Rick J. Lindsey, President and CEO of XINSURANCE has expanded his company-sponsored offshore racing fleet by two more competitors, as the all-emcompassing specialty insurance company has signed on to sponsor racer JJ Turk and his Turk Family Racing Team (TFR Racing) in the upcoming 2023 season in the Race World Offshore, P1 Offshore and OPA Racing organizations. In addition to the Class 1 XINSURANCE / Good Boy Vodka 48-foot MTI, with throttleman Alex Pratt and driver Miles Jennings, Lindsey is supporting Turk's two bracket class boats, as well.
Turk, who owns the LaQuinta Inn and JT's Social Bar in Cocoa Beach / Port Canaveral, Fla. and formerly of Team Woody Racing has started his own offshore race team and has purchased the Bracket Class 5 National/World Champion, 30-foot Phantom raceboat (#501) that he has campaigned since 2020. He will return to the cockpit with teammate and throttleman Micheal Stancombe, who will again be pulling double duty with the Class 1 JBS Racing Team 42-foot MTI with Jeff Stevenson. Stancombe was also honored by the American Power Boat Association (APBA) with their inaugural Sportsman of the Year Award in late-January 2023.
Turk bought the boat from previous Team Woody owners Chad Woody and Billy Shipley after they had decided to downsize the team from offshore competition. The duo will be campaigning their 35-foot 2008 Fountain vee bottom in Bracket Class 3 throughout the upcoming season. Since the purchase, Turk has been renovating the 1999 hull, which has underwent extensive renovations. Essentially building it back up from the stringers, the boat has received new parts, gauges, all carbon fiber dash and engine hatch, Sea-Dek flooring, new seats, a fresh smoke gray paint scheme and a brand-new MYCO trailer, for transport from race to race. Stancombe will be handling the wiring and rigging of the boat, while Bruce Baker will handle the engine installation.
The other raceboat is a brand-new 22-foot Nitra, powered by a Mercury Racing 300R and rigged by fellow offshore racer Shaun Torrente, which will be racing in its first year of competition in Class 7. The team has been testing it since receiving delivery from Sweden in late-November, 2022. The 700 boat (#720) will be throttled by veteran offshore racer Robert Bryant and joined by newcomer Cameron Turk––JJ's 15-year-old son. Both boats will sport similar orange-themed XINSURANCE liveries by Ryan Beckley of Kinetic Animation and be painted, prepped and maintained by returning crew chief Billy "The Wildman" Stroud.
"(TFR Racing) is a whole family deal," Turk told Speedboat. "My son's racing his own boat and team, the same crew chief, 'my brotha' Billy Stroud, my mom, 'Mom Turk' (Donna), me, my wife (Keriann), my kids (Kylee and Cameron), my sisters (Judy and Cathy). Everybody's on board. They go to every single race!" said Turk. "Also, I want to thank my other sponsors (partners) Dave and Ali Kabboord of Golf N Gator, (JT's Social Bar partner) Thomas Carrigan, (LaQuinta general manager) Christopher Potok and all of our employees and sponsors. And of course, the Team Woody family for giving me the opportunity, in the first place. This all started with Chad and Billy giving me that boat and Mike joining me in it. It all kind of led to this moment."
"The goal is to bring our kids into this stuff and to bring youth into offshore (racing), because none of the veterans are getting any younger," added Stancombe. "We're all a big family, which reminds me of my dad and all of us racing together."
The team of Turk and Stancombe has been very successful in offshore racing's Bracket 500 class in the short time they've been together––earning the 2021/2022 APBA National Series Championship titles, the 2021/2022 RWO Key West World Championship Class 5 titles, the APBA 2022 High Points Championship title, and the UIM (Union Internationale Motonautique) Bracket Class 5 World Championship title. So much so, that the team has caught the attention and subsequent sponsorship of insurance magnate and powersports enthusiast, Rick J. Lindsey, who regularly flies his A-Star B3 helicopter over the races to oversee his teams.
"The competitiveness and performance proven in national and world championships made us proud to sponsor TFR in the RWO P1 and OPA racing circuits. XINSURANCE is TFR's primary sponsor, and we are excited for the 2023 racing season to begin," said XINSURANCE CEO, Rick Lindsey. "It was only natural to bring this team under the XINSURANCE umbrella. I also share a passion for my work with my sons Parker, Zane, and Beau, who work alongside me. So, too, these great racers, share their passion for business and racing with their families."
The TFR Racing / XINSURANCE team schedule begins in Marathon, Fla. on April 27, 2023, followed by Cocoa Beach, May 19-21; St. Petersburg, Sept. 1-3; Sarasota, June 20-July 2; Clearwater, Sept 22-24; Key West November 5-12, and Englewood, Fla., Nov. 16-19, 2023.