A family tradition: La Pine man wins back-to-back 4-hour enduro boat races
(Update: adding video and Jack Stutesman comments)
LA PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- During the day, Jack Stutesman drives an 18-wheeler through the Pacific Northwest, hauling horticulture products -- and once a year, he competes in the Parker Enduro boat race.
"In 2011, we did our first endurance race -- and we flipped the first time," Stutesman told NewsChannel 21 on Thursday. "But believe it or not, we did finish the race."
Nine years later, after his first race, Stutesman brought home first place in the Parker Enduro Grand Nationals in 2020, and again this year, on Oct. 30, held at La Paz county park, near the Arizona-California border.
“It’s the Indy 500, they say, of boat racing,” Stutesman said.
And he's carrying on a family tradition, too. Stutesman's father was one of the drivers on the winning boat in the first ever Parker Enduro in the 1960s.
“That was what we did," Stutesman said. "I mean, growing up, before we could walk -- I was swimming in the pool and riding in the boat when I was a baby.”
Stutesman competes in the Grand Nationals class, a race to see who can do the most laps in four hours on a six mile course. Stutesman and his driving partner Dave Allen did 38 laps, traveling more than 220 miles, hitting an average speed of 79 mph and a top speed of 91 mph.
Stutesman plans to race again next year telling NewsChannel 21 he'll "have to defend" his title. Stutesman and his brother usually spend time trying to upgrade the boat's components before the next race.
