This past weekend the 2021 JConcepts Winter Indoor Shootout and Invitational once again took place at Fastlane Raceway in Blue Springs, MO. This is the 11th year in a row that this facility has hosted this unique race event that is basically two races happening at the same time.
One is the Invitational race which consists of 24 drivers competing in Mod 2wd and 4wd Buggy in a ‘Reedy Race’ format. On Saturday the drivers would run five rounds of Mod 2wd that used a heads up start. When the tone sounded all the cars would take off like it was an A Main race! The starting order was randomly selected ahead of time for each heat, and each one consisted of eight cars. So that meant each round would feature three heats of eight cars, and the heats ran for five minutes. All of the participating drivers would turn marshal one of the heats so there wasn’t a need for volunteers which also kept this program moving along quickly.
On Sunday they ran another five rounds but this time for Mod 4wd. To be crowned the overall champion you had to have the lowest score combined from both days. So if you finished first in your heat, you got a score of one. If you got 2nd your score was two, and so forth. So starting up front was an advantage but it didn’t mean an automatic win. For each day you could drop your worst finish so your combined score was from you best eight finishes in both classes (four for 2wd and four for 4wd).
To raise up the competition level even more a $1,000 purse was added for the top five finishers! The winner would receive $500, $250 went to 2nd, $150 was awarded to 3rd, $75 for 4th place and $25 for 5th.
All Invitational participants used the same front and rear control tire which was the JConcepts Ellipse tire in the Silver compound with Dirt-Tech inserts.
Each driver received only one complete set for both vehicles and they had to be mounted in a designated area.
Then after the tires were mounted they were marked with an official inspection decal with numbers assigned to each driver.
Liquid Wrench was the only tire additive that was allowed and it was provided to all of the drivers. There was no limit on how much tire sauce they could use, but they did have to make the tires last for the entire event. They could use their own tire for practice, but not for the Invitational races. Each night the tires were to be impounded into tech as well to keep the playing field even.
The other race event happening at the same time was the Winter Indoor Shootout. This race saw 143 entries competing in 12 different classes. On Saturday they would run four rounds of qualifying and each heat ran for five minutes. A driver’s best two runs would count towards their final qualifying position in each class (qual points). The top eight drivers were automatically locked into the A Main, and two more drivers were added as bump ups from the lower mains for a total of 10 cars. Each A Main ran for eight minutes, and the top three in each class would receive awards along with the top qualifier.
On Friday the doors opened at 11am with practice beginning at noon. Practice then ran till 9pm that night as drivers tried to figure out the layout and dial in their cars.
The fresh track layout had a nice fast, flow to it with no crazy big jumps, but it did challenge drivers all weekend long. The straightaway went the entire length of the track and then into a small sweeper that quickly had you turning left into a small single that lead up to a table top. Then you had to run through three sets of doubles with the last set creating the most challenges for drivers. Once you cleared the last set of jumps you then had to quickly pivot to the right to head through a small chicane section that also had off camber. A lot of cars would overjump the small double, pipe it in the center of the chicane, or simply roll over in the chicane or when heading onto the sweeper. So one small mistake and you were left behind as the pack quickly pulled away from you.
On Saturday the doors opened at 7:30am with practice running from 8-9am for drivers who didn’t practice on Friday. A brief driver’s meeting was held at 9:15am and then the first round of the 2wd Invitational began at 9:30.
With five rounds of the Invitational 2wd class, and four rounds of Shootout qualifying, it was long day of racing that completed just shy of midnight. JConcepts was well represented in several classes as many of our drivers put down the fastest laps for a round or were in contention for the overall class TQ.
By the end of the night in the Invitational class team driver Alex Vanderbeek was on fire as he went five for five that day with wins in all of his heats!
Teammates Drew Rubenking and Ethan Delair were one point behind him as they were tied in 2nd place with five points.
In fact all of the wins that day were by Team Associated vehicles until JConcepts/TLR driver David Alberico won the final 2wd heat that night. Over in the Shootout race, the JConcepts team was able to capture four class TQs!
- 13.5 Stadium Truck – Stevie Slover
- Mod 4wd Buggy – Carter Larson
- 13.5 4wd Buggy – Matthew Pyle
- Pro2 SCT – Chilly Duncan
On Sunday the doors opened again at 8:30am and the Invitational drivers were allowed to practice with their 4wd Buggies from 9-9:30am.
Then it was onto the first round of the 4wd Invitational. After the first round of the Invitational was complete the lower mains for the Shootout began.
Sunday it was TLR’s time to shine as JConcepts/TLR driver Nate Sutherland won four out of five heats with his only drop being a second place finish.
JConcepts drivers Alex and Drew were also able to pick up a few wins each in their heats, and when the Invitational was complete they were tied with 13 points.
So it went down to a tie breaker which was the driver with the most wins, so that meant Alex took home 1st place!
In fact it was a JConcepts sweep as all five drivers on the podium were members of the team!
In the Shootout race the team was able to capture four wins and make the podium in several other classes!
Mod 2wd Buggy
1st – Mack Vanderbeek
JConcepts products used:
- Gold compound Dirt Webs in the front
- Gold compound Ellipses in the rear
- F2 body
- Mono wheels
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
- B6.3 Front Wing
13.5 Stadium Truck
TQ & 1st – Stevie Slover
JConcepts products used:
- Gold compound Ellipse tires
- Dirt-Tech inserts
13.5 2wd Short Course Truck
2nd – Chilly Duncan
3rd – Travis Slover
JConcepts products used:
- Silver compound Ellipse tires
- Hazard wheels
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- HF2 SCT body
- Hi-Flow SCT body
17.5 2wd Buggy
3rd – Matthew Pyle
JConcepts products used:
- Silver compound Dirt Webs in the front
- Silver compound Ellipses in the rear
- F2 body
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
Mod Stadium Truck
2nd – Chilly Duncan
JConcepts products used:
- Gold compound Ellipse tires
- Mono wheels
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- Finnisher body
13.5 4wd Buggy
TQ & 1st – Matthew Pyle
- Silver compound Ellipse tires
- F2 body
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
Mod 2wd Short Course Truck
TQ & 1st – Chilly Duncan
JConcepts products used:
- Silver compound Ellipse tires
- Hazard wheels
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- HF2 SCT body
Mod 4wd Buggy
TQ & 2nd – Carter Larson
JConcepts products used:
- Silver compound Ellipse tires
- Dirt-Tech inserts
So that concludes this year’s Winter Indoor Shootout and Invitational! We would like to thank Chuck Kleinhagen and the entire Fastlane event team for their hospitality and hosting this race once again!
For more photos from this event please visit our photo gallery over on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10159770210953216&type=3
For full results from this race please visit Fastlane’s LiveRC.com page: https://fastlanehobbies.liverc.com/events/
Videos from this event can be found over on this YouTube playlist courtesy of IowaRCTracks: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhq2k5C5pTbTsOcsmXmq8rTOVS-srdcB5