Brian Kinwald Joins X Factory!

"This is the opportunity of my lifetime," says Brian Kinwald. "X Factory is aggressively at the front of off-road innovation and that suits my style perfectly. You've got to keep innovating to win."

Two-time World Champion Brian Kinwald was born in Huntington Beach, California in 1973 and grew up riding competitive BMX. Brian competed through his early teenage years until switching to R/C racing at age 15. He lives in Arizona with his lovely wife Heidi. "I'm so lucky to be married to Heidi. She's the best part of my life, and part of my R/C life too."

Brian TQed the '95 Worlds at Yatabe Arena in Japan, finishing second. At the Minnreg Club in Tampa, Florida in 2003 he TQed again. Brian was leading A-3 on the last turn of the last lap for his third World Championship when he was involved in a crash with eventual winner Ryan Cavalieri, finishing second again.

His first car was an AYK Buffalo, and Brian tells us he thinks his first major race was at age 17, the '91 NORRCA Nats in Bakersfield, California. He's been at or near the top of every ROAR National Championship for 13 years, from 1992 to 2004. There are simply too many ROAR Championships to list here. For all three classes, buggy, 4WD, and truck, Brian has more than 30 National Championships, including winning all three classes in the same year several times!

His friends call him "Dirtinator," or "Dirt" for short, and Brian has long been known as one of the most innovative drivers in R/C. He's constantly working on some new idea or other, often crafting his own parts out in his garage, which is really more of a small machine shop. He usually arrives at a race with several parts on his car that are very different, parts he made at home. Some he keeps and uses, others don't work out. As a result, Brian's car is incredible to drive (even for an X Factory car), "Everyone who has driven my car has ended up buying one the same day."

When he's not practicing or working on his cars, Brian goes bowling, where he carries a very respectable 185 average. Best bowling buddy? Barry Baker!

Many newer drivers think of the major pros as unapproachable, and Brian finds that most unfortunate. No matter how busy he appears, Brian wants to talk to as many younger R/Cers as possible. "It's the most fun part of this hobby. Believe it or not, I learn a lot from younger drivers. They keep me in touch with the newest stuff. There's so much going on in this sport that it's impossible for one guy to keep up, Talking with other drivers whom I don't know teaches me a lot about what's going on. And helping others is fun and satisfying."

If you don't catch Brian at the track, communicate with him at his new thread on our 4wdrc.com Forum, or E-mail brian@4wdrc.com.

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