KNDO/KNDU Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA | Mark Evans racing Unlimited in Tri-Cities

Mark Evans racing Unlimited in Tri-Cities

N. Mark Evans will drive the Formulaboats.com U-57 this weekend for the Porter family. Jimmy Shane had driven the boat earlier in the season. Jim Harvey will serve as crew chief, and the GP-12 crew from the Grand Prix boat Evans has been racing this season will provide support. Evans, a Chelan, Wash. native, will be in the pits on Thursday.

Evans has 10 wins dating from 1990 to 2003, winning his last race in Bill Wurster's U-8 Llumar Window Film at Tri-Cities in 2003. He has driven and won for the premier owners in the sport including Erick Ellstrom, Bernie Little, Fred Leland and Wurster. After crashing at the 2003 Gold Cup, he "retired" from the Unlimited ranks.

Evans, in his 50s, has since repowered a 4-seat hydroplane with outboard motors and has given media rides the past few years in an effort to help promote the sport he loves. This season, he's been racing the GP-12 Grand Prix hydroplane, and will head to the GP World Championship in Australia in late November. If not racing something, Mark can be found at his boat shop in Chelan, Wash.

It is fitting that Mark makes Unlimited driving return in the Tri-Cities – the same race he debuted at in 1979. His dad, racer Norm Evans, paid Bill Wurster $3,000 for a boat, motor and trailer and thus the U-10 Evergreen Roofing was ready for the Columbia Cup. The boat was affectionately known as the "Green Bomb," not only for its color, but also for the fact that the engine kept blowing up and was never able to qualify for the race.