Whether you love them, or hate them, the Muscle Racing Team is undoubtedly one of the most well-known teams on the APBA national racing circuit. With a flash of black and bravado, they saunter into each race site, bringing a little—well, a lot--of "T&A," excitement and definite presence, and leave a wake of temporary tattoos, T-shirts, and great memories for fans behind them.

Led by owner and throttleman, "Diamond" Dave Branch, himself a study in a laid back style of intensity, the Muscle Racing Team is the antithesis of what Offshore Powerboat Racing wants to be about. Though they tout an image of being a family sport, and due to cultural demographics, have become that, Offshore Racing is still a sport filled with passion, the thrill of speed, testosterone and women endowed with a significant number of "after-market" parts, (as dubbed by George Steiner, Warlock's new marketing director). Scantily clad women have graced the seats of power boats since day one, so why all the furor over the ones painted on the Muscle Team's fleet of vehicles?

And a fleet it is, requiring a 9,000 s.f. warehouse facility. The recently retired XXX Muscle, a 42" custom Fountain still makes a Pit appearance at races, though this season, the team brought the B-1 33' "Thee Muscle" Powerplay back out of retirement, with the announcement that "The Bitch Is Back!" Among the vehicles in the entourage are a '96 Viper, a 2000 Porsche, two custom softail Harleys, with a matching trailer, a Peterbuilt truck with a 40' Warrior Race Trailer, that doubles as a lounge (complete with a "Petting Zoo" loft boudoir with shower and bath where tattoo of the month contestants can compete) and machine shop, a dooley, and RV, a souvenir trailer (manned by Branch's Momma Muscle and Dad), a limo and a Chevy Suburban, all custom painted in black with the Muscle Team logo, of a woman's lips—and very sensually depicted tongue—along with assorted now, bikini clad women.

The design and custom painting of the vehicles is all handled by team member Dave "All Night" Hunter, who also navigates on the V-boat. Branch was a customer of Hunter's Ft. Lauderdale shop, where he had created graphics and painted a variety of race boats and custom cars. "I had done so much work for them and knew the boat, that it was a natural fit for me to be in the navigator seat," Hunter says, "It really is a blast, we combine having a great time and being responsible about racing. There are different animals in the boat—ones that are very careful about safety," he continues, "Dave is a terrific friend—everybody on the team is a real pleasure to be around."

The Muscle Team burst onto the Offshore Powerboat scene in 1996, then known as the Love Muscle, which was edited, due to APBA Official's dictate—as was the nude woman on the side of the boat—hence the new painted-on bikini. "There are rules about lewd and vulgar names or graphics on the boat—it is not the image that the APBA wants to portray. We have always promoted grassroots races and the inclusion of children, and their show is offensive to a lot of people and families. All I did was uphold the ideals of the organization," that official commented. "I remember when they first came into Ft. Myers," recalled VP Racing Fuel's distributor, Mark Klein, "Everyone was snickering and raising eyebrows, no one expected them to win. But here they are, five years later, almost as the grandfather of racing teams—they've been around longer than any of the others!" In a sport where teams come and go, depending on money, sponsors, racers or lack thereof, The Muscle has been not only a consistent presence in both APBA and SBI circuits, they have been contenders.

"In the beginning, they said, 'you're gone!'" says Branch, "But I like being here, and have a good time—it's not me against them," he explains his love-hate relationship with the APBA, while wearing a black body hugging T-shirt with "Nasty Reputation" on its sleeve. And no one can contest that anyone has much fun at, and with, the APBA pro series than the Muscle Team—Branch loves being both the scourge of the sanctioning body, as well as one of its biggest promoters. As a marketer, Branch sees the big picture and knows that sex sells.

The Muscle compound in the Dry Pits is always a rock and roll party, filled with fans, groupies, a 12+ man crew, many of whom are not paid, but just come along to help field the show and enjoy wearing the XXX Muscle Team black crew T-shirts. No brightly colored polyester racing shirts for this bunch, Branch and "Special K" Bruce Kruglick—make that Doctor Bruce Kruglick who is an emergency room physician at Sarasota Memorial Hospital—talk about intense—are normally clad in black lycra or leather, showing off not only sculpted biceps and tattoos, but an attitude and disregard for what is "normal" in racing.

But all of the flamboyant and sexy image aside, (and Branch will tell you himself, that he is "one very sexy man"), did we mention that this team can really RACE? Over the past five years, the Team has accumulated 22 checkered flags (many of which Branch has given to kids), and an assortment of titles including 1999 Gold Cup, 1998 National Championships, Award of Valor, Offshore Racing Medal of Honor, Bill Soris Memorial Trophy, 1997 Runner Up in V-Class National, World Championship and Gold Cup, and National Champ Runner Up in B Class. In '97, they also won Sports Team of the Year and received the Caesars Marine Charity Award, while Branch was named Driver of the Year and Kruglick won a World Championship with his former race team. In '96, they were named Rookies of the Year, APBA National Champions, World Kilo Speed Record Holders in V-Class and won 3rd place in Gold Cup High Points.

"When we came in, we knew we'd have to win [to be taken seriously]," says Branch, "At that Ft. Myers race, we made a statement, and they knew we were for real after that." Branch furthered his "good guy" reputation among racers, when he threw away chances at a title, by jumping out of his boat, into gasoline filled water, to save Jim Horne, who had been thrown out of his 47' Fountain at the beginning of the World Championship SBI race in Key West. "I knew I had just spent $100,000 to go to this race, but there was never a question for me. We saw him flip and he was face down in the water—of course I was going in!" he states.

Such demonstrations of unselfishness, and yes, bravery, do not go unnoticed in a sport where people risk their lives in the name of sport and fun. The cultivated image as perverted "Bad Boys," belies the personal depth and commitment shown when more important things count, and have earned Branch the respect, if not necessarily the friendship of most racers. "A lot of these guys don't like it when they see us surrounded by 150 fans in the Pits, signing autographs, selling T-shirts, they say, 'They're perverts, they make us look bad,' but they don't get it—you have to promote—look at NASCAR, that's part of everyone's contracts, you have to create exposure." Branch tells other stories of fan loyalty, "muscle heads" who come to every race, who have had their own real tattoos done to replicate the fake ones put on many a woman's body parts at the trailer, the fan from South Carolina who bought $600 worth of race apparel at one time and even the fan who got 2,000 names signed on a petition to fight the APBA's dictum to change the team's name. He reports the www.muscleracing.com site gets 1,000 hits per week, and acknowledges some "weirdo's" too, who will approach him when he is in his personal Ferrari or spending time with his family. But, Branch accepts it as part of the aura of fame—or infamy, in which he has enveloped himself.

Kruglick, who joined the team in '98, after racing as a competitor with the Banker team, laughs about his association, "I got a message from my son that Dave Branch called and wanted me to go car racing with him, I didn't think the message was right, didn't think much of it and never returned the call, then he called again and said, 'Man, I want you to come racing with me!' We hooked up and have been good friends ever since." Kruglick's wife, Sunny, a vivacious blond, is a part of the team, playing the Biker Babe role well, while keeping some of the adoring female fans at bay. Branch, despite his Bad Boy image is also a devoted father to a beautiful daughter and son, and husband to Leigh, who is more a participant observer of the entourage. The kids attend a few of the races and just take it all in stride, riding in the boat parades and accepting the checkered flags at award ceremonies, at their young ages, oblivious to the antics of the their Dad. "If I wasn't married, I'd be dead," Branch states matter-of-factly, "It's the way I live my life. I play hard, I go hard, but on Monday, it's over."

Branch's Muscle and sex show might seem extreme to some, but understand that he was introduced to the sport by the granddaddy of Offshore Showmen, Al Copeland. As a college student in New Orleans, who had raced motorcross, Branch met Copeland of the legendary Popeye's Racing Team, who asked him to cook crawfish for him at a party. Then he invited him out on a turn boat at a race. "The first time they went around a corner, I said, 'Holy Shit! When I make money, this is where I want to go! And I'm going in BIG!'" True to his promise, after becoming extremely successful in the oil business, Branch has continued to build a variety of businesses, including Horizon Diagnostic Centers, a medical MRI testing firm he now heads, which provides him the flexibility—and financial strength—to race "big." "I thought it was really ironic that last year, I sat with Al Copeland, who I met as a college kid and who brought me into this, and we were both judging the bikini contest at the Key West race! We laughed about it, and here I am, still in the sport!" Copeland, who has retired from racing, still brings his boats, helicopters, limos and big boy toys to the Championship races for show—a symbol of the carnival that used to be Offshore Racing and that Branch is keeping alive.

Branch plans to finish this season in the B-Class, though the competition is slim right now. He has the boat dialed-in with new Bandit engines that were questioned by inspectors at the Sarasota race. Having been called in from his daughter's Watermouse race, to deal with a required dismantling of the engines for inspection, Branch was more outraged by the implication that he was cheating, than the $3,000 price tag for the engine work—not to mention missing his daughter's race and his own awards ceremony in his home town, where he took his 22nd checkered flag. "A bunch of racers like Art Lilly and Bill Hill were behind me—they even told the inspector, 'This guy has given away a championship to save someone's life—he's the last guy who is ever going to cheat out here!'" Branch is building a Super Cat that will bear the name of his new sponsor, who will come aboard next season. Penthouse magazine is a logical partner for the Muscle Team and while the magazine plans to use the boat for promotional purposes and photo shoots, Branch assures that the image at the races will still be family-friendly—at least as much as current presence. But despite suggestive popsicle eating contests, strategically placed tattoos, rock 'n rock groupies and beer drinking, the Muscle Team is not only a winner, but a donor of many thousands of dollars to charities. All of its winnings are donated to the host city's beneficiary or to underprivileged children. The team also created a Muscle Racing Scholarship Foundation which funds two college scholarships a year for needy high school seniors.

"I do believe [The Muscle Team] brings a healthy dose of controversy and bad boy imagery, and thus theater to APBA Offshore," says Mike Allweiss, Chairman, "They have gone over the line at times and when we have asked them to step back, they have. Overall, they are a positive for the sport and best of all, they are real racers. They win and they are champions, so you cannot really argue with that."

So flex those muscles guys, and keep up the effort. Says Hunter, "Dave's promise has always been to build the sport. Whether they come to hate us or love us, or wear a T-shirt, they take part in racing."