Raceboats return to the Ohio River for weekend event
By ART LIMANN
The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register
The roar of raceboat engines will again be heard on the Ohio River this weekend when the New Martinsville Quarter Mile Records Challenge hits the water.
"Things are really coming together," Deanna McConaughey, treasurer of the committee organizing the event said. "Everything's going great. The funding is all in place. It's been amazing to see how this community has come together. We were on a limited budget, but businesses and organizations all stepped-up to sponsor entertainment. It's been unreal."
During the event, boats will skim along a quarter-mile of the river, against the clock, which is a distance that has never been done before. Previously races were 1 kilometer. The new distance will guarantee world records will be set by the first boats running in each of the three categories. There could be as many as 30 boats competing in a total of 25 classes.