Spring Valley’s Joseph Perez wins title on first day of DePue boat races

DePUE — Joseph Perez had extra motivation to do well Friday during the first day of the APBA Pro National Championship Boat Races on Lake DePue.

“The rule from my dad was if I didn’t win, my hair was coming off, I was going bald,” said Perez, who has long hair to about his shoulders.

On an extremely long, hot day in which the heat index reached 110 degrees and racing lasted nearly eight hours because of multiple lengthy delays, Perez’s hair was spared.

The Spring Valley teenager won the 125 Runabout to claim his first national title.

“It felt great,” Perez said.

However, he said it was “nerve-wracking” as the first two of the three heats in the 125 Runabout were called off when not enough boats could get on the water.

In each of the first two heats, Melanie Boulot, of Clio, Michigan, drove onto the course but stalled before the race started, leaving only Perez and Ethan Fox of Elkhorn, Nebraska. Three boats need to start in order for a heat to run.

So it all came down to the last heat.

First, Boulot needed to start the heat, and after her boat seemed to struggle at first, she crossed the starting line to officially start the heat. Then, the winner of the one heat would take the title.

Perez got a strong start, getting out in front of the other two boats early and leading throughout.

“Blow them out of the water,” Perez said about his mentality coming into the final heat. “[To get a good start] I focused on the clock and I made sure I knew where I was at.”

Perez, who will compete in the K-Pro Hydro on Saturday, also placed third in the K-Pro Runabout, a class for racers younger than 17.

“It went OK,” Perez said. “It’s hard to compete when you’re 6 feet tall. I’m OK with how I finished.”

The K-Pro Runabout was the national championship debut for Rayce Bosnich as he continued the family racing tradition. His father, Paul Bosnich III, has won multiple national titles and will compete this weekend, while his grandfather Paul Bosnich II is the DePute race director and the crew chief for Prop Riders Racing.

Rayce Bosnich’s debut also brought legendary announcer Ray Rodda out of retirement for the day to call the K-Pro Runabout. Rodda announced his retirement last year after decades calling U.S. Title Series races, but he promised his longtime friend Bosnich II that he’d return when Rayce Bosnich raced for the first time.

Rayce Bosnich placed fourth in his class.

Carson Kelly of Bonney Lake, Washington ran away with the K-Pro Runabout title by winning all three heats by a wide margin. Dawson Smith of Mexico, New York, placed second.

Like Perez, Jonathan Nilsen had a strong day in two events, winning the C Service Runabout and placing second in the C-Racing Hydro.

“Coming out here and running four classes every year, we’re happy if we just get one [title] because it’s that tough,” Nilsen said. “We were so close to getting a second one there at the end. It’s always a little bittersweet, but looking back, obviously a great day with a first and second. I have to be happy.”

Nilsen blew out his competition in the first two heats of the C Service Runabout then finished second in the final heat.

“You make your runs to the clock, trusting what you saw is what you’re going to get. Don’t get too excited, but don’t lay back, just finding that perfect timing, trust your marks and as soon as you see that time, just hit it and go,” Nilsen said about the key to his strong starts.

In the C-Racing Hydro, Nilsen placed second behind Ashton Cafarelli in the first heat before the two flipped spots in the second heat, leaving the title to be decided in the final heat.

Cafarelli won the third heat and the national championship, while Nilsen placed third to finish as runner-up.

“Coming into the third heat, it was basically him or I,” Nilsen said. “He hit the start. I didn’t hit it as good as he did, so he ended up winning it. All props to him. He deserved it.”

Tom Smith pulled off perhaps the upset of the day as he dethroned John Peeters in the OSY-400 after Peeters had won the event seven consecutive years.

“It feels fantastic considering it’s the first time I ever ran the class,” said Smith, who claimed his first title at DePute, but owns 17 titles in the stock outboard category.

After Peeters won the first heat, Smith took the last two.

“I just drove harder and got a better start,” Smith said.

Smith said it took a lot of effort to get ready for Friday’s race.

“We worked on the boat all week long. We trimmed the air traps down. I just built the motor and put new pistons and rings in it, toned it, broke it in, tested it, tested a few different propellers and finally found the right combination.”

Jason Sailer cruised to a repeat championship in the 500 Runabout by winning all three heats.

In the 175 Hydro, which had to be broken up into splits to narrow the field down for the third heat, Rex Bayer claimed the title, while Daniel Korpe took second.

Bayer won his first split, finished second behind Korea in the second split and placed second in the final heat, while Korpe won his two splits but finished fifth in the final heat.