Newton, Reunanen sweep Atomic Cup crowns at Elma

Twice on Saturday, Sept. 28 at Vance Creek Park in Elma, Gentleman Jim Latimer was heard saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

He was absolutely right.

It may not be much of a surprise that roostertails of the final heats had settled, David Newton and Paxton Reunanen had won two Atomic Cups each.

A day that started with the pond fogged in and led to a beautiful sunny day with mild temperatures and just light breezes, led to some terrific racing in four classes. 1/7-scale modern/classic was not run for points due to having just two boats in the class. That said, David Heilbrunn and Craig Mullen did run the boats they brought as an exhibition.

But back to the real racing.

Newton had his hands full in 1/10-scale modern where Nelson Holmberg (2024 Flav-R-Pac), Mick Shutt (2024 Bucket List Racing) and Heilbrunn (2015 Dalton Industries) were all fast and capable of winning heats. But it was Newton who piloted the 2003 Miss Budweiser (T-6) to the race victory in the class. Holmberg’s Flav-R-Pac was runner-up in it’s second race out of the box, while Shutt piloted Nellie’s Bucket List to third in the final. Heilbrunn’s Dalton suffered steering distress that was unrepairable in the pits and scratched out of competition after the first heat. Flav-R-Pac won two heats and took second twice. Bucket List was third three times and second once.

Newton also claimed the 1/7-scale vintage Atomic Cup crown with his 1957 Hawaii Kai III, which also took home the best of scale sticker for the race. Second in 1/7-scale vintage went to Dennis Caines and his 1968 Eagle Electric. Reunanen’s 1982 Island Security Systems didn’t finish the final, but had a good day with a couple of top-two finishes in heat racing.

Reunanen claimed the 1/10-scale classic final in instant classic fashion. His 1983 Miss Rock KISW was clearly the fastest classic boat of the day, winning all four heats. But in the final, the Tom Markos-owned 1976 Atlas Van Lines made a race out of the last lap and nearly caught Paxton and the Rock coming out of the last turn. Second place did go to the Atlas (with Holmberg driving) while third was Mike Walcker in the 1973 Red Man Too. Fourth place went to Jim Hagan driving Jerry Dunlap’s 1985 Coors Light, while Shutt’s 1978 Miss Circus Circus was unable to finish the final.

In 1/10-scale vintage, Reunanen again was the man. He finished a perfect day with the 1970 Burien Lady by winning the final heat. Second went to Latimer, driving the 1960 Miss Everett, while his other boat — the 1958 Miss Moses Lake (with backup driver Walcker) took the final spot on the podium. Fourth place went to Robbie Roberts with the 1971 Hallmark Homes. Fifth was John Earnest in the 1962 Gale V.

True to their tradition, contest directors Markos and Holmberg provided those racers in attendance with another hot dog lunch including all of the fixings.