Beckley, Kildahl And Mauff Earn Inaugural John Carbonell Memorial Award In Cocoa Beach
A larger-than-life figure, Super Boat International founder John Carbonell had staying-power in the sport. Carbonell, who died in 2020 at age 83, founded the Key West, Fla.-based offshore-race-producer in 1989 and for the most part held sway over the sport until his death.
“I wouldn’t even be involved in the sport without John Carbonell,” said Kerry Bartlett, the lead organizer of Thunder On Cocoa Beach, which celebrated it 15th anniversary last weekend.
Said Beckley, “Our team raced for many years with John and Deanna Carbonell and the staff at SBI.” Action photos courtesy Pete Boden Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
So impactful was Carbonell on Bartlett and fellow members of his organizing team that he launched the John Carbonell Memorial Award for “teams displaying professionalism and commitment to the sport, dedication, strength, will to win, competitive spirit and sportsmanship.” Bartlett plans to present the honor annually at the awards ceremony concluding the Cocoa Beach, Fla., event.
This year’s recipients were Ryan Beckley of the Super Stock DoubleEdge Motorsports team, Steve Kildahl or the Mod V-class Boatfloater.com team and Billy Mauff of the Super Cat WHM Motorsports team. All three recipients have competed at every Cocoa Beach event ,according to Bartlett, since it was founded 15 years ago.
Like his fellow recipients, Kildahl has competed in all 15 Thunder On Cocoa Beach events.
“It was an honor to be included with Steve Kildahl and Billy Mauff,” said Beckley, who has been sponsored by Reliable Services Group for all 15 years in Cocoa Beach but had to depart for a family obligation before the award was presented. “Our team raced for many years with John and Deanna Carbonell and the staff at SBI. We also did a lot of work together over the years wrapping many of their vehicles for the business promotion.
“I was bummed that I wasn’t able to be there to receive it,” he added.
Kildahl was equally grateful for the first-year award. “I was very honored to receive the award in John’s memory,” he said. “And it was great to see Deana Carbonell again.”
Mauff could not be reached for comment when this story went live, but Jay Muller, his longtime throttleman, said the 40-plus-year team owner was moved by the honor.
“Billy actually had tears in his eyes,” he said.
Mauff was one of three recipients of the inaugural John Carbonell Memorial Award.
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