A pair of 20-year-olds with solid offshore racing experience and a deep love of the sport, Nick Imprescia and Ian Morgan will share the cockpit of Visit St. Pete Clearwater/ 151 Express, a 32-foot Mod V-class raceboat backed by Florida entrepreneur Jorge Arellano, starting with the Great Lakes Grand Prix, August 5-8, in Michigan City, Ind. Imprescia will throttle and Morgan will drive. They’ll follow up their Michigan City debut at the St. Pete Grand Prix, September 3-5, in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Nick Imprescia and Ian Morgan will share the cockpit of Visit St. Pete Clearwater/151 Express early next month on Lake Michigan. Photo from Thunder On Cocoa Beach 2021 by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Earlier this week, the team completed an extensive test session in Sarasota, Fla. Imprescia and Morgan spent two days—10 hours of which were on the water—getting familiar with one another in the cockpit of the 32-foot Phantom V-bottom.

“I’m incredibly grateful—I knew that someday my hard work would pay off, and that I’d get to this point, but I didn’t know it would happen so soon,” said Imprescia, who left his home state of New York in January for Southwest Florida to work with Shaun Torrente at Shaun Torrente Racing. “My main motive is making my family proud, so I’m thrilled to have this opportunity.”

The son of legendary offshore racer Joey Imprescia—one of the finest throttlemen in the history of the sport—Nick Imprescia began his racing journey in the Offshore Powerboat Association’s fiercely competitive, single-outboard-engine V-bottom Bracket 700 ranks. In 2018 and 2019, he and Morgan, a couple of friends who’ve known each other since they were children growing up in the Northeast, ran together in the Bracket 700 class and won six races. Imprescia also competed in the Bracket 500 class in pandemic-abbreviated 2020 season, as well as in this year’s American Power Boat Association Offshore National Champion Series season-opener in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

Childhood friends, Imprescia (left) and Morgan raced in the Bracket 700 for two seasons. Photo courtesy/copyright Coleman McGowan.

“It is a surreal feeling to make this step up and I’m so excited to join Nick in this project,” said Morgan. “This team is a well-oiled machine and they have given us a great platform to compete with. We were all happy with the handling of the boat in testing and we feel that this is just the tip of the performance iceberg. I can’t wait for Michigan City.”

Added Imprescia, “I chose Ian to drive alongside me because we have 100 percent trust in each other and know what each other will do at all times.”

Imprescia and Morgan will finish the 2021 season in the Mod V class and return in 2022 to run a full season year in 2022. Arellano said he’s delighted to help “shepherd young blood” into the sport and onto the Visit St. Pete Clearwater/151 Express team.

“I’m looking forward to the rest of the season with Nick and Ian in the boat,” he said. “I’m excited to see their performance in Michigan City.”

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