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Tyler Crockett built a 2,200-hp blown-alcohol engine for his 26-foot Joker that he will be running in tomorrow’s Outlaw Shoot-Out National Championship in Clearwater, Texas. Photos courtesy Tyler Crockett

A work-in-progress for the past couple of years, the 2,200-hp supercharged monstrosity of a motor from Crockett Marine Engines will make its official debut tomorrow (June 24) when offshore racer and engine guru Tyler Crockett runs his 26-foot Joker V-bottom in the revamped Outlaw Shoot-Out National Championship—the top-speed shootout portion of the ninth annual Texas Outlaw Challenge.

Crockett, who tested the boat once last weekend on the St. Clair River near his home in Port Huron, said he is ready to put his 2,200-hp blown-alcohol engine to the test.

“I didn’t really know what to expect the first time out,” Crockett said. “I set up the outdrive with a 1.25 gear ratio and I knew I wanted to spin a small prop so I grabbed a race prop—a 24”-pitch five-blade Maximus that should turn 8000 rpm—and the boat handled beautifully. I ran it up to 118 mph and it was only making seven pounds of boost. We tweaked a few things and sped up the blower a little before leaving for Texas.

“If I can get the right water conditions tomorrow, 120 mph is possible,” he continued. “We only get two passes with 5 minutes in between so this is really more of a testing opportunity so we can get the boat dialed in for the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in August.”

Although he won’t be using the Joker in the poker run—when you’re running on straight methanol you only get so many passes—Crockett is expecting to catch a ride in someone else’s boat for the run on Saturday.

Paul Robinson, the organizer behind the Texas Outlaw Challenge, said there are many fast boats registered for Friday’s top-speed event, including a pair of Outerlimits GTX V-bottoms from Louisiana, the local-favorite Gone Again Skater owned by Kenny Mungle and a powerful Motion cat owned by Texas native Howard Davis. He said he’s also looking forward to the competition in the Outlaw Outboards class.

“We have more people from out of state coming to the event this year than ever before,” Robinson said. “Along with the Houston FOX station, there is a FOX crew from New York coming in to cover the festivities.”