Races 4 and 5 of the Northern Californian DJSA Racing Series held this past July 18th and 19h was labeled as “Jet Effect,” a racer and family appreciation recognition race. In addition to recognizing the racers, the weekend was special to the DJSA family, providing a tribute to a local restaurant owner and long time friend Jeremy “Lumpy” Sturgill who passed away suddenly earlier last month. Survived by his wife and two young children, Sturgill’s memory was honored with all proceeds going to the family.
DJSA runs 15 classes which are comprised of six stand-up classes, two X2 classes, four Sport/Sit/Runabout classes, and three Junior classes. The Standup classes entertain all skis from 550s all the way up through SXR 1100s. The Sport/Sit/Runabout classes have everything from 800cc boats up through four stroke supercharged 300-plus-horsepower machines. The Juniors class have stand-up and runabout classes that are separated based on rider skill level.
The course was something that nobody was expecting on this lake. The lake was designed specifically for water skiing. It is long with an island that runs down the middle of the lake making for two long waterways on both sides. The course was set up with some really nice box turns and a couple of sharp turns on one side that lead right into a split on the other side that went exactly side by side for well over quarter-mile in addition to a straight leading into the checked flag. This long split created some insane showdowns with riders running side by side through to the finish.
The weekend was kicked off with DJSA’s own versions of race classes like the the 567 Vintage Triple Threat where 550s, 650s, and 701/750s all race together with a delayed start sequence on the larger displacement machines. DJSA also combines Yamaha ‘Blasters with some of the smaller runabout machines that make up the Sport/Sit/Runabout classes.
DJSA’s industry-first horn starting system is used to start all races. This system eliminates the starting band and also eliminates riders from “timing” the band because there is no anticipation of the band. Racers don’t start until they hear the horns. This has almost completely eliminated false starts. The racers love it, the staff loves it, and it’s been an all around favorite concept since the start of the season.
Overall, the racing was extremely intense – battles between Brock Austin, Ian Roberts, Pete Zernik, Chris Wattier, and Jeremy Dixon were nothing short of incredible in the FAST Standup 1100 GP class. The SCXP Runabout class was completely insane with Jesse Wilson and Michael McFarlane running the course at blistering speeds on their high powered machines!
The next DJSA race will be the weekend of August 22nd-23rd and will be combined with RPM Racing Enterprises for a local DJSA and IJSBA race. The action is expected to be fast and intense as racers from Northern California and Southern California compete against each other to see who walks away with the state championship trophy. There will also be one moto race to be run at night “under the lights” to give a more exciting twist for the weekend. The day and night races on Saturday August 23rd are both World Finals Qualifier races.
All images provided by Traci Cottle Photography and all original, unmodified versions can be purchased HERE.
