For the first time during the 2016 Super Boat International season, the AMH Construction/Instigator team of throttleman Peter Meyer and driver Johnny Stanch will have competition in their class when the green flag flies next Sunday in Clearwater, Fla., for the SBI National Championships. The defending world champions in the Superboat Extreme V-bottom class, Meyer and Stanch will square off against throttleman Billy Glueck and driver Brett Lee Furshman in Cooper-Standard/Twisted Metal and throttleman Joe Ferrer and driver Jaqueline Piper in Freedom.

Although they’ll be flying different sponsor colors than those pictured above, perennial rivals Instigator and Twisted Metal will be going at it again—with the Freedom team also in the mix—during the final two events of the SBI season. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

The Clearwater contest will be a battle of the Fountain Powerboats models, as all three teams run canopied V-bottoms from the storied builder. That AMH Construction/Instigator already has the Superboat Extreme-Class 2016 National Championship locked down—the team didn’t miss an SBI race this season—doesn’t matter to Meyer.

“I just want to race,” he said. “I don’t care who I’m racing.”

Meyer paused then laughed. “Where were they all season long?” he asked. “At the worlds in Key West (Fla.) last year, the racing between us and Twisted Metal was great. I’m looking forward to racing against them again.”

Glueck said he had hoped to secure a sponsor for Twisted Metal after the 2015 Key West Worlds, but season-long sponsorship didn’t materialize. (His team did find a backer for Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix in July.) That, plus the demands of running his business, kept him and Furshman out of SBI competition this season. For Clearwater and Key West, the final two events of the 2016 SBI season, automotive parts giant Cooper-Standard is back as a sponsor for the Twisted Metal team.

“Brett and I are looking forward to getting back out there,” Glueck said. “But it’s not like we’ve been sitting back doing nothing with the boat. We had a lot of things that needed to be done after Key West last year.

“I hate it when little things go wrong—I hate beating myself,” he added. “We’re trying to make sure that we don’t break down because of something stupid.”

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