10/29/2024
For the RC PRO OVAL FINALS we have the one and only Knothead, aka Wally, aka Walter Vining as the Race Director at Indy RC World.
Have you ever heard someone say they "'waltered" at the track, maybe when they hit the beam at Indy in the off-road, or when they traction rolled on the Oval? If you have, you can thank Aaron Royston for that as he coined the phrase, and it has been repeated for years since. If you have ever met Walter, it just makes sense.
In 2016 Walter wandered into Indy RC World having never been to a track before, and thought "Oh my god this is the coolest thing I have ever seen!" He said he was hooked. Naturally he bought a slash to start out with and has been racing ever since. He upgraded through slashes and short courses, and then progressed into nitro before also moving over to racing oval cars. His current favorite is Nitro Truggy for off-road, and his street stock for the oval.
Walter has been working in the banking industry as a technical writer for quite a few years, but he also has a bachelor's degree in history with a Minor in the German language. He has 4 kids and has been married for 14 years.
Over the last year Walter has been one of Indy's 4 Race Directors, and while he mainly works on oval nights, he has also helped out RDing at other tracks for RC PRO.
When we asked Walter what he loves about working at Indy, he stated that the crew he works with does really good at getting a demanding job done. No matter the stresses that come with big or small races, at the end of the night he gets to laugh and decompress with his Indy crew.
Finally, we asked him what he loves about RC and he said "The racers who make their home track their weekly place to be, like the ones I have that make Indy family.. that is what I love. The real ones around here know that racing is about working with your hands, being competitive, but also having fun and not taking it too seriously. The hobby can be difficult but if you tune out the toxicity you can have a really good time!"
Walter and the rest of the Indy crew hopes you all come out and finish off the series with some good racing!
Thank you, Wally, for your love for this hobby.