Offshore raceboats gathered at the Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri this weekend for the fourth stop on the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) schedule, known as Shootout Offshore. It was a weekend full of nail-biting finishes, horrifying crashes, glorious victories and unexpected mishaps.

Five Pro Class 1 teams came to the lake, but only three ended up finishing the competition. On Saturday, the boats were on their first lap when two boats—DMR Performance (with Bill Pyburn and Brit Lilly) and Outta Pocket / XINSURANCE (with Kevin Birrell and Billy Moore—racing alongside each other, both suddenly took on some air, lifting the boats and sending Pyburn and Lilly airborne and crashing back down hard. The capsule of their 45' Victory catamaran held up and both racers were out of the boat and confirmed OK very quickly, but the boat suffered significant damage. At the time, Tyler Miller and Myrick Coil in their brand-new 418 Skater, Monster Energy/M•CON, were out in front (after having qualified first earlier in the day); also in the running were Billy Mauff and Jay Muller in WHM Motorsports and Adam Carpenter and Reese Langheim in Discrete Offshore Racing.

On Sunday morning, the remaining four Pro Class 1 teams returned to the course for a redo of Race #1. As they did last year at this event, Miller and Coil dominated in Monster Energy/M•CON, followed by Outta Pocket / XINSURANCE in second, WHM in third and Discrete in fourth. (Discrete appeared to experience a mechanical issue.)

The four boats were back again later in the afternoon for Race #2, and once again, Miller and Coil were unstoppable, taking the checkered flag for the second time that day. Mauff and Muller finished second in WHM; Carpenter and Langheim in finished third in Discrete for their first podium finish of the season. Birrell and Moore in Outta Pocket / XINSURANCE finished fourth after throwing a blade on the port side propeller.

Still nursing their wounds from the bad luck they had in Pro Class 1 on Saturday, Pyburn and Lilly spent Sunday determined to see a win in Super Cat in their Dirty Money competitor. Facing off against three other boats—CR Racing, EWB Racing and Graydel/CJ Grant—Dirty Money did not disappoint. After having qualified #1 in the class on Saturday, Pyburn and Lilly triumphed, handily defeating the competition. Casey Boaz and Rob Unnerstall in CR Racing finished second; Kelly Kraiss and throttleman Ron Gibbs were third in EWB Racing, and Chris Grant and Jay Muller were fourth in Graydel/CJ Grant.

Six Factory Stock teams came to compete, but only five boats finished. During the first lap, Hampton Langston and Ryan Beckley, piloting HBS Motorsports, appeared to run across the wake of a boat in front of them when it hooked, sending the MTI catamaran to the left (inside) the course and launching it upside down. Langston and Beckley emerged from the escape hatch in the bottom of the boat and checked out OK.

It was the season debut of the M•CON/ Monster Energy/Hurt! App Factory Stock MTI with Tyler Miller and Myrick Coil, and after the restart, the team got out in front and stayed there for most of the race. Unfortunately, the boat experienced a trim issue on the outboard engine, allowing Mead Family Racing (with Caleb Mead and Johnny Tomlinson) to advance to first, and Say Less MF (with Chad Rudesill and Rusty Williams) to advance to second, while Monster Energy rounded out the podium in third place. Joe Spoloric and Garrett Coonrod finished fourth in Lake Wylie Racing.

However, race officials subsequently determined that Mead Family Racing hit a buoy and Say Less MF had missed a buoy on the race course, so both teams were penalized. Thus, M•CON/ Monster Energy/Hurt! App was declared the winner; Lake Wylie Racing was second, and Jackhammer was third.

As it has throughout the season, Super Stock attracted the most competitors—a total of 16 boats vying for victory. Points leader Team Bermuda/GL Construction (with  David Selley and Steven Bridges) grabbed an early lead, but by the second lap, Nuff Said/Hamilton Princess (with Luis Martins and Nick Imprescia) had pulled out in front—and remained there for the remainder of the race. Team Bermuda/GL Construction finished in second place, while Team Allied (with Shaun Torrente and Matt Jamniczky) finished in third.

The five Mod Vee teams included Louisiana/Clouatre Cartel Racing (with Dustin Clouatre and Owen Buis), winners of both the recent races in New Orleans and Cocoa Beach. Also throwing in their hats were Steve and Stephen Kildahl, the father/son team of Boatfloater.com, which unfortunately was not able to race in Cocoa Beach when driver Stephen became sick. But the hometown heroes were back in full force at the Lake of the Ozarks, pulling ahead of the pack to take the checkered flag. NMBRV Resort (Kirk Hanna and Mark Rinda) finished second; Louisiana/Clouatre Cartel Racing finished in third place.

In Super Vee, Knucklehead Racing (with Edward Smith and Billy Glueck) had an exciting head-to-head battle with the only other boat in the class, Twisted (with Brian Klinec and Jax Muller). Ironically, both boats had gone out with mechanical issues in Cocoa Beach.

American Custom Marine (Michael Knoblock and Jeff McCann) ran uncontested in Extreme Class with Mod Vee and Super Vee.

Here are the winners in the bracket classes:

Class 200—Team USA Muscle

Class 400—Hartman/XINSURANCE

Class 500—Back in Action

Class 600—Punchin’ Hulls

Class 700—Team Progression/Redrum.

IHRA offshore racing continues at the Mercury Racing Midwest Challenge in Sheboygan, WI, Aug. 7-9.

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