Without a doubt, astro and carpet offroad racing have gained traction all over the United States with its ease of track changes, low maintenance, and attractive portable pop-ups that take little setup time turning school gymnasiums into awesome race tracks. With the desire to create a world-class atmosphere and the best carpet racing experience, the International Offroad Carpet Championships was the brainchild of Scotty Ernst. Following the popularity of the IIC in Las Vegas, Scotty has forged ahead and introduced an event that could potentially change the future of offroad racing here in the USA.
The inaugural IOCC event directly followed the massive IIC using the same exact layout, carpet, and pro painted curbings for that stellar realistic look. The jumps were built and covered in the same CRC black carpet giving the offroad track a unique ninja black skin unakin in the offroad world. Tabletops, doubles, singles, and an elevated corner were all masterfully put in place to challenge racers while keeping the layout technically simple to promote close racing on the high traction surface. Overall, the track was extremely fun and the flow was great. As always, the organization was top notch and most importantly the atmosphere was the best of west coast chill and really laid back for such a bigtime event.
With years of exposure and experience to races like the EOS, Scotty decided to make the IOCC a spec tire race pairing up with JConcepts’ and the proven Swaggers and Pin Downs making it a true test of driver skill and not the tiring tire game. Of course, no saucing was allowed making the environment clean, safe, and without toxic fumes contaminating the entire room. Perhaps best of all, it was simple and the JConcepts rubber worked awesome on the CRC Fasttrack II carpet. The wear was great and the traction front to back was plentiful and balanced turning your vehicle into a carpet knife.
The race format was all planned accordingly to a timetable that slotted for 8 total practice runs and 6 qualifying runs taking best 3 of 6 to sort for triple A-Mains. There was plenty of track time to get cars dialed in while still ending the day around 6pm to give racers time to enjoy a nice dinner and the Vegas nightlife. Included with the entry fee was a massive SWAG BAG brought to you by the sponsors that were filled with useful goodies along with 2 group dinners making the experience extraordinary special.
21.5 Amateur Class
It’s great to see a growing amateur class around the nation and it was well represented at the IOCC. To ensure even power and fairness, Hobbywing sponsored the 21.5 class with a spec motor handout. The overall winner was decided by a showdown in A3 with Adam Lapid taking the win to lock up the class title. Just 1 point behind, Jason Brittain would secure 2nd with Dino Spinelli 3rd.
17.5 Stock Truck
JConcepts’ Reid McMichael was able to fire back under pressure having won A1 of 17.5 Stadium Truck, but suffering a popped ballcup in A2 resulting in a DNF. Unphased and focused, Reid took a 2-second win in A3 to lock up the overall. Congrats to Reid on the win with Kevin Bish and Lyle Parsons joining him on the podium in 2nd and 3rd.
17.5 2wd Stock Buggy
Ray Darroch was the man to beat in 17.5 2wd Stock Buggy as Ray was able to nab overall TQ after 4 different drivers set the fastest time out of 6 rounds of qualifying. With no pressure on him in A1, Ray was able to take the win, however, A2 was a much different story. With an early mistake, Ray was shuffled to the back allowing Randy Pike to take control of the race and go on to win A2. The overall winner would come down to an epic battle between Ray and Randy Pike in A3. With a late pass on the closing laps, Randy moved into 2nd and finished only .2 seconds with Ray taking the victory in A3. Hobbywing’s own, Ron Schuur, would have a great weekend taking the last spot on the podium
13.5 4wd
RC America’s Daniel Chavez set the pace in qualifying and went on to TQ the 13.5 4wd class at the IOCC. Proven to be fast in wheeler, Daniel would mount a come back from A1 with critical wins in A2 and A3. Almost stealing the show was Kyle Johnson who only needed 1 more point to take the overall from Chavez. Nate Lyday had a great weekend finishing 2nd and 3rd to land himself 3rd overall on the podium.
Modified Stadium Truck
Despite a light turnout in the inaugural year of the IOCC, Stadium Trucks are always a hit with the racers. Proving to be the speed in the ST class was RC America’s, Leon McIntosh. Leon was able to set the TQ pace in qualifying and use the pole spot to his advantage by wrapping up A1 and A2. Leon finished ahead of JConcepts’ young and talented Caleb Stevens and Chad Eubanks.
2wd Modified
It was a wonderful display of dominance for Yokomo/JConcepts’ Ryan Maifield. Having TQ’d 2wd Modified, RM proved he would be a hard man to beat. With his YZ2 DTM on point, Ryan was able to cruise to a win in A1 and A2 taking down some of the best names in the business. AE/JConcepts’ Spencer Rivkin was the only driver able to take a round of qualifying from Maifield in 2wd and finished 2nd after a clutch win in A3. Reedy Open 4wd Champion, Broc Champlin would show his carpet quickness and finish 3rd overall.
4wd Modified
With his new prototype Yokomo YZ4-SF, Ryan Maifield rocketed his way to the top in 4wd Modified at the IOCC. Going 6 for 6 in qualifying, RM was on a mission to claim both the inaugural 2wd and 4wd titles to his unreal list of accomplishments. It was smooth sailing for RM in A1, but a critical mistake in A2 saw Spencer Rivkin take the lead and the win forcing an A3. Without skipping a beat, Maifield was back on the attack in A3 and delivered a performance unmatched to take the overall. AE/JConcepts Spencer Rivkin definitely showed world-class speed, but fall short by 1 point. Tekno’s Ryan Lutz showed drastic improvements over the weekend debuting the new EB410 and stoked to come home 3rd fastest.
