Boat racing: Schiller attempts drag boat title defense

When Mike Schiller went down to Arizona last November, he went alone.

After serving as his own mechanic and crew throughout the week, he left with the International Hot Boat Association Coors Light World Finals title in the pro eliminator class.

This week, he is making the trip once again to embark on his title defense, although this time he'll have company.

Schiller, a seasoned boat racing veteran and owner of Gardnerville's Golden Nugget Automotive, left Wednesday morning for Firebird International Raceway with his two adult sons in tow.

"This is what it was all supposed to be about from the start," Schiller said. "I wanted this to be a family thing."

Although it's not quite what his family had in mind when he first went out to buy the boat.

"When I first got into this, I went out and told my wife I was going to buy a family boat," Schiller said. "I brought this thing home and she said that there was nothing family about it " It only had one seat."

The family element, though, came in the form of the racing environment, Schiller said.

"It's such a family-oriented sport," he said. "You get so many crews out there that are fathers and sons. You just get generation after generation getting into this sport. There's not a lot of money in it when it comes to big-time sponsors, so it remains more of a family deal."

This will be the first time, however, Schiller will be able to bring both of his sons along to work on his crew.

His eldest, Jason, is home on leave from Iraq and the younger, J.J., is just wrapping up a solid season on the Kirkwood Cup freeskiing circuit.

"They both want to get into racing someday, so it's a lot of fun," Schiller said. "Each one has come with me before, but this is the first time both have been able to come. It should really be a neat weekend."

Especially if Schiller continues to have the success he's had as of late on the Arizona track.

Aside from his two World Finals wins, he's had several big performances before on the Firebird track during the season-opening Lakefest.

The Pro Eliminator class is run on an 8-second index, meaning that boats must complete the quater-mile course as close to 8 seconds as possible without coming in under that time. That's a task that Schiller has nearly perfected over the years, punching out numerous runs at 8.0-flat on the Firebird track.

"It's a strange time," he said. "I went from not ever winning a race to taking three in Phoenix in two and a half years. It's actually started to bring me a lot of notoriety."

Along those lines, he was featured in a drag boat racing magazine this winter with pictures from his World Finals win. His boat is also featured on a YouTube.com video clip that has drawn more than 60,000 hits.

Along with this weekend's LakeFest, Schiller plans on competing in events in Red Bluff, Calif., and San Diego, as well as a return trip to the World Finals.

"There was some temptation to move up to the pro class this season," Schiller said. "But I decided to stay doing what I have been. I didn't want to make any radical changes. It'll be interesting to see what happens."

Somewhat of a Carson Valley exodus has developed out of Schiller's racing career over the past five years.

Every May, he has been taking a large contingent to the Nitro Nationals in Red Bluff.

"That's our home track and it's really turned into a popular thing," Schiller said. "Last year we had 92 people come down with us. It's really a great time."

Schiller said he'd be bringing a chef on the trip to cook for the group.

"It's a great atmosphere down there," he said. "They shut their whole town down on Friday nights and have us line the boats up on Main Street. Everyone fires their boats and it's wall-to-wall people. It's pretty wild."

Schiller said anyone interested in making the trip can contact him via e-mail at gma@clearwire.net. He said he has access to discounted tickets for the race.

The week prior to Red Bluff, Schiller is planning on displaying his boat at the Big Mama's Car Show, scheduled for May 11.

Aside from being able to spend the time with his family, Schiller is looking forward to having extra hands in the pit.

"It's gotten to where we know what we are doing now," he said. "We put a lot of new parts in the boat and updated a lot of equipment to make it easier to work on, more reliable and more efficient. We're hoping for a strong year."

He also retained sponsorships from his own Golden Nugget Automotive and from Auto Parts Depot, which is under new ownership.

"The new guy over there, Jason, was kind enough to pick up the sponsorship that I've had with them and to add to it," Schiller said.

Schiller said the pool of competition has gotten significantly deeper in the class, with several talented drivers moving up from the lower levels.

"It'll be a tough weekend every time out," he said. "There are some good drivers and good boats out there."