proper run. The Skater saw 170 mph that day and Kelly and Ron knew that they were ready for LOTO.
Once the Skater and the team were at LOTO all that was left to do was push the sticks and hold on. With tons of time spent tuning the engines and rebuilding the transmissions, plus the fact that they had hit 170 mph right before they left, Ron and Kelly had all the confidence they needed to lay down some fast passes. On their first run in the non-professional 32’ class the unlikely entry from the desert in Arizona laid down a 170 mph pass. Almost 20 mph faster than their nearest class competitor! Between runs Kelly and Ron put a planned hop up on the motors, which would give them the power to take things up a notch. And take it up a notch they did! On their next pass the white Skater from Parker clocked in at 175 mph! Not only did this speed decimate their class competition by 20 mph they were ranked 5th out of all the boats in the shootout! That means that there were literally millions of dollars worth of newer more expensive boats eating the wake of a humble 12-year-old Skater from the Parker Strip. Not bad for a boat that you can find tied up to the dock at Fox’s on any given Sunday!
At any poker run across the country you will find an endless supply of uber expensive, big power boats with seemingly limitless funding behind them. What many at this years LOTO found out is that you can’t always buy your way into a winning package. Sometimes you need a team that has countless hours of seat time together and a boat with years worth of tuning and refinement. Kelly Kraiss and Ron Gibbs proved that you don’t have to be running the latest hull with an unspendable budget to slay giants. Congratulations guys!