Referrals
Paced by continued strong sales of the TSX sports sedan and the TL performance luxury sedan, Acura posted sales of 16,171 units during the month of May, the division announced today. Year-to-date sales reached 81,194 units.
The TSX sports sedan continued its sales momentum, with a May posting of 3,520 units. Year-to-date TSX sales reached 16,664 - an increase of 13.5 percent versus 2005.
The TL performance luxury sedan remained the top-selling Acura in May, with 5,977 units, bringing year-to-date TL sales totals to 30,756.
"The TSX and TL have continued to carry the torch for Acura in 2006," said Dick Colliver, executive vice president, sales. "Their continued strength in an increasingly competitive marketplace puts us on solid ground as we prepare for an exciting second half of the year, with the arrival of the RDX and a redesign of some of our other models."
The MDX luxury performance SUV sold 3,494 units in May, bringing its total sales for the year to 20,741 units.
The Seafair qualifying board was out of sight for Dave Villwock in the U-1 Miss Elam Plus camp Friday.
But he knew the score.
Twelve of the 13 unlimited hydroplanes were in the Stan Sayres Pits to qualify for the Chevrolet Cup of Seafair on Lake Washington.
And for a sport in dire need of a boost – parity can create competition – six of the boats ran in the 150 mph range.
Villwock steered the U-1 boat to a Friday-best lap of 157.480 mph, set in the morning session. Under the new American Boat Racing Association fuel-restriction rules, that would be a record, although Villwock’s run of 163.451 set in the Miss Budweiser in 1999 stands as the all-time best mark on Lake Washington.
Right on the Miss Elam Plus’ roostertail are the U-7 FormulaBoats.com II (153.201), the U-37 Miss Beacon Plumbing (151.136), the U-3 Acura of Seattle (150.473), the U-10 Todd Hoss/Fairweather Masonry (150.256) and the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto (150.065).
“That’s the way we want to keep it, a little gap between us and the rest of the field,” Villwock said.
If this order holds today through the final qualifying session at 11:15 a.m., it would mark the third consecutive year the Miss Elam Plus has grabbed the top qualifying spot.
“The crew did a great job of getting the boat set up to go,” Villwock said. “The big deal here in Seattle, qualifying usually is determined in the first run of Friday morning. After that, we have way too many fans here, way too many boats on the logboom to get good enough water to really go fast. We had this thing teed up early, and it got us a good time.”
Not all the movement pertained to the water. There were some personnel changes made Friday involving a couple of local drivers.
Mike Weber announced his retirement from the U-5 FormulaBoats.com hull last weekend in the Tri-Cities. Owner Ted Porter spent all week searching for a replacement, and tabbed Gig Harbor’s Jeff Bernard – Weber’s nephew – as the driver for the rest of 2006.
Bernard had piloted the Fred Leland-owned U-99 boat.
“The boat is much different,” Bernard said of the U-5, formerly a Miss Budweiser boat. “It’s easier to drive for me, physically. It drives like a Cadillac.”
Veteran Terry Troxell, also of Gig Harbor, is back in the U-99 boat. He won the 2001 Columbia Cup when it was known as the Miss Znetix.
Bernard’s best lap Friday was 147.239 mph, and Troxell was disqualified for fuel violations after going 142.424 mph in the afternoon.
Eatonville’s Chris Bertram was 11th in qualifying at 131.897 mph in the U-9 Car Pros Kia.
Tireless troupers
J. Michael Kelly went airborne last week in the U-13 Acura of Bellevue during a heat race in Tri-Cities, stopping wrong-side up in the Columbia River with severe hull damage.
Virtually the entire right side of the boat had to be replaced. Owner David Bartush said 18 crew members have worked nonstop to get the boat in racing condition.
“Some of them haven’t been to bed in two days,” Bartush said.
Troxell bounces back from stroke
This weekend marks Troxell’s first start this season, and first since suffering a minor stroke in late September.
He was getting ready for work one morning when his wife, Sue, called for him upstairs. She got no response.
“He was sitting on the bed,” she said. “He just looked at me (helpless). It was scary.”
Rooster tails
It looked like the first rotation of a floor exercise routine in gymnastics, only the UL-56 boat, driven by Auburn’s Bill Strain, took a tumble during Unlimited Lights qualifying at well over 100 mph. Strain’s boat came up in what is commonly regarded as “Genesee Gap,” a windy stretch between the start and the first turn, and did a backward flip but landed on its right side. “It’s a lot of fun, until it hits the water and breaks your boat into pieces,” said Strain, who sports a blonde mohawk. “Should be as good as new (today).” ... Ken Muscatel, driver of the U-2.25 Graham Trucking, created waves earlier this week, saying the new schedule did not allow for a lot of time to test and qualify the boats. The first qualifying session Friday was 30 minutes. A crew member took it a step further, adding the air show had officially knocked the boats to second fiddle. “This is Seattle. It is aircraft country,” Bartush said.
