Summer Richardson’s Extra Special Sunday Fun Day

It’s been exactly two weeks since Southern California’s Summer Richardson wowed the Desert Storm Poker Run Shootout fans watching from their boats and the shoreline of Arizona’s Lake Havasu as well as those following her efforts via social media. Today—14 days after rushing down the one-mile course at 176 mph in the Swoop Motorsports Dial 911 38-foot Skater Powerboats catamaran on Sunday (after the Saturday event was postponed because of a storm)—Richardson is on a high that hasn’t yet subsided.

Summer Richardson was ecstatic after running 176 mph during the Desert Storm Poker Run Shootout. Photo courtesy Swoop Motorsports

And while she didn’t win the Shootout outright—she successfully defended her title as “Queen of the Desert” and was third overall behind Win Farnsworth and Gary Smith (read the story)—Richardson was elated about her top speed, which was faster than she’d driven the Skater that is powered by twin 1,800-hp Carson Brummett engines in testing.

“All I can say is that ride made me want to dial 911,” Richardson said with a grin. “Seriously, the acceleration in the Skater is something most people won’t ever get to experience. It is absolutely incredible. I was so focused on looking for the radar boat and getting to that finish line that I didn’t even notice the spectators out there. Running that fast definitely caught my attention and made our team realize we have some preparation to do before our next event, the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in Missouri (Aug. 27-28).”

Richardson said the whole Desert Storm experience, which was amplified this year thanks to her Shootout participation as well as the impressive Swoop Motorsports display during Thursday’s Street Party, was extremely positive. Well everything but Saturday’s weather delay, which ended up working out just fine.

For more team pictures from the Desert Storm Poker Run, check out the images above courtesy of Swoop Motorsports.

“I feel like we have a lot of momentum for the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout—I know we can run faster, but we have some work to do,” said Richardson, who likely would be talking about a relaxing day on the water with her husband, Travis, in their DCB Performance Boats F32 catamaran if interviewed for a “normal” speedonthewater.com Sunday Fun Day. Instead she’s talking about a staggering 176-mph run in the span of a mile. “The funny thing is that after I came out on Sunday and ran 176 mph—I saw 185 mph on my GPS—I started thinking about winning King of the Desert not just Queen of the Desert.”

Richardson said the team plans to make some setup changes to the boat before the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout. She also said there is absolutely no way she would be able to do this without the enouragement from her entire Swoop Motorsports team, primarily her husband, Travis, and her parents, Don and Connie London—the duo responsible for Summer’s “need for speed.”

“Honestly, I’ve been overwhelmed by the encouragement I’ve received—it’s been difficult to respond to all of the people who have reached out so I’d like to thank everyone for all of the support,” Richardson said. “I hope that I can bring more attention to performance boating and cast a larger spotlight on women in this sport.”

That is highly likely, especially considering Richardson’s best Sunday Fun Day of the year could still be ahead.

Summer Richardson’s Extra Special Sunday Fun Day

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