Team Kansas out to defend Top Gun title at 2010 Shootout

Team Kansas will defend their four-year championship title at the 2010 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout. “I hope someone brings some competition this year. Come on out and let’s see what you can do,” owner/throttleman Brad Harrington said.

Team Kansas has been Top Gun in the PV2M2 class since 2006 with a top speed of 85 mph in 2009. Jeremy Ressler is the driver of the 1990 28-foot Saber powered by two Chevy small block 383CI engines, modified with RHS racing heads. The engines produce a reputable 450 horsepower each. The drives are modified Mercury Bravo XR’s with two Sportsmaster Shorties.

FAVORITES

Harrington’s favorite racing memory was winning the 2006 SBI World Championship in Key West, Fla. The boat is modified to race offshore.

“I’d have to say Key West is my favorite place to race,” Harrington said.

His favorite racers are Dave Scott and John Tomlinson. “Tomlinson is the best throttleman in the world,” Harrington said.

SHOOTOUT RACE

The Shootout grew from a grass-roots race to the world-class event it is now. Back in the day, the Shootout was just a bunch of guys who wanted to see who had the fastest boat on the lake. They would strap a big block on a mudsucker, hold on tight with rooster tails flying, and say they did 100 mph. Boats would tie up together and a lot of the spectators hiked out to a point on land where they could see and set up a lawn chair and a cooler. Speedometers weren’t always accurate back then and you never really knew for sure until radar guns came into play.

YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY BABY

Today there is a year of organization, professional equipment, the best safety rescue teams and the top boats from all over the country. But it is still a racers’ race.

“At the Shootout, you show up with a boat and they will find a class you can get into,” Harrington said. “What I like about it is there are no rules about the type, style or propulsion. You can run everything from jet, gas or diesel…anything goes.”

SHOOTOUT ONE OF TOP RACING EVENTS IN AMERICA

“It’s listed as one of Powerboat Magazine’s top eight events in America,” Harrington said. “Performance boat enthusiast, racers and spectators alike love it,”

On a one-to-10 scale, Harrington rates the Shootout a 10.

“If you win at the Shootout you get respect and prestige. Everybody in the performance boat world knows what it means to win at the Shootout, you get bragging rights,” Harrington said. “It’s a wonderful event, Ron Duggan and his staff do a great job. I like the Captain Ron’s location a lot better.”

Harrington has raced in Florida and Michigan and all over the country but says of all the places he goes he has not seen a “performance mecca” like the Lake of the Ozarks. “This is the lake for performance boats,” Harrington said.

RACING PASSION STARTED AT LAKE OF THE OZARKS

Harrington’s family has a lake house in Gravois Mills and he has been vacationing at the lake his entire life. His passion for boats started when he was a little boy. “They gave me a stool to sit on so I could see out the window and watch the boats go by. I would stay there for hours mesmerized,” Harrington said.

Even though he lives in Bashor, Kan., with his wife and children, he considers the lake home waters. He proves his allegiance to the lake in the naming of his son…“Lake.”

He named his boat Team Kansas because everyone would ask him over and over, “Where are you from? Where? How the heck do you practice?” He told most of them he practiced at the Lake of the Ozarks but sometimes for kicks he would say he practiced in the amber waves of grain. He could have named his boat something tough like “Undertaker” since he is a funeral director by trade. Boat racer and funeral home director…

A CHANGE IN THE COURSE

The Shootout racecourse will be flipped this year due to docks being too close and drivers not being able to see clearly.

“That means we are going to run up river instead of down which could affect our speed a couple miles an hour,” Harrington said. “Flipping the course is a good idea because the drivers will be able to pick out a better line.”

THE RUSH

“Racing is a rush,” He said you get into the boat and drive out to the start boat and wait your turn. Now it’s you’re turn, that is when the excitement really increases. You turn and look at your driver and say, ‘Okay here we go.’ “You have this small fraction of time, and one chance to hit top speed,” Harrington said. “All that work, and travel, and money is riding on those few seconds. As you’re going down the race course you work to hold the boat straight and true, hoping you don’t get any bad hops before you go past the radar gun. It all happens so fast. In a matter of seconds.”

With World, National, Super Series and four Shootout wins under his belt, it sounds like he has learned to hold it straight and true. Guess we will have to wait and see if there are any takers to the Team Kansas challenge.

How about it boys? Any takers?

PV2M2 Class translated: P=Professional V-Hull, 2= 27’ to 31’ class, M=Custom Modified Engines. 2=Two Engines.

Team Kansas proven record of success:

• 2006 SBI/ APBA / UIM World Champions

• 2007 Popra National Champions

• 2007 OPA Chattanooga United States Champions

• 2008 and 2009 Offshore Super Series Class winners

• 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 Lake of the Ozarks top gun in the PV2M2 class.

Team Kansas sponsors are J.E. Ressler Homes, Basehor, Kan., Alden-Harrington Funeral Home, Bonner Springs, Kan., and Lake Shores Marina, Sunrise Beach, Mo.