October 2018 web.pub

Our next race found us in Pahrump, Nevada with the race being held by Brian Bounds from Sin City Racing and RS Racing. Brian did an amazing job getting this site back in to the District 19 race rotation. And a huge thank you goes out to Lenny Blake from Rum Racing Products for the use of their drivers stand. Without it this race would not have happened. This site is beautiful and is the smallest course we race on, but that didn’t stop us from laying out one of coolest offshore courses I have ever seen. We had another first-time winner in Michael Graves winning Sportsman Mono (Saturday). Rev It up! (Continued on Page 20) PROPWASH October 2018 19 What’s Going On In District 19? By Richard Romero NAMBA Vice President and District 19 Director With only one district points race left in 2018, I sit back and wonder where it all went. Here is a recap of this year’s racing in District 19. We started the year in sunny Lake Havasu City, Arizona as we do every year. However, this year would end differently then in years past. Saturday’s racing was awesome and the weather was great with hundreds of spectators lining both banks enjoying the some of the finest racing District 19 has to offer. Late Saturday night Mother Nature decided to flex her muscle and rolled through the canal we race in destroying most all of the canopies. One canopy was carried hundreds of yards up hill and on to the local golf course. The high winds turned over our drivers stand and continued to blow as we surveyed the damage early that morning. With the wind still blowing, racers leaving, and with all of the damage to the pit areas, we decided to cancel day two. This was not a popular decision to some, but it was the right one. I want to thank Jim Foster and the London Bridge Model Boat Club for their hard work putting together a great day of racing and their gift to us at the very next race. Race number two took us right down the road to Pirates Cove Resort in Needles, CA. This was our biggest turnout of the year with 213 boats ready to battle. The facilities at Pirates Cove are amazing making it the perfect place to camp out. This year I was running solo rather than as a team and was able to scratch that off the bucket list. The weather was perfect, the boats were fast, and people were having a great time. Some a little too much fun, right Jim…… The London Bridge Model Boat Club wanted to give back to those racers that had made the trip to Lake Havasu City that were not able to race due to the cancellation. The club decided to donate the gift cards purchased for Sunday’s Havasu race at the Needles race. We put the racers names that had signed up for Sunday into a raffle by class entered. Throughout the race day we would pull names and announce the winners in between heats. It was a real nice gesture by LBMBC. It gave everyone that signed up for the Sunday a chance to get a gift card. Great job by Jim Foster and the London Bridge Model Boat Club. Our next race was in Las Vegas, Nevada at Sunset Park, the home of last year’s NAMBA Nationals. This race was put on by a new local club, the Las Vegas RC Boat Club with the help of Outlaw Racing. With 152 boats present it was one of the better turnouts we have seen in the past few years. Russ Stark did a great job on the microphone and of course the water was rough and fast. Las Vegas RC Boat Club and Outlaw Racing have already stepped up to host another race in 2019. Thank you Rich Taylor and Russ Stark for putting the race on. Next stop Tucson, Arizona. Tucson is usually the last race in the hotter states before moving into California for our summer races. For those of you that do not know, Tucson is my home pond as I CD the race. It is organized by NAMBA Hall of Fame member Karl Morse and the Tucson Model Boat Club members. This race had 181 boats signed up missing some of the traveling regulars. It was our second largest turnout in 2018. We had two first-time winners with Gary Echito winning Sportsman Mono and Luc Nguyen winning Open Oval. The racing was great, and you know the calls were near perfect with me on the microphone. Just ask Russ Stark. He may still owe me one. We really enjoy putting on this race and hope to see everyone again next year. Pahrump Nevada here we come. Gary Echito prepares for the traditional first time class winner Luc Nguyen shows his excitement as a first time winner after diving in winning Open Oval.