Jason Priestley Starts Making Waves

By Stephen M. Silverman

10/29/2001 at 01:00 PM EST

A former "Beverly Hills, 90210" hunk is hitting the water. Fast. Jason Priestley is scheduled to race in Florida's 21st annual Fountain Key West Super Boat World Championship Nov. 4-10, organizers of the event announced Monday. "We are delighted and proud to have Jason," Super Boat International president John Carbonell said in a statement, adding that the 32-year-old is "following the tradition of former racing stars like Don Johnson, Chuck Norris and Kurt Russell who have helped spread the great excitement and thrills of superboat racing." An avid sports enthusiast, Priestley (who's also hot stuff on the hockey ice) helped set a new world lap speed record of 147.4 mph in the New York Super Boat Grand Prix last Sept. 9. (His co-pilot in the superboat "Planetman" was Tim Ciasulli.) Besides the New York event, Priestley has also competed in the Motorola Cup and the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Calif. In addition, he has served as a broadcast commentator for ABC Sports' Indy Racing League coverage of the Indianapolis 500 and "NASCAR's Greatest Moments." A professional racer for nine years, Priestley remarked: "If I could get racing to pay as much as acting, I'd give up acting in a second."