Jersey Speed Skiff Testing
11 a.m. Unlimited Heat 1A
11:20 a.m. Unlimited Heat 1B
11:40 a.m. Jersey Speed Skiff Heat 2A
Noon Unlimited Heat 2A
12:20 p.m. Unlimited heat 2B
12:45 p.m. 5 Liter Heat 2B
1 p.m. 5 Liter Heat 2B
1:15 p.m. Unlimited Lights Heat 2A
1:30 p.m. Unlimited Lights Heat 2B
1:45 p.m. Unlimited Heat 3A
2 p.m. Unlimited Heat 3B
2:20 p.m. Jersey Speed Skiff Final
2:40 p.m. 5 Liter Final
3 p.m. Unlimited Provisional
3:20 p.m. Unlimited Lights Final
3:40 p.m. Unlimited Final