Colonial Beach, Virginia was the place and the Liberty Cup was on standby for Macc Racing’s Chris Macclugage to take it back home to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Using the word “Take” is being gentle. Chris was on a mission after the small speed bump he encountered in Canada at Roundd 5 of the UWP Tour.


Chris has always been the type of athlete that dedicates himself to ultimate performance and ultimate conditioning with his training regimen. Chris was asked how his training has been going lately and he stated “It’s been very hard lately to train consistently with so many red eye flights. I really have to stay disciplined and be consistent to achieve the results I need to win the Championship and World Finals.” He is a man on a mission in 2011 and he won’t settle for anything less than perfection.

The mission started on Wednesday night as it has each of the previous rounds. Chris and Rusty Nutz flew from Las Vegas, Nevada straight to Virginia. There was something a bit new on the agenda for this round on setup day with some new parts to test to try and make the handling a bit better on the Bullett GP Ski. The race trailer was held up a bit on Thursday so they were put behind schedule in testing and tuning. In Chris Macclugage style, he found ways to stay occupied and focused on the upcoming race. In Chris's words “the trailer did not show until 1:30pm on Friday, so I did some running on the beach by the race site and we ate at the race bar called Dockside.” He added “When we walked in they asked us if we were the jet skiers because it was a small town and they obviously knew we were out of place.”

Friday afternoon they were finally able to test the skis and make a few changes. They broke a drive shaft for some reason during testing so Rusty Nutz had a bit more work than originally planned. The Bullett Ski changes that were made worked pretty well, nowhere near perfect, but that’s how it goes with a new hull and new parts..That’s why it’s called TESTING! The Macc Racing/Dean's Team/Riva Racing Yamaha FZR was once again running VERY strong with Dean busting his butt during the break between rounds making some improvements. That night they went to eat at a French Thai restaurant and the food was excellent.


Chris was asked how the race site and facilities were and how the track was compared to others and he replied “The race site was epic and course was great as I designed it!!!!! Our hotel was called Doc's Motor Court which was a stones toss away from hotel room door. Doc's was founded in 1948 by Doc and his wife, She is still alive but he passed last year. She was an incredible woman with so many stories to tell. I would like to take Rachel and Lil Mac back there on holiday sometime. Part of the track went around a pier by the race site.” He also said the host city had great food and good people.

Saturday morning was upon the team and this is how it went down “ We woke up and went to Lenny's for some oatmeal then got Rusty Nutz a bag of ice so he could endure the heat. We got back to the trailer and I warmed up on my spin bike then went to riders meeting and did practice.” Chris said he felt kind of tired in practice but he mentioned that the weather was nearly unbearable!


The 1st Moto’s were up and Chris went on to win both Pro Ski GP and Pro R/A Stock Moto’s for Saturday races as they only run 1 Moto each on Saturdays. Chris was asked if he was nervous at all at this event more than others? “I was a little nervous, but I can handle it.” That being a short and simple answer meant that he was 100% focused on his weekend of racing.

Chris's buddy Brian Dennis visited Chris at the race this weekend and Chris had this to say about Brian Dennis, who by the way is a pilot for the U.S. Marines and flies and F-16 for the Black Knights Squadron “My buddy Brian came into town. He rode my ski on Saturday which definitely gave him the itch to get back into racing. Right now he is serving in the Marines and has not raced since 1989. He turned a few wrenches on Sunday when we needed the pump taken out. He did an awesome job! Thanks Brian!”

Saturday night there was a racer party at the Dockside Restaurant as they took the Gen 2 Bullett GP Ski to the racer party, had it on display and signed autographs. Rusty was on a mission of his own with Jagermeister. Chris went home early!


Sunday was judgment day for Chris and Macc Racing against Macc Racing/Dean's Team/Riva Racing, the opposition. It started out a bit sketchy as they broke another drive shaft. They had to quickly move to the backup ski which was packed up in the race trailer because they needed to leave ASAP at the end of the day to catch a flight. So Chris hopped on the ski and proceeded to kick some serious butt! Chris would like to thank everyone who helped get the backup ski out of the trailer!! In Moto 2 of Ski GP, Jimmy Wilson pulled the hole-shot and led for most of the time, Chris was asked what happened on the start, was he running good lines and did he make any mistakes etc? Chris replied “Yes, I was running good ...lol...I was catching him in the inside split but then decided to follow him for a bit on the outside. Once I got close enough I pulled the trigger and went back to the inside and past him. He also made a mistake in the split when I past him. After that I pulled out to a comfortable lead and race was over.” Chris would finish with a 3 for 3 sweep and dominating performance of a 1-1-1 for the overall win in Pro Ski GP!!

In Moto 2 of R/A Stock, Chris finished in 2nd place. He was asked about Troy Snyder and what went down in that Moto as well as Moto 3 and replied “Troy rode really well. His ski is quite fast and it’s sometimes hard to pass him. It was a great race in Moto 3. I had been taking the inside for a bit and catching him. So knowing this I followed him to the outside to get closer and not show my cards too soon. When the time was right I made sure all my turns were perfect as well as the angles etc. were spot on then put the hammer down and made the pass. After the pass knowing Troy, he was not going to let off and neither was I. So we hit rather hard. The Yamaha still kept going straight to the front with not one scratch. The Sea Doo ended up cracking where Eric (out of control) Francis hit him earlier this season. Once in front I was gone. Cody actually hole-shotted that race and was a half lap ahead then broke.” Chris would finish with the Top Spot in 1st Place Overall with a 1-2-1 weekend in Pro R/A Stock.


With Chris having a decent lead in his classes, he was asked to comment on whether or not he could relax at all and take it easy? He answered “Once you relax there is someone to capitalize on it.” Nice Answer!!

Once again AJ and his staff did a great job and the race site and the host city was awesome. Macc racing had a VERY good weekend!!


Chris would like to thank the following: Rachel Macclugage, Monster Energy, Macc Racing, Quakysense, Yamaha, Yamalube, HtMoto, Bullet Racing, Rusty Gewecke, Macc Racing/Dean's Team/Riva Racing, Alpina Watches, Oakley, Liquid Militia, Riva Racing, Yamaha, Thor, TUF Stands, Andrew Gewecke & Brian Smith.

It’s on to Round 7 of the UWP Tour in Lake Hartwell, South Carolina August 13-14th. Please check out www.uwpinc.com for more info on the upcoming race as well as updated points standings. Also please be sure to visit www.maccracing.com for any and ALL PWC Parts and accessories.

See you there!!!