DePue Boat Races will be bigger and better

DEPUE – This year’s DePue National Boat Races will be bigger and better.

There will be six days of racing instead of the traditional three days at Lake DePue with the addition of the modified division along with the regular PRO and Junior classes. About 160 heats will be contested over the six-day period from Tuesday, July 26 through Sunday, July 31.

This will be the largest racing event in many years at Lake DePue with about 400 entries. Drivers will come from all over to the tiny Bureau County village, which has been described as the “mecca of boat racing.”

“It’s going to be a big experience for everybody involved - the Men’s Club, Title Series, APBA. We’re having the biggest event we’ve ever had,” pit boss Paul “Big Pal” Bosnich said. “The women working the registration will start up Sunday morning at 9 o’clock and it will be like a zoo there for a day or two.”

“There’s a lot of work to do, because we have the modifieds running with it this year,” longtime race PA announcer Ray Rodda said. “I think I counted the other day we have about 190 entries with those guys and we generally will pick up another 25-30 who didn’t register, because they didn’t quite know what their schedule was going to look like until the last minute.”

Rodda said the modifieds are unique in that some classes will have eliminations.

“They actually run two heats for elimination. If you have 20 boats in a class, you’d have to run four heats of racing to get down to the top 12 and then they run a two-heat final on top of that,” he said. “Their process takes a little bit longer. That’s why we’re starting on Tuesday to be able to account for some of the time frames that are going to give the modified guys the time they need.”

The modified division runs the same kinds of boats as the Pro division, Rodda said, with speeds from 50 mph up to close to 100 mph for the 850CC hydro class. The difference is the modified’s boats run on gas and oil while the Pro classes run on methanol.

The modifieds will race in the mornings from 9 a.m. to noon with the traditional classes the DePue fans are used to seeing in the afternoon.

“Friday, Saturday and Sunday our fans will see a pretty good representation of what they’ve always seen at DePue in the afternoon with the Title Series,” Rodda said. “I love the way the modifieds have laid out their schedule. Their most exciting classes that are going to be the fastest and the fullest are all scheduled on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well.”

For the first time, the Nationals will include Junior classes in both runabouts and hydros with young racers from all over the country coming to DePue in what Rodda said will probably be the largest audience in their careers. They will be running a stock motor capable of about 50 mph, and Rodda expects a few to jump into K-Pro for younger racers in the Pro division.

Testing will be held throughout the day Monday with additional testing for K-Pro and Pro divisions Tuesday morning. Races will then follow at noon on Tuesday and start up at 9 a.m. each day Wednesday through Sunday, hoping to wrap up about 5 p.m. each day, Bosnich said.

Rodda expects the strong show of race fans to make it during the week, just maybe a little later in the day coming off work.

“Having grown up in the area, there’s a lot of factory workers. They’re working 7 to 3,” he said. “Believe me, you could always tell Friday, and even on test days, 3 o’clock came, or 4 o’clock came, the park exponentially became busier with people coming in to do that.

“The ones working the afternoon shift may enjoy some racing maybe they missed before. It should be a pretty good deal.”

Local talent

While racers come from all over the country to DePue, there are also some close to home. Paulie Bosnich (250/350R) and Jake Quesse (250R) of DePue, Joe Perez (KProH/R) of Spring Valley, Gary Merkle (250/350) of Arlington, Steve Nissen (125H/175H) of Ladd and Camden Vasquez (KPRO) of Oglesby will all be local favorites.

Bosnich said he has “a couple things to test,” but is excited to race in front of his hometown fans.

“Hoping lady luck is on our side this year in front of our hometown fans,” he said. “DePue is a special place and we would love nothing more than to bring home a championship. I’m just looking forward to the week and racing in front of my family and friends in DePue. My crew and all of us look forward to this week and hope we have it all right and ready to go.”

Defending champions

Two-time winners from 2021 are Jack Campbell (CRR, CRH) of Culver, Ind.), Pete Kelly (125/175H) of Lakeland, Fla., and Austin VanOver (700/1100R) of Berra, Kent.

Other defending champions are Mike Krier (350R) of Ollie, Iowa, Kurtis Nydahl (250 H) of Bristol, Wisc., Bradley Dygart (125R) of Bristol, Ind. John Palmquist (350H) of Baton Racca, Fla., Jackson Hall (250R) and Doug Hall (500H) of DeKalb, Mo., Jason Sailer (500R) of Hamilton, Ill., Justin Gibson (CRH) of Washington, Ill., Johnathon Nilsen (CSR) of Everett, Wash. and Ryan Cowin (OSY400) of Washington state.