For Immediate Release
July 9, 2008
WATERCRAFT RACES RETURN TO THE HARBOR BEACH MARITIME FESTIVAL
THREE EVENTS COMBINE TO CREATE THE MUST ATEND EVENT OF THE SUMMER
(PART ONE OF PRESS RELEASE)
If there is one race you ever watch or race in, the Harbor Beach, Michigan event is one race you should experience. The whole week of the event includes many great activities making it truly an epic event. It’s fun for the entire family with live bands on the beach, fireworks, camping on beautiful Lake Huron, food and vendor tents, raffles, watercraft racing, watercraft recreational events and lots of other exciting events. With the event being the combination of three of the best watercraft events in the country including the HYDRO-TURF APBA National Tour, the Monster Energy Midwest Watercross Tour and the U.S vs. Canada Can-Am Cup events, this year’s event it promises to be bigger then ever.
The Harbor Beach Watercross Nationals/Midwest Monster Energy Midwest Watercross Tour/Can-Am Cup event is run in conjunction with the 8th Annual Harbor Beach Maritime Festival in Harbor Beach, Michigan. This is definitely one of the racer's favorite sites year after year as the Harbor Beach locals put on an outstanding event and show tremendous hospitality. The event will take place in their Harbor on Lake Huron, and is a perfect site for a watercraft race, and guaranteed to be a lot of fun. The 1,015 foot long pier provides great viewing for the thousands of spectators that come to watch the United States and Canada’s finest watercraft racers.
The Maritime Festival in Harbor Beach, Michigan has become one of the largest spectator events of Personal Watercraft Racing in the country. Over 5,000 spectators will be on hand to watch the hot racing action that weekend making the pier standing room only. All during the day the best racers from across the United States compete in the HYDRO-TURF APBA National Tour events. The crowd is electrified all weekend long with the top Pros competing on the National Tour as well as Saturday Night during the Budweiser / Novi Can-Am Cup as thousands of spectators wildly cheer for their favorite team. Last year's Can-Am Cup was won by the U.S.A., but this year’s event promises to be even more exciting as the Canadian's will be coming in full force to take back the Can-Am Cup.
The weekend festivities gets under way as a growing and popular recreational event will be taking place on Friday night. The 6th Annual H & R Block / Honda Aquatrax Invitational will be in full swing as local personal watercraft enthusiasts will compete in Team Competition on the same race course run by the racers. Each Team will consist of 4 Riders that will each run 1 lap in a Timed Event. All scored times from each individual of each team will then be tabulated, and the Team that has the best overall time will be the H & R Block / Honda Aquatrax Invitational Champion. This event has grown from 4 Teams Total in 2002 to 35 Teams in 2007 and 140 riders in 2007
HYDRO-TURF APBA Watercross National Tour - The nation’s top Professional and Expert riders from across the country will descend of Harbor Beach to compete on the APBA National Tour. The 2008 HYDRO-TURF APBA Watercross National Tour, presented by Sea-Doo, features a six-event, eleven-round series that will determine the U.S. National Tour Champions in eleven Pro-Am and Expert racing classes including Women’s classes. For two full days you will see the best closed course racers and teams from around the United States converge on Harbor Beach to continue the chase for the coveted 2008 APBA Watercross National Tour Championships. The challenging rough waters of Lake Huron can give even the most seasoned veteran racer a run for his or her money. All the United States top racers are expected to be in attendance in Harbor Beach including Erminio Iantosca, Eric Lagopoulos, Eric Francis, Chris MacClugage, Jeff Troegner, Billy Dearman, Rick Sherker, Brian Baldwin, Leanne Falvey, Amy Green, Dennis Mack, Rob Greenwald, and Jason Stoyer to name a few. With these great riders as well as up-and-coming stars including Dustin Charrier, Ben Swanson and Keifer King, it is going to be some great racing action in Harbor Beach.
Budweiser/Novi-Tec Can-Am Cup! Awe, the Budweiser / Novi-Tec Can-Am Cup. As you stand on the line next to your ski as the National Anthem is played your heart starts to pound as you realize you are in one of the biggest races of the country, and with out a doubt will be one of the most enjoyable races you participate in of your career. The riders are announced one by one for their parade lap in front of the 5,000 spectators. Now it’s your turn. You fire up your ski and head to pier for your parade lap. As you ride past all those spectators you realize there are tons of people there to watch a Jet-Ski Race and at that moment they are all looking at you! You come back to the line and get ready for the start of your race. As you put your goggles on and fire up your ski it seems like slow motion as the 2 card goes high in the air. You hear the rumble of 19 other ski’s as each are started and cleaned out. This is it. You then turn to the starter as your heart feels like it’s going to burst out of your chest and as you look at the starter you now have tunnel vision clearly focused on the starter. You think to yourself, you deserve to be there. You had to qualify to make the main event. You are representing your country in a race against another country. It’s not just another race. This one is special. It’s not just about winning; it’s about the winner being the one who gets to proudly wave the flag of their country in front of the 5,000 spectators that only you can experience. That’s what it’s all about!
Monster Energy Midwest Watercross Tour - The Monster Energy Midwest Watercross Tour is one of the nation’s top regional racing circuits. The Harbor Beach race will count toward points toward the Monster Energy Tour and bring with it those regional racers following that circuit. Being part of the Monster tour will provide lots of great giveaways from Monster Energy – the best Energy drink ever made. The Monster Energy Tour has some excellent regional racers and some exciting new classes like the new Vintage Ski class that has been creating some excitement
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Thursday July 10, 2008
6:00 pm - 11:00 pm Live Band on the Beach
Friday July 11, 2008
12:00 pm - 8:00 pm H&R Block / Honda Aquatrax Invitational Event
3:00 pm – 6:00 pm Racer Late Registration and Check-In
7:30 pm – 8:00 pm DRIVERS MEETING
8:00 pm Indy Al’s Cookout
8:00 pm – 11:00 pm Live Band on the Beach
Saturday June 12, 2008
6:45 am - 8:00 am Technical Inspection & Rider Check In/Late Registration
8:00 am - 9:30 am Closed Course Practice
9:30 am - 1:00 pm Closed Course Qualifying
1:00 pm - 1:30 pm Freestyle
1:30 pm – 4:30 pm Closed Course Finals
5:00 pm Riders Meeting – Can-Am Cup
5:30 pm National Anthems
5:40 pm Can-Am Runabout Open Rider Introductions and Race
6:20 pm Can-Am Junior Class Rider Introductions and Race
6:50 pm Can-Am Runabout 800 Class Rider Introductions and Race
7:30 pm Can-Am Ski Stock Class Rider Introductions and Race
8:00 pm Awards Ceremony
8:30 pm Live Concert
10:00 pm Fireworks Show
10:30 pm Live Bands
Sunday July 13, 2008
7:15 am - 8:00 am Technical Inspection & Rider Check In
8:00 am - 8:15 am Mandatory Riders Meeting
8:15 am - 10:00 am Closed Course Practice
10:00 am - 1:00 pm Closed Course Qualifying
1:00 pm – 1:30 pm Freestyle
1:30 pm - end Closed Course Finals
5:00 pm Sunday's Awards Ceremony
DIRECTIONS TO SITE
From Detroit: Take I-94 to Port Huron. Then follow M-25 North (approximately 61 mile) to Harbor Beach. Right before you get to the middle of town Turn Right on Trescott Street and follow that to Bathing Beach Park. Pit parking is in big field on the right.
From South: Take M-53 North for approximately 60 miles. Stay straight and go onto MI-142. Take that 17 miles to Harbor Beach to stop light (only one in town). Once in Harbor Beach Turn Right on Huron Ave. Go 2 blocks and Turn Left on Trescott Street and follow that to Bathing Beach Park. Pit parking is in big field on the right.
For more information on contact Patrick Mell at (586) 598-2856.
www.pwcfun.com www.apbaracing.com 
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