Sarasota hosts 40th annual Powerboat Grand Prix this weekend

Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix

Regina Gonzalez reports.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Sarasota celebrated 40 years of hosting the Powerboat Grand Prix this weekend.

Championship races wrapped up on Sunday morning and about a dozen participants were able to go right home after, since they were from the Bay Area.

P1 offshore racing can be quite a bonding experience for a driver and a throttleman.

"You know what it's kinda like being a couple sometimes in that you gotta know what the other person is gonna do, and you know their strengths, you know their weaknesses, you can tell when they're nervous," explained Billy Glueck, throttleman for OC Racing.

Billy Glueck is a well-respected throttleman who has been out of the sport since 2018. But this year, he couldn’t resist getting back in the cockpit of OC Racing's 39-foot phantom with his good friend, fellow Sarasotan and team owner, Joey Olivieri.

"I put my team together and Billy and I have been friends from mutual friends, and I brought him on this past year when my previous throttleman got hurt," said Olivieri.

The dynamic duo makes the list of about a dozen men who represented Sarasota County in this weekend's races. Most of them are well acquainted with being locals with a need for speed on the water.

"Had a pleasure boat, a friend of mine, Richard Davis said, 'Hey, let's go boat racing.' So here we are 20 years later, racing and having a good time," shared Corey Shantry, Driver for SRQ Racing.

With races only lasting 45 minutes in the gulf, racers say the real fun has been in the pit, getting to meet fans and visitors who came out to support.

There will still be some action on the water when P1 Offshore returns to Clearwater at the end of the month, and St. Pete in October.

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