Viera, Fla. –  The MultiGP Championships were initially slated to be in Daytona Beach this year but a last minute venue change brought it to the Space Coast, bringing an unexpected economic boost to the area.

Pilots made their way to an open field in Viera, but these pilots were not the ones flying planes.

Hundreds of extreme drone pilots from across the country and around world arrived, some navigating an obstacle course while others taking a crash.

For Extreme Drone Pilot Alec Lunsford, these goggles puts him in the middle of the action.

“The whole goal is not to crash and to go fast,” Lunsford said. “We have a camera on the drone, small little micro pilot sitting in there.”

Lunsford and his crew drove all the way from Tennessee packed in a car for about 14 hours.

“With the covid stuff and everything we decided it was best to drive together and rented an Airbnb and a car,” Lunsford said. “In our group we have 12 people staying in the Airbnb , we are on the river at Cape Canaveral.”

The Organization currently has over 30,000 registered pilots in addition to 500 active chapters worldwide and is the world’s largest drone racing league. MultiGP's founder and Brevard County resident Chris Thomas tells us this ended up being a win-win situation.

“It's exciting to see Brevard get behind an event like this, this is the space coast with this new emerging technology here is where it belongs, I'm excited to see it here,” Thomas said.

Thomas said the three day championships is a small economy boost and is connecting pilots to some of the best local restaurants.

“If they are a foodie and like to travel, I've given them my local favorites,” he said.