2013 Hobby Haven Offroad Shootout

Event: 2013 Hobby Haven Offroad Shootout
Location: Hobby Haven in Urbandale, Iowa
Dates: September 1, 2013 to September 2, 2013

Race Reporter: Chad Karstens

This past weekend I attended my home town race, the Hobby Haven Offroad Shootout. The Shootout has been around for over a decade and has become one of the largest Offroad races in the Midwest. This year they capped the entries at 250 and the race filled up on rcsignup.com, 4 weeks before the event date! JConcepts has been a long time title sponsor.

Qualifying kicked off Saturday morning, and with so many fast racers from several different states, I knew it was going to be a great weekend. We ran 3 rounds of qualifying with qualifying points using the best 2 out of 3 races. My first round went good! I came out of the first round with a TQ in Mod Buggy and a second in Mod Stadium Truck. The rest of my qualifiers were good but I wasn’t able to repeat another TQ run.

A big Thunderstorm rolled through the area Saturday night and when I showed up to the track Sunday morning I was very skeptical that my cars would even touch the track. After some serious track work from a few of us locals, the track was starting to come around. With the delay from the wet track all the racers took a vote and decided to skip the triple A-mains and go with single mains to speed up the day. I started both of my classes third on the grid.

First up was Mod Buggy. The start was smooth but on the second lap I got into the back of my fellow JConcepts teammate, Rod Rippee going into an off camber corner. Our two cars in the pipe seemed to collect the rest of the field. My car came out of the mess before Rods but I pulled over to the side of the track to let Rod and the rest of he pack go since I was the cause of the pileup. I quickly caught up to Rod and we worked together, moving our way to the front of the pack again. By the last lap Rod was in second and I was in third. I went into the last turn and got into the loose stuff spinning my car around losing a spot 3 feet before the line finishing 4th.

The Mod Truck main was next up and I was looking for some redemption. The first 2 laps were very smooth with everyone being very patient. Fellow JConcepts drivers Cole Tollard and Rod Rippee were first and second but Cole got a little sideways going into a rhythm section. I was able to squeeze the throttle and move to the outside passing both Cole and Rod at the same time. I built a 2-3 second lead and was able to hold that gap for the rest of the race taking the win! Cole finished second and Rod third making a JConcepts
sweep of the podium.

The track was very dry and rough with a little bit of a groove. I ran the same pair of Blue Carvers on the front and Green Double Dees on the rear all weekend long with very little wear. My truck was dialed, pulling wheelies out of some corners.