NAPLES,  Florida – November 2, 2008 – Tim Seebold of the Bud Light Seebold Racing Team led from pole to the flag taking his second straight victory of the season in winning by 3.6 seconds over Shaun Torrente of the Gary L Barton Inc/Speedmaster Marine effort to end the season on a high note finishing third in the championship at the Grand Prix of Naples on Lake Avalon  in front of thousands of race fans at the final round of the 2008 F1-ChampBoat Series.
“I want to thank my crew and propeller designer David DeWald for giving me the perfect setup today,” said Tim. “It was a rough race because of all the passing but the circuit was great place to race after all despite it being only eight tenths of a mile (1.2 kilometers) in length. I can’t wait to come back here next year and try to do a double.”

For the Miami native Torrente, he needed to finish four places in front of points leader Terry Rinker in the Amsoil/Rinker sponsored boat to have any chance to take the title. Shaun stayed within shouting distance the whole time and almost got even with Tim Seebold with eight laps to go but couldn’t make the pass as he was hoping for his fourth victory of the season.

“We did all we could do to win,” said Shaun. “We had a satisfying season winning more than anyone else and are going to come back stronger next season and get that championship I know with my great crews help and Ted Gryguc leading the way it can be done.” For Terry, fourth place was just fine for him as he was only two slots behind Torrente and cruised home to take his fourth overall title and his third in the last four seasons on the F1-ChampBoat Series tour. “We had to bite our tongues to force ourselves not to push too much today,” said Terry. “The goal was the championship not the race and the crew did everything asked despite the pressure we were going through to come home with the ultimate victory.” Chris Fairchild from Paw Paw, Illinois showed that he was back in full song after a horrific accident at the opening lap of the season and finished the season with back to back third place finishes.

Todd Beckman of Fenton, Missouri brought the second Bud Light Seebold Racing team home fifth while Jeff Shepherd brought the Hampton Inn/Diamond Marine boat home in sixth just ahead of Canadian Brian Venton who managed to take seventh and wrap up his best season ever on the tour with a fifth overall in the championship six straight top-10 finishes.

It was a great season that saw Terry Rinker come back to the forefront winning his fourth title while Shaun Torrente coming into his own winning three races while Tim Seebold ended the season in a flury with two straight victories. Now as 2009 comes into the horizon, new drivers and new venues will make only the next 12 months even better for the F1-ChampBoat Series.