Welcome to the home of the South-West Tour "Championship R/C Racing Series"

BLACKBURN Wins @ LINDSAY
But MYERS wins the CHAMPIONSHIP!

The season finale for the 2008 South-West Tour Series had the carpet rolled out at the McDermond Field House in Lindsay CA. Two of the three championships were FINAL when the drivers walked in the door on Saturday, but in the largest class, (21.5/LIPO) there were three competitors still shooting for those honors.

Bryan Myers, 16, from Santa Maria came in with a ONE point advantage over John Miles from Arroyo Grande, and 7 points over Buck VanPatten of Saugus.

Myers, who was running a borrowed STRYKER from Scot Petitclerc was up against 2 of the new KSG G3 cars, not to mention a 20 car field.

Paul Cathey, who's always very hard to beat was also wheeling a G3 car and would earn the HobbyTalk TQ pin running the days ONLY 72 lap run, Uncle BUCK took the 2nd spot, with Myers getting the 5th starting spot and John Miles was one of the 7 cars in the 'B' main (that ALL qualified with 69 laps)
(See Qualifying Order /Main Line Up)

Miles failed to grab the transfer spot in the 'B', and dropped out early with a failed Speed Control, giving him a overall finishing spot of 15th, and dropping him from his championship hopes. In order for VanPatten to get his 2nd championship in a row, he would need to WIN and have MYERS finish in the 8th and final position in the main.

The cars were lined up on the back straight in single file, when the horn sounded on the "A" main, it was TQ Paul Cathey would dropped the hammer the hardest coming out with a 2.91 second shot across the stripe, with 2nd place Buck pulling a 3.15. Myers who started back 5 spots crossed with a 3.87, already a full straight back on the first lap. Myers bobbled a little on lap two running a 5.42 compared to Cathey's 3.98, and was already in jeopardy of losing a lap early on. Myers settled down and got in his groove, and started running 4.0's and 4.1's, while Cathey still our front was dipping into 3.98's and 4.0's. 7 or the 8 cars were all running basically the same times, while 'B' Main winner and transferee Dave Barber was just a tick off running 4.2's.

About 3/4's of the way into the run, Cathey involved in a crash would give up the lead to the charging Joe Blackburn, who had been working his way to the front of the field. Blackburn would hang on to WIN and Cathey was able to hold on to 2nd, Van Patten fell back to 3rd when he was passed by Blackburn and he would finish there with Myers trying to run him down, but just ran out of time.

The finish (TOP 5)

Joe Blackburn
Paul Cathey
Buck VanPatten
Bryan Myers
Carlton Duty

(Full Results available HERE)

TEAM ORION joins the SWTour
as the "OFFICIAL" Lipo Battery

The South-West Tour Series and Team Orion have entered into an agreement making the Team Orion brand LIPO Battery the Official and the EXCLUSIVE Lipo battery for our series until 2011.

Team Orion has pledged their support of both the 10 race series, and the **ALLSTAR SHOOTOUT** events.

I am excited to work with Joel Johnson (Kyosho America) and Joe Pillars (Team Orion) and their entire team to help market this lipo battery, and keep our racing as competitive as possible.

Chosen for the 2009 season will be the NEW Orion 3400 mAh Lipo pack

This battery will replace to popular 3200 mAh pack used for the 2008 season that helped bring some of the best competition to oval racing on the West Coast in years.

Make sure you request your local hobby store to carry this pack.

The Season is Coming to a CLOSE

Saturday November 15th the 2008 South-West Tour Series season will end. This has been the tightest points battle year in the 7 year history of our little racing series.

After a review of previous race results, a error was found for Bryan Myers' scoring, he had been mistakenly rewarded with Bryan Blaser's points from race 6 at Lindsay. The correction sees a 3 point deduction and takes the 21.5/LIPO class points race into the FINALE with just a ONE point separation between Myers and John Miles. The through outs these two drivers have are both poor numbers, so it will most likely be up to the ON TRACK racing on the carpet track finale. Not to be counted out, "UNCLE BUCK" Buck VanPatten is not out of the hunt yet either...BUCK is just 7 championship points out of first place, in a class that saw over 25 entries on the last visit to Lindsay.

When the points were added up in the 17.5/LIPO class, there has been a shake up in these points as well. Former Champion and **ALLSTAR SHOOTOUT** Champion LARRY RUBY saw his points lead slip away after a ill handling car bit him at race 9 on the velodrome. Ruby's slip gives racing veteran GARY HAMILTON his best ever shot at a SWTour Championship. As with the 21.5 class, Hamilton holds the slimmest of leads with just ONE single point. Scot Petitclerc holds onto the 3rd spot over Jason Hastings.

The NASTRUCK Battle has also been very close this year, which for this class is not uncommon. Brad Muther (2007 NASTRUCK Champion) went into the velodrome race last month with a narrow ONE point lead over...who else? John Miles. Miles took the TQ point, so when the TONE sounded to start the main event both drivers were TIED for first place in points. Muther went on to win that race while Miles day didn't go as well when he found himself with a 5th place finish. Miles did get a little help in the TECH area when 2nd place Bryan Myers' truck was DQ'd for tracking width infractions. The bad news for Miles is that with that finish the best he can hope for is now the 2nd place finish in the standings, as a perfect score at the FINALE would only TIE him with Muther in points and Muther would be awarded the championship based on the next throughout points. Congrats to BRAD MUTHER for Back to Back NASTRUCK Championships.

Click the link above to view current point standings.

Congratulations to Saturdays "HobbyTalk" TQ's

Nic Case - 17.5/LIPO (also Track Record)
John Miles - NASTRUCK
Arnold Brittain - 21.5/LIPO

Race Winners:

21.5/LIPO - John Miles
17.5/LIPO - Nic Case
Nastruck - Brad Muther

Saturday's weather was great for a mid-October day. Sunny skies, and temperatures in the mid 80's.

Practice got underway around 8:30, and it looked like speeds for the day may be a little slow. In no time, those speeds started coming up as the track warmed up.

Gary Hamilton and Jason Hastings laid down some fast laps in practice, while Richard Tompkins who normally runs the FAST class struggled to get his 17.5 car up to speed.

The 21.5 group was all running some fast laps early, Brian Bond, Arnold Brittain, Sean Woodside and points leader Bryan Myers, along with others were ripping off some pretty decent lap times. Track record holder Buck VanPatten would find himself struggling with a loose ill handling car, which he struggled with all day.

Doug 'ODIE' Morrow and John Miles both had their NASTRUCKS 'FLYIN' early in the day, as did Myers but his truck was once again having severe handling issues. Brad Muther, who came in as the points leader wasn't quite as fast, but he had his truck dialed and very consistant.

John Miles would get the NASTRUCK HobbyTalk TQ Pin bringing the points battle to a dead tie going into the main event.

Arnold Brittain would grab the TQ Pin in the 21.5 class by edging Brian Bond for the top spot. Neither of these 2 drivers are in the points chase, which meant Bryan Myers would carry his 5 point lead to the main over both John Miles and Buck VanPatten who were tied for the 2nd spot.

The 17.5 points leader and former champion LARRY RUBY found himself struggling on the day as well. Ruby, who came into the weekend just one of two drivers in the 31 lap club watched as Gary Hamilton and Nic Case both worked their way into that small group. Case, who's just off his ISC (International R/C Speed Challenge) win running over 161 mph, took his 17.5 car to the TQ spot, and a NEW 17.5 track record.

<RACE RESULTS>

With the season winding down, we've still got such a great points battle going on.

Last seasons "STOCK" class champion "Uncle Buck" Buck VanPatten has been trying to charge his way back to the front, while Bryan Myers and John Miles have been battling all year long. Myers goes into the final 2 races with a 5 point lead, but Miles and VanPatten are in a dead tie for 2nd.

Last years NASTRUCK Champion, Brad Muther is hanging on to the narrowest point lead, JUST ONE POINT, over John Miles.

Multi-time series chapmion Larry Ruby has held a nice lead most of the season in the 17.5 class, but Gary Hamilton is creeping up behind him in an effort to win his FIRST SWTour Championship.

The trophies have been ordered, and once again they have been provided by Jake Rosen and Jake's Performance Hobbies. JAKE, Thank you for your continued support.

LINDSAY (McDermont Field House) - 9/13

On the RUG at Lindsay's McDermont Field House center from Left to Right

Gary Hamilton - 17.5
Bryan Blaser - 21.5
Keith Brown - NASTRUCK

The Outlook was at best skeptical when the 'TOUR' crowd arrived at the McDermont Field House on Saturday Morning. Being told our event wouldn't be run in the normal section of this incredible events center (Where we'd have BIG SCREEN TV's, Video Games, Concessions, etc.) Instead we find out we're on the 3rd floor of a 'unfinished' building that will soon be a INDOOR SOCCER Field.

Add to that, there is NO elevator to get all the equipment up to the 3rd floor.

After a fairly short time, the McDermont crew was able to get a large piece of LIFT Equipment fired up, which aided in getting our STUFF to the 'Upper Deck', and with the help of racers and staff the track got laid down nicely, tables were set-up and we were ready to GO RACING.

The track ended up pretty dang good, and the hospitality of the STAFF was awesome.

We had 42 Entries - 26 of them in the 21.5 class alone. Bryan Blaser and his STRYKER tore up the field in Qualifying, turning in the ONLY 72 lap run of the day.

Equally, Gary Hamilton had his KSG "Gen3" dialed - turning in the FASTEST run of the day going 78/5:03.38 in the 3rd round of qualifying.

<Results >

ENCINO VELODROME - 8/9

TQ's from the Velo - TOP: Uncle BUCK 21.5, Jason Hastings 17.5, John Miles Nastruck, BOTTOM: Nic Case Modified (10.5/Lipo) the TQ award (Hat Pin) presented by HobbyTalk

Great weather, great racing again at the Encino Velodrome.

Jason Hastings and Larry Ruby again SET THE PACE in the 17.5 class, both running 31 laps in qualifying, continuing to be the only 2 drivers to get to that mark.

Uncle Buck is still knocking on the door in the 21.5 class, trying to get to that 29 lap mark. He didn't quite get there, but he did beat the previous record going a faster 28.

Doug "Odie" Morrow had the FAST truck this weekend, but Brad Muther, last years points champion, proved it's not always the fastest truck that wins the race.

Some of the days best racing came in the super competitive qualifying races, such was the case for the truck guys, who in the 3rd heat ran 4 trucks side by side, nose to tail for a majority of the event...only to see all 4 of them have issues, handing "Odie" the heat win after he had a poor start and ran most of the race less than a 1/2 lap behind the pack.

The 17.5 main had Hastings CHECK OUT on the tone, but after leading a couple laps, Jason's car went into the grass on the back straight and this gave the lead to Gary Hamilton. Back in the field there was a huge battle brewing for the 2nd spot. '07 **Allstar-Shootout** winner Eric Brust was being challenged by '08 **Allstar-Shootout** winner Larry Ruby, and also in the mix was Joe Blackburn. This trio battled lap after lap, with Ruby obviously having the faster car, but Brust not giving him any easy way around.... This battle was so similar to the run that Brust and Ruby had in this years shootout for the win...and once again it came down to the final corner, of the final lap. As the trio came off turn 4, the final tone had already sounded and the finish at the stripe would go to LARRY RUBY who shot to the high side coming off 4 and was just too much for Brust to be able to stop. Ruby got 2nd, Brust 3rd and right on their tail was Joe Blackburn for his best run in a while finishing 4th.

<Full Results>

The McDermont Field House in LINDSAY

Our first visit to the McDermont Field House had a nice turnout and some good racing.

The NEW Huge facility, located about 1/2 way between Bakersfield and Fresno in the small town of Lindsay provided a great place for an indoor carpet race, as well as plenty of activities for non-racers. The Field House contains a large video arcade, lazer tag, a floor with 4 "Guitar Hero" games and more.

At this event, racers who had set TQ's through-out the year were presented with the NEW SWTour TQ Pin, provided by Hank Hagquist and the HobbyTalk Forums.

TQ's for this event were 21.5 - PAUL CATHEY, 17.5 ERIK STEENHOVEN, Nastruck - TOM HARRIS

<RESULTS>

Racer's Haven "Under the Lights"

Roughly 30 entries made up the NIGHT RACE at the Racer's Haven event...and once the SUN dropped the cars got FAST.

Paul Cathey was the class of the field in 21.5, running 72 laps. Cathey would make one mistake in the main however, and Steve Taffert would get the win.

Tony Gammel joined with the NASTRUCK guys running a borrowed truck from Papa Lou Maldonado. Tony would grab the TQ point, and take the main win with the points guys scrambling for positions behind. John Miles would grab 2nd, and points leader Brad Muther would finish 3rd.

In 17.5 Erik Steenhoven, Gary Hamilton, Kenny Collins and Scot Petitclerc were all running fast. KC had the early TQ, but Steenhoven would take it from him. In the main Hamilton would get the victory and set a NEW Fast Time as well. Gary ran 77 laps. <RESULTS>

Wow - What a race!
The 2008 **ALLSTAR SHOOTOUT ** Weekend & Race #4

Saturday's race at the ENCINO VELODROME Bicycle track was the setting for series race 4 on the '08 season. With temperatures tipping the 100 degree mark, it was hot both on and off the track.

Jerry Purser went 2 for 2 on the VELO in the 21.5 class winning the main event by 2 full laps over A-Main Tires "Papa Lou" Maldonado. Currently class points leader Bryan Myers would finish in the 3rd spot after tangling with first time velo racer Dennis Hashin. John Miles would finish 4th with Hashin rounding out the top 5.

17.5 had a huge turnout today with drivers preparing for Sunday's SHOOTOUT where Jason Hastings would set the qualifying pace. Hastings ran the ONLY 31 lap run in qualifying setting an 'unofficial' track record and becoming the FIRST driver to hit the 31 lap mark. (Jason Hastings 31/5:09.47)

Points leader Larry Ruby didn't have as good of luck qualifying, running just 29 laps (with a car that thermalled) in 4:50.56 seconds. This would put Ruby on the POLE for the 'B' main with Scot Petitclerc sitting outside front row.

The SWTour format for 10 car main events is to qualify the top 8, and transfer 1st and 2nd place from the 'B' main. Ruby and Carlton Duty would end up filling those transfer spots starting at the rear of the 'A' main field.

In the main it was Jason Hastings who grabbed the holeshot with Brian Bond right on his rear deck, Hastings found trouble on the 2nd lap and Bond went to the front.but the hard charging Larry Ruby was making his way from the rear of the field to the front. Ruby went on to WIN Saturday's main event, stretching his points lead and setting things up for the **ALLSTAR SHOOTOUT** the next day. (Larry became the 2nd car to run 31 laps going 31/5:09.38)

NASTRUCK, the truck guys struggled with loose conditions in the heat with no wings, this seemed to slow the pace in qualifying by over 2 full laps. Kevin Kilber would take the TQ point running 25/5:06.54 over Donn Natale.

Kilber would cross the scoring line first on lap one, but Brad Muther and Natale came across virtually side by side for 2nd/3rd. The duo made their way around Kilber and continued to battle for the lead for the next few laps, but it was Muther who prevailed and Natale who earned a DNF. Brad took the win over Doug 'Odie' Morrow who would end up finishing 2nd. TJ Kendall would come home 3rd with TOM Kendall 4th and Bryan Myers rounding out the top 5.

...more to come

Metro - April 19th, race 3

We had a really nice, fairly laid back day of racing at Don's METRO R/C SPEEDWAY for race #3.

With many, many thanks to LOU MALDONADO for taking care of the track prep, and to Larry McCaa for opening the track on Friday to give Lou access to the track.

The turnout was pretty light, as we only ended up running 2 classes. However, both those classes were full of good competition. The 21.5 class and the NASTRUCK class both had full fields, and the truck class had a "B" main.

Dave Barber would take TQ honors in the 21.5 class, while Bryan Myers would grab the bonus point in NASTRUCK. In the mains it was Larry Ruby getting out front, Bryan Myers ran 2nd for much of the race but he was down on speed...Myers would end up giving up a few spots, Tim Twyman would take over the #2 spot. In NASTRUCK, 2007 Champion Brad Muther grabbed the lead and held off John Miles and Myers for the win. [RESULTS]

METRO R/C SPEEDWAY
3805 Chester Ave
Bakersfield, Ca 93301

Race 2 - Racer's Haven

The 'TOUR' made it's first visit to Racer's Haven Raceway in a couple years the weekend of March 15th. under a threat the mother nature was going to drop some rain on the racing action.

Over 40 entrants filled up the 1/2 dozen classes with the NEW 21.5 Brushless class being the largest. Both the 17.5 class and the NASTRUCK class had a good number of entries as well. [RESULTS]

ALLSTAR-SHOOTOUT '08

WOW ! - The 'drome

I can't believe we're already almost 2 full months into 2008, but we are and the NEW Season is upon us.

We kicked off the '08 "Tour" at the Encino Velodrome last weekend (Feb. 16th) to some of the best February weather we've seen in So. Cal. in years.

The NEW B/L - LIPO classes pretty much went off without a hitch, the cars were fast, the racing was clean, close and exciting, and most of the racers found the day pretty relaxing and had lots of time to actually work on their cars. (A few of them needed it, due to some horrific crashes)

We saw the NEW 21.5 class run 28 laps for a brand new track record. Jerry Purser was the class of the field, setting TQ and winning the main event for his first ever SWT win. (Congrats Jerry). Uncle Buck (the VELO King of STOCK) got his ride dialed in by the end of the day to finish 2nd, and become only the 3rd car to run 28 laps in the new class. (Randy "BigBoysToys" Smith also ran 28 laps in qualifying)

The 17.5 class saw some of the closest racing in the middle of the pack I've ever seen on the velo. In one heat race, 5 cars were side by side, and nose to tail for nearly a dozen laps. Several guys were FAST as LIGHTNING, including Arnold Brittain, Brett Patti, Larry Ruby, Erik Steenhoven, Jason Hastings, Scot Petitclerc, David Mayhew who all went 30 laps in qualifying.

The main belonged to Larry Ruby though - who with his 11.84 second HOLE SHOT drove away from the field at the line, and was never challenged for the lead. (Awesome run Mr. Ruby)

The NEW motor/battery combo for the NASTRUCK class proved to be a challenge for several drivers. With most just getting a handle on the 10.5/4cell package, the new 17.5/LIPO deal would take some new calculating. Brad Muther ran the strongest most of the day, but it was Donn Natale getting things figured out and taking the TQ points today.

Natale, who kept working on his truck, took advantage of the 4th qualifier to become the first truck to run 27 laps and set a NEW truck record, putting him on the pole for the main event.

In the main, it was Muther with the hole shot, but he was quickly gobbled up by the quicker Natale who was the only truck running lap times in the 10 second range. The finish had Natale running another quicker 27 lap run, Muther would go 26, and the rest of the field was back in the 25 lap range.
(Congrats Donn on the Win, TQ and Record)

Our other 2 classe this weekend were pretty small. One of them was a very SLOW class - and the other was FAST!

Our 'Break-Out' class was setup to run 13.0 second lap times and 23 laps total. This was a test of dicipline to try not to pull the throttle and go too quickly. All 3 drivers found themselves breaking out and being docked laps, but Tony Staples pretty much nailed it in the main. This class can run pretty much ANY equipment, no 'special' velodrome car is needed...you just have to adjust your car/gear/radio to run the perfect 13.0 second lap times.

MODIFIED - can you say "Holy Cow" these guys are FAST! With just 4 guys running Mod this weekend (10.5/LIPO) the track was 'on fire'.

In the first qualifier, it looked like a bunch of rookies on the track. The cars were all over the place, but very quick. By the end of the day, everyone got the bugs worked out and had their cars dialed and flying. with Nic Case running a lap in the 8.33 second range. (That's just over 67 MPH). Case would set the TQ pace over Richard Tompkins by just over a second, with both cars turning in 33 lap runs. Tompkins found his way to the front in the main when Case's car appeared to shut down about 8 laps before the end of the race. Richard who was still running strong turned in the first 34 lap run to set another new track record for the weekend. (Congrats Richard)
[RESULTS]

Special ANNOUNCEMENT -

A Huge THANK YOU to Team ORION and Team NOVAK for their support this season.

Each of this years ('07) Champions received a BRAND NEW ORION 3200 LiPo Battery and a BRAND NEW NOVAK Brushless Motor along with their Championship Trophy.

TEAM ORION www.teamorion.com
TEAM NOVAK www.teamnovak.com

2008 Schedule
**Please Note Changes in YELLOW

1) February 16 (SATURDAY) Encino Velodrome

2) March 15 (SATURDAY) Racers Haven

3) April 19 (SATURDAY) Metro R/C Speedway - Bakersfield

4) May 17-18 (2 Days) Encino Velodrome - Encino *Allstar Shootout*

5) June 21 - (Saturday NIGHT) Racers Haven

6) July 27 - (SUNDAY) McDermont Field House, LINDSAY CA (Carpet)

7) Aug. 9 (SATURDAY) Encino Velodrome

8) Sept. 13 - (SATURDAY) McDermont Field House, LINDSAY CA**

9) Oct. 18 (SATURDAY) Encino Velodrome - Encino**

10) Nov. 15 (SATURDAY) McDermont Field House, LINDSAY CA (Carpet)

11) Dec. 13 (SATURDAY) Encino Velodrome - Encino (Non points - WINTERFEST)