Competition Hobbies, in Tuscon Arizona, was once again host to the 7th Annual Southwest Indoor Grand Prix. Featuring many factory drivers such as X Factory's Brian Kinwald, AE's Ryan Maifield and Chad Due, and Losi's Billy Fisher, the competition this year was as hot as the desert sand outside. Scotty Ernst ran the race and made sure everything went super-smooth, and of course a big thanks goes out to Brad Krans (TFR!) for putting the whole event together.
Competition Hobbies is one of the most awesome RC Facilities in the United States, and perhaps in the world. An awesome fully-stocked pro shop greets each person who walks through the door, but the real delight is the racing area filling the back. A 22,000+ sq. foot area is filled with a high-bite off-road track, a giant carpet track, and 150+ powered pit spaces. It's truly a wonderful racing facility for everyone in and around the Tuscon area.
Racing action got underway with three rounds of qualifying on Saturday, then finished with a fourth round on Sunday morning followed by the main events.
After the exciting rounds on Saturday, Patrick Perkins sat on top of 1/12th scale stock Brian Kinwald provisional TQ of Modified Foam TC, and Sarah Ernst on top of 13.5 Rubber-tire Touring Car. The fourth round of qualifying Sunday morning saw no changes for the on-road classes, so the poles were set for the mains. In 1/12th scale, Brian Kinwald looked inside at the start but got stuck, dropping back down to last on the first lap, but then showed why the Dirtin8tor should be feared on carpet too as he charged through the field to take the win. BK backed up his performance by dominating the modified foam TC final, storming off from his TQ spot and never looking back despite a hard-charging Maifield (running a Brad Krans rent-a-ride). Sarah Ernst would dominate the 13.5 rubber TC class similarly.
On the dirt things were even more heated. Danny Stojakovic of West Coast R/C debuted his new prototype ICON motors, and his stuff was reeeediculous fast on the track. Danny would go on to TQ stock buggy with X Factory's Alex Krieg in second. Those two were reversed for stock truck. Brian Kinwald TQ'd modified truck, and Ryan Maifield ended qualifying on top of modified 4wd and 2wd.
Danny and Alex had a good battle going in the 2wd stock main, until a wreck about halfway through the 10 minute race dropped Danny back into the pack. Alex went on to nearly lap the field in the last half, and repeated the dominant performance in stock truck. Ryan Maifield showed his TQ pace in the modified 4wd main, leading from the wire for the win. Modified truck was a good battle early between Brian and X Factory up-and-comer Chance Chapel before the Dirt pulled away and took the win. The final race of the weekend was 2wd modified, where Dirt holeshot past Chad Due to chase down Ryan Maifield. For the first half of the race BK followed Ryan, turning identical lap times while ripping through the field. A wreck on the triple jump foiled Brian's chances to make the pass though, and so Ryan went on for the win.
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