Last weekend’s offshore racing season-opener in St. Petersburg, Fla., was not kind to Owen Buis. The 17-year-old throttleman was hoping to make his Super Stock-class debut with driver Cameron Turk debut on his Tampa Bay home-water. He planned to have a strong outing with Louisiana’s Dustin Clouatre in the Mod V ranks. And wanted to cheer his father, Nick, and J.J. Turk Turk—Owen’s dad—to Pro Class 1 success in their XINSURANCE North raceboat.
Mod V-class racers Owen Buis and Dustin Clouatre had a tough outing at offshore racing’s season-opener in St. Petersburg, Fla. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
But offshore racing often foils the best-laid plans.. And Buis got a heavy dose of that last weekend in St. Pete.
“It was not a great weekend for us,” he said, then chuckled. “We had issues with all three boats.
“We ended up not starting the Super Stock race thanks to a power-steering problem,” he continued. “The Mod V boat had unexpected gremlins. We had the start, but broke on the first lap.”
Read More: ‘Not Great’ Weekend In St. Pete Fuels Buis For New Orleans