Lake Of The Ozarks-Based CR Racing Team Talks Big Win In Superboat International Race

The Lake of the Ozarks hometown racing teams CR Racing and US-1 Performance Boat Center both took home first-place trophies at a Superboat International race on July 23

For the CR Racing team, Casey Boaz, on the throttles and driver Rob Unnerstall made the Lake of the Ozarks proud, winning the superboat stock class at the Superboat International Cleveland Construction Grand Prix in Mentor, Ohio. This was their first race together in the newly rigged 32 ft. Doug Wright Skater. “We walked in without much time in the boat. We had not even tested the props,” Unnerstall said.

Even better, they snatched the victory from veteran racers Gary Ballough and Darren Kittredge of the FJ Propeller team. That team has ruled the stock class, winning the national and world championships, for the past three years. “Gary was the one to beat,” Unnerstall said.

Boaz was thrilled with the outcome. “We couldn’t believe we won! It was surreal.”

The race came down to pure skill and mechanics, since CR and FJ Propeller are equally matched in 32-ft Doug Wright Catamarans, with 300 XS Mercury Racing outboards.

But taking the victory from seasoned champions was not an easy task for the team. “I think it was the roughest race we will run all year,” Boaz said. “The waves were two and three footers, and four boat classes ran at the same time (due to coast guard permitting). We had to watch out for all of them, they were everywhere, it was one crazy race!”

It took four laps for them to bust through and get around the FJ Propeller team. “We pushed hard to keep up with and them, and finally got a break and went right by them and we continued to lead the rest of the race! Gary (Ballough) is a wonderful guy, and a key player in giving us advice in building our boat.”

Lake of the Ozarks Performance Marine Center’s Andy Sanders rigged the CR Racing boat. Sanders has been in the marine business for 12 years, and he is one of the master-minds behind the 2016 SBI National and World Champion US-1 Performance Boat Center boat, M-Con and Speed Racer. “I’ve worked with Casey and Rob on their other boats, and they had been talking about building a race boat,” Sanders said. They handed over a bare 32 ft. Skater hull to Sanders. Using his experience, and their specifications, he custom built the winning race boat. “It is both exciting and rewarding when a boat we built wins its first race,” Sanders said.

Although this was their first race in the CR Racing boat, Boaz raced the Formula II circuit from 2000 to 2002. He and Rob have also raced each of their pleasure boats in the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, and the Lake Race. Unnerstall has participated in the LOZ Shootout every year, since 1990.

The team plans to race in the 2017 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout Saturday, Aug. 26 and Sunday, Aug. 27 at Captain Ron’s Bar & Grill in Sunrise Beach. Each will race their own respective boats. The team will race together, and then with their sons, Jesse Boaz and Nick Unnerstall. “The Shootout is awesome. It does a lot of good for the charities that are supported by the proceeds,” Unnerstall commented. “I was there when it started as some local guys that wanted to see how fast their boat can go, and who had the fastest boat. It started local and now is a national race.”

Their next SBI race is the 9th Superboat Great Lakes Grand Prix at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 6 in Michigan City, Indiana. “We are excited about the great lakes race, now that we have our first race under our belt. We rented a house and I have a lot of family coming to watch. It will be fun.”

LOZ racers, a force to be reckoned with

The Lake of the Ozarks showed the world who is boss last weekend, with a second hometown team taking the victory lap to collect a first-place trophy at the SBI Grand Prix.

Lake of the Ozarks 2016 SBI National and World Champion US-1 Performance Boat Center Jimmy John’s Freaky Fast team, Myrick Coil and John Tomlinson got out in front and stayed there, dominating and winning first place in the superboat class in a 388 Skater Powerboats catamaran with Sterling Performance engines.

This world and national championship team blew everyone out of the water in 2016 and they have won all of their SBI races (two) so far in 2017, things are looking real good for this Lake of the Ozarks team!

Coil said he was still sore after being beat by the big waves in Ohio. “The team worked hard getting the boat ready, and all the testing we did in between races really paid off.” They were able to go flat out on Saturday, but ran about 30 mph slower on Sunday, and still lead the race from start to finish.

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