JConcepts is victorious at Round 1 of the Short Course Showdown.
Tacoma R/C Raceway hosted the first race of the yearly Shortcourse Showdown Tour presented by Scotty Ernst. The venue is run by racer Scott Brown so he knows how to host and put on a good show. The track is a hard clay surface with plenty of traction to allow close and consistent racing.
Qualifying saw JConcepts tires rise to the top in the stock SC, stock SCB, Mod SC and Mod 4wd SC classes. All qualifying results were extremely close and hinted at some great battles developing for the mains.
Stock SC had TQ and JConcepts driver Dave Duncan out to an early lead in his Associated Factory Team SC10. Zane Courtway followed closely in 2nd with his Associated Factory Team SC10. Zane took the point while the lead tandem was negotiating lap traffic. Dave kept on chipping away at Zane’s lead until 2 minutes remaining when Zane had his own issues with lap traffic. Dave took over the lead and never let it go. JConcepts tires finished 1 and 3 on the podium with Dave taking the win and Zane in 3rd both using Gold Bar Codes in the rear and Gold Pressure Points in front on Hazard wheels.
Stock SCB was dominated in qualifying by Dave Duncan. His JConcepts equipped Associated SCB looked great going into the main. Dave led the main but with less than 2 minutes to go he had a bad lap that let 2nd place James Woods into the lead. Dave put on a good charge but couldn’t get by James and had to settle for 2nd place.
Mod SC qualifying was led by veteran racer Chris Bridgewater. His JConcepts/Associated Factory Team SC10 was on point in qualifying. Luke Smith and John Walentia driving their Team Associated SC10’s on JConcepts tires rounded out the top 3 in qualifying. The race started out well for the top 3 as they settled into a groove. Some small bobbles by all 3 kept anyone from breaking away. Midway through the 7 minute duel, Chris had a bobble that let Luke into the lead. John tried everything he could to get by for 2nd but couldn’t. At the end of the race Luke duplicated 2012’s winning effort. Chris Bridgewater finished 2nd and John Walentia 3rd to complete the JConcepts sweep of the podium. All 3 drivers used the successful Gold Bar Code/Gold Pressure Point combo on Hazard wheels.
Mod 4wd SC was another tight qualifying battle with Mike Brown and John Walentia locking out the front row with JConcepts tires and Associated vehicles. The main event started out with Brown leading and Walentia chasing with his Factory Team SC10 4×4. A small bobble by Brown put Walentia to the lead. A few laps later Brown made a great inside pass to take the lead. With about 3 minutes to go Brown made a mistake that allowed Walentia to take the lead. John ran a smooth and flawless last 3 minutes to cross the line as the winner with his JConcepts SC10 4×4. Mike Brown finshed a hard fought 2nd place with his Team Associated vehicle. Both drivers used JConcepts Gold Bar Codes to drive them to the finish line.
Congratulations to the winners: JConcepts/Team Associated driver Dave Duncan in Stock SC, JConcepts/Team Associated driver Luke Smith in Mod SC, JConcepts/Team Associated driver John Walentia in Mod 4×4 SC along with promoter Scotty Ernst and track owner Scott Brown for putting on a great show.
Race Report Courtesy Of: John Walentia
