There is no starting line. There is no field. There is one boat, one straightaway, and a number on a board at the end of it.

The 38th Annual Lake of the Ozarks Shootout runs August 29 and 30 — the largest unsanctioned powerboat race in the United States, and the loudest weekend on inland water in America.

How it actually works

Boats run the course one at a time. Three quarters of a mile down the Grand Glaize Arm, flat water, full throttle, and whatever the radar says is what you get.

Classes run from performance boats up to purpose-built offshore machines clearing 200 miles per hour. The title everybody wants is Top Gun — fastest boat of the weekend, outright.

It is not a race. It is a measurement. And that is exactly why it draws the crowd it does: there is no strategy to hide behind and no traffic to blame. You either went that fast or you did not.

New home this year

The Shootout has moved to Dog Days Bar & Grill, 1232 Jeffries Road, Osage Beach, Missouri, on the Grand Glaize Arm. Presented by Lippert, powered by Performance Boat Center.

Race headquarters is at Dog Days both days, gates at 8:00 AM.

Who is in and who is out

The lineup shifts right up to the week of, and it already has. Factory Billet and Darana-Hybrid have scratched.American Ethanol and Dirty Duck are all in. An American Custom Marine V-bottom is entered. AMP is coming loaded.

That is normal for this event. These are hand-built boats running at the edge of what they will survive, and a broken part in the week before is the difference between a run and a trailer ride home.

The part that gets left out of the highlight reels

The Lake of the Ozarks Shootout is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

In 2025 the event raised $1.62 million and donated $815,000 to 47 Lake-area charities — a record. Proceeds come from registrations, sponsorships, merchandise and donations, and the money goes to local charities and first responders.

A weekend of 200-mile-an-hour boats that writes eight hundred grand in checks to the community that hosts it. That is not a bad trade for anybody.

If you are going

Watching from the water is free. Thousands of spectator boats line the course on a big year, and the raft-up rivals the racing.

Get there early. Front-row positions fill by 7:30 or 8:00 AM — be anchored before 7:00 if you want a real spot.

Stay out of the course. The boundaries are marked and they are enforced, and there is a reason for that when something is coming at you at two hundred.

And bring ear protection if you are anywhere close. Top-fuel boats at full song are genuinely, physically loud — not loud like a concert, loud like a thing you feel in your chest.

Why it matters this year

American offshore racing has had a strange season. The IHRA pulled the plug on its offshore program mid-year and cancelled the Sheboygan round. Race World Offshore came back under APBA sanctioning, which put genuine UIM Class 1 and Class 2 world championship titles back on the table for American teams.

Through all of that, the Shootout has just kept happening. Thirty-eight years. Same lake, same straightaway, same question.

How fast can you go.

See you on the water.