Cat Can Do Wins Top Prize at Lake Race in Missouri

Anything can happen in a two-day, combined-points event such as the Lake Race on Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks that took place on Saturday and Sunday—just ask Keith Holmes and Barry Glovick of the Michigan-based Cat Can Do team.

Keith Holmes and Barry Glovick drove their 40-foot Skater Powerboats catamaran Cat Can Do to a Run What You Brung class victory at the Lake Race in Missouri. Photo by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix

Racing their 40-foot Skater Powerboats catamaran, which is rigged and maintained by Holmes’ CK Motorsports in Nunica, Mich., the teammates took first place on Saturday when their biggest competition suffered a mechanical failure midway through the race (Miss GEICO) and was disqualified for missing one of the buoys (CMS).

Despite a fuel regulator issue on one of the team’s 1,550-hp Sterling Performance engines, Holmes and Glovick were able to make their equipment last long enough on Sunday afternoon to finish third behind Bob Bull and Randy Scism in CMS, a Marine Technology Inc. (MTI) catamaran with twin 1,650-hp Mercury Racing engines, and the father-and-son team of Ed and Shawn Smith in Cleveland Construction, a Skater catamaran with 750-hp Scorpion Racing engines.

With the first- and third-place finishes, Cat Can Do edged out the Smiths, who finished second in both races in their new 388 Skater, by just a half a point. The overall win gave Holmes and Glovick the top prize—an $18,000 check that was awarded to them at Beavers On The Dam on Lake of the Ozarks’ Bagnell Dam Strip.

“We love it here at Lake of the Ozarks—it’s always great to see all of our friends and fans at the lake,” said Holmes, a regular participant in the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, during a phone interview on Sunday evening. “Everybody battled through a little adversity this weekend, but that’s offshore racing, right? At least the weather wasn’t an issue and we were able to get all of the races in.”

With nearly 30 teams on hand for Lake Race, which was sanctioned and organized by the Offshore Powerboat Association (OPA), there were some exciting races along the 4.5-mile course near the Bagnell Dam on both Saturday and Sunday, and the street party on Friday night was another success.

“It was a great weekend at the lake—the weather held off and we had a great run with Miss GEICO on Saturday,” said MTI owner Randy Scism, who won the Run What You Brung class with Bull at the inaugural Lake Race last year. “We got the win (Sunday), but we missed a buoy Saturday and were disqualified so that definitely hurt us. We still ended up third overall, but I can’t wait until next year. We had even more boats this year and I’m sure it’ll only get better next year.”

Winner of the Super Stock class, Gary Ballough said he had an outstanding time at the lake as well as racing with the OPA. He also gave credit to his teammate in the GB Racing 32-foot Doug Wright catamaran—18-year-old Taylor Chastelet—for leading the team to victory on Sunday.

“The kid just outdrove everyone today in the flat lake water—the throttleman had nothing to do with it,” said Ballough, who called the OPA’s friendly atmosphere “refreshing” compared to the other domestic organization he races with. “We really enjoyed ourselves all weekend. The racing was excellent and the community support was awesome.”

Click here to see the full results from Lake Race 2014.

Cat Can Do Wins Top Prize at Lake Race in Missouri

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