Last Saturday’s Desert Storm Poker Run top-speed shootout saw Cory Schmitz and Miranda Jones take top honors on the three-quarter-mile, Lake Havasu in Arizona. The 2021 “King and Queen of the Desert” laid down 174.6-mph and 174.5-mph passes in blustery conditions and delivered two of the most exciting—and closest—runs of the morning.

Tommy Bahama got the 2021 Desert Storm Poker Run top-speed shootout off to a roaring start. Photos by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos.

But to get things started, Tommy Bahama, a former 44-foot MTI raceboat converted for pleasure use and recently restored to perfection by Tom Mischke—its Arizona-based owner—did a run down the course with American flag flying while the National Anthem played on the public address system.

“The boat turned out to be very popular down here,” said Mischke in a prior speedonthewater.com article.

Performance-boating fans likely will get another chance to see the famed 44-footer powered by Sterling Performance engines at another marquee event later this season. There’s a good chance Mischke will have the boat at Super Cat Fest in late August at the Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri.

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