The first of two weekend races wrapped up Saturday afternoon in the inaugural Mercury Racing Midwest Challenge from Sheboygan, WI, which featured competition in Class 1, Super Stock and 450R Factory Stock classes.
First up: Seven 450R Factory Stock entries fought hard for the checkered flag, including reigning World Champions Taylor Scism and Johnny Tomlinson in T/S Motorsports. The team faced off with Mead Family Racing (with Caleb Mead and Shaun Torrente), GC Racing (Willy Cabeza and Gary Ballough), Hanks Saloon Racing (Lee Murray and Edwin Scheer), 151 Express (Ian Morgan and Nick Imprescia), Waves and Wheels/Doug Wright (Logan Adan and Ricky Maldonado), and Gladiator Canados (Ervin Grant and Michel Karsenti). All are required to run stock Mercury Racing 450R outboard engines.
Adan and Maldonado—who just won back-to-back races in St. Clair and Michigan City—took a commanding lead from the beginning of the race, and their Doug Wright hull proved victorious once again. Gladiator Canados finished second, and Mead Family Racing finished third.
Next up, eleven Super Stock competitors battled it out: Big East Construction, Jackhammer, Celsius, Steele Offshore Racing, Allied/CMR, Savage, Northwing Offshore, Team Allen Lawn Care, Performance Boat Center/FASS Fuel Systems, LPC and Coco's Monkey. These are all 30' to 32' catamarans running Mercury Racing 300XS outboard engines.
Jackhammer, with driver Reese Langheim and throttleman Julian Maldonado, has been tough to beat this season, and that didn't change in Sheboygan. The team took an early lead and never looked back. Coco's Monkey, featuring the father/son team of AJ and Peter Bogino, took second, while Northwing, with Daren Kittredge and Grant Bruggemann, took third.
The final race of the day saw the big boats in Class 1 competing in round 4 of the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship. There were seven entries, including Huski Ice Spritz, Monster Energy/MCON, XINSURANCE/Good Boy Vodka, dfYOUNG, Pothole Heroes, 222 Offshore Australia and Team Defalco. This race represented double-duty for Myrick Coil, Johnny Tomlinson and Grant Bruggemann.
After having won last weekend's Michigan City race, driver Darren Nicholson and throttleman Giovanni Carpitella were feeling their power, pulling their 47' Victory ahead of the pack once again and dominating their competitors to take the day's win in 222 Offshore Australia. Myrick Coil and Tyler Miller finished second in Monster Engery/MCON, while Randy Kent and Grant Bruggemann in XINSURANCE/Good Boy Vodka finished third. Huski Ice Spritz, with Steve Curtis and Brit Lilly, suffered mechanical problems, slowed and then stopped toward the end of the race.
Racing resumes on Sunday. Teams will acquire points on both days of racing.