U-12 Racing LLC / Graham Trucking Racing
Rob Graham, Team Owner
Rob Graham and Graham Trucking, Inc. first became involved with racing through one of his employees, Jerry Hopp, who along with his son Greg became one of the most successful ULHRA teams. In 1995, GTI became a sponsor of the Unlimited Light class and continued to play a vital roll until the group disbanded in 2008. The Graham trucking cup now features the Formula 1 series.
This partnership lead to GTI’s sponsorship of the Graham Trucking Cup at Seafair, as well as being the title sponsor of the Thunder Cup in Tri-Cities and the purchase of the U-12 Racing Team. He is now the Team owner and excited about it.
U-12 Racing LLC / Graham Trucking Racing
Bobby King, Driver U-12
Rookie driver Bobby King will join the U-12 Graham Trucking team in 2023. Bobby is 29 years old and lives in Shelby Township, MI, and he comes to the series with an extensive resume in the limited ranks and is fresh off a convincing win in the Hydro 350 class at the 2023 Valleyfield Regatta – his second in a row.
Bobby began racing in 2011 and is a third generation driver. He won the High Points championship in F2500 and was driver of the year in 2019 for the HRL series. In 2021 he had 4 wins and placed third in the APBA High Points championship for the Pro-lite Series.
When Bobby becomes qualified in Unlimiteds, he could compete against his father, Jimmy King, the driver of the Griggs presents Miss Ace Hardware. If the two race against each other, it will be the first time a father-son combination has been on an Unlimited-class racecourse together since Jerry and Greg Hopp saw action in the same heat at Seattle in 2001.
The boat King will be driving is one of the sport’s most successful hydroplanes. In fact, with two more race victories, the boat will become tied as having the most race wins in history.
U-12 Racing LLC / Graham Trucking Racing
Tom Anderson, Crew Chief U-12
Anderson has been involved in unlimited hydroplane racing as a crew member for over 30 years. Tom’s early years in the sport were spent primarily as a turbine engine specialist for several teams including Mr. Pringles, T-Plus and Miss Budweiser. He first became a crew chief for Ron Jones Jr in the mid 90’s and went on to work with owners Jim Harvey and Fred Leland.
Tom joined Ted Porter’s PPE, LLC team in 2007 and moved to Crew Chief of the U5 in 2008 where he and Jeff Bernard scored their first victory in only the second race of the season at the Indiana Governors Cup in Madison Indiana. The team went on to be the only repeat race winners in 2008 by capturing the Bill Muncie Cup in San Diego, California. Since 2008, Tom has twice been awarded Crew Chief of the Year and the U5 team along with drivers, Bernard, Jimmy Shane and J. Michael Kelly have compiled an impressive record of 3 World Championships, 1 National Championship and 18 victories, and 1 Gold Cup, making them one of the most successful teams in recent years.
Professionally, Tom left full time boat racing in the late 1990’s to work in Boeing’s wind tunnels operating the Transonic and Super Sonic tunnels. He has since left Boeing and is a manager for Blue Origin where he enjoys building space vehicles. Tom, wife Kellie and son Brody live in Renton, Wa.
