Logan's Heroes #614 Caps OPA Racing's 2026 Season with Overall High Points Championship

CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT
Lake Hopatcong, NJ
September 22, 2026

Logan's Heroes delivered a perfect Class 600 finale at Lake Hopatcong to secure a seven-point overall title margin in a season reshaped by the collapse of the OPA and IHRA partnership.

OPA Racing's 2026 season belonged to Logan's Heroes #614.

With Ron May driving at St. Clair, the Class 600 team finished the year as the overall High Points Champion with 211 points. The team also claimed the Class 600 National Championship, defined by OPA as the team with the highest cumulative points total in its class.

The championship was built through consistency. Logan's Heroes won the Class 600 points battle at both OPA race stops. The team scored 105 points at the St. Clair River Classic in Michigan, then followed with 106 points at the Lake Hopatcong Offshore Grand Prix in New Jersey.

That performance put Logan's Heroes seven points ahead of Wazzup #SV3, which finished second overall with 204 points. Wicked's Super Cat #SC6 finished third overall with 190 points.

A season that changed before it started

The 2026 OPA season was originally announced as a three-race Divisional Triple Crown in partnership with IHRA Offshore. The planned schedule included the Freeport Offshore Grand Prix in New York, the St. Clair River Classic, and the Lake Hopatcong Offshore Grand Prix. OPA announced purses of more than $50,000 across the program.

That plan changed in late May.

According to reporting by Speed on the Water, IHRA's legal counsel sent OPA President Nick Smith a letter dated May 29 terminating the partnership agreement. Smith was also serving as IHRA's race director and logistics manager for offshore events.

The immediate result was the cancellation of the Freeport Offshore Grand Prix, which had been scheduled for July 10 to 12 and was intended to open the OPA and IHRA series. Smith announced his resignation from IHRA on June 4.

Smith described the decision to cancel Freeport as heartbreaking. The event team and its local and federal partners had worked to secure the necessary approvals after the previous year's late regulatory shutdown. The cancellation left the event organizers facing a serious financial setback.

Smith also said he wished IHRA success and noted that he had invested significant time in building the organization's offshore program. His resignation marked the end of OPA's partnership role inside the IHRA offshore operation.

The future of the remaining OPA races was uncertain for a short time. St. Clair and Lake Hopatcong ultimately continued under OPA, creating a two-event championship season instead of the planned three-race series.

The St. Clair River Classic and Lake Hopatcong schedule continued under OPA, while IHRA no longer funded, sanctioned, televised, or awarded championship points for St. Clair.

A leadership partnership built to move OPA forward

The 2026 season also marked a monumental moment in OPA Racing history. Ed "Smitty" Smith was the organization's president and became one of the most important figures in the long history of offshore racing promoters. In 2023, his son Nick Smith took over as OPA president and carried that work into a new era.

Nick's partnership with Tommy Thomassie has helped keep OPA moving forward through changing sanctioning relationships, shifting race calendars, and the everyday demands of producing offshore events. Their work is rooted in the same priorities that have defined OPA for decades: protect the race sites, serve the teams, and keep the sport connected to its fans and host communities.

In 2026, Tommy stepped into the vice president role previously held by Nick. That transition is significant in an organization with such a stable history. Across 26 years, OPA has had only two presidents and three vice presidents. After 27 years of service to the sport, the organization is positioned to move forward with a unified leadership team: Nick Smith as president, Tommy Thomassie as vice president, and Smitty continuing in an advisory commissioner role.

The structure combines experience, succession, and continuity. Smitty's knowledge of the sport remains part of the organization. Nick represents the next generation of leadership. Tommy brings a new vice presidential voice to the team. Together, they give OPA a leadership foundation capable of carrying the organization through disruption without losing its identity.

St. Clair opens the championship fight

The St. Clair River Classic took place from July 24 to 26 in St. Clair, Michigan. OPA described the venue as fast and flat, a place where top speed matters. The river also brought tight quarters, unpredictable current, and a large shoreline crowd close to the action.

Logan's Heroes opened the championship with 105 points in Class 600. That was enough to lead the class and establish the overall High Points lead, but the margin over Wazzup was only two points. The championship was open, and the finale would matter.

The St. Clair event produced a wide range of class winners. American Custom Marine won Extreme. Wicked led Super Cat. Team Bermuda topped Super Stock. Montlick won Factory Stock. Wazzup won Super Vee. Clouatre Cartel led Modified Vee. Ultimate Boat Racing Experience won Vee Limited. The Wild One topped Class 300. Spectre won Class 400. Fuel 1 Team led Class 500. Logan's Heroes won Class 600, and Team Progression led Class 700.

Those were single-event results. The season championships would be determined by cumulative points across the two OPA stops.

Lake Hopatcong becomes the championship stage

OPA returned to Lake Hopatcong from September 18 to 20 for the season finale. The event featured a 3.8-mile main-lake course with eight turns, along with team access, technical inspections, testing, live music, waterfront viewing, and a full weekend of activities around the racing.

For Logan's Heroes, the task was straightforward but demanding. The team had to protect its lead against Wazzup and deliver another complete Class 600 weekend.

It did exactly that.

The official Class 600 results show Logan's Heroes winning both days. The team scored 50 points on Day 1 and 50 points on Day 2, then collected six bonus points for a final event total of 106.

J&J Racing finished second in the Lake Hopatcong Class 600 results with 90.5 points. Under Pressure finished third with 85.5, followed by Team Horizon with 80 points.

Wazzup scored 101 points at Lake Hopatcong. That left the final overall calculation at 211 points for Logan's Heroes and 204 for Wazzup.

The six bonus points added important championship texture. Without them, Logan's Heroes would have finished with 205 points from its two race totals, only one point ahead of Wazzup. With the bonus, the final margin became seven points.

The title was not won by a single dramatic comeback. It was won by taking first place twice, then collecting every point available.

The 2026 National Champions

OPA's final High Points standings identify the following class champions based on cumulative points:

The Vee Limited standings list two Ultimate Boat Racing Experience entries separately, with VL3 scoring 101 points and VL2 scoring 90. The combined total is shown here because the entries share the same team name. If the championship is interpreted strictly by individual boat, VL3 is the leading entry.

The final standings also show why an event winner is not always the season champion. Clouatre Cartel won Modified Vee at St. Clair, but Fastboys took the season title with points from both events. The Wild One and Shocker each led a Class 300 event, but Herbott Racing's two consistent results produced the class championship. Team Progression won Class 700 at St. Clair, but Wild Card's strong Lake Hopatcong performance secured the season crown. Wild Card accomplished that feat in its Rookie season, making the Class 700 National Championship an especially notable first-year achievement.

Inside Logan's Heroes #614

At St. Clair, Ron May drove Logan's Heroes #614, with Steve Lapinta serving as throttleman. Their work helped the team open the season with a 105-point Class 600 result and the overall High Points lead.

Their championship pairing represents the visible side of a larger team effort. Offshore racing rewards speed, but a season championship also depends on preparation, technical compliance, safety work, ramp operations, and the ability to deliver the boat to the start line ready to perform.

Logan's Heroes answered two very different venue challenges. St. Clair rewarded top speed on fast river water. Lake Hopatcong demanded repeatability on a technical course across two race days. The #614 team was fast enough to win at St. Clair and disciplined enough to repeat the performance at Lake Hopatcong.

The Class 600 championship margin over Kokomo was 52.5 points. The overall margin over Wazzup was seven points. Those numbers tell two different stories. Within Class 600, Logan's Heroes established clear control. Across the entire OPA fleet, the team had to remain nearly perfect to stay ahead of Wazzup.

That is what makes the 2026 title compelling. Logan's Heroes did not need a rescue at the final race. It needed to execute the same formula it had used all season: run at the front, finish the weekend, and maximize the scoring opportunity.

A championship built in the pits and proven on the water

OPA's 2026 season carried more than race results. St. Clair brought boardwalk crowds, river racing, and a community that embraced the return of offshore competition. Lake Hopatcong turned the finale into a full weekend built around boats, teams, music, food, waterfront viewing, and fan access.

That atmosphere is part of the Logan's Heroes story. The championship was not earned in isolation. It was built within the work of the crew, the event organizers, the host communities, the volunteers, the sponsors, and the fans who kept the season moving after the IHRA partnership ended.

When the final awards were presented at Lake Hopatcong, Logan's Heroes #614 had the numbers to define the season: 211 High Points, two Class 600 event wins, the Class 600 National Championship, and the overall OPA High Points Championship.

The Logan's Heroes team did not need one miracle run. It needed to be first at St. Clair, first again at Lake Hopatcong, and ready to collect every point the weekend offered.

In a season decided by seven points, Logan's Heroes made consistency look fast.