Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix, Day 2—Generational Talent

After he and throttleman Bill Pyburn finally won their first race at the Sarasota Grand Prix in the Super Cat class in the 38-foot Skater, Dirty Money, Brit Lilly was being interviewed by one of the many media outlets on hand for the event. His four-year-old daughter Stella, bound into the question and answer session, asking, “Daddy did you win?” He replied, “Yeah, baby I won,” and scooped up the precocious preschooler, finishing the interview with her sitting on his shoulder.

Brit Lilly and Billy Moore grew up in offshore powerboat racing and at the Sarasota Grand Prix, they led the way in Super Cat and in Class 1 with convincing victories. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Before his daughter crashed his interview, when Lilly and Pyburn returned to the cranes, another second-generation racer — Billy Moore — was waiting to greet Lilly with a big smile.

“I’ve been friends with Billy since I was 10 years old,” said Lilly. “As soon as I got off the boat, he was there to congratulate me with a big smile on his face.”

Auto racing has the Andrettis, Earnharts, Pettys and the Forces. Offshore powerboat racing has the Lillys and the Moores with many others up and coming. It could be argued that only Moore could understand the pressure Brit Lilly had been feeling to get that first win in Super Cat. They’re both the sons of legendary throttlemen. “It’s hard to find someone that you race against who cares about what you do,” Lilly said of Moore.

It’s been an up-and-down 2024 offshore powerboat racing season for Lilly regardless of the boat he’s been in. The Dirty Money boat has been fast, but has been snake-bitten, running out of fuel at the first race in Marathon in April. Then the team was penalized for missing a buoy at Lake of the Ozarks and its escape hatch in the cockpit sole opened while the team was leading at Ocean City, Md. To say that getting the win in Sarasota was a relief would be equal to opining that Donald Trump’s comments on Haitian immigrants eating people’s pets was a little weird.

“I needed that win,” said Lilly. “I haven’t won a race since my dad passed away.”

His father, the late Art Lilly, passed away in February. He was a legendary throttleman in offshore racing who won many world and national championships. He was beloved by friends and fans of the sport for his larger-than-life personality. He was also deeply proud of his son who took over the family business, Lilly Sportboats, in Arnold, Md.

Lilly and Moore weren’t the only second generation racers on hand at the 40th anniversary of the Sarasota Grand Prix. Julian Maldonado throttled the 32-foot Victory, Jackhammer, to the win in Super Stock on Saturday and15-year-old Owen Buis battled fellow youngster Connor Langheim in the Bracket 700 class. Peyton Riveiro also made her debut in the sport, driving the 22-foot Activator, P-Power, with Julian on the sticks. Stephen Kildahl joined his father/throttleman Steve in the cockpit of the 29-foot Extreme, Boatfloater.com. Both call Sarasota, Fla., home and Steve Kildahl has competed in every Sarasota event.

By the end of the weekend, Billy Moore was all smiles.

For the previous 39 years, the Sarasota race had been held on July 4weekend. The move to September didn’t deter participation because the event drew the largest field of the season at 64 boats.

The teams raced on a six-mile course in the Gulf of Mexico and the boats in Super Stock, Factory Stock, Super V and Class 1 got thoroughly bounced around in the rough conditions on Saturday. Sunday dawned with less winds, but the ground swell was still there to catch inattentive teams off guard.

Continued Dominance
After running the fastest lap in Class 1 qualifying on Saturday, Moore and team owner/driver Mike Falco in the 45-foot Victory, Team DeFalco, had the inside lane at the start of the race on Sunday morning. When the green flag flew for the race that would last 30 minutes plus one lap on the six-mile course, Lilly and driver Randy Kent used a slingshot move to take the early lead in their 48-foot MTI, XINSURANCE, that had undergone extensive testing at the Dirty Money team’s shop in Stuart, Fla.

With their third consecutive Class 1 checkered flag, Mike Falco and Billy Moore are on a roll.

After about a half of a lap, Moore and Falco took a lead they would not relinquish while Lilly and Kent battled with owner/throttleman Rich Wyatt and driver Alex Pratt in the 50-foot Mystic, df Young/Good Boy Vodka. The biggest boat in the class had issues with the Mercury Racing 1,100-hp engines going into “guardian” mode that limits rpm because the engine management system senses things like low water pressure or temperature, low oil pressure, etc. Wyatt said the team probably should have lowered its water pickups to compensate for the rougher conditions.

“On the first straightaway. I’m all the way back at zero percent throttle,” said Wyatt. “The pickups weren’t getting enough water.”

Lilly and Kent battled with df Young/Good Boy Vodka until the latter had to pull off the course with a blown engine. Lilly remained positive because he and Kent showed they could run up front. “We all worked together as a team to get the boat up front,” said Lilly. “We have more props on order. We made a point today that we’re coming forward.”

With XINSURANCE out of the way, throttleman John Tomlinson and driver Carlos De Quesada started their march forward in the 48-foot Victory, Morpheus 8. With five minutes remaining in the race, Morpheus 8 passed df Young/Good Boy Vodka for second place.

The Class 1 Morpheus 8 team of Carlos de Quesada and John Tomlinson delivered their strongest performance so far in the 2024 season.

Moore had orders for his land-based spotters to tell him when a boat got within 10 seconds of him and Falco, which Morpheus 8 did, so Moore and Falco picked up the pace to maintain their advantage until they took the checkered flag.

The third consecutive win continued Team DeFalco’s momentum and closed the gap between it and points leaders owner/throttleman Tyler Miller and driver Myrick Coil in the 43-foot Skater, Monster Energy M CON. But for Moore, beating Tomlinson took things to another level. “I look up to him,” Moore said of his friend. “He’s one of the great guys in general and he’s excellent on the throttles. It means something to beat him.”

Because Moore also re-rigged his team’s boat and is responsible for the setup calls, he also beat vaunted crew chief and setup man Gary Stray, who leads the Morpheus 8 crew.

“Gary has been around a long time and for us to strip down a boat, redo the cockpit to make it safer and re-set it all says something about our team,” said 49-year-old Moore.

Tomlinson and De Quesada, who is an accomplished car racer with a win at the 24 Hours of Daytona, had their strongest run in recent memory, increasing their speed throughout the 30-minute race. “It got better and better as the race went on,” said Tomlinson. “Carlos hasn’t been in the boat since Key West and as the race went on, he got acclimated and we could drive it harder.”

The team has purchased a new boat for 2025, a Victory hull that is a little smaller than the current Morpheus 8 hull.

Third in Sarasota went to df Young/Goodboy Vodka.

“We finally had a rough one and couldn’t take advantage of it,” said Wyatt. “We will make some CG changes.” Miller and Coil finished the race in fourth, maintaining their points lead for the season.

Turning Things Around
Seven boats in the Super Cat class made the trip to the west coast of Florida to race for 11 laps on the six-mile course in the Gulf of Mexico. M CON/Monster Energy had the points lead with four wins in 2024 with owner/driver Billy Mauff and throttleman Jay Muller their 40-foot Skater, WHM Motorsports, in second.

Dirty Money notched a breakthrough victory in Sarasota.

The 38-foot Skater, CR Racing, with throttleman Casey Boaz and driver Rob Unnerstall started the race in lane 1 with owner/throttleman Vinnie Diorio and drive Matt Jamniczky the 39-foot Outerlimits, Austin Homes/SV Offshore in lane two. Miller and Coil were in lane three in their 38-foot Skater, M CON/Monster Energy, with Dirty Money alongside in the fourth slot. The 40-foot MTI, Team Farnsworth/Hancock Claims, with driver Christian McCauley and throttleman Anthony Smith was in lane five with owner/driver Chris Grant and throttleman Moore in the 38-foot Skater, C.J. Grant/Graydel, in six and WHM started in the outermost lane.

In the cleanest start for the class in 2024, CR Racing took advantage of the pole position to grab an early lead, but it didn’t take long for M CON/Monster Energy and Dirty Money to charge to the front.

At the end of the first lap, Coil and Miller held the lead with Lilly and Pyburn in second and Unnerstall and Boaz in third.

While there was still a ground swell for the teams to deal with, the winds calmed on Sunday, creating good offshore racing conditions. By the end of lap two, Dirty Money pulled alongside M CON while CR held third place. Lilly and Pyburn pushed to the lead and by the fifth lap, they had extended their advantage. Now it was a matter of everything including the boat’s Goodwin Competition engines staying together.

Surround by fellow Super Cat-class racers, Billy Moore and Brit Lilly enjoyed their shared time on the podium.

In Graydel, Moore and Grant made a steady March toward the podium after starting in lane six out of seven. They passed CR Racing for third and then Boaz and Unnerstall pulled out of the race with mechanical issues.

Team Farnsworth continued to make gains and passed Austin Homes for fourth. Unfortunately, WHM was having mechanical problems and ran off the pace for most of the race.

Dirty Money took the win followed by M CON Monster Energy and Graydel. Afterwards, the relief was evident in Lilly’s and Pyburn’s face when they were interviewed by the P1 livestream correspondent.

The Super Cat-class Team Farnsworth/Hancock Claims team notched its best finish to date in Sarasota.

“Bill Pyburn has turned out to be such an awesome throttleman,” Lilly said. “The most pressure for Bill and I is the pressure we apply to ourselves.”

After finishing second and maintaining his points lead, Miller congratulated the Dirty Money team, saying the win was “well-earned and well deserved. They’ve had some bad juju all year and I feel good for them.”

The Super Cat-class Austin Homes/SV Offshore Racing team enjoyed another wild ride.

Regarding his boat, Miller said, “I wouldn’t have changed a single thing we did today. It ran like we envisioned.”

Extreme Arrivals
Lilly’s good luck indirectly continued with two boats built at Lilly Sport Boats dominating the Mod V race and two of the strongest teams dropping out with uncharacteristic mechanical problems.

There were 11 boats in Mod V including two new Extreme hulls that came out of Lilly’s shop.

Drive Kyle Miller and throttleman Jay Wohltman took the Mod V-class checkered flag.

When the green flag flew, owner/throttleman Steve Miklos and driver Steven Fehrman took the early lead in their 29-foot Extreme, El Bandito/Sunprint. Then they were quickly passed by owner/driver Kyle Miller and throttleman Jay Wohltman in their 29-foot Extreme, Speed Marine. The leaders in national points, driver J.J. Turk and throttleman Nick Buis, in their 29-foot Extreme, XINSURANCE/Statement, battled with El Bandito early in the eight-lap race.

The bright red new 29 Extreme, North Myrtle Beach RV Resort, with owner/driver Kirk Hanna and throttleman Mark Rinda, made its presence felt, lurking in mid-pack and running strong. The second place boat in national points, the 32-foot Phantom, Safe Cash/XINSURANCE, with Rick Raab and Scott Jobin, also kept the podium in striking distance.

Attrition struck the favorites early with El Bandito/Sunprint pulling off near the finish line. After the race Miklos wasn’t sure what broke in the engine. Then XINSURANCE/Statement pulled out with an electrical issue.

This moved North Myrtle Beach to second and Safe Cash/XINSURANCE to third, but no one was catching Speed Marine. “It was a little bumpier than we expected and the start was a little chaotic,” Wohltman told the livestream crew after the race.

The Mod V class attracted its largest and most formidable fleet of the 2024 season to date.

Hanna and Rinda did most of the prep work for their boat themselves with some hardware custom fabricated by the team at Speed Marine. “We had only been in the boat for 30 minutes prior to coming to Sarasota,” said Hanna. “We were just going to get familiar with it but by the fourth lap my adrenaline kicked in and we pushed ourselves.”

The Mod V race did have one incident when driver Pete Riveiro and throttleman Chris Uzzolina in the 30-foot Rage, The Firm, spun out when the steering system malfunctioned. The engine ingested water during the spin and couldn’t restart. The team is hoping to have a more powerful Mod V engine ready for the end of the season or by Key West.

Bracket Battles
Teams in Bracket 200, 400, 500, 600 and 700 classes also competed in Sarasota. These categories have speed limits and the teams that exceed those limits are assessed time penalties. For example, Bracket 500 has a top speed of 75 mph while 700 can’t exceed 60 mph.

Joey Olivieri and throttleman Billy Glueck prevailed in the Bracket 200-class contest.

n Bracket 200, the Sarasota-based 39-foot Phantom, OC Racing, with owner/driver Joey Olivieri and throttleman Billy Glueck, took the flag-to-flag win in the eight-lap race. Second went to a sister hull, Justice League, with Don Urfer, Richard Davis and Jack Fowler, running second. A third entry, H20 Performance/Two Conch Charters, didn’t make the start when one of its straps broke while the boat was being lifted off the trailer by a crane.

“It wasn’t as calm as everyone thought it would be,” Olivieri said after the race. “We got them on the jump and just kept it going.”

In Bracket 400, the Key West, Fla., based team of John Jeniec, Jr., and Michael Flammia in the 29-foot Extreme, Framed Offshore Racing, was looking to maintain its points lead over Jim Simmons’ 34-foot Phantom, Simmons Marine, after what was a late night for the team backed by Hog’s Breath Saloon. Jeniec and Flammia had to replace cylinder heads on their boat’s engine.

Phantom Powerboats are built in Sarasota and Cory Shantry and Larry Fontecha and their Phantom, Precious Vodka/SRQ Racing, started strong, but pulled out with mechanical problems. Framed Offshore Racing moved to the lead, securing another victory and keeping its points lead. Simmons was not throttling his boat in Sarasota, but the team kept things together for a second-place finish.

JJ Turk and Nick Buis continued their Bracket 500-class dominance.

Bracket 500 had a strong fleet with seven boats competing for seven laps. Turk and Nick Buis had better luck in their 30-foot Phantom, XINSURANCE/TFR/Golf-N-Gator, grabbing the early lead and never relinquishing it. A new entry in the class, the 30-foot Phantom, Bronx Phantom, with the father-son team of Rob and Vincent Winoski, had a good battle for a few laps with owner/driver Mike McColgan and throttleman Robert Bryant in the 28-foot Pantera, Tunnel Vision. That ended when Bronx Phantom pulled off the course and was out of the race.

This moved the 29-foot Warlock, Hammerheads/Fly SRQ, with Larry James and Don Jackson into third place on their home waters.

“We’re locked in on class 500,” said Nick Buis after claiming yet another win to put the team in the driver’s seat for the 2024 national championship.

For the Tunnel Vision team, finishing their first race gave them second place in Sarasota. The boat has been fast but was plagued by broken driveshaft couplers. The weak link was eliminated and a driveshaft that runs straight off the engine’s flywheel held together for the whole race.

“We figured if the part doesn’t exist it can’t break,” said Bryant. He lives in Florida and McColgan and the boat are based out of Maryland. Jason Govatos at MDG Performance in Maryland has helped the team work through its gremlins.

In Bracket 600, a new boat with a veteran team took first place. Driver Bob Spitulski and throttleman Scott McCormick, who owns Velocity Powerboats, ran to the win in the 26-foot Velocity, Team Velocity. Rollin’ Dirty/Swapitfast.com, with Shawn Wall and Clyde Petty, unofficially finished second.

“We’re looking forward to what we can do with this boat,” Spitulski said on the livestream.

The Proven Marine duo of Greg Blutter and Craig Chiddenton had a winning day in the Bracket 700 class.

Bracket 700 class continued to put on one of the best shows for the fans watching the livestream as three boats slugged it out for the win. Greg Blutter and Craig Chiddenton took a hard-fought win in their 21-foot Superboat, Proven Marine. Throttleman Owen Buis and driver Ricky Harmeyer earned their sixth podium finish in second place in the 22-foot Activator, XINSURANCE/Bad Decisions, while driver Connor Langheim and substitute throttleman Brian Guy, ran third in their 22-foot Activator, Jackhammer. Buis’ best friend Dalton Palestra ran with Brad Christoper in the new 22-foot Velocity, Dirt Legal, finishing fourth.

After the win, the Proven Marine team called the race, “absolutely insane,” adding, “It was so rough on the back corner, we spent more time in the air than on the water.”

Buis said he pulled his kill switch twice because of the boat bouncing around so much. “We went up, hit wave, stuffed it and I hit my head on the dash, pulling the kill switch,” said the 15-year-old. With the second place finish, he and Harmeyer maintained their points lead for the season. After sitting out a couple years, Guy said he enjoyed getting back in a raceboat.

“It felt great,” he said. “If anyone needs a driver or a throttleman for Clearwater or St. Pete, I’d be up for it.”

The Bracket 700-class podium group was all smiles.

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