CR Racing, AMH Motorsports, Victory and LSB/Hurricane of Awesomeness all brought home victories in Offshore Powerboat Association’s second race of the season at the Lake Race presented by Performance Boat Center.
The race on Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks had 50 boats competing with the Super Stock and ProStock Vee classes offering some of the tightest racing on Saturday. The Lake Race is also the second round of the American Powerboat Association Offshore Championship series.
Super Stock had the largest field with nine boats lining up to start the race. CR Racing, coming off a sixth-place finish in Cocoa Beach, Florida, rebounded in a big way on Lake of the Ozarks to fend off Shadow Pirate and win the 10-lap race. A little home cooking was all racers Rob Unnerstall and Casey Boaz needed in their Doug Wright catamaran for the win. Performance Boat Center finished third.
In ProStock Vee, Brit Lilly and Kevin Smith drove LSB/Hurricane of Awesomeness to first place, besting Play It Again and R&S Racing in the five-team field. LSB is establishing itself as the team to beat coming off a second-place finish in Cocoa Beach in May.
The Super Cat class featured seven teams and AMH Motorsports earned the pole position and drove the Skater Powerboat home to victory. Driver Aaron Hope and throttleman Anthony Smith needed the victory after finishing near the back of the pack in Cocoa Beach. Rounding out the Top 3 in Super Cat at Lake of the Ozarks were Pro Floors Racing and Performance Boat Center.
Four teams ran in the new Class One USA, which features new Mercury Racing 1100 Competition engines. The Dubai-based Victory Team got its first win of the young season after Miss GEICO won the season opener. Miss GEICO reportedly suffered some prop damage from lake debris and retired from the race early. 222 Offshore finished second and Miss GEICO was third in Class One USA.
The SVX class winner was Marker 17 with BoatFloater finishing second and JRA Boat Sales taking third. Knucklehead Instigator won Vee Extreme and Team CRC won the Unlimited class. Both were solo entries.
In the bracketed-racing classes, the winners were: Mom Ain’t Happy (Class 2), Strictly Business (Class 3), Simmons Marine (Class 4), Specialized Racing (Class 5), Deception Offshore (Class 6) and Tomahawk (Class 7).
All results are unofficial until the boats pass tech.
The Lake Race, in its seventh year, underwent a major change this year with the course moving from near Bagnell Dam down the lake. The race took place from the 5-mile marker to the 9-mile marker, allowing for viewing from the hosts Camden on the Lake and Shady Gators. Organizers said the new location allowed for more boats and spectators. Overall organizers were pleased with the turnout, which raises money for various charities around the lake.
OPA continues racing with its next event June 14-16 at the Point Pleasant Beach Grand Prix in New Jersey. The next APBA Offshore Championship series events is at the Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix on July 6-7.
