Feb 20

Feb 20 The Mercury Racing Midwest Challenge: A New Racing and Exhibition Weekend for All Racing Classes

In my eyes, Mercury Racing stole the show at the 2023 Miami Boat Show, and they usually do. By celebrating their 50th anniversary, launching the V10 400R, and new Ventera prop it was a lot of fun. There were some amazing boats brought in to show off the entire Mercury Racing outboard lineup, including the 400R, and that was the focus, but in addition to the new engine launch there was one more thing announced that some people overlooked and it was an event Mercury Racing will be putting on called the Midwest Challenge. This is going to be a fantastic opportunity to bring all racing categories to one place right in Mercury’s backyard of Sheboygan Wisconsin. Racing has partnered with Powerboat P1 and F1 Powerboat for an inaugural competition and exhibition weekend. Hosted in August 11-13 (2023) and hopefully a recurring event, the idea is to bring everything together all at once to really show off the different race classes.

One reason this event is important is that it is a community event, Mercury Racing will have some great exhibition stuff happening for fans and more details will be released in late February. By bringing the different classes together, fans can see everything up close and personal. If you’re a fan of F1, you might not always see the offshore classes up close, so this makes an event for everyone. I imagine this will be a great family friendly party.

Bringing P1 Offshore and F1 Powerboat together makes something for everyone. This is a shot from the pits in Key West, it’s a community party whenever the race is in town.

Another thing to note is that although I don’t race, my Dad use to race in different community racing events when he was growing up and it’s part of why he was so passionate about performance boats, and in turn why I am as well. Boating is often a family affair and so is racing. You see many sibling and family members not just supporting family members but often competing with them at the races. Boat racing is truly community and family in spirit, and that’s what really drives it. Mercury Racing recognizes this and is going to put on a great show I am sure.

With new engines we will see new classes as the outboards continue to shine for racers and consumers. I think we will see more classes for different HP ranges at the sport grows.

With Mercury Racing constantly innovating I’m certain we will continue to see more classes and more competition as the sport keeps growing. More community events like the Midwest Challenge will only help.

Learn more about it here: Mercury Racing Midwest Challenge