Race Team Update – October 2020 Week #1

The first weekend of racing was a busy one for the team as many series events continued on or wrapped up for the year. Please read this week’s Race Team Update to find out more about our winning ways!

Let’s start off this week’s report in the middle of America at the HobbyPlex in Omaha, Nebraska. Last weekend was the final round of the Team Associated/Reedy Summer Series at the Hobbyplex that consisted of 6 rounds in total. We had several drivers competing in this series over the summer so let’s see how the team did after the points were all calculated.

In the 13.5 4wd Buggy class it was a podium sweep for the JConcepts team! Taking 1st overall in the series was team driver Nate Sutherland who used Silver compound Ellipses tires! Second place went to young JC driver Owen Vanderbeek who ran on Gold compound Ellipses mounted on Mono wheels and topped off with a F2 body with a 7″ S-Type wing! And completing the podium sweep was team driver Ken Peterson!

In the 13.5 Stadium Truck class, Nate finished 2nd overall while competing on Gold compound Ellipses and taking the title for the summer was JC driver Drew Rubenking who used the same tire combo!

In the competitive 17.5 2wd Buggy class it was another podium sweep for the team! This time team driver Brad Peterson took 1st place for the season while using Gold compound Dirt Webs up front with Ellipses in the rear, a 6.5″ Aero wing, Aero front wing and a P2 light-weight body! Ken took 2nd place and Nate completed the JC sweep by taking 3rd. Nate reported that he used the same tire setup as Brad but opted for the F2 light-weight body instead! Brad also took 4th overall in the 13.5 4wd Buggy class too while running on Gold compound Ellipses on all four corners, a 6.5″ Aero wing, Aero front wing and a F2 light-weight body!

It was another podium sweep for the series in the 40+ Mod 2wd Buggy class too! HobbyPlex race director Alex Sturgeon took home the title for the year while running on Gold compound Ellipses! Joining him on the podium in 2nd was team mate Mack Vanderbeek who used Gold compound Dirt Webs up front with Ellipses in the rear along with a F2 body shell! And rounding off the podium was JC driver Kyle Gannon in 3rd who used the same tire setup as Mack!

In the Mod 4wd Buggy class it was JConcepts driver Tom Rinderknecht who was crowned the series champion! Joining him on the podium in 2nd place was JC mate Alex Vanderbeek who used Gold compound Dirt Webs up front with Ellipses in the rear along with a F2 body and 7″ S-Type wing.

Our final podium sweep was in the Mod 2wd Buggy class! This time Alex would finish 1st with Tom right behind him in 2nd! And Joining them on the podium in 3rd was team driver Ethan Delair! Alex used used Gold compound Dirt Webs up front with Ellipses in the rear plus a F2 body! Ethan reported that he used the same tire setup as Alex but opted for the light-weight version of the F2 body instead.

Overall, we had a ton of drivers in the series so congrats to the team for a strong showing this year!

Now let’s head southeast into Missouri to check out the racing action at Fastlane Raceway in Blue Springs. This past weekend was their 2020 Off-Road RIOT 1/8 event so let’s see how the team performed. JC driver Matthew Pyle qualified 2nd overall in the AA main for 1/8 Electric Buggy but after a little bad luck in the mains he narrowly missed the podium and settled for 4th overall. He said he started on Green compound Reflexes that day, then switched to Blue compound Triple Dees when a groove began to form, and finally for the mains he ran Blue compound Detox tires. His Tekno ride also used our S15 body with a F2I wing.

Also competing at this event was team driver Ashton Abdul. He competed in both the 1/8 Electric and Nitro Buggy classes and in the nitro class he finished 6th while in e buggy he settled into 2nd place on the podium! His nitro ride used A2 compound Detox tires while his electric buggy used Aqua compound Ellipse tires.

Staying in Missouri let’s now jump onto I70 and head east to St. Charles to check in on the team at SmacTrac. This past weekend was their Smacdown race that was moved from April due to the pandemic. Team driver Brad Dean competed at this event and reports that he took the double win in Mod and Stock 2wd Buggy along with a 2nd place finish in Mod 4wd Buggy! All of his vehicles used Silver compound Ellipses and F2 and P2 bodies.

Team mate Wesley Gifford was also at this race and finished 2nd in the Mod 2wd Buggy class, but took the win in the Mod 4wd class! He cars used a variety of JConcepts tires like Silver and Gold compound Ellipses, Dirt Webs and Space bars. He also used F2 and S1 bodies. Nice job guys!

Now let’s head southwest into Oklahoma to check in on the JC team that was competing in Yukon at Taylor Park RC Raceway for their Fall Shootout dirt oval race. JConcepts driver Trevor Nault reports that he took the TQ and win in the Open Sprint class! He used Green compound Dirt Webs up front, Ellipses in the rear and both were mounted on Mono wheels.

Also racing at this event was team driver Heath Lawson who competed in the Late Model class. He is happy to report that he took the TQ and win while running on Green compound Ellipse tires in the rear, Dirt Webs up front and a L8 Night 10″ Wide Late Model Body!

Also racing was JC driver Billy Caldwell who competed in both the Wingless Sprint and Outlaw Spring classes. He said he struggled a little bit in the Outlaw class and just missed out finishing on the podium in the Wingless class. Both cars used Green compound Sprinters and Ellipses.

Also racing was team driver Tyler Keel and he doubled up in 2nd place in both the Midwest Mod and Open Sprint classes! He said he used Green compound Dirt Webs and Ellipses on both vehicles that weekend.

Finally, also racing at this event was JConcepts driver Kevin Lenderman. He competed in the SC Mod class and took the win while running on Green compound Ellipses mounted to Hazard wheels! He also competed in the Street Stock class and took the win there too! His winning ride was using Green compound Dirt Webs up front with Ellipses in the rear and all tires were mounted to white Mono wheels. Nice job everyone!

Now let’s fly down to the southeast into Georgia to check out the race action at the Loganville R/C Complex in Loganville. They were host to the S.O.S finals and there was a great turnout that day with around 160 entries. Competing at this event was team driver Shay Brand who ran in two classes. He said he was able to take the TQ and win in the 1/8 Pro Electric Buggy class while running on A2 compound Ellipses and R2 compound ReHabs! Shay also competed in the 1/8 Pro Nitro Buggy class and qualified 2nd for the 25 minute A Main. After the racing was complete he would finished where he started and his buggy was running consistent on A2 compound Ellipses.

Also competing was JC driver Cade Burnette who competed in the 1/8 Pro Nitro Buggy, Pro Electric Buggy and Nitro Truggy classes. In the 1/8 Pro Electric Buggy class he would qualify 2nd overall for the double A-main format. In A1 he stayed with the Ellipse tire in the Blue compound and had a solid 2nd place finish. In A2 the traction had came up so he decided to go with the JConcepts ReHabs in the R2 compound. He had a solid run but a couple of mistakes ended his hope for winning and he finished 3rd overall. In the 1/8 Pro Nitro Buggy class he started 4th on the grid for the 25 minute main. He used Aqua compound Ellipses for the long main and just came shy of making the podium with a 4th place finish. Finally, in the 1/8 Nitro Truggy class he set the TQ by running the fastest in all three rounds of qualifying and then went on to take the tone to tone win! His winning truggy used Blue compound Ellipses.

Now let’s head over to Savannah to Phil Hurd Raceway who was host to Round 4 of the GORCS (Georgia Off-Road Championship Series). Team driver Dave McEwen competed in three classes so let’s see how he did. In the 1/8 Pro Electric Buggy class he started 4th in the main and moved up to 2nd overall while running on Detox tires in the Green compound! In Mod 4wd Buggy he took the TQ and win while running on Green compound Sprinters! Finally, in the Mod 2wd Buggy class he started 2nd on the grid but after a few mistakes he would end up in 4th place overall. Nice running Dave!

Now let’s head up to Tennessee to check on the team results at the Tennessee State Shootout at Bullettown RC in Milan. JConcepts driver Chris Rakus competed in two classes and took the double TQ! In the 1/8 Pro Nitro Buggy class he opted to run on Black compound Reflex tires due to the colder temps and ended up 2nd overall! In 1/8 Pro Electric Buggy he had some close battles and would finish 3rd for the day on the same tire setup.

Also competing was JC mate Drew Williams who competed in three classes. After combating some electronic gremlins he would start in the B Main in the 1/8 Electric Buggy Class and just missed out transferring to the A Main. In the 1/8 Electric Truggy class he started 3rd overall and got out to a great start in the main and took the win! He would also start 3rd overall for the 1/8 Nitro Buggy class but would settle for 5th overall after some good battles.

Their team mate Izriah Osborne had some better luck this weekend as he took the double win in both the 1/8 Nitro and Electric Buggy classes! In Nitro buggy he choose to run Green compound Teazers while in the Electric class he choose to run Green compound Triple Dees.

Now let’s head northeast to New Florence, PA to WOCRC Raceway for their 2020 Season Shootout. Team driver Matt Adams reports that he finished 2nd overall in Mod 2wd Buggy while using Green compound Dirt Webs and a F2 body. And in the Mod Short Course Truck class he finished 3rd overall using the same tire setup along with a Hi-Flow body. And in the Mod Stadium Truck class he finished 4th while running Green compound Ellipses and a F2 body.

Now let’s check in with our overseas team to see how they are performing. Over in Madrid, Spain team driver Alberto Garcia reports that he finished a solid 11th overall in the 1/8 Electric Buggy and 12th overall in 1/8 Nitro Buggy while competing at the 2020 Buggyland. He used Blue compound Ellipses and Stalkers for qualifying and then switched to Detox tires for the mains.

Now let’s head down under to check on the team in Australia. Starting in Sydney, team drivers Lachlan Donnelly and Jarod Ment attended the rescheduled Castle Hill Winter Showdown 4wd Race that was rained out two weeks ago.

Lachlan would take win in the 4wd class with his JC mate securing 3rd on the podium!

Finally, let’s get a quick report from JConcepts driver Brayden Johnston. He raced at the finals of the WA EP Interclub Series and after all the rounds were totaled up he would finish in 1st for the 1/8 Electric Buggy class and in 2nd place in Mod 4wd! Throughout the series he used different tires and compounds like Green compound Reflexes and Detoxes along with Blue compound Stalkers and Ellipses.