World Champion offshore racer Gary Ballough, who for the last few years has been throttling his 32’ Victory FJ Propeller in Super Stock class, has told Speedboat that he will be pulling “double duty” during the 2022 race season, participating in both Super Stock and Factory Stock classes.

First, the world-class throttleman will team up with Cole Leibel (nephew of veteran driver Lorne Leibel) in Cole’s new 32′ Doug Wright catamaran, Big East Construction. He shared some brand-new photos of the cat in construction. He told Speedboat that he may race with Cole in the Victory for the first couple of Super Stock races of the season while the Doug Wright hull is completed, after which FJ Propeller will take the rest of this season off.

Also currently in construction is a new MTI 390XR, which Ballough has been tapped to run alongside a newcomer to the sport, Guillermo “Willy” Cabeza, in Factory 450 Class. As soon as the boat is finished, they will hop into action, although it may not be until the August OPA race in Michigan City, IN.

“He’s all in,” Ballough says of Cabeza. “That’s why I have lasted in this sport as long as I have—because of enthusiasm from people like Willy and Cole. When you see this new blood come in, it reinvigorates and inspires me when I encounter racers like them who are all jacked up. It’s good for veterans like me.”