Friday Results from Key West World Championship

Friday’s Southernmost Continental Championship delivered dramatic racing across all categories at the 44th Annual Offshore World Championship, with Mike Falco and Billy Moore’s Team Defalco claiming a significant Pro Class 1 victory whilst championship leaders extended their advantages heading into Sunday’s finale.

The second day of competition featured half-points scoring in the three-race championship format, with several class leaders reversing Wednesday’s results and a dramatic rollover incident marring an otherwise competitive day at Key West.

Pro Class 1: Defalco Claims Victory in Six-Lap Sprint

Mike Falco and Billy Moore aboard Team Defalco secured a convincing Pro Class 1 victory, completing six laps in 14min 51.9sec to earn maximum points. The win marked a significant turnaround from Wednesday’s fourth-place finish, establishing their championship credentials with just one race remaining.

Wednesday’s winners, Myrick Coil and Tyler Miller in Monster Energy/M CON, finished second just 5.1 seconds behind after maintaining consistent lap times throughout. Brit Lilly and Bill Pyburn claimed third position aboard XINSURANCE South in 15min 18.9sec, 27 seconds off the winning pace.

Carlos DeQuesada and John Tomlinson’s Pothole Heroes secured fourth place in 15min 34.8sec, ahead of Willy Cabeza and Grant Bruggemann in GC Racing MTI, who completed the distance in 15min 48.9sec.

JJ Turk and Nick Buis aboard XINSURANCE experienced difficulties in the closing stages, posting a significantly slower final lap time of 3min 08.4sec to finish sixth overall. Billy Mauff and Jay Muller’s WHM completed seven laps but finished nearly three minutes behind the leaders.

Wednesday’s second-place finishers, Darren Nicholson and Giovanni Carpitella in 222 Offshore Australia, did not start Friday’s race, reducing the Pro Class 1 field to seven boats.

Super Cat: Dirty Money Maintains Dominance

Brit Lilly and Bill Pyburn secured their second consecutive Super Cat victory aboard Dirty Money Racing, posting a commanding six-lap time of 16min 22.0sec. The crew demonstrated remarkable consistency with lap times hovering around the 2min 50sec mark throughout the contest.

Chris Grant and Jay Muller in C.J. Grant Racing/Graydel finished second, 26.9 seconds behind, whilst Rob Unnerstall and Casey Boaz claimed third position aboard CR Racing/South East Services in 16min 59.3sec.

Christian McCauley and Anthony Smith’s Team Farnsworth Motorsports/Hancock Claims secured fourth place, completing the distance in 17min 37.1sec. Kelly Kraiss and Ron Gibbs aboard EWB Racing finished fifth in 17min 41.5sec.

Chase Muller and Jax Muller’s Wicked struggled to match Wednesday’s pace, finishing sixth and more than two minutes behind the leaders. Wednesday’s second-place finishers, Sean Conner and Vinnie Diorio in Rollin Transport, did not start Friday’s race.

Extreme Class: Spirit of Qatar Extends Championship Lead

His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and Steve Curtis MBE continued their dominant form aboard Spirit of Qatar 96, claiming their second consecutive victory in the two-boat Extreme class. The crew posted a six-lap time of 15min 56.3sec, defeating Jeff McCann and Michael Knoblock’s American Custom Marine by nearly three minutes.

The victory, coupled with bonus points, extends Spirit of Qatar’s championship advantage with their 202-point total across two races establishing a commanding position heading into Sunday’s finale.

Super Stock: Raymarine Claims Victory After Penalty Drama

Cole Leibel and Gary Ballough secured Super Stock honours aboard Raymarine, completing four laps in 12min 13.5sec to reverse Wednesday’s second-place finish. The victory came despite intense competition in the 14-boat field.

Aj Bogino and Pete Bogino in Coco’s Monkey finished second, 14.8 seconds behind, with David Selley and Steven Bridges’ Team Bermuda claiming third position in 12min 36.2sec.

Wednesday’s winners, Shaun Torrente and Matt Jamnickzy aboard Team Nautical Ventures, suffered a significant setback after incurring a one-minute penalty for missing a buoy, dropping them to eleventh position despite posting a competitive race time before the penalty was applied.

Luis Martins and Nick Imprescia’s NUFF SAID secured fourth place in 12min 38.0sec, with Leanna Shadlow and Chad Havens’ Demon Bikini Race Team rounding out the top five.

David Whelan and Gregg Reichman aboard XINSURANCE Moxie Racing retired after completing three laps, whilst Pete Riveiro and Ricardo Maldanado’s Mikalyzed and Dale McEachern and Austin Blocker’s Drink-Kelo did not start.

Factory Stock: GC Racing MTI Edges Say Less MF

Willy Cabeza and Grant Bruggemann produced a masterful performance aboard GC Racing MTI to claim Factory Stock victory by just 2.3 seconds over Chad Rudesill and Rusty Williams’ Say Less MF. The winning crew completed seven laps in 20min 47.3sec.

Reese Langheim and Julian Maldonado secured third position aboard Jackhammer/Manatee Marine in 21min 05.8sec, with Joe Spoloric and Garrett Coonrod’s LWR 44 finishing fourth in 21min 09.3sec.

Roberto Lo Piano and Alfredo Amato’s AL&AL claimed fifth place, completing the distance in 21min 27.8sec. Logan Adan and Giovanni Carpitella aboard Montlick Injury Attorneys retired after completing six laps, whilst Caleb Mead and John Tomlinson’s MF Racing did not start.

Super V: Knucklehead Recovers After Rollover Drama

Edward Smith and Jay Wohltman claimed Super V class honours aboard Knucklehead Racing, completing four laps in 11min 28.7sec to reverse Wednesday’s second-place finish. The victory came on a day marked by a dramatic incident involving their closest competitors.

Kirk Britto and Robert Lockyer’s Cortez Cove Fountain secured second position, 35.8 seconds behind, with Timothy Linden and Michael Howe aboard DSK Marine claiming third in 13min 36.4sec.

The race was significantly impacted when Elijah Kingery and Anthony Smith’s Team Farnsworth Motorsports/Hancock Claims rolled their Super Vee after completing two laps. Both crew members emerged uninjured from the incident, though the boat was unable to continue. The team had claimed Wednesday’s Super V victory and led the championship standings before the accident.

Ed Wendt and William McComb aboard Dart/Race Winning Brands and Brian Klinec and Jax Muller’s Twisted both did not start Friday’s race.

Modified V and Bracket Class Results

Stephen Kildahl and Steve Kildahl secured their second consecutive Modified V victory aboard Boatfloater.com, posting a five-lap time of 17min 03.2sec. Kirk Hanna and Mark Rinda’s nmbrvresort.com finished second, just 6.8 seconds behind, with Charlie McCarthy and Anthony Silveira’s Punisher claiming third position.

Travis Pastrana and Jim York aboard Dixxon Flannel/XINSURANCE finished fourth in the 11-boat field, demonstrating competitive pace throughout. Kyle Miller and Jay Wohltman’s Speed Marine and Mike Geraud and Damon Marotta Sr’s Fuel1team.com both retired after completing just four laps.

Across the bracket classes, Joseph Olivieri and Billy Glueck’s OC Racing maintained their Bracket Class 2 dominance with their second consecutive victory, though the three-boat field saw Scott Brown and Ed Tamberino’s H2O Performance/Two Conchs retiring after four laps.

Cade Herbott and Keith Herbott aboard Herbott Racing claimed Bracket Class 3 honours by 2.9 seconds over Billy Shipley and Chad Woody’s Team Woody Racing, who had won Wednesday’s opening race.

Johnny Saris and Jason Saris secured their second consecutive Bracket Class 4 victory aboard Saris Racing Engines, defeating Ray Evans and Chris Colson’s Shocker Offshore Racing by 6.4 seconds in a competitive seven-boat field.

Thomas Crowley and Francis Vellutato’s Rum Runners maintained their Bracket Class 5 leadership with another commanding victory, finishing 9.4 seconds ahead of Vincent Winoski and Robert Winoski in Marker 1 Marine SRQ/BronxPhantom. The class featured two breakout penalties for exceeding designated speed brackets.

Mike McColgan and Jason Govatos aboard MDG Offshore Racing claimed a narrow Bracket Class 6 victory by 5.4 seconds over Michael Lang and Johnny Saris’ MODERATION, with both Bob Spitulski and Scott McCormick’s Team Ride Legal and Mike Ryan and Marcus Stackpoole’s RIW Hobbies & Games failing to start.

Brad Christopher and Conner Langheim secured Bracket Class 7 honours aboard Dirt Legal Velocity Factory Race Team, maintaining their championship challenge with victory over Jeff Pritchard and Scottie Young’s Pist’n Broke by 6.1 seconds. Johnny DElia and JD DElia’s 3RD Edition Delia received a breakout penalty but still finished ninth overall.

Friday Results from Key West World Championship

Evening Celebrations

Friday’s racing concluded with the RWO Duval Street Party, presented by Keystar Construction, which saw teams parade their raceboats through Duval Street in celebration of the day’s competition. The popular tradition provides fans and teams an opportunity to interact away from the competitive environment of the race course.

Super Cat Fest made a presentation during the evening celebrations, donating $5,000 to the Police Key West Athletic League, continuing the event’s tradition of supporting local community organisations.

Championship Picture

With two races complete in the three-race championship format, several classes feature tight championship battles heading into Sunday’s full-points finale. The unique scoring system combining race finishing positions, bonus points for field size, and penalties for rule infractions adds strategic complexity to the final day of competition.

Spirit of Qatar leads the Extreme class with 202 points, whilst Dirty Money Racing tops Super Cat standings with 212 points accumulated across Wednesday and Friday. Monster Energy/M CON holds a commanding Pro Class 1 lead with 203 points, though Team Defalco’s Friday victory keeps them in championship contention with 184 points. Factory Stock features a tie for the lead, with both Say Less MF and GC Racing MTI on 205 points. Sunday’s full-points Conch Republic Championship will award double the points, making dramatic reversals possible in several closely contested classes.

Sunday’s Conch Republic Championship will determine the 2025 world champions across all 14 categories, with racing scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM local time. The finale awards full points, making dramatic championship reversals possible across multiple classes.

Points after Wednesday and Friday Key West World Championship Races