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Roanoke’s Alex Vanover is an international commodity feared by his foes, but you may not have heard of this world-class racer

Alex Vanover, 19, is one of the top pilots in the Drone Racing League. He graduated from Trophy Club Byron Nelson.

ROANOKE — Tucked into the back corner of a Northwest Regional Airport hangar, Alex Vanover is home — at least technically.

In between business trips to Phoenix and Seoul, South Korea, Vanover sits back on his couch, a couple of aviation magazines on the coffee table in front of him and a small plane just downstairs.

He looks around the room, pausing for a second before answering.

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“I almost get homesick when I actually come home, because my home is away from home.”

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It’s because the 19-year-old — known to his peers simply by his last name — competes in the Drone Racing League, a professional first-person drone racing circuit that features a dozen pilots from seven different countries and four continents.

And in less than a year, the Trophy Club Byron Nelson graduate has emerged as an international commodity, all while becoming feared by his foes and introducing others to his hobby-turned-lucrative career.

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“[Vanover] is blind to failure,” said Paul ‘Nurk’ Nurkkala, the 2018 DRL world champion. “He says, ‘I’m the best. There’s no reason I shouldn’t destroy all these guys.’“

‘Nothing but the best’

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Imagine an NFL stadium, empty in the wee hours of the morning, except for the pilots, camera operators and a handful of technical support staff.

Then add colorful neon lights, an elaborate course made up of both natural structures and man-made metal gates and drones flying up to 90 miles per hour.

That’s the basic setup of the DRL, a seven-stage competition (each individual event is known as a level) that will take its show across the country and the world, occasionally allowing fans to watch races live.

The league, now in its fourth season, is unlike any other drone racing competition in the world, and it’s certainly a far cry from Vanover’s first race in 2016.

Then just 16, he still needed a ride from his mom, going to a local event that featured amateurs flying through a few gates made out of PVC pipe.

Vanover admitted that, at the time, he was pretty bad.

He nonetheless began doing whatever he could to make money to sustain his hobby. Vanover mowed as many lawns as possible, despite the scorching temperatures that come along with Texas summers.

Drones aren’t cheap. A basic setup (including a controller and first-person goggles) can cost up to $1,500. Not to mention batteries and parts that frequently need replacing.

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Alex "Vanover" Vanover, pictured at a race earlier this season, is one of the top Drone...
Alex "Vanover" Vanover, pictured at a race earlier this season, is one of the top Drone Racing League pilots in the world. He graduated from Trophy Club Byron Nelson. (Courtesy/Done Racing League)(Joe Lemke)

But over the course of that first year-plus, Vanover practiced as much as he could after school. He’d blow through batteries, going so far as to purchase a generator in order to keep them charged without having to go inside.

“I wouldn’t do my homework until night when the sun went down,” Vanover said. “I’d fly about four or five hours until I physically couldn’t see where I was flying anymore.”

The following summer, Vanover finished first at a MultiGP regional qualifier, snagging a spot at the national competition six weeks later. He won that event as well, earning himself several sponsors and the chance to race in 13 different countries last year.

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The most important result, however, came in a competition that Vanover did not actually win.

By placing second at the 2018-19 MultiGP nationals in February, he secured a spot in the 2019 DRL (the winner was too young to claim the top prize).

It was a seminal moment in Vanover’s young career and one that wouldn’t have been possible without his dad, Bob, a world champion billiards player who died after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease in 2017.

“One thing I noticed that hit me hard was how much he would practice, even when he was retired,” Vanover said of his dad. “There was always this drive that he had to be the best — and nothing but the best.”

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Racing like a robot

A look at a recent race setup at Chase Field in the Drone Racing League. Pilots will...
A look at a recent race setup at Chase Field in the Drone Racing League. Pilots will maneuver their drones around obstacles and through gates. (Courtesy/Drone Racing League)(Courtesy/Drone Racing League)

For as important as DRL is to Vanover’s career, it takes up very little time. A single level may only take three or four days, even with travel.

So Vanover is finding other ways to fill up his schedule.

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He already has a private pilot’s license — for “real planes” as he calls them — and is working on getting his license to fly commercially. He’s also exploring the world of meteorology, a field in which he believes his drone skills could eventually translate.

But he also still dedicates plenty of time honing his craft.

Last winter, Vanover needed a place to practice indoors. One of his friends connected with Trent Tharp, a teacher at Rockwall who suggested they come to the school’s library one afternoon and practice there.

Tharp quickly realized that Vanover was different from the other racers in the group.

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“I like to call Alex a robot because he doesn’t really need to see the course,” Tharp said. “When he’s going through gates, he’s already turned for the next gate before he’s through the gate that’s right in front of him.”

The thing is, Vanover doesn’t look at the course like everyone else.

Thanks to a camera on the front of the Racer4 — DRL’s unique quadcopter that’s only about a square foot in size — and low-latency signals, he gets a first-person view of the course. It’s then projected into his Fat Shark goggles instantaneously, and what he sees looks like a flight simulator.

A picture of a drone from a recent Drone Racing League match. The quadcopters can fly up to...
A picture of a drone from a recent Drone Racing League match. The quadcopters can fly up to 90 miles per hour. (Courtesy/Drone Racing League)(Idris Talib Solomon | Courtesy/Drone Racing League)
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To an outsider, the view can be disorienting at first.

Many, however, have picked up the sport in less than a day. The DRL sells an online simulator for $20 that can serve as a practice tool before buying the real thing.

With what is essentially an oversized RC car controller, anyone can get a feel for what it’s like to race.

Each DRL competition consists of a number of heats, whittling down the competitors to a winner-take-all race. All of the races last about two minutes; a single false move can prove costly.

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Over the course of the DRL season, pilots accumulate points in their quest for a world title and a guaranteed spot in next year’s DRL.

The 2019 season began at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, and Vanover rolled to a Level 1 victory, winning nine of his 12 heats. He nearly won the next level there, too, finishing second.

If the other pilots didn’t know before, they certainly knew then. Their hands would be plenty full dealing with this rising star.

What comes next?

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Vanover is an adult. He has a full-time job and travels the world for work, after all.

At the same time, he doesn’t have the same responsibilities as other pilots like Nurkkala.

“When I lose a race because of some stupid mistake, I go home with failure,” Nurkkala said. “I didn’t achieve what I needed to do to literally provide for my family.”

Vanover is unique in the world of drone racing. At 19, he can afford to race full time, not having to worry about paying rent or supporting children. Other pilots have day jobs. Vanover can also compete in other drone events, provided they don’t crown a “world champion.”

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Although the DRL wouldn’t disclose how much Vanover’s 2019 contract is worth, he said that most pilots make between $50,000 and $75,000, with the top racers holding deals for as much as $100,000.

That doesn’t include sponsorships, which for Vanover total between $50,000 and $60,000 annually. There is no prize money for individual races, but instead awarding the purse to the best three pilots over the course of a season.

And on top of all that, this is the first season of DRL’s three-year deal with NBC. Terms of the agreement were never announced, but the August episode drew nearly 500,000 viewers to the broadcast network, according to the league. The free Twitter stream that day, also part of the DRL’s deal, drew more than six million viewers live.

With the exception of the final 2019 World Championship event, all of this year’s DRL levels are complete. But they don’t air until the weekly 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. timeslot on NBC Sports Network, starting Oct. 23. Pilots aren’t permitted to publicly discuss the results of the races before they air.

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Vanover hopes the league grows into better timeslots and perhaps even a regular spot on the company’s cable channel. He knows it may not last forever, but he wants to be involved as long as he can.

“I can see myself racing for a very long time,” said Vanover, who is still young enough to change careers. “Down the road, [I hope] it keeps getting bigger where it’s in stadiums and it’s airing on TV and everyone knows what drone racing is.

On Twitter: mpgladstone13

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A closer look at the DRL

What: The 2019 Drone Racing League

When: Wednesdays from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m., starting Oct. 23

Where: NBC Sports Network and Twitter

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How it works: 12 pilots are split into groups of six for the semifinals. Each semifinal is comprised of six heats, each lasting no more than two minutes. Pilots fly around the course, looking to complete two laps the fastest (or the furthest, if they can’t finish in the allotted time).

In the semifinals, pilots must win at least two heats to advance to the finals. If there are not three pilots that have won at least two heats, those that are tied for second compete in a winner-take-all sudden death heat to determine the remaining spots in the finals.

Once the two semifinals have been completed, the process starts again with six pilots in the finals. This time, however, pilots only need to win one heat to guarantee a spot in the Golden Heat. Barring a sweep of all six heats, each pilot that has won at least one heat in the finals competes in the winner-take-all Golden Heat to determine the champion for that level.

The winner of the level earns five points, with two for second place and one for third. Points are accumulated over the course of the seven levels and the racer with the most points at the conclusion of the season wins an undisclosed amount of prize money.

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Necessary equipment

Racer4: This is the DRL’s proprietary racing drone. Pilots have a number of drones that are swapped out and repaired during levels, but each has the same specifications. Each pilot also gets a Racer4 to practice with when they are not competing on DRL.

Controller: There are lots of different controllers on the market, but DRL uses its own setup that has a unique frequency in order to function almost instantaneously.

Goggles: The DRL works with Fat Shark, a company that produces the premier set of first-person view goggles in order to race drones. But non-DRL pilots can also purchase Fat Shark goggles on their own.

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Batteries: Once again, the DRL has its own batteries. Since racers fly at such high speeds with lots of thrust, these batteries drain quickly. Thus, the DRL has designed its own equipment in order to last for the entirety of a heat.