We're a little past the All-Star break, halfway through competition season, and the IAC Regional Series is starting to shape up. Every region except the NorthWest has contenders who have flown at least two contests. The SouthWest has pilots already qualified in Sportsman through Unlimited Power. The SouthEast has a valid contest in Advanced. There are many contests remaining to be flown, the warmest months have arrived. Expect to see more pilots reaching the three contest mark. (The NorthWest mark is two contests.)
Current results of the IAC Regional Series are now posted as https://iaccdb.iac.org/leaders/regionals These results update themselves whenever a score keeper submits results to IACCDB. If a score keeper has Internet access, they can submit frequently during the contest. Have your score keeper look for the "Submit to IACCDB" button at the bottom of the "Standings" tab in JaSPer.
SouthEast Advanced Power has Stan Moye leading Marty Flournoy by a thread. They have both flown the same contests. Stan is a quarter percent ahead of Marty. Both are currently looking at about 80%. These two have flown the Nationals together in the past; so, there is a race to watch in SouthEast Advanced Power.
SouthWest Sportsman Power has Kevin Elizondo alone flying all three contests so far this season: Apple Valley, San Diego, and Coalinga. Three others have two contests, and any of them could knock Kevin out of his first place slot. If Kevin gets a fourth contest he can likely improve on a result at Coalinga that was not representative of his other performances.
Barrett Hines is first on the board for Intermediate Power in the SouthWest. He'll need to improve if any of the other three current contenders in that category fly a third contest at their currently posted level of performance.
Hiroyasu Endo leads in SouthWest Advanced and is currently the sole qualifier. There are five others who can qualify with one more contest. None of them has been flying better than Endo. Michael Hartenstine's two contests add-up about equal to him.
Lastly, in Unlimited Power, the SouthWest has two qualified pilots. Howard Kirker is the current leader. SouthWest power-houses Malcolm Pond or Tim Just could readily overtake if they fly a third contest at their usual level.
The IAC Open West at IAC Chapter 26' Fortieth Annual Happiness is Delano Contest will fly at the end of August. That is the next and last of the SouthWest contests before the Nationals. Expect to see the SouthWest Regional series shake up at Delano as well as the IAC Open West titles. Betting we'll see all of the leaders in the SouthWest region, and from nearby, neighboring regions at Delano.
A few leaders in the SouthCentral and MidAmerica regions might emerge after the contests flown this weekend. Some pilots in those regions will be keeping an eye on the results; so can you.
