Thursday, August 27, 2015

The History of the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout

The Lake of the Ozarks Shootout started back in 1988 as the Lake Rescue Shootout. It was an event in which many local boats participated simply to establish who had the fastest boat, but eventually turned into an event that also helped supplement the Lake Area Fire Departments water rescue efforts. Each year since, the event has grown bigger and bigger. Today there are over 100 racers, with over 100,000 spectators. Let's take a look back at show the event has changed over the years!

1988

Osage Beach, Sunrise Beach and Lake Ozark Fire Districts participated in the first Shootout event.

1991

The Shootout Guide book started as a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" format.

1993

At this time, the event became known as "The Shooters Shootout" or "Natoli's Shooters 21 Benefit Shootout." Carmelo Natoli was Chairman of the Shootout board at the time. The Shootout Guide became the 8 1/2" x 11" format that it is today. However, the book has continually grown each year as more businesses participated.

1995

The event became known as "Caleco's Shooters 21 Benefit Shootout." The Chairman at that time was Mark Michael.

1996

The Gravois and Mid-County Fire Districts joined in on the event along with the Osage Beach, Sunrise Beach and Lake Ozark Fire Districts.

Photo From: LakeoftheOzarksShootout.org

1997

The event became officially known as the "Lake Rescue Fire Shootout." The number of participating boats continued to grow each year.

2000

On that Sunday, 80 boats ran, making 128 passes through the course that day! Boats over 22 feet in length were allowed to run that year and the classes were divided by length, hull design, size of motors and number of motors.

2002 

The Lake Rescue Shootout was proud to bring on POWERBOAT Magazine, Charter Communications and Tan-Tar-A Resort as sponsors of the event.

2005

Jack Miller Marine and Velocity Powerboats joined as sponsors of the event.

2006

This year brought on Extreme Power Sports from here at the Lake and a new course record set by Dave Callan and John Cosker of 208 mph.

2007 

The event turned into 2 days of racing and Lucas Oil on the Edge on Speed TV was on location filming the event. John Cosker breaks his own record with an amazing 209 mph run.

2008

The 20th Anniversary Shootout brought a whole new atmosphere for the first time in 20 years. The Shootout was held at a new location, Captain Ron's Bar & Grill. The new site was chosen following the demolition of Shooters 21. With teh new location & renewed excitement, over 60,000 fans watched the 2 day races. Dave Scott reclaimed the TOP GUN with a 178 mph run.

2009

New records were set all over the place as David Scott set a new course record at 196 mph and record attendance was estimated at over 70,000 spectators.

2010

David Scott and John Tomlinson took first place for the 3rd year in a row with a blistering run of 208 mph. With the addition of 6 new events to complete a week long schedule of activities, the committee set a new record by donating $70,000 to 20 different charitable organizations. The added events included a Treasure Hunt, a Mini Shootout, a Meet & Greet with the racers during the Shootout on the Strip, Puttin' on the Wish Rides, a fantastic Fireworks display and an additional concert featuring David Ball on Monday night that provided much needed food items to a local food pantry.

2011

For the first time in 3 years, a new champion was crowned: Canadion Bill Tomlinson and Ken Kehoe driving a sleek turbine powered Mystic named "My Way" ran 8 times and tied the course record of 208 mph on 3 different runs. A record 100,000+ fans witnessed the record setting week as $70,570 was donated to 20 different charities. Another record of 493 volunteers donated 5727 hours to make this event the largest community event of its kind.

2012

Thanks to all of the sponsors, participants, vendors and the public, the committee achieved their 5 year goal of being able to donate $100,000 to 22 different organizations. This year, there were 569 volunteers donating a total of 6,425 hours, making it the most successful event in the history of the Shootout! In the 5 years since the Shootout was moved to it's new location, the Shootout organization has donated over $322,000 to Lake Area charities and continues to grow each and every year.

Photo From: LakeoftheOzarksShootout.org

2013

The 25th Anniversary of the Shootout was nothing short of amazing. The Street Party became known as the Shootout in the Park and was a tremendous success with over 8,000 people eating, drinking and conversing with all the race teams at the Laurie City Park. The new Shootout Hall of Fame had 10 new inductees from the past 25 years and the new Bob Morgan Memorial was unveiled at Captain Ron's, complete with a flyover in the missing man formation as America the Beautiful was sung. Racers set new records: Joe Sgro at 152 mph as top V, Dan O'Keefe at 95 mph as top PWC and Brad Rowland  at an amazing 114 mph as top Pontoon. The second run of the day on Sunday brought a new Shootout record of 224 mph by Bill Tomlinson and Ken Kehoe in My Way. The Shootout Committee set another record by handing out $115,000 in checks to 22 different charities and fire departments.

2014

The 26th Annual Shootout was one of two completely different emotions. The Spirit of Qatar absolutely smashed the old record that My Way had with an unbelievable run of 244 mph. However, the lowest point of the 26 year history of the Shootout was when Joel Begin's boat, throttled by Mike Fiore, flipped end over end at the finish line. While Joel was able to walk away, the Shootout family and friends will always remember Mike and his contributions not only to the Shootout, but for his value and dedication to all of powerboating.

Join us here at beautiful Lake of the Ozarks this weekend, August 29-30, for another great Shootout! The event will bring the top racers and off shore racing power boats topping 244 mph. All proceeds will benefit the Lake Area Rescue Teams and other local charitable organizations! Summerset Inn Resort wishes you a great shootout weekend! And when you're looking for the perfect family-friendly place to stay, keep our Lake of the Ozarks waterfront resort in mind!


Summerset Inn Resort & Villas
1165 Jeffries Road Osage Beach, MO  65065
573-348-5073
Email:info@summersetinn.com

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