Round 4 of the 2020 JConcepts FORCE Off-Road Series was hosted by Southside Raceway in Lake City, Florida last weekend.
With nearly 150 entries and 12 classes to compete in, this made for a great weekend of fun, competitive racing outdoors.
After sitting idle for almost four months due to the pandemic, Lance MacDonald worked countless hours to prep the track for racing once again. Once it was ready Dean Lloyd and the Force series crew kept things running smooth for this tour stop.
Friday the track opened for practice, and Saturday morning there was a small session of practice too. Then two rounds of qualifying began as driver’s battled it out for the elusive TQ. All electric classes ran 8 minute long single A mains except for Novice and 4wd SCT which ran single 5 minute A mains. In the nitro classes, the Expert Buggy and Truggy classes would duke it out in 25 minute mains, the 40+ Buggy class would run a 20 minute main, and the Intermediate Buggy and Truggy classes would battle for 15 minutes each. We had several driver in attendance so let’s check in to see how the team performed in the most competitive classes.
Let’s start off with the premiere class for this event, Expert Nitro Buggy. For the start of the 25 minute main team drivers Julien Oliveras and Lee Setser positioned themselves in the front of the pack as they started 2nd and 4th overall. After some intense racing on the track, it would be Lee who take the win with Julien filling out the podium in 3rd place! Let’s check in with these two drivers to get their thoughts on the event:
“Lance and Dean’s Track crew did a fantastic job getting the track ready for us to race on. For the Pro-Buggy A main I decided to Run Green Kosmos, I feel for me this tire is the most predictable in situations where you don’t know what tire to choose. The Kosmos also handles the Bumps/Ruts extremely well making the car super easy to drive. Finalizing the tire package was the Dirt-Tech inserts and Mono wheels. To top off my RC8B3.2 I ran the Jconcepts S15 body along with the F21 wing as I think that package looks killer and performs like no other!” – Lee
“Throughout the day the track surface changed due to the weather. In the morning the track had a ton of moisture and I ran Silver Eclipses (#3184-06). The car was dialed and tires were hooked up, allowing me to TQ. Later for the 2nd qual, the track got really dried out and extremely dusty so I changed to Aqua Reflex. The tires were good, bringing me a 2nd for the qual but maybe Aqua Stalkers would of shaved an extra second or two. In Pro Nitro Main, it rained and changed the track surface conditions. I decided to run JConcepts super soft (Green) Stalkers. They were money. The car felt great, easy to turn corners and drive. Leading the entire race minus the last 4 minutes, and I had to settle with a third due to a ghost flameout on the track. As they say…..that’s racing. Thank you to Dean Lloyd for hosting a great JConcepts event. Thank you to John Bernard for announcing the event and to the Southside crew (Lance McDonald) for the event venue!” – Julien
Winning JConcepts products:
Lee Setser
- S15 body
- F2I wing
- Green compound Kosmos
- Dirt Tech inserts
- Mono wheels
Julien Oliveras
- S15 body
- F2I wing
- Green compound Stalkers
- Dirt Tech inserts
- Bullet wheels
Moving over to the Expert Electric Buggy class, it would be Lee once again to finish the race in 1st place after TQing qualifying! Joining him on the podium this time would be team mate in Patrick Rossiter Jr. in 2nd!
Winning JConcepts products:
Lee Setser
- Silencer body
- F2I wing
- Green compound Stalkers
- Dirt Tech inserts
- Mono wheels
Patrick Rossiter Jr.
- F2I wing
- Blue compound Reflex
- Dirt Tech inserts
- Mono wheels
Speaking of Patrick, he also raced in the Expert Nitro Truggy class and after two rounds he would start on the pole for the main event! But after battling away on the track for 25 minutes he would come up just short for a 2nd place finish overall. Joining him on the podium in 3rd place was JConcepts driver Kiarra Hold! Let’s check in with Patrick to get his thoughts on this race and how his cars performed:
“Lance MacDonald proved that even in retirement, you never stop working. When the rain came through, it really took the surface back in time and I personally loved it. The fact that the track had been left alone for months during the Corona lock down and we finally had a bit of dry weather, everyone was just happy to be back at the track, no matter the surface! Tire game is always a struggle for me as far as decisions and gluing. I had help from Julien for my Truggy tires and the Blue buggy Reflex I glued were blessed by God to stay glued. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the new S15 body for the E Buggy in time, but I did mount up a F2I wing and it helped plant the car in the grove and square up better on power. The Finnisher on the Tekno NT48.3 takes full advantage of aerodynamics and is a no brainer for the Nitro Truggy. The Triple Dees, to quote Paul Wynn, was a faster and lighter tire than the Reflex for the situation.”
– Patrick
Winning JConcepts products:
Patrick Rossiter Jr.
- Finnisher body
- F2I wing
- Blue compound Triple Dees
- Dirt Tech inserts
- Mono wheels
Kiarra Hold
- Finnisher body
- F2I wing
- Green compound Reflexes
- Dirt Tech inserts
- Mono wheels
Finally, in the 40+ Electric Buggy class the JConcepts race team was able to capture a few more podiums spots. Starting in 5th for the single main was team driver Dave “Double D” Duncan. After running in 3rd place for most of the main, Dave made a late charge to take over the lead and secure the win that day! Joining him on the podium in 3rd place was team mate Tony Rivas!
Winning JConcepts products:
Dave Duncan
- Silencer body
- F2I wing
- Green compound Reflexes
- Dirt Tech inserts
- Mono wheels
Tony Rivas
- F2I wing
- Green compound Reflexes
- Dirt Tech inserts
- Mono wheels