Super Stock National Championship leaders Steven Bridges and David Selley are hoping to make further inroads in their title bid at the Roar Offshore Race in Fort Myers Beach, Florida this weekend.

The local pair hold a 96 point advantage at the summit over nearest rival team Wozencraft with three races remaining in the season.

Throttle man and boat owner Bridges and driver Selley are anxious to get back to racing having been out of action for more than a month, and are making their debut at this weekend’s event in Florida.

“Fort Myers is a new event for us and the organisers have put on a great race weekend with three days of qualifying and racing, so it will be a lot of activity both on and off the water,” Bridges told The Royal Gazette.

“We have never raced here before, but the weather is calling for calmer waters than Cocoa Beach and St Pete, so set up will be the main focus.

“There is a lot of competition in this class, and getting the right balance of set up and positioning is key.

“The race on Sunday is a points race for the championship, so we are aiming high and hope for the best.”

Bridges and driver Selley have been the most consistent team on the circuit so far this season having won the St Petersburg Grand Prix, Thunder at Cocoa Beach and St Clair River Classic, and finished second at the New Orleans Grand Prix and Shootout Offshore on Lake of Ozarks competing in their 32ft twin-engined catamaran, Team Bermuda.

Also flying the island’s banner in Florida is Luis Martins and Nick Imprescia, who are also hoping to continue their good run of form this season in their boat, Nuff Said.

“Hopefully we get a good qualifying lap, be consistent and finish strong,” driver Martins said.

“With three races left it’s about finishing strong to hopefully finish top three for the season.

“But it’s anyone’s game and such a competitive class that we all fighting for the same finish. We all are chasing our own countrymen (Bridges and Selley), which is great to have Bermuda up the top.”

Martins and throttle man Nick Imprescia are also holding their own in the championship having picked up their first win together at the Lake of Ozarks Shootout in Missouri in June. They have also finished in the top six at every race this year.

Team Bermuda and Nuff Said were left to ponder what might have been after choppy seas prevented them from racing at last month’s XInsurance Great Lakes Grand Prix in Michigan City.

The local teams had been hoping to continue their sparkling form in this year’s Super Stock National Championship and went into the event high on confidence after securing a second straight one-two finish last time out at the St Clair River Classic in Michigan.

However, things did not go ahead as planned as the adverse conditions forced cancellation of racing in the Super Stock class.

Much has changed since the start of the season with organisers International Hot Rod Association pulling the plug on the IHRA Offshore Series Championship.

However, the teams in the Super Stock class have agreed to complete the original seven points races, which now fall under the auspices of the Offshore Powerboat Association and Race World Offshore.

To help offset costs for teams to compete in the revised schedule, the entry fee has been waived, while prize money provided by the IHRA will still be up for grabs in the remaining races.

Teams will also carry their points accumulated from the four races completed in the original IHRA Offshore Series Championship forward.