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Official Shootout Press Release—March 8th, 2025—By Christy Wagner, Editor
After months of vigilant planning and continuous communication with local and state safety officials—including members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Water Patrol Division, Missouri Parks Association, and local police and fire protection districts—the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, per standard operating procedure, has secured written, preliminary commitment for its regatta permit request for August of 2025.
Regatta permits—especially when they pertain to races—are carefully inspected and controlled by State of Missouri public safety officials, and the Shootout itself does not typically receive its final regatta permit from said governing officials until mid-year (oftentimes, during the summer). It is the direct responsibility of State of Missouri public safety officials to ensure that all permits are issued to the appropriate applicant and without conflicting concerns in regard to public safety.
Let’s talk more about the boat races, shall we?
As was previously released in October of 2024, the 37th Annual Shootout’s two-day races are scheduled to take place on August 23rd and 24th of 2025, respectively. The races themselves will occur just south of the Grand Glaize Bridge’s crossing at the 2-mile marker of the Grand Glaize Arm, nestled along the beautiful shores of the vast Lake of the Ozarks State Park. The new 2025 host location will take place at Dog Days Bar & Grill while utilizing docks or other completed portions of Oasis & Marriott Resort and Conference Center. In addition to Oasis’ future developments, Dog Days’ current amenities are well-equipped to handle an event of this magnitude with ample dock space, two pools, various locations to order food and drinks, a double kitchen, expansive parking areas, and its proximity within the City of Osage Beach. In due course and upon the completion of all ongoing construction at Oasis, the Shootout’s races will foreseeably evolve into a ‘block host location’ between all establishments.
Earlier this week, Mark and Brian Barrett, dual owners of Dog Days Bar & Grill, received the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitor Bureau (CVB) Award for Partners in Tourism in 2025. The Barretts’ extensive experience in hosting some of the Lake’s largest events and their consistent support of local charities, along with the promotion of tri-county tourism, were recognized in a room filled with hundreds of business owners and private individuals from across the Lake of the Ozarks.
“My brother and I were honored to have received the CVB’s Partners in Tourism Award,” explained Mark Barrett. “We have been here for 32 years, and we have worked on many events and with many local charities along the way. I have served on the CVB Board of Directors for approximately 25 years and earlier this week, they recognized my brother and I. It was a total surprise and honor; they didn’t tell us that we were winning it. To be present in a room with approximately 400 local business owners and people from across our community, and to be recognized for the years that we have put into it all, was such an unexpected gift. We cannot wait to see what the future will bring to the Lake of the Ozarks and the Shootout.”
Last year, the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout Board of Directors began conducting preliminary research on potentially relocating its race course for the second time in its 37-year history to the Grand Glaize Arm (it began at the former Shooters 21 in 1989 and was relocated to Captain Ron’s Bar & Grill in 2008). While considering this exciting possibility, Myrick Coil, a native of the Lake of the Ozarks, utilized GPS coordinates to test the new course multiple times since last fall. Now that the Shootout has received its written commitment from the Water Patrol Division, members of its federally recognized nonprofit organization will begin working with State of Missouri safety officials to finalize the course, and to fine-tune all aspects of this August’s upcoming races.
Since Coil’s very first test run, there have been various adaptations to the course itself to ensure the very best operational functionality and overall safety for racers, spectators, and safety officials alike. August of 2025’s races will mark Coil’s 24th year as a veteran performance boat racer at the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, and he is also a decorated UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship Series winner.
“When I tested the race course the other day, I remember thinking that it felt far more open and wider than what can be interpreted from simply looking at a topographical map,” Coil explained. “With each test run, I begin my pass at 40 miles per hour as I typically would while traveling through the Shootout’s ‘Start Box.’ Once I’ve completed the test run and let off of the throttles, there is more than enough distance for any vessel, no matter the speed, to safely slow down and exit the course, just as it would have done at the previous 34.5-mile marker’s finish line (where you were disqualified if you passed beneath the Hurricane Deck Bridge). I am excited for the Shootout to come back to the City of Osage Beach for the proximity of the event, by both land and water, and the Grand Glaize Arm is normally a calmer portion of the Lake of the Ozarks. Overall, I am excited to see what this year’s Shootout races will bring to our community.”
In accordance with the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout’s bylaws as a federal nonprofit organization, the voted-upon and formally approved move to relocate from the 34.5-mile marker of the Main Channel to the 2-mile marker of the Grand Glaize Arm did not occur overnight. Months upon months of behind-the-scenes conversations, countless safety meetings, and the potential for enormous growth were ultimately what led to this change. The tireless planning for an event of such caliber is a year-round endeavor, but the right individuals are at the helm, advocating for the Shootout’s best year yet.
“The Shootout is incredibly excited to move forward with our plans for this August’s unsanctioned races, and each step of the way has been one step closer to our eventual three-to-five-year goals,” stated Lake of the Ozarks Shootout Executive Director Leah Martin (2021-present). “Since the initial phase of our planning process, we have worked closely with Oasis & Marriott Resort and Conference Center to monitor their timeline of new docks and a parking garage, both of which are currently being built off-site. Should the timeline for the parking garage be delayed due to adverse weather conditions this winter and/or spring, then we are working on secondary parking options at the Osage Beach Outlet Mall with spectator shuttle buses running to and from the Shootout’s new host location. We have partnered with local businesses, including Lake Regional Hospital, to secure long-term parking for both vessels and trailers alike. We are working with all of our available assets in the area, going so far as securing nearby facilities for lodging while conducting extensive safety meetings with state and local safety officials. Since our relocation announcement last October, we have spoken with national sponsors who are eager to take part in the enormous growth of our event, including a national production company with 600 million subscribers across the world.”
In line with the Shootout’s future aims over the next three-to-five years, there is additional development planning underway at the crest of the Grand Glaize Bridge’s crossing. Rumor has it that there will be another family-friendly, globally recognized hotel in the works in Fish Hatchery Cove at the 1-mile marker of the Grand Glaize Arm within the next year. In addition to the current construction of Oasis’ 402-key Marriott-flagged, family-friendly hotel which should be finished by 2026’s races, the second Marriott-flagged hotel in Fish Hatchery Cove—pending the application and approval of formal permits with the City of Osage Beach—will boast 175 keys, complete with an adventure park filled with a ropes course and zip line, indoor rock climbing wall, outdoor beer gardens, and other exciting features. The tentative completion date for the second hotel project is in the Spring of 2028.
But first, Oasis’ docks and parking garage.
“With 100 percent certainty, our crews will have 200 operational dock slips available at no cost to the Shootout before this August’s races,” explained Owner Jeff Tegethoff of Tegethoff Development. “While the construction of the parking garage itself is weather-dependent—not just in regard to below-freezing temperatures but also potential rain delays—we are having discussions with our subcontractors for picking up additional working days outside of the standard workweek. We will fight like hell to get it done.”
Staunch determination and an unwavering, dream-driven work ethic aside, Tegethoff remains humble and grateful for this opportunity to develop a deeper relationship with burgeoning local businesses and the multi-generational, iconic boat race known around the world as the ‘Lake of the Ozarks Shootout.’
“Hosting the Shootout will be a great honor, and we are thrilled to be a part of the next phase of growth and global recognition for this marquis event,” Tegethoff said, in closing. “The work that Shootout Executive Director Leah Martin and her team have done to elevate the Shootout aligns perfectly with the vision for Oasis—'Where Moments Become Memories’—and our future developments in that area.”
Race participants, spectators, sponsors, volunteers, and viewers from across the world: We will see you on the Grand Glaize Arm this August.
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