Waves and Wheels Shootout on the Strip Expanded

Set for Wednesday (August 24) from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., this year’s Waves and Wheels Shootout on the Strip—the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout’s massive boat display on the Bagnell Dam Strip in Lake Ozarks, Mo.—has been highlighted in several stories we’ve featured over the past few weeks leading up to the 28th annual event. It just hasn’t had its own story, until now.

Bagnell Dam Boulevard will be the site for the Shootout on the Strip on Wednesday for the second year in a row. Photo by Jason Johnson

Between talking with a couple people who are pretty involved with the organization of the well-coordinated display of boats, engines and more along Bagnell Dam Blvd.—Tiffany Maasen and Justin Wagner—about how they think this year’s event is going to be different than last year’s Shootout on the Strip, which marked the return of the Wednesday festival to the historic strip, to examining the lineup of boats from DCB Performance Boats, MTI, Mystic Powerboats, Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats and more, we can’t wait to check out tomorrow’s “boat show.”

First of all, there will be several boat debuts, including a stunning Fountain Powerboats 38 Lightning (more to come on that soon) and the highly anticipated outboard-powered 340X catamaran from MTI (look for a feature on the boat on Wednesday evening right here on speedonthewater.com). There’s also going to be a Top Gun Plaza featuring a beer garden and picnic area nestled around last year’s overall Top Gun winner—the American Ethanol Mystic owned by Don Onken—and the opportunity to chat with many of the participants from Win Farnsworth to Summer Richardson. I definitely want to see the new truck and entertainment system complementing the M35 Widebody DCB owned by the Lake Havasu City, Ariz.-based Lickity Split Racing team, who attended last year’s Shootout and clocked a 165-mph top speed.

Another thing I have to check out is the new jaw-dropping engine that Onken’s crew is planning to display—a 3,000-hp, 777-cubic-inch Sonny Leonard-developed power plant that Onken teamed up with Leonard and longtime partner and engine guru, Keith Eickert, to put together.

“It’s a joint deal between all of us ‘good old boys’ and Precision Turbo and Engine,” Onken said. “We’re also going to have the new engine, which is an all-billet block with 5.3-inch bore spacing, on display at Captain Ron’s on Friday and Saturday. Sonny is going to be there with us, too.”

Maasen, who is the executive director of Lake Area Industries, Inc., also helps organizes the Make-A-Wish rides on Thursday afternoon (read the story). She said she is real excited about this year’s Shootout on the Strip.

“The Shootout on the Strip is such a fun time for our out-of-town guests as well as the local community,” Maasen said. “This is the first year we’re charging to display on the street, but our goal is to raise $200,000 this year so asking each participant to pay $100 to be a part of this helps us cover the costs it takes to put on the event. We’ll be lining the boats up a little different this year so that the whole parade of boats will go across the Bagnell Dam, which should be quite a sight.”

Wagner, whose company is sponsoring the Shootout on the Strip for the second year in a row, also expressed his excitement for this year’s event.

“Our whole team enjoys the Shootout on the Strip—it’s such a cool community event, and it gives us a great opportunity to show off our latest and greatest projects,” Wagner said. “We’re going to have a DJ out there playing music again through several interconnected systems, and we’re going to have some cool giveaways, including a full Waves and Wheels and Focal sound system, this year with the money we raise going to the Shootout charities.”

Waves and Wheels Shootout on the Strip Expanded

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