WRTC USA: USA Leaders Still K5ZD, W9RE, N2IC, K7RL; Big Battle Remains For Other Russia 2010 Qualifying Slots

By Jamie Dupree NS3T  radio-sport.net 
Posted March 25, 2009

While new results from three contests in 2008 left the four US leaders the same in qualifying for the 2010 World Radiosport Team Championships, the races have become even tighter for all nine American team leader slots.

The top slots are still in the hands of K5ZD, W9RE, N2IC and K7RL, as all four are very close to clinching a spot in the 2010 WRTC in Russia. Behind them is where things are getting very interesting, as the final results of the 2009 Russian DX Contest could well determine who qualifies and who does not.

In the largest WRTC regional, NA #1, Randy Thompson K5ZD saw his lead shrink substantially, as Jeff Briggs K1ZM continues to gain ground in his late rush to qualify.

Briggs used top finishes in the 2008 IARU and WPX CW contests, along with a high finish in WAE SSB to move within 81 points of K5ZD, the closest anyone has been to Thompson in over a year.

K1ZM's move pushed John Crovelli W2GD back into third place, just 215 points behind K5ZD.

On the outside looking in right now are Krassy Petkov K1LZ in fourth; Andy Blank N2NT is now down in fifth, but he is all but certain to jump at least 300 points with his performance from V47NT in CQ WW CW, and should grab even more points from his V47NT effort in Russian DX.

Here are the top five as of March 2009:

NA #1 includes W1, W2, W3 and part of W4.

• K5ZD 6,339 - (8 scores)

• K1ZM 6,258 - (8 scores)

• W2GD 6,124 - (8 scores)

• K1LZ 5,855 - (8 scores)

• N2NT 5,840 - (8 scores)

Check out the radio-sport.net results spreadsheet for NA #1

In NA #2, Mike Wetzel W9RE remains the leader in the race for two qualifying spots, but his lead was again trimmed in this latest update by Scott Robbins W4PA, who grabbed top regional honors in the 2008 IARU contest.

Robbins won 740 points there, adding 148 overall. He now trails Wetzel by 530 points, but more importantly expanded his lead over third place Mike Tessmer K9NW to 398 points.

Robbins, who announced late in 2008 that he was giving up contesting for now, added 57 points to his lead over K9NW in the battle for two team leader positions from NA #2.

Here are the top five ops from NA #2: NA #2 has some of W4 along with W8 and W9.

• W9RE 6,360 - (8 scores)

• W4PA 5,830 - (8 scores)

• K9NW 5,432 - (8 scores)

• WB9Z 5,270 - (8 scores)

• W9IU 4,832 - (8 scores)

Check out the full results spreadsheet for NA #2

Of the four US WRTC qualifying leaders, Steve London N2IC may be as close to a lock for the 2010 event in Russia as anyone else, as he remains the strong leader in the NA #3 region.

London added 58 points overall with strong finishes in both the 2008 IARU and CQ WPX CW contests, as he leads Richard King K5NA by nearly 800 points.

King remains in second - but only barely - as Kevin Stockton N5DX continues his big rush up the WRTC qualifying ladder.

Stockton swept top regional honors in all three contests added to the radio-sport.net spreadsheets, picking up maximum points in WAE SSB, IARU and WPX CW, to move h im with 64 points of K5NA.

And depending on final results from the 2008 November Sweepstakes and CQ WW DX Contests, Stockton may well be on his way to a spot in Russia.

K5NA and N5DX are really battling only each other at this point in time, as they own around a 500 point lead over Jim George N3BB and Alex Tkatch KU1CW, both of who were outpointed by N5DX as Stockton made his move.

Here are the top five in NA #3:

NA #3 is W5 and W0.

• N2IC 6,684 - (8 scores)

• K5NA 5,891 - (8 scores)

• N5DX 5,827 - (8 scores)

• N3BB 5,381 - (8 scores)

• KU1CW 5,300 - (8 scores)

Check the radio-sport.net results spreadsheet for NA #3

Out West in NA #4, the numbers keep running in the favor of Dan Craig N6MJ, as he closes in on regional leader Mitch Mason K7RL.

Craig used top regional finishes in the 2008 IARU and WPX CW test to earn maximum points in those contests, moving into second place and getting within 42 points of K7RL.

Two team leader positions are at stake, meaning that third place Bob Wolbert K6XX remains a factor in NA #4, just 214 points behind Craig in the standings.

Craig's solid performance in the 2009 Russian DX contest may well vault him into overall lead in this qualifying section.

Here are the top five in NA #4, which comprises W6, W7 and KL7.

• K7RL 6,211 - (8 scores)

• N6MJ 6,169 - (8 scores)

• K6XX 5,955 - (8 scores)

• K6LA 5,288 - (8 scores)

• N6TV 5,170 - (8 scores)

Review the radio-sport.net results spreadsheet for NA #4

There are no more qualifying events left for stations in the US, but results must still come in from five contests, the 2008 CQ WW DX SSB and CW tests, 2008 CW and SSB November Sweepstakes and the 2009 Russian DX contest.

The unofficial results produced here by radio-sport.net include the final published results of the 2006, 2007 and 2008 IARU, the 2006 and 2007 & 2008 WAE CW and WAE SSB, 2006 and 2007 CQ WW CW and SSB contests, 2007 and 2008 ARRL DX SSB & CW, 2007 & 2008 Russian DX, 2007 & 2008 CQ WPX SSB and CW contests, 2007 November Sweepstakes and the 2007 and 2008 NA Sprints.

(Radio-sport.net has tried to be as accurate as possible. If you find a mistake, or that your score line is missing a contest result, please send us an email and we will be happy to check and correct the numbers.)

The qualifying rules allow you to submit your top eight scores from certain contests. No more than four may be from multi-operator efforts.

You will note that some scores in the spreadsheets have been colored in. All multi-ops are noted with a yellow background. Scores from a contest operation outside of your home WRTC region are colored in blue.

A score that was both outside your home region and from a multi-op has a purple color.