Just Out for a Saturday and Sunday Cruise......LOTO STYLE!

The 33rd Annual Lake of the Ozarks Shoot-Out just concluded with multiple noteworthy achievements, possibly none greater than side-stepping the Covid hysteria which continues to grip ‘woke’ portions of the country and big people gatherings. Without interruption, the week-long festivities went on as planned and what is arguably the largest annual gathering of performance boaters on the planet.


This year will not be remembered for breaking records or busting barriers. But it has to be commended for an impressive execution of 253 speed runs in two-days down the three-quarter mile straightaway course, crowning an equally astounding 73 different class champions.


For the seventh consecutive year, the Don Onken owned “American Ethanol” 51-foot Mystic catamaran stood tall as ‘Top Gun’ with a best run of 193 miles an hour. Although driver Tony Battiato and boat builder/throttle person John Cosker were expecting more, one of its four sometimes temperamental supercharged engines wouldn’t fully cooperate, holding speeds to just under 200 mph.

Fastest vee-bottom was also a repeat from last year when “Factory Billet” went 164 mph. This time, however, the cockpit duo of Jim Schultz and Mike Faucher came within three miles an hour with a best trip of 161 mph.

Looking a little like it might have made a wrong turn on the lake and wound up on the Shoot-Out race course by mistake, the production-built open cockpit 42 Fountain Lightning with Ben Robertson riding solo put down a picture perfect 152 mph pass to easily win its class thanks to twin 1550/1350 Mercury Racing engines and drives. Perhaps this was an unfair advantage for the Fountain since Robertson continues to be one of the most accomplished vee-bottom and tunnel boat racers of all-time.

Mercury Racing also had to be smiling from ear to ear with the generous participation of ‘cat’ outboards and twin engine pontoons. When the spray finally settled, it was a Wright Performance 360 cat that came out on top with a fine run of 126 mph powered by two Mercury Racing 450s. Not to be outdone, much horse-powered pontoons were in plentiful supply with several different brands lighting up the radar gun timing system with 80 plus mile per hour readings. All were again powered by twin Mercury Racing 450R four-strokes.

Quite possibly the most exciting runs of the day belonged to renown performance engine builder, Tyler Crockett who has been loading his vintage 26-foot vee-bottom with more horsepower year after year. Reportedly with around 3,000 horsepower under the engine hatch (single engine), Crockett wobbled and danced his way over the 3,900-foot course with a heart-stopping 134 mph pass to easily claim fastest single engine vee-bottom honors. He vows to return to the Shoot-Out in 2022 and go for the 140 mph mark! FULL RESULTS 2021 LOTO!





For those keeping score, here’s a complete rundown of all the Shoot-Out performances. Note that Bold Face type indicates individual class winners.

LOTO 2021 SHOOT-OUT CATEGORIES/CLASSES

Okay– so if the scramble of numbers and letters designating LOTO shootout classes is a bit too encrypted to decipher without help – here’s a handy decoder list to assist in the process.


DIVISION(S)

• Professional
• Manufacturers
  • Top V-Hull
  • Top Cat
• Non-Professional

HULL TYPES

V.....V-HULL BOATS

C.....CATAMARAN AND TUNNEL HULL BOATS

VO....V-HULL OUTBOARDS

CO....CATAMARAN AND TUNNEL HULL BOATS W/OUTBOARDS

P.....PONTOON

D.....DECK BOATS

F.....FACTORY BOATS

H.....HYDROPLANES

VL....SUPER V-LIGHTS

PO....PONTOON OUTBOARD

CC....CENTER CONSOLE

LENGTHS

1.....22’ – 26’

2.....27’ – 31’

3.....32’ – 35’

4.....36’ – 42’

5.....43’ – 49’

6.....50’ and over

ENGINE CLASSIFICATIONS

S – STOCK ENGINES (ANY PRODUCTION ENGINES WITHOUT MODIFICATION, 500 HP ENGINES ARE NOT STOCK)

F – FOR MODIFIED FACTORY ENGINES WITHOUT POWER (INCLUDES 525 SC STOCK)

M – CUSTOM BUILT MODIFIED ENGINES WITHOUT POWER ADDED FEATURES

P – POWER ADDED FEATURES (i.e. BLOWERS, TURBOS, NITROS,etc.)

T – TURBINES

A – 700 MERC. ONLY

NUMBER OF ENGINES

DRIVE TYPE

A – NON BRAVO – B-MAX, IMCO, CONRAD, VOLVO, OMC

B – MERCURY BRAVO

R – #6, NXT, SURFACE DRIVES

BOAT NUMBER

EXAMPLE – PV3P4R-1 is Professional division, V-HULL, 32’ – 35’
POWER ADDED W/4 ENGINES, Surface Drive, boat #1

PWC DIVISION

PWC-1.....Stand up

PWC-2.....2-stroke open

PWC-3.....Women open

PWC-4.....Stock open – prop & electrical alterations allowed

PWC-5.....Modified open