The Macc Racing Team and the ole Wolf Pack were reunited once again in Anderson, South Carolina on Lake Hartwell to battle with some of the top racers that the UWP had to offer. The teammates came from all areas of the U.S. and even had a new addition but the new addition was not new to racing by any means!


It all started with the The G.O.A.T., The Team Leader, The Head Honcho and One and Only Chris “The Macc Attack” Macclugage leaving his hometown of Lake Havasu City, AZ by way of Las Vegas, NV as he has all season on tour to fly out to Round 7 of the 2011 UWP Tour. On their way to meet up with Chris & Rusty of Bullett Racing were Josh Herrin from Atlanta and “Flyin” Brian Smith of Texas. They all arrived on Thursday afternoon and settled in for an interesting and crazy weekend. They noticed the location to be fairly nice but the hotels and eating establishments were too far away from the race site with the closest hotel being 15-20 minutes away and nothing of value to eat either.

Friday came quickly and Chris, Rusty and the crew got right to work testing and tuning their skis. There were a few changes to be made to the Macc Racing GP SKI as they had broken a drive shaft the race prior and needed to change it so they would racing on a main ski with a back up ski. Josh Herrin and Brian practiced a few starts and were satisfied with how the skis were running. They would be competing in the Novice Ski Stock Class and Josh would also be racing the Beginner Ski Limited Class.

Friday night Rusty and Brian stayed behind and worked on one of the Macc Racing/Bullett skis to get the engine reinstalled and running while a major thunderstorm decided roll through the area. The rain was intense and so was the work going on inside the Macc Racing race trailer. They worked into the night to get the ski ready. By 1:00 am they had 98% finished and knew they had a little time to complete it come Saturday morning. So they called it a night as soon as the rain subsided a bit and headed back to camp.

Saturday morning Chris and the pack got started early. With the trailer unloaded and set-up everything was looking pretty good. Chris looked out on the race course with a puzzled look about him... one that has been seen before. The look was one of thinking how poorly the track had been designed which left no room for passing and was dangerous on the start with a single lane and NO split. He knew he had to be on his game at this round.


Practice went pretty well but Chris looked a bit uneasy on the GP Ski in his riding style as Rusty and Chris are still working on the handling that Chris prefers but they know that they will have it sorted out by the World Finals in October. The runabout was a different story. Chris looked very comfortable with the set up that Dean had prepared for him on his Macc Racing/Dean's Team Yamaha FZR. Moto 1 of the Pro R/A Stock Class was up and Chris would have a great start but would see a fellow racer grab the hole shot. That was fine with Chris because he knew he had the time to pick off the field like it was taking candy from a baby. It seemed at times that the splits were way off in timing as one side would be faster than the other each moto or each lap. The water conditions were perfect for Chris but the track was in shambles. He made it work because that’s what he does! Chris would go on to win Moto 1 of Pro R/A Stock and looked forward to Sunday to possibly close it out. Moto 1 of Pro Ski Gp was next and Chris would do something that he normally doesn’t do. He jumped the band and was called for a red flag. Even though Chris knew it was his fault that he jumped the start he couldn’t take all of the blame as the starter & band person were very inconsistent. The starter in the tower would never acknowledge the racers and that made for a lot of racers having bad starts due to them not being ready. Chris took the penalty and knew he had his work cut out for him. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He would come down the front stretch towards the end of the field and proceed to battle with Josh Block and eventually would make the pass on Josh for a 4th place finish. Chris knew he was not out of the overall just yet and had to be perfect in the final 2 Moto’s.

The Moto’s for the Amateur classes were ready to go and first up was the Beginner Ski Limited class. Josh Herrin is a name you might be familiar with as he races for Graves Yamaha/Monster Energy in the AMA Daytona Sport bike Series and is one of the top 3 riders in points for 2011. Josh is no freshman to the racing scene and he understands the pressures of race day. He handled it like a veteran racer and did very well. He raced in the Beginner Ski Stock Class and looked great going 2-1-2 for the weekend, grabbing the hole shot in Moto 2 and never looked back. He rode his Monster Energy Yamaha Super jet extremely well. Josh was asked what he thought of his first race on a Jet Ski and replied “this is a new challenge for me and Chris Macclugage had asked me to come try it so I figured why not. This is something I definitely will be looking to do more of in the future.”


“Flyin” Brian Smith returned to the track for the first time in Closed Course racing since 2010 at The World Finals and looked to show that there are no more “DFL’s” in his resume! He ran Novice Ski Stock aboard his Macc Racing/Wicked fast Kawasaki 800 SXR and had a bad start in Moto 1 as he bogged off the line. This wasn’t due to bad carb tuning... this was due to operator error but hey, it was a rookie mistake in flooding it. As Brian stated “you live and learn!” He recovered and battled his way back into the top 10 but had to settle for a 9th place as they stopped the race on Lap 3 due to lightning. In Moto 2 it was a different story as he would start about 7th on the start and work his way to 4th. Moto 3 was crazy with it being called back twice for red flag starts and the 2nd red flag Brian and Gavin reed battled around the first turn for the hole shot. As they made the final turn on the front stretch they saw the red flag. The next start was good and he would settle for a 6th in Moto 3. With a 9-4-6 he ended up with a 5th place finish. Brian said “this weekend was VERY long but I had fun with my family and friends and would like to thank my team mates Chris and Josh for the help. I was pleased with a 5th overall as I came in wanting a top 5 after not racing all year.” He added “I am looking forward to the IJSBA World Finals in October and I look to walk away with a top 10 and hopefully top 5 in Amateur Ski Lites.”

With Saturday heats done it was time for Sunday’s races. Moto 2 & 3 for Chris were approaching fast. Moto 2 in Pro Ski GP was up and the bad luck continued for Chris as he saw his Macc Racing/Bullett GP Ski die on the line. Chris would have to start in the back of the pack again and fight his way through and fight he did. Macc Racing’s Josh Block was again the one to beat to get into the top 3 in Moto 2 and Josh rode a great race keeping Chris at bay this time not allowing Chris to make a move. Chris would go on to finish 5th in Moto 2. He was not pleased at all with the outcome of the 2nd Moto and vowed to seek revenge in Moto 3…That only meant one thing, DOMINATION!

Moto 2 of Pro R/A Stock was right after the Pro Ski GP Race and Chris was ready to go. Chris’s training and fitness allows him to be able to go back to back with really no rest from Ski to R/A. Moto 2 was the same as Moto 1 but Chris was able to move up the field even faster this time and into the #1 spot to take the Moto 2 win. It looked as if Chris would be sweeping the weekend in Pro R/A Stock but there were other plans… Moto 3 of Pro R/A Stock was up again and another storm was approaching with high winds and heavy rain. They let the race run anyway as there had not been any lightening. The hole shot was the same but the outcome was VERY different. With 2 laps to go, Chris was battling with another racer and with the track splits being uneven there was no one really taking the inside split. With passing being almost impossible on the track you literally had to make your own passing lane. Chris tried to squeeze inside of the rider in front of him and in the process was shoved into the 2 red buoys off of the front stretch. He knew he had to pick up the penalty buoy but could only pick it up once and he knew he would still be down. The damage was done and the podium finish for the weekend was out of reach and out of the question. This was too bad as an overall win for the weekend would have sealed the National Title. Chris would have to wait one more round to close it out. Chris told one of his teammates “the Kawasaki & Sea-Doos were running strong but we managed to win 2 out of 3 Motos and got a 9th in the 3rd due to me missing 2 buoys in one lap. With missing 2 in one lap you are not able to make up a second buoy because the black buoy allows you to pick up only one per lap. It was hard not to miss 2 on the turn as I did because the buoys were only 10 feet apart.” Chris couldn’t dwell on the unfortunate outcome because Moto 3 of the Pro Ski GP class was up and he was on a mission.

In Pro Ski GP Moto 3, Chris's vow to seek revenge on the race was inevitable. Chris came to the line with a certain look about him and his competitors knew what was potentially in store for them as they dug their heels in and were ready for the battle that was to ensue. Right off, the Hole Shot was clear there was NO catching the Macc Attack this time as Chris shot out of there to everyone’s disbelief and could have waved to the field as he made his way onto the front stretch as some were still making their way around the 1st set of turns. Chris rode a very clean race in Moto 3 and was able to salvage a 3rd place podium finish. That was OK as that still kept him in the overall lead heading into the final race of the year in West Virginia. Chris would go into that race leading by 26 points.

Chris was asked if he thought that this was one of his worst weekends of racing on the tour this year and he responded “yes, but we learned a lot, made new friends and got too see my mom and family.” He then added “we had no DNFs this year in each of our classes but I wanted to dominate more. Some things held me back from achieving this.” Chris strives for perfection and he does not like to settle for anything less.

Heading into the final race of the year on the tour Chris plans on training a bit and traveling with his Pops! He is also looking forward to spending time with his family once the tour season is over and looks forward to winning another World Title… ITS TIME!!!!!!

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, Alpina Watches, Oakley, Liquid Militia, Riva Racing, Yamaha, Thor, TUF Stands

Round 8 is right around the corner and there is no rest for the best as it's back home and then it's back on the road again with Pops Macclugage in Charleston, West Virginia. Chris will be looking to bring home 2 NATIONAL TITLES! Be sure to check out www.uwpinc.com for more information on the final round of the season and the updated points. Don’t forget to check out www.maccracing.com for any and all of your PWC Parts and racing accessories.