Race teams converged on the Gulf Coast for a spectacular double-header race weekend; with racing in Orange Beach, AL this past Friday and racing in Pensacola Bay on Sunday. With a dual heat race on Friday, fans got to see lead changes, fast action and their favorite teams take the checkered flag. Orange Beach waters were some of the flattest seas seen in years. When teams arrived at Pensacola Bay, they saw breezier conditions and fast water conditions for some great competition.
The Thunder on the Gulf Super Boat Grand Prix on Friday was a dual heat race. All boats raced the first race at 1:00 pm and the 2nd race at 3:00 pm. Some of the most exciting racing was between boats in the Superboat class. Team Broadco won the first heat by a narrow margin and, when the 2nd heat came around, it was Team STIHL that stole the show. After regrouping during the intermission, STIHL won by a bigger margin in the 2nd heat and, with a combined faster time, took the win. “That was a very fast race course and we had some great competition,” comments JR Noble, driver of Team STIHL.
The Super Stock class saw some great action between The Hulk and SOS Venezuela with Hulk taking the win. These teams are always dueling it out. At Orange Beach, they wowed the fans, as the difference in finishing speed was a mere .65 mph. 
The Manufacturer P3 class saw Team Black Pearl steal the show, with just over a minute victory, shutting out their nearest competitor, The Developer.
Other first place (class winners) included; Absolutely Not (Superboat Vee) and Two Cruel (Manufacturer P4).
“This is one of our new concepts to run dual races over multiple days in an effort to save teams money. Orange Beach/Pensacola was the first dual city race this year and we hope to continue the concept in future years,” comments John Carbonell, president of Super Boat International. “We had a lot of bumps to work out during the weekend. I want to thank my team and the race teams for working hard together to make it succeed. Friday was a tough day for our teams to make it to Orange Beach for physicals and roll call, but they all made the effort and arrived on time. Again, our staff worked hard to make this event run smoothly and I sincerely appreciated their support.”
On Sunday, it was Thunder Run in the Pensacola Grand Prix and thunder it was! The biggest and fastest boats raced at the foot of Pensacola to the middle of the bay. Miss GEICO put on a spectacular show (winner in the Superboat Unlimited Class) by running great lines on the outside of the course and leading all the classes around the 23 lap course. Yes, it was very exciting with 46 turns for the professional offshore Superboats.
The big boats took the green flag and headed to the Highway 98 bridge and made a counter clockwise turn to only see it another 22 times. With more laps, the event brought more excitement to the Pensacola fans. Team STIHL led wire-to-wire to take home another first place finish behind, always competitive, Team Broadco, with WHM in third and Racing for Cancer in 4th. 
As the boats came within a couple hundred yards of Plaza De Luna, the VIP fans saw all the action up close.
As the winds picked up, Pensacola Bay saw a nice chop for racing. Teams had the chance to make any final changes to their boats, as the launch area was only 500 yards from the racecourse. Fans could see race teams making final preparations and changes to their boats, prior to the pace boat taking them out to the racecourse. The Thunder Run race was completed just before Mother Nature made a bit of noise herself. Other class winners included; Miss GEICO (Superboat Unlimited), Instigator (Superboat Extreme), Absolutely Not (Superboat Vee), The Hulk (Superboat Stock), 2nd Amendment (P3) and Two Cruel (P4).
If you missed the action from the 11th Annual Thunder on the Gulf and the Inaugural Pensacola Grand Prix this past weekend, you can watch it here on Livestream athttp://new.livestream.com/sbi/orangebeach2014 and http://new.livestream.com/sbi/pensacola2014.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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