Photo Credit Cobra Performance Boats
BANNER YEAR -- The 2010 version of Desert Storm promises to be better than ever, according to LakeRacerLLC. The annual Havasu Poker Run is set for April 22-25 and has increased charity involvement this year.

It's looking like 2010 is going to be a banner year for Desert Storm! April (21) 22-25 is our annual Havasu Poker Run; it’s coming soon and promises to be better than ever.

Teague Custom Marine has stepped up their sponsorship of DS and has been promoting the event all over the country. Mercury Racing has come back to be part of the event in a big way. IMCO, ILMOR, CMS Powerboats, Nordic Powerboats and Kachina Powerboats round out the top sponsors for 2010.

We are increasing our charity involvement this year with the help of Joy Schou and the Platinum Powerboat Club. In addition to our normal charities, Soldiers Angles and Havasu for Youth, we are adding the Make-A-Wish Foundation to this year's event.

A Day Earlier

Kicking off a day earlier than before, on Wednesday, April 21, we will be "Putin' on the Wish"! The Phoenix chapter of Make-A-Wish will bring our special guests out for boat rides provided by members of the Platinum Powerboat club who are here to participate in the Poker Run.

We are also inviting "Havasu for Youth" to bring deserving children to participate. An auction for the Foundations Benefit will be held Friday, April 23 p.m. during our Poker Hand Opening Beach Party at the Nautical Resort cove.

More Extreme Than Ever

From early information coming in, the boats in the show will be more extreme than ever — both of Bob Teague Skaters, Chip Romer's new Skater, Gary and Rosemary Colleges’ new 40’ Skater along with some first timers, Bob Christie of New Jersey and his 44 MTI "Speed Racer" and Jeff Stevenson and his JBS Racing Team's new Mystic 50-foot Cat running John Aruba's Turbine Marine engines. (You can see this boat at www.JBSRacing.com.) For the Poker Run on Friday, April 23 we're at about 50 boats preregistered so far, with more coming in daily (at press time).

Hosting Active-Duty Soldiers

Once again, we are hosting six active duty soldiers for the event with LakeRacer providing hotel rooms and meals for them.

On Saturday, April 24, the Shootout will follow a similar format as the last two years, with a possible lengthening of the course to counter the new format at Lake of the Ozarks event.

We are also planning for Dixie Bell, our local three-story paddle wheeler, to be course control and spectator-central positioned at the course starting line. Shuttle boats will be running between the Nautical Resort docks and Dixie Bell for those who purchase tickets.

In Discussion With POPRA, APBA

We are in discussion with the Pacific Offshore Powerboat Racing Association (POPRA) and American Powerboat Association (APBA), the sanctioning body for powerboat racing in the U.S. including APBA Offshore, regarding the shootout being sanctioned as an APBA special event. This will increase the stature of the Shootout around the country and is causing some huge interest for groups who have never been to our event.

Sunday's Offshore Race by POPRA is getting a surge in the number of boats racing by the work we are doing with ABPA. Brad Johnson, the new president of POPRA and his team have reached out to a number of teams and groups around the country and sparked interest in coming out. We are also planning a new event for Sunday that is open to the Poker Run participants and others performance boaters who will be in Havasu. For a small entry fee, you can try out what running on a real racecourse is like.

For more information, please visit www.lakeracer.com .