Layton Doubles Down as Gonzales Wins Truck at the 2019 JConcepts Stock Nationals

Let’s stop beating around the bush, stock racing has changed. It’s more popular and faster than ever with these HV graphene batteries, super high charge/discharge rates combined with lightweight yet powerful motors and ultra-low car weights, these stock cars are a bullet down the straightaway and around the track.

With the power just right for most drivers, the on-track battles can be intense and usually end up finishing just seconds from each other giving everybody that high five, feel-good vibes after the racing has finished. It’s true, stock racing isn’t for everyone, but for those who love it, the JConcepts Stock Nationals is the must-attend stock race of the year as many say the talent pool is deeper here than at the official ROAR Nationals.

There’s always a lovely mystique racing at OCRC. Maybe it’s the dialed overhead misting system, it could be the clay surface providing just the right kind of grip, or the low driver stand that’s laid back and chill like the atmosphere… who really knows. We just know that OCRC is wicked and such a pleasure to drive on it really is a driver’s paradise giving you the best of so many worlds. This year’s layout was technical with a good number of jumps requiring precision landings to gain the extra boost from the backsides. Towards the end, ghost pin treaded gold Ellipse and Dirt Webs were the tire of choice for almost the entire JConcepts team. The magic was in adjusting the tread height on the front and rear to help balance out your ride with corner speed and cornering sharpness. Lower tread meant more speed, but you would sacrifice stability and comfort towards the end of the race as things start to dust up.

Check out what 3rd place 17.5 2wd Stock finisher, AJ Marasco had to say about the track and the racing conditions at the 2019 Stock Nationals. “AJ, how’s the track?”

Amateur 2wd Truck

It was great driving by Gaspare Gladstone in the Amateur 2nd Stadium truck, who eventually finished 1st after 10 tough minutes of racing. Josh Cook tried his best to hold on to 2nd as Mango wrapped up a solid 3rd place finish.

Amateur 2wd Buggy

Thanks to the amateur guys for coming out and having a great time at the JConcepts Stock Nationals. Hye went home with 1st place as Meado finished 2nd and Abe Betz rounded out the podium in 3rd.

Sportsman 2wd Buggy

Once again, it was Abe Khalil rockin’ JConcepts out front setting the pace and took the win in the Sportsman 2wd class as Oil Can found himself wonderfully in 2nd place as Josh Gonzalez took home 3rd.

Sportsman 4wd Buggy

It was a perfect weekend for Kyle Kayman in the Sportsman 4wd class as he set TQ and took the win by over 7.5 seconds to Luke Kalaitzian, who placed 2nd. The legend, J.Smoker found a place on the podium in 3rd.

Sportsman Truck

Luke Kalaitzian put in a great 10 minutes to move himself up from 3rd on the grid to take the win. Mike Hutton finished out the race in 2nd with Steve Racer jumping up from 6th to finish 3rd.

Sportsman SCT

The Sportsman class is always entertaining mixing speed and fun as JConcepts’ Abe Khali took the win with Joe Grodzen 2nd and Chris Meuller taking home a happy 3rd place victory.

40+ 2wd Buggy

Congrats to Justin Watson on his 40+ 2wd win as Oil Can finished 2nd with Shelle’s Wenger taking home 3rd to highlight a very fast group of 40+ stock drivers!

Expert 2wd Buggy

It was the perfect race for Kyle Layton as he set the TQ and ran away with the win in the 10-minute Expert 2wd Buggy final. With his polished, smooth driving style and starting from pole, Kyle was going to be hard to beat. From the very first lap, he was maximum push and lead the way from tone to tone to take a very impressive win. Yokomo/JConcepts’ Jake Thayer also drove brilliantly and displayed his stock speed and finished 5 seconds back from Kyle for 2nd. JConcepts’ own, AJ Marasco delivered a terrific run to land himself 3rd on the podium, which is quite the feat since he hasn’t made the main at the JConcepts Stock Nationals prior. Congrats on the podium sweep guys!

Expert 4wd Buggy

The 10 minute 13.5 4wd A final was intense! Leading the way for half the race, TQ Jackie Thayer looked poised to take a huge win, but a costly mistake saw Kyle Layton shoot to the lead and reversed the roles as the mouse then became the cat. However, Kyle proved to be too fast and slowly started to gap the field and cruised himself to another win last weekend. Jake locked up 2nd with AE’s Austin Panonne taking home 3rd place.

Expert Truck

From the start of the race, it looked to be in the bag for Coyote Hobbies’ Davey Batta, as Matthew Gonzales made a mistake early and dropped back giving Batta a lot of space and no pressure. Matthew Gonzales knew he had to close the gap and pushed hard to close the distance to Batta and in doing so, Batta made a mistake shorting the double and handed over the lead to Gonzales. Once in the lead, Gonzales held on to cross the line in 1st place. Davey took 2nd and TLR’s Wayne Wyrick 3rd. Matthew used the newly released Ellipse stadium truck tires to help him obtain his wonderful win.

Expert SCT

It was a close race between Coyote Hobbies’ Davey Batta and AE/JConcepts’ Kyle Layton as the two SCT aces duked it out for the win. Unfortunately, the class TQ Kyle Layton tried his best complete the 3 class sweep, but Davey proved to be too fast and once Davey got around Kyle, he cruised himself to the top step on the podium. Kyle settled for 2nd with Michael Borack filling out the podium in 3rd.