This past weekend, Kentucky racing fans were focused on the Quaker State 400. Attention shifts to the waterway this Fourth of July weekend.
Four different types of boats can compete in drag boat racing. Kentucky Drag Boat Association President Roger Austin says thousands will be on hand this weekend to watch between 40 and 50 boats race at speeds exceeding 150 miles per hour. "It will be wall to wall boats from 80-90 foot houseboats to 16 foot dinghies out there watching the boat races all up and down the side of a quarter mile," said Austin.
Austin says the number one priority is that "everybody goes home safe." He says there will be three safety boats along with three or four divers on the track at all times. "Generally any boat that crashes, I mean, we've never seen boats veer off the track. I mean, if they crash, they're generally going so fast, they crash in a straight line right down the track. Hopefully, we don't have any of those kind of events, something we definitely don't look forward to. We've been racing down there for my gosh, close to 40 years now, we've never had a fatality at Kentucky Lake," added Austin.
This is the second major drag boat race in Kentucky in as many months. The first was held in early June, also at Kentucky Lake.?
