It's early February, the temperatures are low, and most self-respecting racers are hiding out indoors, waiting for summer. So where would some of the best R/C drivers in the world be? In Orlando, Florida, of course, for the 9th Annual Trinity/Car Action Snowbird Nationals!
The Snowbirds has become so big that it is both the largest indoor touring car race of the year, and the largest oval race of the year. The track is open 24 hours a day during the event, constantly switching between the road course and oval configuration. The staff doesn't sleep, the drivers don't sleep, and the rest of the R/C world eagerly awaits the often-surprising outcome of the event.
Ride along with R/C Tech as we bring you an inside look at the Snowbirds, as well as up-do-date qualifying and race results. If you'd like to weigh in with your own opinion on the race, check out our official 2003 Snowbirds discussion thread!
Race Schedule
As of this update (Thursday, 2/6) qualifying has not yet begun for the race. Below is the official
schedule for the race, extending from Friday through Sunday.
| Friday, February 7th: |
5AM-7AM: 7:30 AM: 8:00 AM: 12:30 PM: 1PM - 3PM: 3:00 PM: 8:00 PM: |
Onroad Practice Onroad Drivers' Meeting Onroad Qualifying, Round 1 Oval Drivers' Meeting Oval Practice Oval Qualifying, Round 1 Oval Qualifying, Round 2 |
|
| Saturday, February 8th: |
5AM - 7AM: 7:00 AM: 12:00 PM: 5PM - 7PM: 7:00 PM: |
Onroad Practice Onroad Qualifying, Round 2 Onroad Qualifying, Round 3 Oval Practice Oval Qualifying, Round 3 |
|
| Sunday, February 9th: |
8:00 AM: 2:00 PM: 8:00 PM: |
Onroad Mains Oval Mains Post-race Party |
Touring Pro Mod
A Main
A Main
Pos Qual Laps/Time 1. 2 29/5:10.20 Josh Cyrul (Associated/Trinity) 2. 4 28/5:00.64 Mike Dumas (Associated) 3. 3 28/5:01.09 David Spashett (Losi/Trinity) 4. 6 28/5:01.39 Craig Drescher (Associated) 5. 7 28/5:10.41 Ralph Burch (XRay) 6. 9 27/5:01.80 Todd Hodge (Losi/Trinity) 7. 5 27/5:02.08 Matt Francis (Losi/Trinity) 8. 8 27/5:03.13 Markus Mobers (XRay) 9. 0 9/1:35.92 Jilles Groskamp (XRay) 10. 1 8/1:21.55 Paul Lemiuex (Losi/Trinity) |
Touring Pro Mod
B Main
B Main
Pos Qual Laps/Time 1. 1 29/5:12.19 Brian Kinwald 2. 4 28/5:06.88 Jared Scott 3. 3 28/5:07.88 Mark Adams 4. 7 28/5:08.85 Eric Desrosiers 5. 8 28/5:13.98 Chris Tosslini 6. 0 27/5:10.91 Todd Lewis 7. 2 26/5:09.25 Barry Baker 8. 9 19/5:03.10 Travis Amezcua 9. 5 15/2:43.86 Andrew Cartwright 10. 6 2/0:18.86 Dave Vera |
Touring Pro Mod
C Main
C Main
Pos Qual Laps/Time 1. 6 28/5:12.67 Mike Blackstock 2. 7 28/5:16.82 Chris Doseck 3. 4 27/5:03.86 Ron Atomic 4. 5 27/5:12.62 Chad Phillips 5. 8 26/5:00.29 Martin Hudy 6. 0 26/5:00.81 Steve Rossi 7. 9 23/4:44.71 Travis Schreven 8. 2 22/4:16.53 Mike McMahon 9. 3 11/2:00.50 Walter Henderson 10. 1 -- DNS -- Paul Wynn |
Touring Expert 19
A Main
A Main
Pos Qual Laps/Time 1. 3 27/5:06.67 Barry Baker 2. 6 27/5:07.21 Matt Francis 3. 1 27/5:07.61 Jilles Groskamp 4. 5 27/5:08.97 Craig Drescher 5. 4 27/5:09.13 Brian Kinwald 6. 0 27/5:12.13 Eric Desrosiers 7. 7 27/5:12.85 Markus Mobers 8. 8 26/5:02.57 Todd Hodge 9. 9 13/2:34.19 Jared Scott 10. 2 3/0:33.41 Ralph Burch |
Touring Expert 19
B Main
B Main
Pos Qual Laps/Time 1. 2 27/5:09.96 Andrew Cartwright 2. 6 27/5:10.79 Travis Schreven 3. 1 27/5:10.95 Paul Wynn 4. 5 26/5:03.42 Martin Hudy 5. 9 25/5:00.92 Steve Rossi 6. 8 25/5:05.44 Kevin Mitchell 7. 4 25/5:05.94 Ron Atomic 8. 0 25/5:11.87 Todd Malone 9. 3 7/1:23.62 Dave Vera 10. 7 -- DNS -- Mike McMahon |
Touring Sportsman 19
A Main
A Main
Pos Qual Laps/Time 1. 1 27/5:11.44 Timmy Heiser 2. 2 26/5:00.11 Scotty Ernst 3. 8 25/5:02.11 Jeff Nidd 4. 5 25/5:08.73 Jody Womack 5. 7 25/5:10.68 Shad Galante 6. 9 24/5:05.22 Latif Michail 7. 3 24/5:06.19 Eddie Shaffer 8. 4 24/5:07.06 Jeff Gilligan 9. 0 21/4:30.73 Jason Lutz 10. 6 12/2:19.71 Jeff Cuffs |
Touring Stock
A Main
A Main
Pos Qual Laps/Time 1. 3 25/5:07.90 Todd Malone 2. 1 25/5:08.32 Mark Smyka 3. 5 25/5:11.72 Paul Ciccarello 4. 8 25/5:11.76 Timmy Heiser 5. 0 24/5:03.75 Jeff Cuffs 6. 9 24/5:05.90 Shad Galante 7. 7 24/5:06.10 Alex Lopez 8. 6 24/5:10.55 Kevin Mitchell 9. 2 11/2:12.24 Scotty Ernst 10. 4 11/2:12.75 Jimmy Babcock |
1/12 GTP Mod
A Main
A Main
Pos Qual Laps/Time 1. 1 45/8:12.70 Josh Cyrul 2. 2 44/8:00.51 David Spashett 3. 3 44/8:06.89 Brian Kinwald 4. 4 44/8:08.03 Mike Blackstock 5. 5 44/8:10.08 Takuya Ito 6. 7 43/8:00.32 Paul Lemiuex 7. 6 42/8:01.83 Hideo Kitazawa 8. 0 40/8:04.40 Steve Rossi 9. 8 39/8:01.57 Chris Doseck 10. 9 38/7:12.11 Mike Dumas |
1/12 GTP Mod
B Main
B Main
Pos Qual Laps/Time 1. 1 44/8:08.74 Daisuke Sakamoto 2. 2 44/8:12.01 Eric Desrosiers 3. 5 43/8:04.45 Fernando Gordinho 4. 8 43/8:09.17 Billy Easton 5. 4 43/8:11.88 Dave Reiman 6. 3 41/8:15.71 Walter Henderson 7. 6 40/7:38.36 Mark Adams 8. 0 40/8:02.54 David Lee 9. 9 18/3:16.89 Michael Bruce 10. 7 -- DNS -- Jason Moberly |
1/12 GTP Stock
A Main
A Main
Pos Qual Laps/Time 1. 1 41/8:10.74 Mark Smyka 2. 3 40/8:12.19 Scott Jakes 3. 2 40/8:12.66 Paul Ciccarello 4. 6 39/8:06.46 David Lee 5. 5 39/8:12.81 Dave Reiman 6. 4 38/8:01.64 Scotty Ernst 7. 8 38/8:04.42 Bruce Carbone 8. 9 37/8:06.94 Shad Galante 9. 7 2/0:21.62 Rob Michael 10. 0 1/0:07.44 Leon McIntosh |
Other Notes
All in all, the 2003 Snowbirds was one of the biggest and best indoor races in R/C history. Topping out at over 770 race entries -- many racers were running two or more classes -- it redefined the idea of the "big race."
It has already been decided that next year's Snowbirds will expand to four rounds of qualifying, rather than the traditional three. This should be especially helpful in the oval program, where qualifying heats got a bit dirty at times.
For more information on this race, as well as the upcoming 2004 Snowbirds, you'll want to check out their excellent web site at www.snowbirdnationals.com. See you next year!