Lilly Going Mod-V Racing This Weekend In Englewood Beach

Serious News · Tuesday at 9:22 PM

Created: October 7, 2025

Written by Matt Trulio

An eight-time-world and four-time national champion in offshore racing’s Mod V- class who now competes in the Pro Class 1 and Super Cat categories, Brit Lilly will return to Mod V competition this weekend in the El Bandido Yankee Tequila raceboat during the Englewood Beach Waterfest American Powerboat Boat Association/Union Internationale Motonautique Offshore Championships. Lilly is stepping into the cockpit of the 29-foot Extreme V-bottom for his longtime friend Steve Miklos, the team’s owner and throttleman.

El Bandido Yankee Tequila team driver Steve Fehrmann will share the cockpit with guest throttleman Brit Lilly in Englewood Beach this weekend. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

On advice from his physician, Miklos, who suffers from chronic disc and neck issues created by a decades offshore powerboat and automobile racing, is out of the cockpit this weekend. The Southwest Florida based-racer and Lilly have discussed running together in a Mod V race for years, but instead—at least for now—Lilly will share the cockpit with longtime El Bandido Yankee Tequila driver Steve Fehrmann.

“It should be a great pairing and I appreciate Brit stepping in,” Miklos explained. “It’ just not smart for me to get into a boat right now.”

Lilly’s last Mod V ride was a Mark Spates-designed Extreme 29-footer that he built himself at Lilly Sport Boats in Arnold, Mod. Miklos’ Mod V raceboat also is a 29-foot Extreme, but it runs on a hull modified by high-performance marine innovator and former offshore racer Scott Porta.

“Brit has only been in the boat with the Porta bottom once so it’s also a chance for him to evaluate and compare it to the original bottom,” Miklos said.

Miklos paused, then chuckled.

Captured here with his wife, Amanda, Brit Lilly is eager to climb back into a Mod V cockpit. Photo by Stephen Victor copyright speedonthewater.com.

“You know, I used to race against his dad, Art?” he continued. “I started racing in 1991.

“I never beat him,” he added, then laughed again. “True story.”

Lilly is eager to get back into a Mod V ride. He last ran in the class under the Hurricane of Awesomeness/LSB banner.

“It’s time to bring the Hurricane of Awesomeness back to Mod,” he said, the laughed. “Miklos and I had always wanted to run together but he already has this great driver, Steve Fehrmann. Now I get to add another sponsor banner—El Bandido Yankee Tequila—to my list.”

The veteran throttleman currently runs under the Pro Class 1 XINSURANCE South and Dirty Money Racing Super Cat-class banners. Neither team is competing in Englewood Beach, which made Lilly available to step in for Miklos.

“Both teams gave me their blessing,” Lilly said. “Dirty Money is completely on board. Rick Lindsey of XINSURANCE told me, ‘Absolutely go do it, go help out your friend. Go win in Englewood Beach.’”

For the Englewood Beach affair, Steve Miklos will be “the nervous guy on the other end of the radio.” Photo by Cole McGowan copyright Powerboat P1.

Said Miklos, “I couldn’t be happier to bring Brit and his family to Englewood Beach for the races. Our team wasn’t going to compete in Key West anyway. This lets us finish the season we planned four ourselves and our incredible sponsor, El Bandido Yankee Tequila.

“I told Brit, ‘Don’t worry about me, I’m just going to be the nervous guy on the other end of the radio,’” he added, then laughed.