WHY I PROMOTE JET SKI RACES 

Race Number 4 was the final race on Saturday, the first day of a two-round weekend of racing at Lake Somerville, Texas, and the last weekend for the Texas Aquamoto Series.  It was the Pro-Am Superstock race.  Fifty minutes plus two laps on a 1-3/4 mile SuperCourse track.  Over twenty boats squeezed onto the starting line.  After an excitingly fast start, the top racers had soon made their way up to the front of the pack, swapping positions as they all tried to get to that elusive Lead Position.  But, once again, it was the master, Michael Younts, who settled into the lead, with young Curtis Reinburg nipping at his heels.  Lap after lap the two started distancing themselves from the pack, but never getting more than a few boat lengths between themselves.  One mistake by Younts, and Reinburg would be in the driver’s seat.  But both riders were flawless, even as they started making their way through lap traffic, where opportunities often come. 

Lap after lap, the two slugged it out on the course.  Younts was trying to keep his perfect undefeated record going in the series, and Reinburg was trying to be the spoiler.   Only once during the year had Younts been outraced, and it had been by Curtis Reinburg.  But that had been nullified by a missed buoy penalty, sparing Younts' unbeaten streak.  Now, Reinburg was again in the hunt, with plans for making no mistakes this time around. 

After 30 minutes or so of intense racing, Younts accidentally clipped a lapped rider while passing through the crossover section in the back of the track.  The rider was pitched from his boat.  Without hesitation, and without regards to winning streaks, overall points, or cash purses, Younts spun around to check on the fallen rider.  And, also without hesitation, young Reinburg did the same, bringing the exciting grudge match to a sudden stop.  Both racers were concerned for the fallen rider, and had put aside their highly competitive natures to tend to the rider if needed.  After the course marshal arrived on the scene, and it was apparent the rider was fine, Reinburg looked at his nemesis, gave him the "thumbs up", and told Younts "OK, you were in the lead".  On that signal, Younts again took the lead with Reinburg close on his heels again.  Back to racing.  The stop had not been long enough for the two riders to lose their 1-2 lead.  Third place had closed in, but not overtaken them. 

The pair slugged it out over the next fifteen or twenty minutes, never gaining, never losing.  It was another classic in the making.  Then, with the initial 50 minutes expired, and Younts still barely leading his protégé, the spectators starting wondering if Reinburg would be able to pull off the upset with only two laps to go.  They were in their own zone, with no lap traffic immediately in front of them to help Reinburg with an opportunity.  Heading through the scoring chute in front of the tower, the two sped off to the far right end of the course, where the big "keyhole" 180-degree left-hand turn was placed.  As everyone watched that side of the track to see who would be leading on the return trip, there was no sign of Younts or Reinburg.  Watching, waiting, but no sign of the pair.  Then to everyone's amazement, there was a new leader coming through for the white flag.  

What happened? 

As Younts had started around the big sweeping left-hand turn, he noticed an abandoned race boat just bobbing in the rough chop.  He slowed a bit, looking for the familiar sight of a helmet in the water.  Slowing more, he then saw the rider who had taken a very hard fall.  Lying there floating on his back, the guy looked lifeless.  At this point, Younts was beyond the rider by about twenty yards, and as he started to turn around, he noticed that his best racing buddy of the day - Reinburg - had also stopped and was already pulling up to the floating racer's side.  Once again, two top-notch racers, who have a tremendous drive to win, put aside racing to help a fellow racer that might need their help.  As the course marshal came up, Reinburg was still holding onto the fallen rider, and was trying to get him to talk.  Luckily, he did start moving and acknowledging what was being said to him, and it started to appear that he was going to be okay.  Then Reinburg, still holding onto the floating racer, looked up at Younts and told him "You're in the points lead, go ahead", and stayed with the rider while the course marshal radioed for more help.   The fallen rider was all right, just battered and bruised.  But, for certain, he had always been in good hands.

Michael Younts is the current IJSBA National Endurance Champion in Pro-Am Superstock.

Curtis Reinburg is the current IJSBA National Endurance Champion in Pro-AM Stock.

Both are incredibly talented riders.  Both are privateers racing on budgets.  Both love their sport, and love to win, but love their fellow racers and friends more.

Although this type of story is certainly not an isolated case in the Texas Aquamoto Series, it is worth telling, because it speaks of a side of watercraft racing that is not talked about enough.  People race for different reasons: some for the money, some for the glory, and some for the sheer excitement.  But with many of these racers, there is an underlying foundation of camaraderie with their fellow racers that brings them back to each race.  They may be out of the overall point race, and they may not have a strong chance to podium, but they still come back.  There is a fundamental want inside of each of them that drives them to do good things, to do the “right” thing, and to be a part of the greater “team”.

Every race promoter has had to ask himself or herself “What am I going to get out of all this hard work”?  We are all selfish people in this world, because we all want something for our efforts.  But the difference is WHAT we want in return.  Some want money or power, and nothing less.  And some just want to be appreciated, or to be a part of something bigger and greater than they are.

I have often asked myself that same question, “What do I want in return for all this hard work”?  And the answer is, each and every time: “I want to be a part of these people’s lives that do these great things”.  I want to be a member of THEIR team, and whether they look at me as the coach or as the water boy, it doesn’t matter as long as I can be a contributor in helping them to have a stage to perform on.

This is why I promote jet ski races.

Marty L. Roberts
Director
TeamSport Racing Promotions, Inc.