Roughly 25 miles northwest of the Gateway Arch, some of the fastest racers in the Midwest gathered this past Saturday to compete in the inaugural running of the Archway Classic, presented by SmacTrac. A world-class facility, backed by its very fast group of local racers, meant this event would have some fierce competition. With the addition of a professionally built layout, spectators were treated to some of the closest racing the facility has experienced in years. With over 150 entries from all around the Midwest, a win at this race would cement a driver as a true threat at any track around the country.
JConcepts driver Matt Gosch returned to his former home track this past weekend to see how he could fair against the new crop of very quick locals, as well as some that have been around for years. Qualifying in the 3rd spot of 2wd modified buggy using his B5M, after 3 rounds that would see drivers separated by just tenths of second, Matt would go on to take the A-Main victory after close battles with Jonathan Burkhalter and Chris Baumgartner. Running JConcepts Dirt Webs in green compound would prove to be the right tire combination for the tricky track conditions.
In 4wd modified buggy, Matt struggled to come to grips with his B44.3, setting him up for a 5th place starting position for the single 5 minute A. Aggressive driving early in the race let Matt find his way to 2nd place behind Josh Wheeler, who made an uncharacteristic mistake late in the race to allow Matt by for another A-main win, and a clean sweep of the Archway Classic.
JConcepts driver Ben Ellis also made the drive from Indianapolis to compete this weekend, taking a brilliant TQ and win in the JConcepts 2wd Spec Tire class, where drivers competed using JConcepts Black Dirt Webs. Ben Ellis took the win driving the new TLR 22 3.0 buggy.
Matt would like to thank his sponsors, AMain.com, Protek RC, JConcepts, Futaba, Byron Fuels, 92zero Designs, and SmacTrac for all the help and support.