My Dad was a 2-time world champion boat racer in the 1960's, with a few world records for speed. He was sponsored by Miller Boats and Bell helmets. He sold his boat in the 70's and later found it again in 2000's and restored to it full beauty. He's 83yrs and still shows/runs his boat. Truly racing was his great love in life. :)
Was expecting Freiburger to show up with an old clapped out boat he found in someone garage, and the V8 he pulled out of the Draguar, and he and Finnegan have less than 24 hours to put it together before the race starts.
Yes there are all-out classes. Before I sold the boat to Jeff it had a direct port nitrous system on the engine and the boat ran 7.40 at 140 mph passes. It also competed in a 6.00 second, 1000-ft bracket class and an 8.00 second, ¼ mile bracket class. Mike
Holy crap that is some precise racing... 0.001 seconds at the quarter-mile, that's an overall speed difference of 0.01 mph, at speeds of around 100mph. So if your winning bracket is about 9.000-9.010, you have between 100 and 100.1 mph to hit - any faster, you lose, any slower, you probably lose. I'd imagine even slight movement in the water, or a little bit of a headwind, or a bit of a steering correction slows your terminal velocity down by 1 mph easily, which will in term bring your overall speed down by 0.x mph...
I love seeing mike in his element. you can see the passion that he has, and the immense wealth of knowledge. would love to see another follow up or more on him and the drag boats.
Watching this, I absolutley positively think roadkill should do a srag -boat, or at least boat orientated episode. The idea they mooted where they drive the boat to the lake on a trailer on the back of a truck, take out the engine install it in the boat, race it. Then at the end swap it & drive home again is a goer!!! I cannat wait for the next roadkill!
Part 2 of 2 For example, we entered the 9 second bracket so the goal is to get the finish line in exactly 9.000 seconds, not quicker and not slower. Your reaction time is added to the your elapsed time and the driver with the lowest total time is the winner as long as that total is not less than 9.000. Its tough to wrap your head around at first but once you grasp the concept you realize it’s one of the most challenging forms of racing there is. Mike
I love these boats! Not crazy about bracket racing with a head start before the lights... This would be cooler if it were timed from a dig and heads up! Is this a 1/4 mile or 1,000 ft?
Part 1of 2 There are 2 kinds of drag racing; the first is called “heads up” racing & in that kind of racing racer who reaches the finish line is the winner, as long as he doesn’t leave the starting line before the tree goes green. The 2nd type, the type we participated in, is called “bracket racing”. In this form, the racer who reaches to the finish line first is the winner, as long as he doesn’t get from the starting line to the finish line in less time than the bracket he is entered into.
Thanks for the props. I’m not sure what the boat is worth. I built it myself from a bare hull in 2005 and spent the last 7 years refining the engine and boat combination. If you were to pay someone to build it you’d likely spend about 65-70 grand. There are cheaper ways to run as fast as this boat does, but its proven itself to be very safe up to 140 mph before. Mike
The elapsed times are calculated to 9.000. If two or more boats run identcial ETs, such as 9.005 seconds, then the racing association looks at the reaction time at the start of the race. If both drivers have the same reaction time, such as 0.001 seconds, then the driver that ran a higher speed is declared the winner. Mike
New respect for Mike.. both as a host and general badass who knows his stuff, personally I don't find boat drag racing all that interesting, as far as a spectator sport goes, same with any drag racing,..the fun is just over in seconds.. but the level of engineering and preparation gone into it is amazing, this look into that world was a great piece of video journalism. Kudos. Out of curiosity, how much is the boat worth? and how much of that is really carried by the sponsors?
Growing up being best friends with a Top Fuel boat family this is funny, bit I respect it none the less. Especially the squirt gun guys who aren't really looked up to in my world. God I miss Jerry, Hillbilly #106.
Hey a race is a race. If the only reason you lost is because you went to fast then Id still be happy. I would love to do anything even half as cool as that even for one day. I watch Mike and David on roadkill and always wondered what all those race boats were doing in mikes shop. keep up the cool videos!!
Because of the class race. Imagine if your car were to go up against a dragster. The dragster should lose since it wasn't qualified for the class. Running a 3 sec lap wouldnt matter when youre in the wrong class. Btw, the boat that they were using is a 6 sec boat.
Way cool. I am in awe of the power, but I don't think you could get me on the water with so little protection. Hats off to you crazy guys though. Thanks for taking the time to respond yourself. That's very cool!! Need more Road Kill..LOL
The track is 1,320 feet long plus a 125-foot section between the holding rope and the starting line beams. Technically, these boats are racing for 1,445 feet. Mike
I'm almost positive it's because you don't have to worry about cavitation. The jet pump doesn't cavitate, there's no gears for a reduction, it makes it simpler and takes a few things out of the equation for tuning.
mad respect for your skill man, as ayaxro, I'm not much of a boat guy, but those engines... O.M.G!!! that sound... keep up the good work man, you are awesome :D
This is awesome, sorry that you guys didn't win, but that happens.. now you gotta work harder to not let that happen again, didnt know about the sport and i liked it, anything with speed is awesome
Very impressive. I never realised that it could be so complex that you are dealing with as little as 1/1000th of a second. Seat of your pants stuff. Great video.
No offense but I’d rather not say what Jeff spent on the boat. It’s up to him if he wants that to be public knowledge. As to your question of reliability..Its a competely “streetable” design. Before I sold the boat it had two seats in it and the steering wheel was mounted on the left side of the dash. My wife and I would spend our vacations on local lakes and rivers boating in it. There’s just enough room for us, a cooler, and our dog in the boat. Mike
Great. Show. Entertaining, fun, I'm rooting for you next year, and none of that existed when I started watching it. Love your normal stuff, this was a risk and it paid off. Great job!
Thats because Drag Racing is all about Setting up a car with a car that Runs the same time. It makes it fair for both drivers. Then you can really tell who is better not by who has the better car, but by whos the better driver. You're not gonna put up a 8 second car with a 13 second car. It just makes it fair and more interesting.
Even in land based drag racing, it's not who get to the line the fastest, it's who runs closest to their index. So, this is indeed drag racing. In Top Fuel, Funnycar, or any host of professional drag racing, the racers don't race each other, they race themselves and try not to go faster than their index, but be closer to the index time than their opponent.
That was awesome!!! Now I want to get into Drag Boat Racing!!!! But there's just one slight thing: WE WANT MORE ROADKILL!!!!!!! I LOVE ROADKILL AND I'M DYING FOR IT!!!!!!!!! PLEEEEASE!!
Finnegan needs his own show about Boat racing. And not just drag boats. Ski race boats, jet sprint boats and whatever other sort of boat racing you can think of.
9.005 is #2? WOW! The boat sounds great. I race in 10.00 index, and Nostalgia S/S, classes with my Chevelle, as well as, an 84 Cutlass in NHRA Stock. I use the same weather station. Great stuff. Nice video.
Great realistic video! Very refreshing to see an accurate description of the Love/hate relationship, that all who also share this addiction, Surely Could Not Live Without! SMac aka:78_Tahiti
Yeah, it's a quicker time. But in that division of brackets, a boat must run no faster than 9.00 or they will be in-eligible to take away the prize. That's why they wanted to purposely slow the boat down with the valve :)
ok i dont know much about boat racing but i think id be really happy running 8 sec's in a boat. sure u didnt win that comp but holy shit that must of felt amazingly fast
its called bracket racing. U have to run with in a time bracket class that has a limit. In this case 9 secs. If ur faster then ur automatically emlimanated. Its how they keep it "fair" by having evenly matched boats. They do this with cars too.
a 1/4mile = 1320ft... i knew boat racing you had to be fast but i thought you would be slower but yet that is like the same times a car drag racer would get.. that is impressive.. thanks
Lol, in the beginning I thought they we're kidding, whole the time trying to reach under the 9........... But it was the --closest-- to 9:000, weird sport, but beautiful to watch.
9 sec squirt boat... not many around... We had a blown ford that showed up at Ming (took him out first round).. other than that? not a one.. not many can appreciate just how fast a 9 sec jetboat is.. Running a season for points is a real grind on the boats... we were out of the Phoenix area so we only got 2 races close to home.. you cali guys get it easy...
I'm pretty sure, for this Top eliminator class @2:20 he explains it a little., it has to be within 9 seconds and no less. It is kind of strange but I guess that's how this championship works.
I have a fantastic idea for the next road kill, if there ever is one. Come to Connecticut and help me with my 83 camaro. It's been in our garage since like 89. I don't have much money to fix it, but you guys have a pretty high budget for these things, right? It's got a 350 small block!!!
Cool!! Anyone find it interesting that a 1,000hp runs 9's? That's about what a 1,000hp car runs on the strip! Side note... I couldn't do bracket racing or rally... I just want to go fast!!
If the boat knew where the beams were, and with all of that data onboard, it becomes an algorithm to get to the finish at 9 flat. Photo sensor at the lights to start the program, current speed, and distance left to go is enough info to feed into engine management to tune the output to get as close to 9 as possible.
hey Finnegan whats the rules with safty cells in the us because in australian we have had a couple of people killed in our 1500hp ones. Now any one running over 100mph must have a cell and thank you for this very well presented video just shows how much effort we put into these to get them running properly. just preheating the oil takes over 3hrs in our dry sump tank. Yet again thanks.
My Dad was a 2-time world champion boat racer in the 1960's, with a few world records for speed. He was sponsored by Miller Boats and Bell helmets. He sold his boat in the 70's and later found it again in 2000's and restored to it full beauty. He's 83yrs and still shows/runs his boat. Truly racing was his great love in life. :)
Was expecting Freiburger to show up with an old clapped out boat he found in someone garage, and the V8 he pulled out of the Draguar, and he and Finnegan have less than 24 hours to put it together before the race starts.
+1400VID if only you knew 1 year ago
Finnegan is an awesome crew chief
Yes there are all-out classes. Before I sold the boat to Jeff it had a direct port nitrous system on the engine and the boat ran 7.40 at 140 mph passes. It also competed in a 6.00 second, 1000-ft bracket class and an 8.00 second, ¼ mile bracket class.
Mike
Holy crap that is some precise racing... 0.001 seconds at the quarter-mile, that's an overall speed difference of 0.01 mph, at speeds of around 100mph. So if your winning bracket is about 9.000-9.010, you have between 100 and 100.1 mph to hit - any faster, you lose, any slower, you probably lose. I'd imagine even slight movement in the water, or a little bit of a headwind, or a bit of a steering correction slows your terminal velocity down by 1 mph easily, which will in term bring your overall speed down by 0.x mph...
I have watched this a couple of times now. Love it every time.
I love seeing mike in his element. you can see the passion that he has, and the immense wealth of knowledge. would love to see another follow up or more on him and the drag boats.
Watching this, I absolutley positively think roadkill should do a srag -boat, or at least boat orientated episode. The idea they mooted where they drive the boat to the lake on a trailer on the back of a truck, take out the engine install it in the boat, race it. Then at the end swap it & drive home again is a goer!!! I cannat wait for the next roadkill!
Part 2 of 2
For example, we entered the 9 second bracket so the goal is to get the finish line in exactly 9.000 seconds, not quicker and not slower. Your reaction time is added to the your elapsed time and the driver with the lowest total time is the winner as long as that total is not less than 9.000. Its tough to wrap your head around at first but once you grasp the concept you realize it’s one of the most challenging forms of racing there is.
Mike
This is really cool Mike :) Saw something new and really enjoyed it! Do more!
I love these boats! Not crazy about bracket racing with a head start before the lights... This would be cooler if it were timed from a dig and heads up! Is this a 1/4 mile or 1,000 ft?
Part 1of 2
There are 2 kinds of drag racing; the first is called “heads up” racing & in that kind of racing racer who reaches the finish line is the winner, as long as he doesn’t leave the starting line before the tree goes green. The 2nd type, the type we participated in, is called “bracket racing”. In this form, the racer who reaches to the finish line first is the winner, as long as he doesn’t get from the starting line to the finish line in less time than the bracket he is entered into.
Thanks for the props. I’m not sure what the boat is worth. I built it myself from a bare hull in 2005 and spent the last 7 years refining the engine and boat combination. If you were to pay someone to build it you’d likely spend about 65-70 grand. There are cheaper ways to run as fast as this boat does, but its proven itself to be very safe up to 140 mph before.
Mike
The elapsed times are calculated to 9.000. If two or more boats run identcial ETs, such as 9.005 seconds, then the racing association looks at the reaction time at the start of the race. If both drivers have the same reaction time, such as 0.001 seconds, then the driver that ran a higher speed is declared the winner.
Mike
This was some really neat variety. Roadkill is by far my favorite segment that Motortrend produces.
New respect for Mike.. both as a host and general badass who knows his stuff, personally I don't find boat drag racing all that interesting, as far as a spectator sport goes, same with any drag racing,..the fun is just over in seconds.. but the level of engineering and preparation gone into it is amazing, this look into that world was a great piece of video journalism. Kudos. Out of curiosity, how much is the boat worth? and how much of that is really carried by the sponsors?
Needs Fryburger.
Mark Engle ／／
Growing up being best friends with a Top Fuel boat family this is funny, bit I respect it none the less. Especially the squirt gun guys who aren't really looked up to in my world. God I miss Jerry, Hillbilly #106.
Drag boats? What the hell is that? NOW I know! Excellent video guys!........Art
Hey a race is a race. If the only reason you lost is because you went to fast then Id still be happy. I would love to do anything even half as cool as that even for one day. I watch Mike and David on roadkill and always wondered what all those race boats were doing in mikes shop. keep up the cool videos!!
Bracket racing means - As close to the pre determined time, NOT faster. It's a way to show who's mr consistent in all area's.
coolest episode of MT yet...I want more than just cars n bikes
For some reason I've never been a big fan of the concept of bracket racing, but this video made me a bit more keen on it.
wow... Mike can actually host a show with out being like " Woaahh Dude..uhhuhuh Dude woahhh" Nice team effort guys.
“You lose”
but I won the race.
“Doesn’t matter. It was too fast, you lose” wth, awesome race and video man
Because of the class race.
Imagine if your car were to go up against a dragster. The dragster should lose since it wasn't qualified for the class.
Running a 3 sec lap wouldnt matter when youre in the wrong class.
Btw, the boat that they were using is a 6 sec boat.
Way cool. I am in awe of the power, but I don't think you could get me on the water with so little protection. Hats off to you crazy guys though. Thanks for taking the time to respond yourself. That's very cool!! Need more Road Kill..LOL
so close!!! but you guys should be proud as heck you have a damn fast boat! best of luck next time!!!
The track is 1,320 feet long plus a 125-foot section between the holding rope and the starting line beams. Technically, these boats are racing for 1,445 feet.
Mike
FINALLY SOMEONE COVERED THIS AND IT WAS FINNEGAN MADE MY DAY!
I did enjoy your time with a Former Drag Boat that you owned. Man, It sucks when you really lose. Can't hear more about next year.
That was the best time ever. They can't take that away
I'm almost positive it's because you don't have to worry about cavitation. The jet pump doesn't cavitate, there's no gears for a reduction, it makes it simpler and takes a few things out of the equation for tuning.
I still find it ironic that you can blow away all the competition but still lose because you went too fast.
Welcome to the world of bracket racing ;) Not different at the strip.
you do a lot of looking over your shoulder in bracket boats...
mad respect for your skill man, as ayaxro, I'm not much of a boat guy, but those engines... O.M.G!!! that sound... keep up the good work man, you are awesome :D
This is awesome, sorry that you guys didn't win, but that happens.. now you gotta work harder to not let that happen again, didnt know about the sport and i liked it, anything with speed is awesome
Very impressive. I never realised that it could be so complex that you are dealing with as little as 1/1000th of a second. Seat of your pants stuff. Great video.
Wow .Thats a hack of a boat. Ow man that is power enined racing at his top.Let us have a race tomorrow. I can not wait .Thanks for the vid Mike.
No offense but I’d rather not say what Jeff spent on the boat. It’s up to him if he wants that to be public knowledge. As to your question of reliability..Its a competely “streetable” design. Before I sold the boat it had two seats in it and the steering wheel was mounted on the left side of the dash. My wife and I would spend our vacations on local lakes and rivers boating in it. There’s just enough room for us, a cooler, and our dog in the boat.
Mike
Great. Show. Entertaining, fun, I'm rooting for you next year, and none of that existed when I started watching it. Love your normal stuff, this was a risk and it paid off. Great job!
a well done video.
thanks for that.
Thats because Drag Racing is all about Setting up a car with a car that Runs the same time. It makes it fair for both drivers. Then you can really tell who is better not by who has the better car, but by whos the better driver. You're not gonna put up a 8 second car with a 13 second car. It just makes it fair and more interesting.
Carbs are old school but they are reliable. I would love to have EFI on this engine.
Mike
Even in land based drag racing, it's not who get to the line the fastest, it's who runs closest to their index. So, this is indeed drag racing. In Top Fuel, Funnycar, or any host of professional drag racing, the racers don't race each other, they race themselves and try not to go faster than their index, but be closer to the index time than their opponent.
NICE tune on that first pass. Wow.
That was awesome!!! Now I want to get into Drag Boat Racing!!!! But there's just one slight thing: WE WANT MORE ROADKILL!!!!!!! I LOVE ROADKILL AND I'M DYING FOR IT!!!!!!!!! PLEEEEASE!!
Finnegan needs his own show about Boat racing. And not just drag boats. Ski race boats, jet sprint boats and whatever other sort of boat racing you can think of.
I have a boring life...Awesome stuff guys...
This is my kind of boat racing!
9.005 is #2? WOW! The boat sounds great. I race in 10.00 index, and Nostalgia S/S, classes with my Chevelle, as well as, an 84 Cutlass in NHRA Stock. I use the same weather station. Great stuff. Nice video.
Great realistic video! Very refreshing to see an accurate description of the Love/hate relationship, that all who also share this addiction, Surely Could Not Live Without! SMac aka:78_Tahiti
That was great! Best of luck to the team next year.
this is one kind of racing i would never try... just seems insane.
this is so god damned cool. i had no idea this even existed.
#'s do not lie. That is a great video. Running on water with those numbers. Wow
thats sweet! it would be awesome for more videos on different types of racing like this!
Imagine tubing behind one of these
That was the best time I had ever
1:28 - 1:30
Such a good sound!
Yeah, it's a quicker time. But in that division of brackets, a boat must run no faster than 9.00 or they will be in-eligible to take away the prize. That's why they wanted to purposely slow the boat down with the valve :)
Although there are some classes limited to a 1,000 ft course, the class we entered runs a full ¼ mile plus the 125 ft start.
Mike
For only having 1160 hprsepower thats about as fast as a 1000 horsepower car at the dragstrip
If a prop is faster, would that make a boat faster then a car with the same horsepower?
don't feel to bad about it Mike , you guys did a great job for a first run.
Thise episode... Just.. Awesome, wow!
ok i dont know much about boat racing but i think id be really happy running 8 sec's in a boat. sure u didnt win that comp but holy shit that must of felt amazingly fast
My favorite one so far
its called bracket racing. U have to run with in a time bracket class that has a limit. In this case 9 secs. If ur faster then ur automatically emlimanated. Its how they keep it "fair" by having evenly matched boats. They do this with cars too.
a 1/4mile = 1320ft... i knew boat racing you had to be fast but i thought you would be slower but yet that is like the same times a car drag racer would get.. that is impressive.. thanks
Lol, in the beginning I thought they we're kidding, whole the time trying to reach under the 9........... But it was the --closest-- to 9:000, weird sport, but beautiful to watch.
9 sec squirt boat... not many around... We had a blown ford that showed up at Ming (took him out first round).. other than that? not a one.. not many can appreciate just how fast a 9 sec jetboat is.. Running a season for points is a real grind on the boats... we were out of the Phoenix area so we only got 2 races close to home.. you cali guys get it easy...
That Dell is cheap and dependable. If I get angry enough to throw it in the lake I can buy another one from eBay for twenty bucks.
Mike
Awesome, good luck for 2013
great video guys, I really enjoyed it
Yeah awesome episode, dont see alot on this type of racing !
I'm pretty sure, for this Top eliminator class @2:20 he explains it a little., it has to be within 9 seconds and no less. It is kind of strange but I guess that's how this championship works.
I have a fantastic idea for the next road kill, if there ever is one. Come to Connecticut and help me with my 83 camaro. It's been in our garage since like 89. I don't have much money to fix it, but you guys have a pretty high budget for these things, right? It's got a 350 small block!!!
it'd be cool to see a segment about the next faster class beyond 9 sec..
this was crazy!!!! i hope your
still the crew chief Finnegan
1:09 NOT ONLY ARE THEY FAST AS SHIT ON THE WATER, THEY CAN DRIVE ON LAND!!
Great episode!!!!!
Imagine being upset that your boat was too fast. Lmao
Great episode!
excited!
Cool!! Anyone find it interesting that a 1,000hp runs 9's? That's about what a 1,000hp car runs on the strip! Side note... I couldn't do bracket racing or rally... I just want to go fast!!
The boats get a 125' rolling start... You give a 1000hp car a 125' roll out and it probably run in the 7s
Seth Bowles Ahh I missed that part, make way more sense now...
Hes using a jet. I like jets but props are faster
If the boat knew where the beams were, and with all of that data onboard, it becomes an algorithm to get to the finish at 9 flat. Photo sensor at the lights to start the program, current speed, and distance left to go is enough info to feed into engine management to tune the output to get as close to 9 as possible.
Damn this video is really nice... I hope i can catch the next event since i live in Chandler!!!
great vid mike See you at Ming!!
Who's watching in 2016
i am ;)
Nah dude ,2019
awesome episode!!!!
He races boats ON WATER? Where else would he race them, in a parking lot???
Bwahahahaha!
Why not
I wonder how this beast would run on the columbia river just curious very nice boat man
hey Finnegan whats the rules with safty cells in the us because in australian we have had a couple of people killed in our 1500hp ones. Now any one running over 100mph must have a cell and thank you for this very well presented video just shows how much effort we put into these to get them running properly. just preheating the oil takes over 3hrs in our dry sump tank. Yet again thanks.
"its trailered to the track" who would have thought lol
you guys rock!!!!!!!
Good show!
This got me thinking, whats the fastest can someone go underwater? like a submarine designed for speed :D
Great variety seeing boats, and man, that was actually really interesting.
holy shit, that was awesome!
this is an awesome video!! :D
WOW!
Pretty F#?@!n' sweet!
Now you need to do a head2head using similar motors... one in a car, one in a boat; keeping it in a 9 second bracket.
The point of the pass is to get as close to 9.000 as possible. Going over means you're DQ'd.
My Uncle drag races boats as well. His name is Randy Benson