Factory Billet’s 184-MPH Lake Of The Ozarks Shootout Mic Drop – Speed on the Water
Coming into the 35th annual Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, Factory Billet driver/owner Jim Schultz and throttleman/engine-builder Mike Faucher had the lofty goal of reaching 170 mph on the three-quarter-mile course on the Central Missouri waterway.
How lofty? It had never been done before.
No one involved saw Factory Billet’s 184-mph pass coming this morning at the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, but there it is. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
Suffice to say it’s been done now—and then some. In their first (and last) pass this morning, Schultz and Faucher reached an impressive 184 mph in their 51-foot Outerlimits V-bottom powered by twin Faucher-built, turbocharged engines in the 2,000-hp range.
How impressive? In the 35-year history of the event, even when the course was a full mile long, no V-bottom had ever come close to that mark.
“In three-quarters-of-a-mile, we went almost four miles per hour faster than an Outerlimits SV 43 did in its kilometer record in 2014,” said Schultz. “The boat kept pulling so hard all the way through course, I couldn’t believe it.”
Today’s run was the perfect counterpoint to yesterday’s performance, which saw Factory Billet reach just 162 mph, four miles per hour shy of its finest Shootout run. An actuator glitch was the culprit.
Schultz (right) and Faucher overcame yesterday’s disappointment to lay down a record-setting run this morning.
“We’ve never made an incremental jump like this,” said Schultz. “Are you kidding me? From 166 to 184 mph? I mean typically we’re looking for two-, three- and-four-mph increments.”
Faucher and Schultz spent all day not just resolving the issue, but making sure everything else was ready to go today.
“I was telling Jim, ‘When we go out there, we almost have to go with more boost,” said Faucher. “I mean we’re not going to go with less—that defeats the whole purpose of the recent things we’ve done to the boat. So it was awesome to adapt and change. To do what we did and go put down that number. I can’t ask for anything better to be honest.
“The dyno power is one thing, but you’ve got to make it all work to perform on the water in this environment,” he continued. “I could tell we did it when we had 200 or 300 feet on the track left. I knew it was going to be a good run because the boat was rolling.”
Back at the docks, Schultz was reeling from the accomplishment.
“Honest to god, I just wanted to see the 170 mph—I never expected this. The last time I looked down at the gauge, as we closed in on the finish, we were at 176 mph and I couldn’t believe it.
“This feels incredible,” he added, then chucked. “I guess we have to stick around for the awards now.”
The Factory Billet crew achieved something truly remarkable this morning.
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