Parallel Project Backing All-Female Super Stock And Class 1 Campaigns

Through their shared interests in the heavy construction business and high-performance boating, Ben Lehman of Arkansas and Missouri’s Nick Whitehead became friends. A former offshore racer, Lehman owns a 44-foot MTI catamaran. Whitehead, who owns Big M Marina on the shores of Missouri’s Table Rock Lake, and his wife, Blonde Bomber, have a 36-foot Spectre Powerboats catamaran. All three are offshore powerboat racing fans, so much so that they plan to field a Super Stock-class team and a Class 1 team in 2025.

If all goes to plan, the 2 Blondes Race Team will join the Super Stock class in 2025. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

But there’s a wrinkle. Blonde Bomber Whitehead, a former dirt-track automobile racer who likely will throttle the team’s soon-to-be-acquired 32-foot Super Stock cat, will be joined in the cockpit by Tammy Zachary. Neither have any boat-racing experience, but both are eager to start the learning process. Whitehead will take the throttle position.

“We have two very good candidates,” Nick Whitehead said. “Neither have any boat-racing experience. Right now, Bomber wants to throttle but I would like (both teammates) to able to throttle and drive. I would like the team to be well-diversified.”

But cockpit experience and winning—at least in the beginning—aren’t the main thrusts for the Parallel Project-backed Super Stock team. The point is gender, hence the 2 Blondes Race Team handle.

“It will be the first all-female Super Stock team,” explained Lehman, who in addition to his construction business leads a management and marketing consulting firm called Parallel Project. “I think that’s one of the things the sport needs to continue growing.”

Parallel Project is the title sponsor for tonight’s 11th annual Speed On The Water Key West Bash at the Pickles Pub’s Sandbar on Greene Street.

Both women are eager to get in the cockpit and start learning and practicing in January.

“I have wanted to go powerboat racing for a while now—I have dirt-track racing experience and the water-feel comes natural to me,” Bomber Whitehead said. “We are building a strong team with the right people. This winter will be a lot of testing and preparation for 2025.

“I am excited to have Tammy in the cockpit with me and I am looking forward to next season,” she continued. “An all-girl team will be something new for powerboat racing.”

Added Zachary, “I have always loved going fast—sports cars and fast boats are a love of mine. I’ve been in love with boat racing as a child watching my uncle compete in the sport.”

To help introduce itself to the offshore powerboat racing community, Parallel Project took the title sponsor role for tonight 11th annual Speed On The Water Key West Bash benefitting Samuel’s House, a local shelter for women, children and intact families. In addition to assisting with production expenses for the event, Parallel Project has committed to make a significant donation to the nonprofit charitable organization.

The trio also will be on “The Zone” 97.7 FM Sports Radio this evening at 6 p.m. with local broadcasters Rick Lopez and Todd Swofford to reveal more about their 2025 offshore racing plans.

Both Lehman and Whitehead have been working closely with the Powerboat P1 group. In 2023 and 2024, they traveled to the P1 Offshore-produced Midwest Challenge in Sheboygan, Wis. Those experiences inspired their plans to launch two teams of their own.

Lehman and Whitehead also plan to field their own Class 1 team next year.

“We really want to help P1 grow and the entire sport grow,” Whitehead said. “They were really lacking on how they were ‘getting down the road,’ so we got them a brand-new dually and a half-ton pickup this year.”

Added Lehman, “One of our goals is to help teams, especially those fielding more than one boat, create successful strategies for bringing in their own sponsors.”

For their own Class 1 campaign, which will see Lehman throttling and Whitehead behind the wheel, the duo also has yet to secure a boat but is planning to join the category next season. Lehman said he’s been in recent discussions with Azam Rangoonwala, the chief executive officer of Powerboat P1, and his father and chairman of the P1 board, Asif, about finding the right existing Class 1 catamaran to campaign.