Astonishing video captures a speedboat flying into the air at more than 200 mph during a doomed attempt to break a speed record — then flipping over multiple times before slamming into a Nevada lake.
The speedboat’s drivers — using the pseudonyms John Wayne and Clint Eastwood — were attempting to break the record of 206 mph at Saturday’s 2025 Desert Storm Shootout boating event when their Skater 388 was filmed suddenly taking flight on Lake Havasu.
The boat suddenly flew straight up in the air, slamming back down into the water after flipping several times in front of horrified onlookers, now-viral video shared by Speedboat Magazine shows.
Miraculously, both drivers survived the crash with minor injuries.
“They came to Lake Havasu earlier in the week intending to break the record here for the desert storm shootout,” the magazine’s Ray Lee said. “That was their first pass of the day and when they went over, the radar picked them up at 200.1 mph.”
They are racers with Freedom One Racing based out of Kansas City, Missouri, and were using the names of Hollywood action heroes Wayne and Eastwood to protect their real identities.
Further dramatic video shows inside the cockpit at the moment of impact, as shared by Freedom One Racing on Facebook.
Fellow competitor Jeff Clark told FOX10 that the “horrendous” crash was spine-chilling to watch.
“My heart dropped when I saw that boat get airborne. It’s never something you want to look at when you’re out having fun as a driver for sure,” he said.
It’s thought that windy conditions on the lake Saturday may have led to the crash — but ironically may have saved the lives of those onboard.
“Best-case scenario, because of the wind, when the boat cut it, it held it up there longer than had there not been such substantial wind,” Lee said.
Clark also praised the design of the boat for saving the men. “Those guys are alive for one reason and one reason only. That boat was built not to come apart,” he said.
“I tip my hat to … the crew that built that boat because it saved that guy’s life, it saved both of their lives, there’s no doubt about it.”
Lake Havasu has seen 11 fatal racing crashes since 1963, according to Motorsport Memorial.
The deadliest was in 2018 when three people were killed in a crash involving a boat called the Lickety Split.
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