Small town, big dreams
To borrow, butcher and paraphrase an overused line from the movie, “Field of Dreams”, “if you dig it they will come.”
That’s what a group of people in St. John, Wash,. hope will happen Saturday when the farming community hosts a jet sprint boat race.
Jet sprint boats captivated big crowds at Spokane’s Playfair Race Course for a few years up until 2001. Now promoters of this new course and event that takes place in a former alfalfa field adjacent to the town’s golf course hope to rekindle that interest.
The Webb’s Slough course – it’s a much more picturesque setting than the name would indicate – is a maze of channels and islands. Boats producing up to 1,000 horsepower will accelerate from zero to 80 miles-per-hour in just three seconds. Skilled drivers and navigators will weave their way along trying to be the quickest in their class.
And to think this all came from people who had never seen a race until just a few weeks ago. Amanda Webb, who with husband Matt, said when they originally purchased the land this past December. “We had visions of alfalfa,” she recalled.
Word started circulating that Colfax driver Scott Ackerman and the United States Sprint Boat Association (USSBA) were looking for a place to put a race track in the area.
“Hey Scott, what about St. John?” Webb asked. “Ah, I don’t know. It’s kind of off the main highway,” she was told.
Finally, after the “St. John Taco Trauma,” fundraiser, the Webbs coaxed Ackerman to take a look at the site. Webb said Ackerman “totally fell in love with the spot.”
So after months of digging, planting and promoting, Webb said the whole thing is “coming together as we envisioned … if not better.”
“It’s looking like there could be an event there soon. It’s just a natural amphitheater setting,” Webb said describing the race site.
“We actually carved in some terraced grassy seating,” and “there’s not a bad seat in the house,” Webb boasted.
If spectators are being treated to some prime viewing, most racers will be in the dark when it comes to the track. Three teams showed up for last Friday’s media day – Ackerman, local favorite Don Smith, as well as Kyle Patrick and Theresa Gibb of Albany, Ore.
“It’s a narrow course,” Smith said as he took a break from some early wheat harvest activities. Smith thought, however, with a long straight stretch in the back that “it would still be a fast course.”
Smith said familiarity with the layout would give him a “slight advantage.” But it wouldn’t last long – after a few rounds any advantage would be gone. “It’s going to be a challenging track for everyone.”
USSBA tracks have few design traits in common. The width of the channels and the launch are about it.
“The design of the track itself is different from track to track,” Webb explained. “We actually have the most technical track.
“All the drivers are excited with a new track and (having) another place to race,” said Webb, a Cheney native and graphic designer. Webb’s husband is a fourth-generation St. John resident and is in sales.
“The town as a whole is abuzz over the racing event,” Webb said.
“Matt and I, plus the city council saw the potential to bring in outside revenue for our little town. These little businesses get so spent on the fundraisers, it was just an opportunity to bring in some outside revenue.”.
“The city is in full support of it,” said St. John mayor Harold Loomis. He pointed to nearby Rosalia and their somewhat controversial motorcycle rally that takes place later in August. “Look what it brings to the businesses of Rosalia for the weekend.
“This is a one day event, but what we foresee is a lot of people staying over,” Loomis said.
Loomis admits “we’ve got a few people who are not totally for it.” He hopes that since it’s a family event it will change their minds in the end. “You see a lot of drivers who have their wives as navigators. Their kids are their pit crews.”
When comparing the jet sprint race to the biker rally in Rosalia, Loomis pointed out, “it’s a totally different group. We hope it goes over well and hope to see more races next year.”