It was a red-letter weekend for Tyler Miller and Myrick Coil, the throttleman and driver duo of Pro Class 1 competitor Monster Energy/M•CON and 500R Factory Stock competitor T/S Motorsports, winning races in both of their classes on Day 2 as the 2nd annual XINSURANCE Offshore in Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri came to a close.
Heats were scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday. Miller and Coil took the win on Sunday after finishing second on Saturday’s Pro Class 1 bout; owner/driver Mike Falco and throttleman Billy Moore took the checkered flag on Saturday in their 45’ Victory catamaran, Team DeFalco—picking up right where they left off in Key West, FL, last November when they won the World Championship. On Sunday, Defalco finished second, followed by Grant Bruggemann amd Willy Cabeza in Marine Technology for their very first Pro Class 1 races. Very little changed after the boats settled into their positions on Sunday; XINSURANCE South (with Bill Pyburn and Brit Lilly) and XINSURANCE North (with Nick Buis and JJ Turk) were fourth and fifth on Sunday, respectively. XINSURANCE North had spun out the previous day, breaking the gimbal on their starboard side outdrive, but were back racing on Sunday.
“It was a blast,” said Turk. “And now I’m not scared of that boat anymore!”
Saturday’s Super Cat class set the stage for an equally thrilling follow-up race on Sunday. On Saturday, five boats in the class competed in the nine-lap race. Chris Grant and his new driver Jay Muller got out in front early on in their 388 Skater, CJ Grant/Graydel. At one point, however, the boat appeared to miss a buoy, so the team circled back, made the correction, and managed to regain its lead to eventually take the win—taking advantage of the new WPRA rule where there is no penalty, as long as the buoy is picked up. They were followed by Rob Unnerstall and Casey Boaz in their 388 Skater CR Racing, and by Christian McCauley and Anthony Smith in the 40' MTI Hancock Claims Consultants/MTI Farnsworth. Reigning World Champions Bill Pyburn and Brit Lilly in Dirty Money Racing finished fourth due to being down two cylinders on their starboard side engine.
Grant and Muller were on fire again on Sunday, with no buoy malfeasance. The pair scored back-to-back wins in Super Cat, leading the entire race. On Sunday, Pyburn and Lilly were better prepared, finishing second in Dirty Money, while Hancock Claims Consultants/Team Farnsworth (with Anthony Smith and Christian McCauley) took third place.
A staggering 15 Super Stock competitors were on the roster for this weekend, including new entries like Wozencraft/TFR (with Julian Maldonado and Jeremy Tschida) and Say Less MF, the former Performance Boat Center champion, which is now being raced by first-time racer Chad Rudesill and champion throttleman Rusty Williams. Saturday's Super Stock races served as qualifying heats; Sunday's race was the main event, and what a show they put on! Raymarine/Big East, piloted by World Champion Gary Ballough and Cole Leibel, got out in front early and stayed there to take the checkered flag—making this their third consecutive first place finishes in as many races this season. Second place was captured by Mom Ain't Happy, a 32' Doug Wright hull piloted by Scott Blumberg and Tom Kennedy, while third place went to Celsius, piloted by Chris Hopgood and Jay Muller. Wozencraft/TFR, with new owner/new driver Jeremy Tschida, with veteran throttleman Julian Maldonado, finished fourth.
Miller and Coil took the win in 500R Factory Stock class on both Saturday and Sunday in the boat previously raced by its owner, World Champion Taylor Scism, T/S Motorsports # 7—an MTI 390XR. GC Racing/MTI, with Willy Cabeza and Grant Bruggemann, took second place on both days, and Mead Family Racing, with Caleb Mead, who is teaming with legendary throttleman Johnny Tomlinson, took third on both days.
Super Vee class pitted “Evil” Ed Smith and Jay Wohltman in the 40-foot Fountain, Knucklehead Racing (which previously raced in Extreme class) against Hancock Claims Consultants/Team Farnsworth, raced by Anthony Smith and Elijah Kingery. Knucklehead took back-to-back wins on Saturday and Sunday.
Mod Vee saw Boatfloater.com, with father-and-son Steve and Stephen Kildahl, take the win on both days of racing in their 29' Extreme. On Saturday, the 32' Phantom Statement Marine/XINSURANCE (with Nick Buis and JJ Turk) appeared to take the win, but were penalized for having missed a buoy. They finished second on Sunday, while Scott Jobin and Rick Raab finished third in Safe Cash/XINSURANCE, another 32' Phantom.
Extreme Class, Cat 300 and Bracket 200 class each featured a single competitor. American Custom Marine (with Michael Knoblock and Chris Uzzi) ran unopposed in Extreme Class in their 40' Fountain with twin Mercury Racing 1550/1350 dual calibration engines. Manatee Marine Unlimited’s Connor Langheim and Ricardo Maldanado of Cat 300 took a few laps in their 23' Argo, Jackhammer Mini, and called it a day. Their only other competitor, Team TFR/XINSURANCE, with Owen Buis and Cameron Turk, rolled their boat the evening before competition, knocking them out of the races. Finally, Team Woody Racing (with Chad Woody and Billy Shipley) ran unopposed on Saturday, and opted not to run on Sunday.
Bracket Class racing results are subject to change, pending officials' scrutiny of the boat's data cards. Competitors occasionally break out of their mandatory speed limits; official results are pending.
Bracket 400: Simmons Marine (with Jason Zolecki and Jake Coons) took the win on Saturday over Team Hartman/XINSURANCE (with Jerry Hartman and John Lezzatti); Miss Stress (with Bruce Dudley and Jimmy Wessel) went out early with a mechanical issue, but nabbed a third-place finish.
Bracket 600: Synergy/Ultimate Boat Racing Experience, a 24' One Design, took the win over Punchin' Hulls, a 24' Jaws hull that threw its belts and did not finish Sunday's race. (This class did not race on Saturday.)
Bracket 700: Five competitors raced two heats on Sunday, after being postponed on Saturday. Both races saw Pist'n Broke (with Scotty Young and Jeff Pritcher) going head-to-head with Dirt Legal/Velocity (with Connor Langheim and Brad Christopher). In the first heat, Pist'n Broke took first place; in the second heat, it was Langheim and Christopher's turn to take the win. Both heats saw the same positions 3-5: Bad Decisions/XINSURANCE (with Owen Buis and Ricky Harmeyer), REDRUM (with Bob Barneschi and Derek Dawson) and Safe Cash/XINSURANCE (with Scott Jobin and MJ Stallcup).
All of these results are subject to change.
The next offshore race is P1's battle in New Orleans, set for June 27-29.