CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Monday, June 20th – A betting person? The 2005 edition of the ChampBoat Series is a nine race 6 month quest to become champion of the nation's most difficult and challenging professional racing tour on water.

At this upcoming weekend’s 18th Annual Labadie Bay City River Roar Floridian Terry Rinker and his Rinker Boats/Amsoil sponsored team is the odds on favorite to win.Why? Well, he has had a perfect month so far going two for two and leading the points chase by 88 points. He has also won this race twice before back in 1998 and 2003 while finishing on the podium in 3 of the races last four years.

It’s hasn’t been an easy run to the front however. He’s also had some luck.

The native of Tampa, has had to battle to the front in both the New Roads, Louisiana opening round while doing the same at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan two weeks ago, both times after racing leading Tim Seebold of the Bud Light Team had mechanical problems. So, Rinker has had both luck and talent working for him in 2005, plus he has won at Bay City, Michigan two times before. For the competitors it’s time to be afraid, very afraid, but how long will it last?

“We are definitely on a roll so far this season, stated Terry. “We know that Tim Seebold has been quickest so far this season, however he’s had problems and ours have been cut to a minimum thus far. We hope to get a hat-trick of wins this upcoming weekend at a course I enjoying racing at.”

Speaking of Seebold, the native of Fenton, Missouri who’s currently 3rd in the championship standings, finished 2nd here a year ago on way to his 4th title in 10 years in the class. “We’ve done everything right during the first half of the weekend this season, however in the race we’ve had a series of problems (trim pump and propeller breakup) that has taken sure wins into a 5th and 6th place finishes which isn’t good enough for this team,” stated Seebold. “We are confident we can turn this around and there is still a long way to go before we have to start panicking.”

California driver Todd Bowden in his Concrete Coring California Gold race boat is 2nd in the championship with 2nd place in the “Soo” after finishing 4th at the opening round at New Roads, Louisiana. Todd was 3rd a year ago in Bay City with a 2nd back in 2002.

“We’ve had some wild adventures here in Bay City,” stated Bowden. “We crashed out in 2001 and finished 2nd in 2002. We are ready to take a shot at the championship lead this weekend with a win. Our confidence is getting better and better after each result.”

Defending race champion Jason Campbell has had all sorts of drama after just two races this season. In the opening round, he was on his way to victory when his 4 year-old backup boat blew out the bottom dropping him from 1st to 2nd at days end. In Sault Ste. Marie, the native of Chandler, Arizona sponsored by Lamb Tech took off from 5th and charged into the top-3 before parking his boat at turn one before switching chassis many laps later eventually dropping out of the event in his backup boat.

“We’ve struggled this season so far, but I feel we can turn this around.” stated Campbell. “We know we have the talent to get the job done, we won here last year and I believe we can make it two straight here in Bay City.”

Illinois driver Chris Fairchild in his Hooters sponsored boat has qualified well this year starting 3rd at the first event and 2nd two weeks ago. His DNF in the Sault hurt his points total but has proven he can be a challenger for a win when things go right.

Wyatt Nelson of Syracuse, New York is starting to become a factor in the series having gained three places in each of his first two events. At New Roads he finished 6th despite being penalized and finished on the podium in 3rd and fighting for 2nd at Sault Ste. Marie. He is the only driver in the race that is running an Italian DAC boat that has won at Bay City before and he feels this boat that was built for rough water circuits will have an advantage this year on the rest of the field.

Rookie Dennis Klepadlo of Gaylord, Michigan is the “feel good” story of the season thus far. Sitting in 7th overall in the championship he finished 5th at the “Soo” and leads the “rookie of the year” points chase coming back into racing full time after a 17 year absence.

Lynn Simberger of Illinois is 8th with a fine 4th place at the last race. Canadian driver Brian Venton is 9th in the standings with a 7th in the “Soo” and Serbian native Ned Mihajlovic is 10th coming off 10th at the last event.

The 18th Annual Labadie Bay City River Roar is considered one of the toughest most challenging races in the world and with 3 different drivers having won in the last three years, it proves that this Saginaw River course will once again not be a sure bet for anyone who thinks they know the answer to success in this the longest running boat racing event on the calendar.