At the Thunder On Cocoa Beach offshore powerboat race in May, throttleman Nick Imprescia and driver Ian Morgan used their pole position to capture the lead when the green flag flew. They held first place for the entirety of the race and earned their first victory in the Factory Stock class about three months after attending the celebration of life for Joey Imprescia, Nick’s father and Ian’s mentor.

Nick Imprescia and Ian Morgan took their first Factory Stock class win at Thunder On Cocoa Beach and are showing no signs of slowing down. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

“We needed it. Our team needed it,” said Nick Imprescia. “My mom needed it. The whole last lap was you’re crossing every finger, toe, just last to the end. From the last turn to the finish line, I couldn’t see anything. I was crying so much.”

Added Morgan, “It was extremely emotional.”

Fortunately, their 39-foot MTI catamaran, 151 Express, has a four-seat cockpit because Nick was certain that Joe was along for the ride. In addition to experiencing a range of emotions, the pair of 24-year-old best friends also felt relief.

“It was a relief. We finally got our win,” said Imprescia. “Our guys know we’re doing a good job. We know our guys are doing a good job.”

He continued, “We’ve broken weird things. We’ve had bad luck. We ran out of fuel one time because a sailboat came across the course.”

When the topic of wrapping a Monster Energy banner around one of the boat’s outboards came up, Morgan sarcastically laughed, “Who does that?”

If Morgan and Imprescia were a comedy duo, Morgan would play the cut-up and Imprescia would be the straight-man.

Nearly three months later, the duo was back in 151 Express at the Mercury Racing Midwest Challenge, the second leg of the P1 Offshore Triple Crown Challenge, in Sheboygan, Wis. Weather shortened the race from eight laps to three and Imprescia and Morgan took the smart approach. They didn’t need to try to chase down the race winner, Jackhammer, because the boat wasn’t at the first race of the triple crown in New Orleans. 151 Express stayed ahead of the 38-foot Doug Wright, Montlick Injury Attorneys, maintaining the points lead for the class heading into the season finale in St. Petersburg, Fla., in September.

The Kids Are Alright
The duo laughs quite often, which you might expect from two young men who have been friends since the sixth grade. Imprescia started his younger years in private schools because his parents, Joe and Debbie, moved to a new area they didn’t know. He entered the public school system in Babylon, N.Y., in middle school.

“We met in sixth-grade science class and I picked on him for a couple weeks because he was the new kid,” said Morgan.

Morgan was a baseball player and Imprescia was racing go-karts, but they discovered a common interest — radio controlled cars. They also found out that they lived close to each other and their dads were friends when they were young.

The more Morgan started hanging out at Joe Imprescia’s East Coat Marine shop, the elder Imprescia took the youngster under his wing and gave him a job alongside him and Nick.

“I took apart a bunch of stuff apart when I was little and destroyed everything. I got in so much trouble,” said Morgan. “When I was hanging around at Joe’s shop, I watched what he was doing and he asked me if I wanted to work for him.”

Joe Imprescia had developed a relationship with a local Evinrude outboard dealer and the shop did many re-powers on 21-foot Superboats and other outboard performance boats built on New York’s Long Island.

“We made a great business during the summer doing re-powers,” said Nick. “That’s how we learned to do re-powers that we’re doing now.”

Morgan continued to play baseball through high school and when the economy tanked  around 2010, Nick had to stop racing go-karts. He spent more time in the shop with his dad and got his first boat, a 16-foot Superboat center console.

More than an employer for Impresica and Morgan, Torrente is a mentor, an inspiration and an extended family member.

Back on the Water

One day, the youngsters saw a photo of a 21-foot Superboat set up to race in Bracket 700 class. They told Joe about it and he said, “Find one online and we’ll see if we can make it work.” They got one and powered it with a 250-hp Evinrude E-TEC two-stroke outboard. That was then replaced by a 300-hp Mercury OptiMax. The boat was called NJI Racing and Nick drove and throttled with his foot while Morgan navigated and hung on.

“For us, it made sense because of all the business we were doing in repowers,” said Nick. “From us buying that boat, we built so many more just like it to get into racing.”

The duo won a championship in Bracket 700 and it won the local King of the Cut race on Long Island.

A legacy offshore racers Brit Lilly (above) and Nick Imprescia shared the spotlight of a “Water Street Confidential” episode produced by Scrapyard Media and Speedonthewater.com in 2023 as part of Mercury Racing’s 50th anniversary celebration.

Imprescia continued working for his dad while he attended Farmingdale State College. Morgan tried three schools, but decided his future was in working on boats and outboards and stayed at East Coast Marine.

Looking to expand his reach in the marine industry, one year leading into the Miami Boat Show, Nick bet his dad that if he could get a job at the event, Joe would pay for his plane ticket. Nick grabbed his dad’s phone and texted MTI founder Randy Scism asking if he needed some help in the booth at the show. Scism said yes and Joe paid the airfare.

Nick started working part-time for MTI, flying in for run runs and boat shows. “They went over and above bringing me into their world, showing me the ropes, showing me how boat sales worked, how a first-class business worked,” said Nick. “He and his family were part of my foundation in this sport and I’m forever grateful to them.”

During that first Miami show, Shaun Torrente walked into the MTI booth and Imprescia and he started talking. “He was a hero,” said Nick. “He was doing what I wanted to do, making a living in boat racing.”

The two stayed in touch for a couple of years and one day Torrente called him. “He said, ‘I really need your help,’” recalled Nick. “I’m rigging a couple boats down here for MTI and I need your help. I have a car and an apartment, I just need you to get down here.”

Imprescia and Morgan began their spec-class racing career in the Mod V ranks. Photo by Cole McGowan copyright Powerboat P1.

In January 2021, Nick sold his truck and his 21 Superboat, gave the money to his parents to hold and to southwest Florida to work at Shaun Torrente Racing. “I was 20 years and moved down with $120 to my name, a backpack and a duffel bag,” said Nick. “I had met Shaun a handful of times. I took a risk. He took a risk on me. Now we have a Mercury Racing shop together, a blossoming Mercury service facility and we do the white-glove service. We did all that together.”

A Random Phone Call
With his Superboat sold, Nick made an agreement to throttle for Brent Appiarius in his 30-foot Superboat, Shoreline Plumbing, in the Bracket 500 class. After a couple of races, they agreed to disagree on how things were going and Imprescia found himself without a ride.

“I said, ‘What am I going to do? I can’t be a free agent’” said Imprescia.  

Probably laughing as he said it, Torrente replied, “You’re young, you’re good. You’ll be fine.”

The best of longtime friends, Imprescia and Morgan are enjoying their current ride together. Photo by Cole McGowan copyright Powerboat P1.

A couple of weeks later, Imprescia got a phone call from a random number. He took a chance and picked up. The voice on the other end of the line says, “Hey I have a race team and I need a driver and a throttleman,” said Imprescia. “I said, you need a what? He said, ‘I have a boat, I have a crew chief, I have mechanics. I just need a driver and a throttleman.’”

The caller was Jorge Arellano, a man who eschews media attention and the spotlight, but had a history of sponsoring talented under-funded go-kart racers and wanted to do the same in offshore powerboat racing.

A friend of Arellano’s, Greg Quirk, is a former offshore racer who ran a canopied Outerlimits V-bottom called Media Master. He lived in Babylon, N.Y., and was friends with Joe Imprescia.

“Greg told him, ‘You need to give these kids a shot,’” said Imprescia.

Imprescia called Morgan and said, “This guy just called and wants to go racing and I’ll throttle and you’ll drive.” Morgan replied, “Tell me where to be.”

The two sides agreed over the phone that Morgan and Imprescia would be paid because they wanted to be responsible for their jobs. “Jorge said, ‘I wouldn’t have it any other way,’” said Imprescia. The team met for a weekend to see how everybody got along and the next thing they knew, Imprescia and Morgan made their debuts in a 32-foot Phantom in the Mod-V class called 151 Express, in Michigan City, Ind., in 2022.

“It was a dream come true to get in a canopied boat,” said Imprescia. “Now it’s a raceboat and there’s a team standing behind you.”

Added Morgan, “I can actually hold onto the steering wheel instead of a grab handle.”

Imprescia and Morgan are also quick to acknowledge the team behind the scenes including crew chief Ray Vera, Calvin Murphy, Alan Maiden and Trey Miller. “I talk to Ray every day,” said Imprescia. “He’s become a giant role model and influence in our lives.”

The 151 Express crew took three boats to the 1000 Islands Charity Poker Run in Clayton, N.Y., on the weekend of May 18.

“Part of our gig with Jorge is not just racing and testing,” said Imprescia. “We go to poker runs because he wants his people around.” Arellano called the trip to Clayton “team-building.”

With his 1,000-watt smile, warm personality and professional manner, Imprescia is exactly what the sport needs.

When the team would race in Florida, Morgan would stay with Imprescia for a few weeks and he helped out at Torrente’s shop between races. Morgan did the back-and-forth for about a year and one day at lunch, Torrente said to him, “I’m asking you to come work for me.” Morgan replied, “When do you want me down here?”

Morgan went back to Long Island, packed up his car and drove down to Florida. He and Imprescia lived in a window-less loft apartment above the STR shop in Fort Myers, Fla.

Fortunately, Morgan’s father Brian was looking for a property to purchase in Southwest Florida and he found one on a canal in Cape Coral. Imprescia and Morgan rent the property and live there with Imprescia’s French bulldog, Biggie Smalls.

“We grew up together, now we live together, work together, race together,” said Imprescia.

Establishing Themselves
The team had an agreement that if it won a world championship, Arellano would move up in class. Despite sustaining fiberglass damage on the first day of the 2022 world championships in Key West, Fla., the team made repairs in the pits and put in a fresh motor for the final day. Morgan and Imprescia won the Mod-V world championship and Joe Imprescia was waiting for them on the Key West seawall when they returned to the pits.

Unbeknownst to the crew, Arellano had purchased the 39-foot MTI catamaran that had run in Factory Stock class as KLOVAR Motorsports before the end of the 2022 world championships.

The team started racing in the Factory Stock class in 2023 and announcers immediately dubbed them, “The Young Guns,” despite the fact that two of their competitors in the class, Caleb Mead, 19, and Logan Adan, 19, are younger than them. Mead races with throttleman John Tomlinson and Adan competes alongside throttleman Giovanni Carpitella. Because Imprescia and Morgan are both 24, the “young” label has stuck.

Balancing work and racing has worked so far because more than most bosses Torrente understands how great an opportunity Imprescia and Morgan have racing with Arellano.

Living legends (in MTI jerseys) John Tomlinson and Randy Scism respect Nick Imprescia’s ability in much the same they respected those of his father, Joey (second from right).

“Honestly, it couldn’t run more smoothly,” said Morgan.

With the win in Cocoa Beach under their belts, the 151 Express team has established itself as a legitimate threat at every race and other people have noticed.

“I think their success is awesome,” said MTI’s Scism. “Those boys have been doing everything right and it came together. George knows how to pick talent. I think it’s a great team.”

Veteran throttleman Billy Moore knows better than most the value of growing up under the tutelage of a legendary racer who happens to be your father. He also sees the bond between Imprescia and Morgan when they’re in the boat.

“Their personalities gel. They’re used to each other and they work well together,” said Moore. “They’re getting the hang of that boat. If you can race that 500 boat and keep the momentum going, they could do well in a bigger boat. They’re going to be tough to beat.”

Legendary throttleman John Tomlinson has raced against the 151 Express team since it started in Factory Stock. He’s talked to Imprescia, but said he doesn’t know Morgan. “Joey raised that kid right,” said Tomlinson. “Nick’s level-headed and respectful. If I was getting out and someone was looking for a throttleman, I’d recommend him.”

The first checkered flag earned by the 151 Express delivered an emotional moment for the Factory Stock outfit.

Moving forward, Imprescia said he would welcome the chance to run in Super Cat or Pro Class 1 and if possible, he’d love to have his best friend alongside him.

Because Morgan has an unusual approach to race day, Imprescia may need the team to move up together. When the team is headed out to the milling area, Morgan picks a song and starts singing. “I’ll pick a song and it will be stuck in my head the whole weekend,” said Morgan. “It could be Taylor Swift, it could be something from Ice age, it could be Sponge Bob.”

On a more serious note, Imprescia and Morgan have held onto one piece of advice that Joe Imprescia gave them early on.

“My dad always said, ‘Don’t worry about what the other guys are doing,’” said Nick. “Just worry about yourselves.’” They’re betting on themselves and more checkered flags are bound to come their way.

Nick Imprescia started early and never stopped learning from his famous offshore racing father.

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