Drag Boat Review Magazine - Can-Am Challenge 2025

The 2025 version of the Can-Am Challenge was somewhat lopsided with only one Canadian team showing up at the event. There are various reasons for that, all valid but the fact is the Can-Am Challenge hasn’t been much of a challenge for many years.

Story and Photos by Steve Montgomery / Hot Wired Images

Registration was light after a well-populated Summer Clash, as twenty-two teams were on site and eighteen of those signed up for Super Eliminator. Dennis Flint and the "Wild Flower” team was running in Stock and Modified Eliminator so total registration was forty-one on paper. Other than Super E, the largest group was Top Eliminator with six teams involved.

The weather Saturday morning was something we might expect in late September or October with sporadic squalls rolling through the pits most of the morning. That eased up Saturday afternoon, but the day remained overcast. Sunday was better but remained overcast with the occasional sunny break. Overall, not the kind of weather one would expect in August at Dexter Reservoir. Either way it would not stop a small group of avid, if not fanatical drag boat racers from competition on what used to be the liquid quarter mile, as the “liquid 25/132 mile” doesn’t quite roll off the tongue.

One of the factors affecting this race was out on the water with the number of birds out on the track, as swallows were feeding on hatched bugs and were tripping the beams at times. There were a few re-runs because of this, but not as many as one would expect given the number of birds skimming the water. There were also some fresh faces seen working the timing tower and they handled the situation well. Nick Sabrowski is running the timing system and is picking it all up quickly and Commodore Cole Billings is learning his role as race director, although I’m sure he’ll be glad to be back racing in the near future. And we always enjoy the colorful driver’s meetings on race day. And especially noted was $6200 in prize money for this event which was donated in memory of Gary Bergeron, thanks to Len and Linda Bergeron.

The 2025 version of the Can-Am Challenge was somewhat lopsided with only one Canadian team showing up at the event.

PWC

PWC has become a lot more interesting in 2025 with Brian Marble’s dominance in the class faltering somewhat, but he still holds the point lead in the class, by just two points though. He did help his cause by taking the top qualifying spot at this event running a 9.952-second ET on a 9.951 declared index.
Brian Marble, on the “American Freedom” machine, held the top qualifying spot in PWC, just .001 off his index.First time racer Ellie Harder held the number two spot, while the current runner up in points, Lynnae Oleson was number three, and the “Fast Guy Little Boat” driver Tim Tregoning held the number four qualifying spot. Both Marble and Tregoning were a little relaxed at the starting line, but Marble held a healthy advantage there and carried that through the track for the round win.
In round one of PWC Ellie Harder was better on both ends of the track to take the win over Lynnae Oleson.PWC Top Qualifier Brian Marble used a start line advantage to end Tim Tregoning's race day.The other side of the ladder saw Harder’s better reaction time combined with running just .017 off her index turn into a winning pass over Oleson’s .068 break-out. The final saw Harder slightly better at the tree and just .065 off her index while Marble ended up breaking out with a 9.891-second pass on his 9.92 index. I said I was going to give Marble a hard time about losing to another little girl, but I will take the high road. He actually extends his point lead a little with his runner up finish. And it was nice to see the joy on Ellie Harder’s face with a win in her first race ever.Ellie Harder’s first PWC race experience saw her in the number two qualifying spot on “Water Horse”.It was a popular win for Ellie Harder in her first ever PWC race.Marble's 2nd Place finish extends his point lead in the PWC class.

River Racer

I can’t believe River Racer had only a single entry with Kevin Weldon running solo in the class on the weekend. He has the perfect season going in points with three wins so far.

Kevin Weldon posted a best qualifying time of 10.196 on his 10.140 index in River Racer.

Hard working Kevin Weldon picked up his River Racer first place trophy early (Michelle DeBoard photo).

Stock Eliminator

We have seen a resurgence in Stock Eliminator lately, as the CDBA went through a few years with no players in the class.

Gary Henning was the Stock Eliminator top qualifier in “The OG” with a 9.010 pass.

This event had four teams in the mix, and the top qualifier was Gary Henning with a 9.010. In fact, all his runs were 9.0’s, and that will get the competition thinking. That trend continued in eliminations, as Henning first eliminated the number four qualifier, Jason Ford with a 9.027-second elapsed time to Ford’s 9.309.

Flint in the flat got out on Henning in the Stock Eliminator final but a 9.002 by Henning had Flint breaking out.Dennis Flint's sizable start line advantage had John Maine breaking out for the loss in Stock Eliminator round one.

Number three, Dennis Flint advanced to the final after number two, John Maine broke out, and a .596 reaction time was probably a factor there. The final had Henning giving up a little real estate at the lights, but a near-perfect 9.005 had Flint taking an 8.948 break-out. Despite missing the first race of the season Henning had the point lead in this class and improved with the win here.

Gary and Carol Henning and another first place trophy for a team that has put on a lot of road miles over the years with the CDBA.Dennis Flint collecting his Stock Eliminator runner up trophy. He's been enjoying some busy race days this season.

Modified Eliminator

Modified Eliminator was light with three entries for this event. Justin Craig has dominated in the class so far this year, but it was Eric Oleson taking the top qualifying spot this time around with an 8.069. That was good for a first round bye run and an easy route to the final. Dennis Flint took a huge start line advantage but slowed down track with a losing 8.598 to Craig’s 8.095.

Eric Oleson's win at the Can Am Challenge will advance his position in ME points.Justin Craig extended his ME class point lead with a Runner Up finish at the Can Am Challenge.

The ME final saw a number of fouls, the most important being a red light by Craig. That was Oleson’s first win in ME and he observed a fine CDBA tradition by taking a dip in the cool waters of Dexter Reservoir later Sunday.

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Top Eliminator

Top Eliminator had six teams involved and Brian Reinhart’s 7.004 was good for the top qualifying spot.

A .119 red light had Matt Hakki losing out to the lone Canuck, Terry Bilow in round one of Top Eliminator.

That put Reinhart up against Rob Miles in round one, who just got his TE license at this race after some years away. Reinhart’s win on this pass was decided at the start line, as his slower 7.217-second run got to the line first against Miles’ 7.174.

Top qualifier Brian Reinhart took this round 1 win over Rob Miles by a mere .027 of a second.A better start and a 9.027 by Gary Henning was good for a round one win over Jason Ford.

The number two qualifier and current point leader, Terry Bilow got away with a .943 reaction time when number five, Matt Hakki red lit in their pairing.

Haislett (far lane) was better on both ends of the track and moved on to the TE final over Bilow.Bob Haislett in the near lane collected a first round win here when Joe Willis broke out by a heart breaking .004 in round 1.

Number three Joe Willis and number four Bob Haislett had identical .180 reaction times, but Willis was too quick down track with a losing 6.996 break-out against Haislett’s 7.040. Round 2 had Reinhart with the bye while Haislett and Bilow paired to see who would join him in the final. Bilow’s start line woes continued and his .272 reaction time against Haislett’s .1070 was the deciding factor in his loss.

Haislett's .181 red light was the decider in the TE final where Reinhart posted a perfect 7.000 in the flat.

The TE final was also decided at the start line with Haislett going -.181 red at the tree. Reinhart did post a 7.000 elapsed time, but his .205 reaction time meant no perfect pass bonus. After a slow start to the season Reinhart is back in the groove and this win should have him back in contention for the TE points title.

After a slow start to the season Brian Reinhart is back in the hunt after this victory.Bob Haislett is having a strong season in the super competitive Top Eliminator class, this runner up moves him to within 100 points of the leader.

Pro Eliminator

Pro Eliminator started the weekend with four boats but Kyle Harder was out after qualifying with a cracked strut, a good find by the crew.

Will Runyan in “Rapid Transit” took the top qualifying honors in Pro Eliminator.

Will Runyan had the best qualifying time with a 6.576 and ended up with a legal single in the first round. The other side of the ladder saw Steve Ziebert and Rob Temple paired and Ziebert redlit by a mere .009 for the loss, advancing Temple to the PE final against Runyan.

Kyle Harder and the “Flat Ruthless II” found a crack in the strut and pulled out of Pro Eliminator qualifying.A very small .009 red light by Steve Ziebert (near lane) had Rob Temple in the flat going to the PE final.

In that final Temple was just .01 better off the start line but the hydro was .036 better at the finish line for a margin of victory of just .026. What a great looking pass by both drivers and a great first PE win for Runyan!

Will Runyan brought the crew up to celebrate his first win in Pro Eliminator.Rob Temple's runner up spot in PE is his first points in the class this season.

Super Eliminator

Super E had eighteen teams on the paperwork, but Sunday saw it pared down to sixteen with Kyle Harder and Brent Brookhart bowing out.

Joe Willis (far lane) put together a winning round 1 pass in Super E against Will Runyan.Brian Reinhart in the flat went red against Brian Marble in their round 1 pairing.Dennis Flint had a huge advantage off the start line but slowed down track, allowing Justin Craig to win with an 8.095.

Advancing to round two were Dennis Flint, Jason Ford, Joe Willis, Lynnae Oleson, John Maine, Brian Marble, Kevin Weldon, Bob Haislett and Rob Temple. Round two brought the competition down to eight boats. Flint got by Ford in the first pairing in a straight up manner. Weldon broke out by .04 against Oleson in the PWC. Willis and Temple had a close pass with Temple advancing with both drivers running just thousandths off their indexes.

It took 2 passes to decide this round but a better start and running just .042 off his index had Rob Temple advancing to the Super E final over Brian Marble.Dennis Flint red lit in the Super E final while Temple had a .099 tree and ran .021 off his index for the win.

Maine broke out by just .041 against Marble to end the second round. In the first pairing of the semis, we lost some numbers between Temple and Marble so that would require a re-run. Flint advanced to the final when Oleson broke out by .09 in their pairing.

Dennis Flint (near lane) was better on both ends for this round 3 Super E win.Dennis Flint had a huge advantage off the start line but slowed down track, allowing Justin Craig to win with an 8.095.

The re-run between Temple and Marble had the flat driver better at the tree and just .04 off his index for the win and a trip to the final. The Super E final was the last pass of the day and unfortunately it was over at the start line for Flint, with a -.042 red light placing him in Second Place in the group. Temple’s .099 tree and his running just .021 off his index would have been tough to beat anyway.

Rob Temple topped off the weekend with a win in Super Eliminator.

Second Chance Round

A Second Chance option was run, and five teams entered the competition.

Lynnae Oleson had a .078 tree on her way to a round 1 win in 2nd chance.Steve Ziebert (near lane) used a better reaction time to take this round 1 win in 2nd chance.

Lynnae Oleson got a reaction time win over John Maine while Steve Ziebert got by Matt Hakki, and Rob Miles had the round one bye to advance.

The start line also decided this 2nd chance run in the semifinals with Ziebert taking the win over Rob Miles.Lynnae Oleson in the PWC had Dennis Flint covered on this pass but a .009 break-out had Flint going to the final.

Round two saw Ziebert use a start line advantage to advance to the final against Oleson, where she would have the bye run. That final had Ziebert waiting almost 3.5 seconds while the ski took off and Ziebert posted .092 and ran.147 off his index for the win. Oleson broke out by just .006, so close.

Additionally...

In addition to PE win number one, Will Runyan also took the best reaction time trophy with a .021 which made for a great weekend all the way around for the Idaho teams.

Best reaction time trophy went to Will Runyan in Rapid Transit for .021 tree in round 1 of Pro Eliminator.Andy Erskine (left) is now the keeper of a fine CDBA tradition, the original Yucca jar. Complete with Alan Bunker's recipe on the lid.

The Outstanding Race Team award went to “Team Harder,” with Ellie Harder taking her first win on her first weekend of racing.
Outstanding Race Team was awarded to team Harder for Ellie Harder's first race first win weekend.

The Head Hunter Top Eliminator team getting the clocks ready for the race.The Rescue 2 crew in better weather conditions. Lots of stories and lots of questions. All day long.

The CDBA tech team with Dennis Flint. Head tech guy Eric Black owned this hull and raced himself for many years.Bob (Snake) Toal in the Rapid Transit pits, Bob is a pretty busy guy around the pits at CDBA events.

Some fine tuning going on at the Flat Ruthless II pit area.Matt Hakki's new ride, gone to a hydro now. This is his 3rd race boat in a little over a year.