THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE STORY BY JENNIFER BAILEY
DANVILLE — Parkland College instructor and powerboat racer Brian Cafarelli and his family have traveled to racing events far and wide.
In their opinion, Danville’s fraternal organization Gao Grotto at Lake Vermilion stands out as one of the best host sites, Cafarelli said, and not just because it’s close to his Champaign home.
“It’s a good racetrack,” Cafarelli said. “The venue, the Gao Grotto, is probably the best in the world I might even say. It’s an elevated viewing area.”
He said the organizers do a great job.
“It’s really first class for the spectators,” Cafarelli said.
The Marine Racing Club will be back for another Thunder on the Vermilion outboard powerboat racing event Friday through Sunday at the Gao Grotto, 2400 Denmark Road.
Last year’s event saw about 60 boat racers. There could be upward of 80 to 90 this year, said Buddy Freed with Gao Grotto.
Admission will be free. Boat practice runs are scheduled for Friday, while racing will start around 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Live music has been scheduled for all three days. Food and drinks also will be available for purchase.
“90 Proof, which is a big draw in Danville, plays Friday night on a stage from the city,” Freed said.
He said they will have food trucks this year, and Jocko’s pizza and ice cream.
“We’re looking for a pretty big boat count,” Freed said about this points’ race for the racers.
Racers are expected to come from the local area as well as Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa.
This is the fourth racing event the Gao Grotto has hosted in the last few years and this third with this sanctioned body.
“It’s just getting bigger and better. It’s good for Danville and good for the community,” Freed said. He also thanks all the event sponsors.
Proceeds from the event, in addition to donations, also go to good causes with the Gao Grotto. For instance, previous funds raised helped with finishing the new handicapped-accessible bathrooms at the Grotto. The refurbished bathrooms assist when AMBUCS has its summer campers there.
“It really turned out nice, and we redid the floor in the banquet floor,” Freed said. “We’ve got a lot of changes at the Grotto.”
Previous event proceeds, including from sponsorships, funded the new playground at the Grotto.
The entire Cafarelli family — Brian and his wife, Katie, who has retired, and their sons Ashten, 18, and Evan, 10, who started this year — has gotten involved in powerboat racing.
Brian said his late father got out of racing about the time Brian was born. After graduating high school, however, Brian had to try it out after seeing all the equipment in their basement.
Brian said there’s nothing like powerboat racing.
“It’s really the community and the competition,” he said. “It’s unlike any other racing. It’s very friendly.”
He said if he was having a hard time getting a boat out, and having technical issues, another racer would help him and not watch him struggle. When you drive 500 miles to a race and something breaks, the racing community steps up.
“We’re very nurturing to new people to the sport,” he said.
In the past, Brian said, he has given a trailer to a new racer and loaned out motors.
For this weekend’s Danville races, Ashten will take part in four
classes and the family will bring five to six boats in two trailers.
Top speeds for the boats range from about 40 miles per hour for the beginning class to about just under 100 mph for the more advanced. Each class races twice, which is a heat, with multiple heats during the weekend.
Brian said it’s also fun to camp out at the races with the family, park the recreational vehicle and have a nice weekend.
After a full day of racing, they eat dinner at the Grotto and pass out later from exhaustion in their RV’s air conditioning.
Brian said they like racing for a cause, with the event helping the Grotto and AMBUCS kids’ camps.
“The Grotto does a fantastic job with food and entertainment,” he said.
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