Photos courtesy of Dennis Caines and Nelson Holmberg Nearly 30 people turned out at the ERCU End of Season Celebration at The Ram Restaurant & Brewery in Puyallup on Sunday, Oct. 27 to share in the recognition of a great season, great performances and some individual awards.
U-11 Miss Mercury's Coffee driver Jamie Nilsen was our guest speaker and provided fun insight into his racing career and how he made it to the top level of boat racing, which he'd always coveted -- even more than playing professional baseball. Those in attendance reflected on some of the season’s highlights. From a handful of unforgettable photo finishes to the weather challenges we overcame at a couple of others, this season was full of thrills and surprises. "Everyone contributed to making this one of the most exciting years yet," said Nelson Holmberg, interim chair of the board of directors, in his introductory comments. "Whether you walked away with a win or not, everyone had something to be proud of this season." With many thanks to Craig Mullen who worked hard over the span of at least 18 months, to not only collect all of our Gold Cup trophies and have them updated with winners, but also created two new Gold Cups for the classic classes, we had six Gold Cups to give away at the event. Gold Cup winners in 2024 included Mitch Dillard (1/10 modern, 1/10 classic and 1/10 vintage), Mike McIntosh (1/7 modern), Mullen (1/7 classic) and Paxton Reunanen (1/7 vintage). The ERCU Driver of the Year Award was also presented, as the coveted propeller from Bucket List Racing was handed off from 2023 winner David Newton to Reunanen, the 2024 winner. Season champion boats and drivers were also recognized and handed the beautiful perpetual trophies that Rick Evans had made for the club a year ago. The 2024 winners of the ERCU Pentair Championship Series are:
Finally, the 2024 ERCU Triple Crown winners were recognized, and they are:
With all of the season awards presented, the event moved on to presentation of awards to the individual awards for 2024. "I want to say a special thanks for all the members who took the time to share their nominations for these awards," Holmberg said. "The club’s bylaws say that the board should decide the award winners itself, but opening nominations to the entire membership assures that deserving members are at least recognized, even if they aren’t the award winner. So thank you to those who nominated, and congratulations to the nominees. This is a true recognition from our peers." Rookie of the Year
Most Improved Driver
Sportsmanship Award
Contest Director of the Year
Sponsor of the Year
Bill Mowatt Outstanding Contribution Award
ERCU Hall of Fame The final award presented is a big one for the club. The ERCU Hall of Fame has a long list of big names in the sport, of people who’ve lived and died for ERCU, and people who have accomplished strong success on the water, as well. Again, this is an honor that could have gone to as many as three or four individuals this year, but the club’s precedent has been to award induction to just one person per year.
"Thank you once again to everyone who played a part in making this season such a success, and here’s to even more exciting races next year." Comments are closed.
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