A 51-foot canopied Outerlimits V-bottom, Factory Billet is owned by entrepreneur/engineer/industrialist Jim Schultz. The boat is powered by twin turbocharged engines—complete with three-speed automatic transmissions—making more than 6,000 combined.. The engines were built by his friend and co-pilot Mike Faucher, who works year-round prepping the boat for Lake of the Ozarks Shootout.

As most go-fast boating fans know, the Central Missouri top-speed contest is the only event in which Factory Billet competes outside of testing in Northern Illinois. Its Shootout performances are the stuff of legend.

In 2024, Schultz and Faucher hoped for a 170-mph pass on the three-quarter-mile course. To their surprise, and that of everyone on hand, they reached a mind-boggling 184 mph.

Their goal for last year’s event simply was to improve on that mark. And with only run down the course, they upped the all-time V-bottom Shootout mark to 186 mph.

Less than 30 minutes later, Schultz was on a plane bound for his daughter’s birthday party in South Florida. Committed to celebrating the five-year-old’s big day around the pool with her fellow mermaids and princesses, Schultz had time for just one run on the course, just one opportunity to improve on the mark he and Faucher established in 2024.

And they did.

With time for just one pass, Factory Billet made a 186-mph run at the 2024 Lake of Ozarks Shootout and upped the record it set the prior year. Photo by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Those are the nuts and bolts of the Factory Billet story, but as viewers will learn in a compelling new Scrapyard Media video on the boat and the men behind it, there is so much more to it. Co-produced with speedonthewater.com, the 20-minute video hosted on the Speed On The Water YouTube channel not only tells the remarkable story of Factory Billet’s most recent achievement, but of its eight-year Shootout journey and the dedication and building blocks it took Schultz and Faucher to arrive at Shootout V-bottom Top Gun status.

It’s a great story, and one you don’t want to miss. Watch it now.

Speed On The Water YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@speedonthewater

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