Last weekend was the 10th running of the JConcepts Winter Indoor Shootout and Invitational hosted by Fastlane Raceway in Blue Springs, Missouri. This annual event always attracts some of the fastest racers from the Midwest and this year’s event did not disappoint despite the current pandemic situation.
One of the main reasons this event has been so successful over the years is due to its unique format. There is both an Invitational and Open race program going on at the same time that drivers could compete in. In the Open segment of this race, there were 11 classes to compete in and winners of the Mod 2wd and 4wd Buggy classes would qualify for the Invitational class next year.
The Invitational segment only offered those two classes, but they were heavily stacked with super-fast drivers. And as the name implies only select drivers were allowed to sign up for this race event. And the ‘gold standard’ for this class was actually Silver this year as our Silver compound Ellipses were used as the spec tire. By doing that this made sure every driver had to run the same treads to help even out the playing field.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions set by the local county, the total amount of entries had to be capped at 150 this year so that drivers could be properly spaced out in the pits. And every driver was required to wear a mask at all times unless they were at their designated pit space. The Fastlane crew did an excellent job getting this event completed while making sure they followed all the guidelines that were asked of them!
They even added some plexiglass dividers in the pits and on the driver’s stand too to help make this a safe and enjoyable event.
In the Open classes drivers ran four qualifiers on Saturday and in each class a driver’s best two runs counted towards their overall qualifying position. Each class ran a single 8 minute A Main and the top 6 positions were determined by the final qualifying order.
But each A Main consisted of 8 cars, so that meant the top 2 drivers from the lower main could transfer up to the a higher main. So even if a driver started in the C main, they had a chance to bump all the way into the A Main for their respectable class.
In the Invitational event, they ran a Reedy Race format. That meant that for each qualifier all the cars took off when the tone sounded vs. a staggered, IFMAR qualifying start where every driver was on their own clock. So, this meant a driver wanted to get a clean start and hopefully out into the lead early since they were racing every car like it was an A Main. But what makes this format so different is that for each round there wasn’t a driver who was considered the TQ for the round in either class. Instead, a points system was applied to every car on how they finished in their individual race. So, for example, if you won your qualifier heat you got 1 point for the round, 2 points for 2nd, etc. In both classes there were 3 heats of 6 cars each for all 5 rounds. So that meant that for every round three drivers could win and only score 1 point in both classes. So, to determine the overall winner of this Invitational event you had to add up the points from both the 2wd and 4wd classes to see who had the lowest score.
After the points were all totaled, the overall winner was TLR/JConcepts driver Tom Rinderknecht! And finishing right behind him on the podium in 2nd place was AE/JConcepts driver Alex Vanderbeek!
Winning JConcepts Products
2wd – Tom Rinderknecht
- Silver compound Ellipses
- P2 Lightweight body
- Carpet | Astro High-Clearance Rear Wing
- TLR 22 Aero Front Wing – Narrow
2wd – Alex Vanderbeek
- Silver compound Ellipses
- Mono wheels
- F2 body
4wd – Tom Rinderknecht
- Silver compound Ellipses
- F2 Lightweight body
- Carpet | Astro High-Clearance Rear Wing
4wd – Alex Vanderbeek
- Silver compound Ellipses
- Mono wheels
- F2 body
We also had many other team drivers competing in the Invitational class so congrats to the team on another strong outing this year!
In the Open classes we again stacked the field with our drivers and made several podiums on Sunday. Let’s check out the highlights from the team.
In the 13.5 2wd Buggy class, AE/JConcepts driver Mack Vanderbeek was the fastest driver in 3 out of the 4 rounds of qualifying and lead for the entire single A Main to take the TQ and win that weekend! His car was using a F2 body, Gold compound Ellipses in the rear and Gold compound Dirt Webs in the front. Joining him on the podium in 2nd was teammate James Nelson who ran the same tire setup!
In the 13.5 4wd Buggy class, JConcepts driver Stevie Slover was able to secure the TQ for the weekend and led the main for 2 laps before he caught a pipe and fell back to 7th place. He was able to battle his way back up through the pack and finish in 2nd place! He ran on Gold compound Ellipses on all four corners along with a F2 body and Aero wing package. Joining him on the podium in 3rd was JC mate Bradley Peterson who ran the same equipment package!
In the 13.5 SCT class, once again Stevie stuck another TQ in his back pocket for the weekend! In the main he had an early mistake that dropped him to 2nd after 2 laps but then he charged back and was able to take the win! His truck was running Gold compound Dirt Webs and a Hi-Flow SCT body!
In the 13.5 Stadium Truck class, JConcepts driver Travis Slover took 2nd place after the 8 minute main! He was running on Gold compound Dirt Webs with a Finnisher body.
In the Mod 2wd Buggy class, team driver Matthew Pyle was the fastest driver in rounds 1-3 of qualifying to lock up the TQ for the weekend! In the A Main, wily veteran and JConcepts driver Ken Peterson rattled a “driver in a can” and jumped out to the lead on the first lap. He would fall back to 2nd on laps 6-8, but then he took over the lead again on lap 9 and went on to put a victory lap on the entire field! He ran on Gold compound Ellipses in the rear and Gold compound Dirt Webs in the front along with a F2 body. Matthew would finish in 2nd while running on Silver compound Ellipses. And completing the podium sweep for the JConcepts team was young driver Owen Vanderbeek! Owen was ‘owning it’ with a F2 body, Gold compound Ellipses in the rear and Gold compound Dirt Webs in the front.
In the Mod 4wd Buggy class, Owen would capture the TQ for the weekend and take the win in the single A Main! He once again ran a F2 body with Gold compound Ellipses in the front and rear. Joining him on the podium was Matthew in 2nd who ran the same tire setup as his 2wd car. And completing yet another JConcepts podium sweep was teammate Damon Teel in 3rd!
In the 17.5 2wd Buggy class, the team completed their 3rd podium sweep of the weekend! Stevie lead the charge with his 2nd TQ and win of the event, followed by Bradley in 2nd and Ken in 3rd! All three drivers ran Gold compound Ellipses in the rear and Gold compound Dirt Webs in the front along with a F2 body for Stevie and Ken and a P2 shell for Brad.
Finally, in the Mod Stadium Truck class, Tom dominated qualifying by TQing every round and went on to win by 7 laps in the A Main! His truck was ripping it on Silver compound Ellipses and a Finnisher body.
So that wraps up another successful Winter Indoor Shootout and we can’t wait to run this event again next year!