LOTO Powerfest A Super Stock-Class Tune-Up
Unlike the Super Cat-class team owners, the Super Stock owners did not put this weekend’s LOTO Powerfest—formerly the Lake Race—in Central Missouri on their internal points calendar. Nor is this weekend Lake of the Ozarks event part of the five-race American Power Boat Association Offshore National Championship Series. So in a way, the Saturday Super Stock contest is anything the teams, most of which call the lake their home-water, want it to be.
Though points aren’t a factor, bragging rights are on the line this weekend for the Lake of the Ozarks-based Super Stock teams such as Performance Boat Center. Photos by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos.
Take the Jackhammer team of owner/driver Reese Langheim and throttleman Ricky Maldonado. They are the only Super Stock cockpit duo with a win this season. Following the cancelation of the APBA series season-opener in Marathon, Fla., they took the checkered flag two weeks later in Cocoa Beach. Another win would go a long way toward reestablishing the dominance the team displayed on its way to the 2022 APBA Super Stock National Championship.
According Performance Boat Center team driver Myrick Coil, who shares the cockpit with throttleman Rusty Williams, tomorrow’s contest presents an opportunity to experiment.
“I think we are going to have Jason Billmeyer drive the Super Stock boat this weekend,” Coil explained. “Rusty and him have been out testing a little this week. It isn’t a points race so it would be a good time to get him some seat time. Unless something changes between now and start time, I think he will be in the boat.”
Likewise, owner/throttleman Bill Allen of Team Lawncare and Landscaping is breaking in new driver John Strama. The veteran throttleman and rookie wheel-man raced together for the first time last month in Cocoa Beach, Fla.
“We’re still in the learning process,” said Allen, who earned a Super Stock world championship in Key West, Fla., last year.
Home teams will comprise most of the Super Stock fleet this weekend.
For owner/throttleman Loren Peters and driver Mike Wright of the LPC team, LOTO Powerfest is a low-stress opportunity renew their acquaintance in the cockpit of Peters’ 32-foot Doug Wright catamaran. After taking a break for a couple of seasons, Wright returned to the team this season in Cocoa Beach and Marathon.
Peters and Wright practiced together earlier this week and put in approximately 120 miles on the Lake of the Ozarks.
“It was really nice being back in the boat together,” said Peters. “Previously, Mike was throttling and I was on wheel so it took some getting used to, but about two laps in we were clicking. Unfortunately we feel we picked the wrong prop so we had a rough start to the race and got caught up in a lot of wash. But overall we were happy with results.”
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