Midwest Challenge Day 1—Blown Away by Victory
After being the fastest boat at the first two races of the season, Billy Moore and Mike Falco knew that eventually their luck would turn in Class 1 competition in 2024. That started with being the fastest boat in pole-position qualifying at the P1 Offshore-produced Midwest Challenge in Sheboygan, Wis. They covered the eight-turn five-mile course in Lake Michigan three seconds faster than their closest competitor.
Three first-time-winning teams battled high winds, Lake Michigan and their competition to claim hard-earned checkered flags on day one of the P1 Offshore Midwest Challenge. Photos by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos
That earned the team and their 45-foot Victory catamaran, Team DeFalco, the inside lane for the four-boat Class 1 race on Saturday. Owner/throttleman Tyler Miller and driver Myrick Coil had lane two in the 43-foot Skater, Monster Energy/M CON, while owner/throttleman Rich Wyatt and driver Alex Pratt were in slot three in the 50-foot Mystic, df Young/Good Boy Vodka. First-time throttleman Brit Lilly joined driver Randy Kent in the 48-foot MTI, XINSURANCE, in lane 4.
The 45-boat fleet nearly doubled the entry list from the inaugural Midwest Challenge last year. The first edition of the event was part of Mercury Racing’s 50th anniversary so only boats powered by the engine manufacturer’s products could participate. That limited the fleet to the Super Stock, 450R Factory Stock and Class 1 teams. This year, the race is open to the full fleet and is part of the American Power Boat Association Offshore National Championship Series.
Race officials started the weekend with the fastest boats in offshore racing taking to the lake first with Class 1 qualifying. One boat ran at a time, completing two laps with the fastest time being used to determine lanes. The theme for the day was the 20-mph winds that were trying to blow the boats off course or worse, toss the bows skyward.
Monster Energy/M CON was up first on the clockwise course where the boats made primarily righthand turns except for the lone lefthand maneuver at turn five. Miller and Coil clocked a fast lap of 2:27.89 and headed into the docks. Moore and Falco ran a 2:25 on their first lap and even hooked the boat in a turn battling the wind. On lap two, they ran faster, setting the time to beat at 2:24.72.
The rest of the Class 1 fleet was no match for Team DeFalco in yesterday’s race.
Next up were Wyatt and Pratt in the biggest boat in the fleet. Their fast lap of 2:28.76 put them in lane three, which is where throttleman Wyatt expected to start. Lilly and Kent ran 2:32 to put them in lane 4.
Class 1 was the only fleet to run a parade lap and the four boats also run a timed format versus counting laps. The boats would run for 30 minutes plus one lap to complete the race. Additionally, the teams would earn full points for the two races they ran during the weekend. Class 1 is the only category competing on both days of the weekend in Sheboygan. Last year all the boats ran two races.
When the green flag went up, Moore and Falco quickly moved to the lead followed by Monster Energy/M CON, df Young/Good Boy Vodka and XINSURANCE. For the early part of the race, Miller and Coil tried to keep Team DeFalco within reach, but soon found themselves having to hold off Wyatt and Pratt. Running in only their second race, the XINSURANCE team continued to get to know each other in the boat.
As it had in Cocoa Beach, Fla., earlier in the year, Team DeFalco held the lead throughout the race in Sheboygan, but this time, the water pressure issues the team had experienced at earlier events didn’t rear their ugly heads. Moore and Falco claimed their first checkered flag in Class 1 and their second of 2024 having won the 450R Factory Stock race in a cameo appearance at the Race World Offshore event in Ocean City, Md., in June.
“We were in the lead twice and had goofy stuff happen, so this feels real good,” a relieved Moore said after the race in Sheboygan. “This is 100 percent vindication because the last time I ran this boat before it was DeFalco I wore it as a hat.”
Moore was referring to the offshore powerboat racing world championships in Key West, Fla., in 2017 when he was throttling the boat as CT Marine and CMS Racing was having mechanical issues and crossed in front of CT Marine to try to make it to the pits, sending Moore and his driver skyward. Neither Moore nor his driver was hurt and the boat was fixed.
Last year Moore and Falco ran an Outerlimits hull that wasn’t competitive, so Moore convinced Falco to purchase the Victory. Moore and his crew re-rigged the boat with the Mercury Racing 1,100-hp turbocharged engines that are the specified power for Class 1 and the duo has been fast from the start, claiming the pole in Cocoa Beach.
Said Moore in reference to a 2017 incident, “The last time I ran this boat before it was DeFalco I wore it as a hat.”
At Sheboygan, the wind was pushing around the big cats in Class 1, especially when they came out of turn 8 and headed toward the finish line. Moore had put on a new rudder and found that when he ran the boat hard in a corner, the boat’s stern would want to pick up, especially with wind blowing down the tunnel between the catamaran’s twin hulls. “I could feel it when the back end tried to come up and I could adjust for it,” Moore said. Team DeFalco held on for the win while Monster Energy/M CON took second and df Young/Good Boy Vodka ran third.
Recently, he and Falco made a trip to Italy to check out XCAT racing, and before they left, Moore had some changes to Team DeFalco’s water system. After thinking things through on the long flights, Moore made some notes and made a couple more changes to the system. He and the team were happy with how the boat ran before they put it on the trailer to head to Sheboygan.
Moore explained that the changes in water pressure weren’t showing up on the boat’s in-dash display, but the team could see it on the data logger when the technicians downloaded the data after running the boat. “Now we have it to where the crew on shore can see the data,” Moore said. “I would glance at the water pressure and was confident that we had that bug worked out.”
Miller said he and Coil “missed the setup by just a pinch and when you do that on flat water, it’s a big gap at the end.” He added that the wind caused the boat to “crab,” running at an angle to the course instead of straight between turns. “In a straight line with no wind, we are super-fast, but when you have to crab the boat, it drops the numbers down. It cost us 7 to 10 seconds.”
He also credited Falco with driving a good race. “Every line Myrick wanted to get, Mike was in it,” Miller said. The finish on Saturday would determine the starting order on Sunday so the boats will be in the same lanes unless they are inverted.
The rebuilt XINSURANCE raceboat remains a work in progress.
Wyatt had the opposite problem, having to throttle the biggest boat on the course. “It was flatter than we wanted so we knew we weren’t going to be running up front,” he said. “You could tell how windy it was chasing Monster when it was blowing their roostertail all over.”
Barely Controlled Chaos
After Class 1 qualifying, the largest class fleet in Sheboygan, Super Stock, took to Lake Michigan with 13 boats set to take on the high winds. The starting order was determined by the finish of the class’ previous points race at Lake of the Ozarks, so the 32-foot Doug Wright, Celsius, with owner/driver Chris Hopgood and throttleman Jay Muller, was in lane one. The national points leaders, owner/driver Reese Langheim and throttleman Julian Maldonado were in lane two in their 32-foot Victory, Jackhammer.
Mayhem ensued when the green flag flew for the Super Stock contest. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
When the green flag flew at the straightaway, the 13 boats entered turn one with the wind trying to blow them into each other’s lanes. Throttleman Ryan Beckley and driver Conner Toomey had an early lead in the 32-foot Doug Wright, Master Fence Rental, but they were overtaken quickly by CELSIUS and by the 32-foot Doug Wright, CoCo’s Monkey, with the father son team of Pete and A.J. Bogino in the cockpit.
A red flag brought the race to a stop after the 32-foot Doug Wright, Northwing, with owner/driver Daren Kittredge and throttleman Casey Boaz rolled in the dogleg turn. The team was not hurt in the incident and the boat was righted before it was towed in.
When the race re-started, the officials determined the boats would run eight laps because they counted the first one as complete. In the restart, Celsius moved to the lead with newcomers Thomas Kennedy and Scott Blumberg in the 32-foot Doug Wright, Mom Ain’t Happy, making a good showing in second while battling with CoCo’s Monkey. The winners at the previous race in Michigan City, Ind., owner/driver Cole Leibel and throttleman Gary Ballough, in the 32-foot Victory, Big East Construction, were in the mix early, but soon Jackhammer got around them and made a move toward the front.
Unfortunately, the winds and large fleet caused an incident in which the 32-foot Doug Wright, JS Racing/Tit for Tat, with owner/throttleman John Strama and Connor Langheim, hooked and pulled hard right, crashing into the 32-foot Victory, Steele Offshore Racing, with Ricky and Ricardo Maldonado on board. Both boats sustained damage with JS Racing taking the worst of the beating after a huge hole was gashed out of the port side of the boat under the cockpit.
JS Racing/Tit for Tat sustained substantial damage in the starting incidient.
“We were turning on CELSIUS’ wake and I had just one sponson sitting on and I turned it and turned it some more and it just went all at once,” Connor Langheim said. “We hooked and Steele was right there.”
Veteran racers Shaun Torrente and Sean Conner used experience to avoid an incident in their 32-foot S2 Powerboats cat when a boat crossed in front of them. “I’m tired of being put into the position of crash or back off,” Torrente said.
On the positive side, he said the team’s new boat is continuing to improve. “We have speed and acceleration,” he explained. “We just need to make it handle better.”
Strong winds challenged all classes, most notably Super Stock, throughout the day.
Back to the action, Jackhammer passed Mom Ain’t Happy for third and then Kennedy and Blumberg were challenged by Steven Bridges and David Selley in the 32-foot Doug Wright, Team Bermuda.
CELSIUS held the lead through the first three quarters of the race with Hopgood running a defensive line maintaining the shortest route around the course. At the start of lap seven, CoCo’s Monkey made a bold move to the inside of the course that proved to be the winning move. The boat pulled out to a lead while Celsius spun at the dogleg and rolled over. This moved Jackhammer into second while Team Bermuda finished third.
The Boginos had claimed a checkered flag at the Offshore Powerboat Association world championships in Englewood, Fla., but the win in Sheboygan was the first against a full fleet.
CoCo’s Monkey delivered an electrifying performance.
“A.J. did a fantastic job on the wheel,” Pete Bogino said during the post-race interview on the docks. “He made all the right moves and all the right calls.”
When their boat ran as Shadow Pirate, bottom design guru Scott Porta made some changes to the bottom that improved its handling in the turns. A.J. said it made a difference in the handling, especially in the wind. “It was tricky with the wind coming offshore,” A.J. Bogino said. “It was blowing us sideways and when we came out of turn 9, it was lifting the nose of the boat.”
Of his move to the inside to take the lead, he said, “We tried a couple different things with Celsius. Going into the first turn I said we needed to get inside them it was the only we were going to make the pass.”
As the Boginos learned yesterday, a checkered flag makes a fine canopy ornament.
A.J. and his wife are expecting a baby on August 19. He flew out at the last minute on Friday to make the race but joked that he might need to stay over in Sheboygan on Saturday night to enjoy the victory before heading home.
For the runners-up, second place kept Jackhammer in the national points lead. “I’m glad to see Pete and A.J. win,” said Reese Langheim. “We missed the setup and the wind was crazy, trying to pick up the boat.” The racer who’s known for wanting to get home after the races to get back to work said he loved racing on Saturday and wished he could do that at every event.
Yet Another New Winner
Five boats raced for points in the 450R Factory Stock race. The father-son team of George and Micheal Stancombe ran in their 36-foot Skater, Peppers Racing/Yardarm Marine Products, but couldn’t earn points because the boat is powered by Mercury Racing 500R outboards and the 450R is the spec motor for the class.
Mead Family Racing led for much of the race, but ended up taking second place.
How the teams navigated the course to deal with the wind was key to the outcome of the 450R Factory Stock race. Early on, driver Caleb Mead and throttleman Torrente took the lead in their 39-foot MTI, Mead Family Racing. They preferred running in lane two to three, running wide off turn 8 to counter the wind as they headed toward the finish line. In the 38-foot Doug Wright, Hank’s Saloon, owner/throttleman Edwin Scheer and driver Coby Harrison ran the traditional pin to pin, trying to keep the course as short as possible.
Hard, defensive racing was the theme of the afternoon for the class as owner/driver Willy Cabeza and throttleman Grant Bruggemann in their 39-foot MTI, GC Racing, battled throttleman Nick Imprescia and driver Ian Morgan in their own 39-foot MTI, 151 Express.
At the start, the 38-foot Doug Wright, Montlick Injury Attorneys, with the new pairing of driver Logan Adan and throttleman Giovani Carpitella, may have been the victims of getting hosed down because they were in an inside lane and soon found themselves off the pace.
As the nine-lap race continued, Hank’s Saloon got around Mead Family Racing for the lead. While battling for third, 151 Express hit a buoy and the Monster Energy banner that had been wrapped around the buoy wound up draped around the boat’s starboard motor.
The 151 Express team enjoyed a banner day.
“We were trying our best to stay in the mix and we ended up taking out a buoy,” said Imprescia. He explained that he took a wider course line because his team chose taller propellers and needed to keep the rpm up. “Every time we got to the corner, the other teams played great defense.”
For 16-year-old Mead, the race was another new experience. “The wind was blowing us all over the place,” he said. “Coming off turn 8, the wind would blow right up the tunnel. I could tell we were playing tight defense because I was looking at the cameras a lot.”
For Scheer, the win was his first since he ran the Pro Stock class in a triple-outboard powered catamaran called Imagine. He explained his strategy of running pin to pin, saying, “I figured I didn’t have speed on them. I had handling and ran pin to pin because that was the shortest distance.”
The pin-to-pin strategy paid off for Hank’s Saloon.
He also sang the praises of his new driver. “Coby, this was his first full race. He’s a natural,” Scheer said. “He’s been driving STVs and Argo cats since he was a kid. He drove the hell out of the boat.”
Added Harrison, who did the canopy conversions for the Doug Wright boats in 450R Factory Stock at his shop in New Smyrna, Fla. “They made me work for it. Inside, outside, getting sprayed, it was nonstop.”
He continued, “The winds would blow and they would stop and you’d come around the next lap and they’d be blowing again.”
Scheer and Harrison have obviously gelled quickly with natural communication and teamwork. Harrison spoke for all three first-time winners from Saturday, saying, “I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.”
Though they weren’t competing for points, George Stancombe (above) and his son, Micheal, tested the waters of the 450R Factory Stock class.
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