Bud Light Boat Stomps by 28 Seconds

As mentioned earlier, the Bud Light Offshore Racing Team was truly in a class of their own Sunday. Out of the 5 boats that raced in the Superboat Unlimited class, the Bud Light Team averaged an astounding 28 second lead ahead of the second place boat, winning first place.

Around 10 am the boats started arriving at Marina Landing on Panama City Beach, just at the foot of the Hathaway Bridge. The boats were lifted from their trailers and lowered into the water, sometimes right into their respective slips.

“It was a great race. We got to the crane early, so we changed the gears and the props. That was definitely the right call,” said Johnny Tomlinson, Throttleman.

With 12 scheduled laps, the checkered flag was thrown on the 11th lap due to overwhelming mechanical failure of other boats. 24 boats competed in National Championships on this 6 mile course.

The wind was a gusty 15 knots early in the day and the seas had a moderate chop, but calmed as the day wore on.

“It just goes to show you, give us a little rough water and that’s the key. In this kind of race, the boat has to do some of the work and the motors don’t have to do it all. If you give us 2- to 3-foot seas, we’ve got an even playing field,” said Dave Scott, owner/driver.

The Bud Light Offshore Racing Team has a total of 67 wins with 10 National Championship Titles, 8 World Championship Titles, 6 Top Gun Titles, and 6 Official Speed Records.

The next and last scheduled race this year will be in Key West, Florida November 2 – 9.

Boat Race This Weekend

You know, it is actually kind of a shame, the lack of media presence at this awesome event, that is. There wasn’t even anything in the New Herald this morning. I took tons of pictures and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The “staging” area was truly a sight to behold. If you are subscribed to our twitter page, you were getting messages as I was nearly getting my ear drums blown with the loud crack and roar of the huge race boat engines. All of the ones that I asked were running 500+cu V-8’s with many running superchargers. 800 to 1000 hp per engine was common.

In order to get the boats in the water, they were brought close to the marina on their trailers, then lifted with a crane above the pilings, over the docks and lowered into the water; many times, directly into their respective slip.

Many crews were up late Saturday night and into Sunday morning tweaking their engines, and one team to speak of actually had to replace a ruptured head gaskett. When the boat was first placed in the water was the first opportunity they had to test the motor in the water.

At first, race teams were worried about the wind and the chop size in the gulf, but things actually calmed down and the surf was quite mild.

Tourist and locals alike crowded the beach in droves craving to see the action that was to happen a mere 300 yards from the shoreline. I was perched atop the Towne of Seahaven’s Origin building with a view of almost the entire course, except the start finish line.

Unbeknown to me, my “spot” was also the “spot” of a couple of the race teams and their coordinators. With their communications equipment in place and their headsets on, they awaited the start of the race so as to relay live, real time information to their pilots and other crew.

When the race began, the Bud Light boat shot out in front to capture a lead that grew rapidly throughout the race. It was very obvious that this boat was truly in it’s own class.

There were several classes racing, but the Bud Light team won overall.

This event was here last year and I beleive the year before. I challenge the local media outlets to give this event more coverage in the future. We need to support these events that come to our area.

Bud Light to Race this weekend

This weekend, the Bud Light Offshore team returns to Florida’s Gulf Coast for the Panama City Beach Super Boat National Championship. Dave Scott and team are looking to steer the Bud Light 50’ Mystic to another win in the Superboat Unlimited class.

This race could hold even more importance, as it will give the team a chance to check out other teams they will likely see at the World Championship in Key West, Fla., next month. Throttleman Johnny Tomlinson will be watching closely to size up the competition.

“It will be good to get back in the ocean,” Tomlinson said. “Since it’s an SBI venue, there will be some boats there that we’ll go up against in the world championship. We’ll be able to get a feel for the competition that will be down in Key West and have a better idea of what we need to do to win.”

“I was there my second or third time racing, in 1987 or 1988,” Tomlinson said. “I haven’t been back there in years, but it’s very similar to racing Destin or Orange Beach. With that in mind, I feel confident that we’ll do well. We’ve got a good team, and we just need to continue on with our momentum.”

In 2007, Scott and crew won their tenth National Championship at Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. They also brought home the checkered flag in six regular season races. The team won its classes at the Lake Ozark Fire Rescue shootout and secured its eighth World Championship in Key West, Fla. The team’s most recent win of 2008 came at the Captain Ron’s Shootout, securing the Top Gun title with a speed of 178 mph.

Festivities for the Panama City Super Boat National Championship begin Friday, Oct. 3 as the race village opens at 9 a.m. On Saturday, all classes take to the water for testing at noon. National Championship racing begins Sunday at noon.

The Dave Scott Bud Light Offshore Race Team is one of the most successful offshore race teams in history, having earned eight world championships and ten national championship titles since 2001. The team is also the proud owner of six offshore speed records. Dave Scott, Johnny Tomlinson and Mike Seebold have more than 40 years of combined experience in offshore powerboat racing.