Only a few days after rookie driver Kevin Birrell threw his hat into offshore racing's Pro Class 1, another newcomer—Adam Carpenter of Angola, IN—announced that he is also joining their ranks this season.
In addition to both joining Pro Class 1 compeititon, both men come with some major-league support: While Birrell will be joined by World Champion throttleman Billy Moore in the cockpit, Carpenter is teaming with another World Champion—driver Reese Langheim of Jackhammer fame, along with LOTO Shootout icons Don Onken and John Cosker in support roles as well.
"It's something I've always wanted to do," Carpenter told Speedboat. "A family friend used to race offshore boats when I was a kid. They took me to the boat races—that's how I got introduced to it. Also, my dad always took us to the hydroplane races when they came to town, so that was pretty cool. It's just kind of been in my blood."
Aspiration quickly moved to action after watching the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) expand. Feeling the timing was right, he opted to commit to racing this season, entering the sport at the highest level rather than easing in. "Everyone suggested I start with Super Stock, but I see a crazy amount of those boats rolling over and flipping. Also, there's a ton of those guys out there already. I'm not sure they need another new rookie in the mix," he laughs.
Carpenter quickly assembled a committed team (christened the Discrete Offshore Racing), a race-ready boat and a conservative yet ambitious plan centered on safety, family enjoyment and incremental testing. He bought Dave Scott's Nauti-Marine 50' Mystic with the help of longtime contact Ron Szolack, as the craft was proven, ready to go, and matched his preference for bigger, stable platforms.
"Discrete" is a play on discreet and concrete, his main business. Not coincidentally, his driver is also in the concrete business, as the owner of Illinois-based Langheim Concrete Services. Originally, Carpenter wanted his boat number to be 007, but when race officials balked at that idea, he had to settle for 07. Still, the "007" theme has been incorporated into the team's tuxedo-styled fire suits, as shown below.
As this story was being prepared, Carpenter was hard at work on the Mystic and its race trailer; the Mercury Racing 1350s were removed on Sunday in preparation of the new 1100s, due to be delivered today.
Although new to offshore racing, Carpenter brings many years of powerboating experience to the table. "I love big-power stern drives," he says. "I've owned a 388 Skater for a few years. Before that, I had a really big-power single-engine cat. So I liked the idea of racing a bigger boat. I hope it's rough—we're gonna go on the outside and go wide!"
After huddling with Langheim on who should drive and who should throttle, it was decided that Langheim would drive. Meanwhile, American Ethanol owner Don Onken, along with Manatee Marine Unlimited's Julian Maldonado—himself an offshore champion—offered hands-on help—and potential sponsorship.
Discussing the new partnership, Langheim told Speedboat why he's amped up for the new season. "I've got a lot of good guys behind us," he told Speedboat. "I've had the Onkens and John Cosker on my side forever. The American Ethanol team are the ones who got me into racing. [Son] JR Onken got me going, then Don participated right after that. John, the Onkens and the American Ethanol team have all pledged their support and want to see us succeed. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do, and what we can build. We've got a good team behind us."
Onken says that Langheim's enthusiasm and history with Carpenter, along with his ties to Cosker, solidified his decision to support the effort. Onken's commitment to help has turned the alliance into a supergroup of sorts, prepared to pool money, knowledge and influence to make a competitive entry.
"They seem real enthused about it," Onken says. "We got Adam into racing. So he is all in. We'll help him out as much as we can."
Onken, whose 10-year streak of winning the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout came to an end last year when Darana Hybrid took Top Gun honors, hopes joining the Discrete team will put him back in the victor's seat. "I was getting kind of bored just doing American Ethanol," he told Speedboat. "I'm motivated now, let's just say. I didn't realize I was going to miss winning so much." As for his 50' Mystic, he seemed optimistic: "Hopefully we're going to get four engines that run through the Shootout this year. We've been doing some work on them and we're in the midst of dynoing several of them as we boost up the horsepower. "
The main drawback is that the season's kickoff race in St. Petersburg, FL, is only two weeks away, leaving precious little time for testing. "We don't even have our motors for Mercury Racing yet, so the only problem I see is that we might not have enough time for testing," Langheim says. "So that's going to be a challenge. But Julian at Manatee Marine is going to hurry up and try to get this together for us. They'll install the motors in Michigan, then run it down to Manatee Marine Unlimited and tune it in. So for the first few races, we're just going out there to have fun. Then, after we get a handle on things, hang on, because we're going to give you a show."
Carpenter gives special thanks to One Eighty Graphics, ACS Graphics and Chris Mills of Boat Customs: "He really helped us out by fitting us into his busy painting schedule.