Alright, I've been on the phone a bunch over the past weekend trying to get tidbits of information about the USRA season finale race at Parker, AZ. From all accounts it was BIG and he racing was fast and furious, but not without plenty of "drama". And, apparently, the championship picture didn't totally come together as it was expected.

I know Scott and others are still driving back East so they can't get online right now but how about some of you Cali' boys giving us the scoop? It seems that things were eventful for all of you! WE NEED DETAILS............

Hey Robert,

It was not a pretty weekend. I wasn't keeping track but plenty of models were lost, and there was some incredible racing also. The F1 heats and trophy race in particular were great to watch.

Mike McConville lost the GR Thursday evening, ended up flying Pete Goldsmith's GT Proudbird in a few F1 heats to earn a few points and win the Championship.

The GT Championship panned out differently than expected. Leading going in was Pete Goldsmith, with Scott Hanbury, Mark Zeal and Mike Tallman not far behind. I thought I might have an outside chance going in 5th.
Pete lost the Kelly to a landing light (fuselage still ok).
Scott's new GR went out with wing damage. A gifted wing from Tom E. and a frantic Saturday morning build and re-engine saw him win a heat or two, only to lose the entire model to a radio issue on landing.
Friday I lost my GR in a mid-air with Mark's Polecat, which was also totaled.
Jake and Larry Sutherland came together in a start dive, both totaled.

Mike Tallman was consistent all year, stayed out of trouble, and is the F1-GT season champ.

John Lockwood won the Biplane Championship with a single race showing, as did Scott Hanbury in T-6. Sparky lost his bipe, not sure of the circumstances there.

Unlimited Gold is getting tougher to make. Lots of entries (three heats), and a DNS can put you outside the top 5. Tom Keating and Pete Goldsmith both chucked spinners on the start line (nobody hurt), and that hindered their Gold chances a lot.

In the Gold race Tom Easterday and Tim Sparks came together in spectacular fashion before the start, then Teamerica Dan lost his motor (fell out, not quit), leaving Dave Smith and Fred French to battle it out. Which they did, in a very entertaining race, with Fred winning by a small margin. As expected, Fred is also season champ.

Congrats to all the winners, hopefully next year will see less damage.

Craig.

WOW!

That's what I call an eventful race! Are the planets aligned a certain way or something? How else can we explain all the midairs? I guess it just goes to show that the racing was tight.

OK, so the season champs appear to be (by virtue of the points from all three series races):

Biplane : John Lockwood
T-6 : Scott Hanbury
F1-GT: Mike Tallman
F1-Alky : Mike McConville
Unlimited : Fred French

And I hear that Craig Greening is the "Rookie of the Year"....Congrats CG!

So how about a breakdown of the top finishers at this particular race in each class..........

Craig, Rookie of the year ......nice. Hate to see the carnage though.

All the official results from the race and the season are now available from the USRA:

HEAT RACE RESULTS

TROPHY RACE RESULTS

SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

We missed you Robert!! BTW, you were also recognized as the Rookie of the Year for the 2005 season and thereis a very nice gold cup for you.

It was a lot of fun sans the crashes. Then again, sans the crashes, there was only about 6 minutes of the weekend left. ;(

Mikey,

I was dying back here all weekend and had racing fever BAD!

BTW - that was some smart thinking to fly the Proudbird to get the necessary points to win the championship. You and the team deserve it!

Robert

Guys, we'll have video up by tomorrow at the latest!

Thanks Robert. And I set a new world record in F1 Pro with the Proud Bird too. I dont think anyone has even gone as long as 2:27 in the class before. I was making sure I stayed WAY clear of the traffic, the speed difference was too much for the guys to see the model in time to miss it.

Mike,

Just make sure when people ask what you were flying when you won the championship, tell it like it is!

Nice...

LOL. And you know what. Brian Hueffmeier built that Proud Bird. No matter what I do, I always end up with a Hueff built airplane.

Congrats Mikey Mac!.....You da' man! The last 30 points were slow and ugly, but man those first 158 were fast and pretty! Time to think about defending that title now!

KennyMac

I know. I need a GR-7! Push John C along to sell me his if you get a chance. I would have given up all 158 points just to have been able to mix it up in the F-1 Pro trophy race. That was awesome!

I'll see what I can do Mike...that F-1 final was extra cool. My thumbs were twitching the whole time....

What happened to the Polecat idea?

KMac