The beginning of something new. It was the inaugural year of the ROAR 1:10 Off-Road Carpet Nationals. ROAR was founded in 1967 and since the beginning there has only been the 1:10 Off-Road Dirt Nationals, but new to 2022 is the carpet nats! Casey Vitale of Northwest Hobbies in Albany, Oregon volunteered to host his first National event and this new ROAR event. Putting on a national event is never an easy feat, but Casey and the ROAR crew got it done. Going to Northwest Hobbies is always a great experience as we were there just a month before for the JConcepts NCTS race. The JConcepts race proved to be a great warmup for the drivers to win one of those coveted national titles. Several drivers displayed improvement since their experience a month earlier and the extra work paid off.
One stand-out driver particularly was Broc Champlin. In the RC industry he’s been called the King of Carpet, and this weekend he lived up to his title. At the NCTS race a month prior he took 2nd overall in 4wd Modified and 4th overall in 2wd Modified buggy. He wasn’t satisfied with those results and went back to the drawing board before the Nationals. He came back with more confidence and dialed in his cars. In 4wd Modified Buggy it particularly showed after he TQ’d all four rounds of qualifying and won both A1/A2 on the main day. The only thing he didn’t get was the top seed on Thursday night. It was with that essentially perfect weekend he took his very first ROAR National Title! He also improved in 2wd mod with a 2nd overall. Champlin qualified 2nd and won A2 of the main which made it go all the way to A3 to see if he or Dakotah Phend would take the title. Dakotah Phend was able to top seed, take the overall TQ, and win the National Title in 2wd Modified Buggy.
Sammy Moran and Jovy Levin stood out in the stock classes this weekend after going through a highly competitive field. At the NCTS race, Moran took the overall win in 17.5 2wd Buggy and he put on a strong showing this weekend as well to back up those results. It went all the way to the final main but Moran was able to win A2 & A3 for his first National Title! Jovy Levin was not able to make the NCTS “warm-up” but still proved to be quick this weekend. In 13.5 Stadium Truck qualified 1st, and took A1 and A3 for the Stadium Truck National Title! In 13.5 4wd Buggy, it was close with Jeff Statkiewicz. Levin won A1 and took 2nd in A2 which ultimately put him second on the 13.5 4wd Buggy National Podium! Lastly, we wanted to recognize Doug Lariviere’s hard work. Doug made the most podiums this weekend taking 3rd in 13.5 4wd Buggy, 3rd in 17.5 2wd Buggy, and 2nd in 13.5 Stadium Truck. He drove his heart out and proved his speed out on the track.
Over the weekend we introduced a few new and upcoming products coming soon to the JConcepts lineup. First, we debuted the new F2 body for the B6.4|B6.4d. Spencer Rivkin ran the prototype body all weekend long and it is officially available on our website. Next, we introduced the brand new JConcepts Tool Holder. Not only does this tool holder look seamless on your pit table but it also has a storage mode for easy transport. Lastly, Jason Ruona teased a few new products such as the new RM2 Red Hot Tire Bands, the new carpet tire, and the new titanium screws. Check out the videos below to get the lowdown:
Seeding:
13.5 4wd Buggy: Doug Lariviere (1), Jovy Levin (3)
17.5 2wd Buggy: Doug Lariviere (2), Anthony Brignani (3)
2wd Modified Buggy: Dakotah Phend (1), Broc Champlin (3)
4wd Modified Buggy: Broc Champlin (2)
13.5 Stadium Truck: Sammy Moran (1)
40+ 2wd Buggy: Joe Pillars (1), Brent Thielke (2), Joe Cathey (3)
Qualifying:
13.5 Short Course: Keaton Van Der Sommen (3)
13.5 4wd Buggy: Jovy Levin (TQ), Doug Lariviere (2), Sammy Moran (3)
13.5 Stadium Truck: Jovy Levin (TQ), Chase Raymond (2), Doug Lariviere (3)
17.5 2wd Buggy: Doug Lariviere (TQ), Sammy Moran (2)
40+ 2wd Buggy: Joe Cathey (TQ), Joe Pillars (2), Brent Thielke (3)
2wd Modified Buggy: Dakotah Phend (TQ), Broc Champlin (2)
4wd Modified Buggy: Broc Champlin (TQ), Dakotah Phend (3)
Final Results:
13.5 2wd Short Course: Keaton Van Der Sommen (1)
13.5 4wd Buggy: Jovy Levin (2), Doug Lariviere (3)
13.5 Stadium Truck: Jovy Levin (1), Doug Lariviere (2), Chase Raymond (3)
17.5 2wd Buggy: Sammy Moran (1), Doug Lariviere (3)
40+ 2wd Buggy: Joe Pillars (1), Brent Thielke (2), Joe Cathey (3)
2wd Modified Buggy: Dakotah Phend (1), Broc Champlin (2)
A1: Dakotah Phend led the way after taking the TQ. Champlin and Cavalieri were trying not to let Phend getaway. They were spacing out and cruising along. Rivkin and Maifield were battling for 4th which was the closest battle on the track. Rivkin got it wrong over the double and Maifield got by into 4th. Cavalieri caught the pipe before the double on the next lap and Maifield made his way up into 3rd! Cavalieri was on Maifield’s wing trying to take back that 3rd spot. Maifield just had to hold him off for 15 seconds! It was a drag race down the straightaway to cross the line, but Maifield was able to take it! It was Phend in 1st, Champlin in 2nd, and Maifield in 3rd.
A2: Dakotah Phend led the way and Broc Champlin followed closely behind. Cavalieri was lurking in the 3rd spot hoping to make the pass into a higher position. They pushed hard each trying to claw their way up the ranks. On lap 17 Phend made a mistake and rolled it over which allowed Champlin to take the lead. Phend got back to work quickly, but Champlin took the win in A2. Phend finished 2nd and Cavalieri finished 3rd for the round.
A3: This was the final race that would determine who would take the 2wd Modified Buggy National Title. Dakotah Phend tried to quickly pull away and create some space between him and Champlin. Champlin got a little squirrelly over the double which allowed Cavalieri to get right on his wing. Another minute or so goes by and Champlin created some breathing room from Cavalieri. Not too long after though he went over the double and got it wrong which allowed Cavalieri to sneak by into 2nd. Rivkin made up some time on Champlin and was in the battle for 3rd. They battled it out until Rivkin made a pass and moved into 3rd. The race concluded with Phend in 1st, Cavalieri in 2nd, and Rivkin in 3rd.
4wd Modified Buggy: Broc Champlin (1), Dakotah Phend (3)
A1: Champlin led the way after taking the TQ. Cavalieri and Phend were battling for 2nd place. Champlin had a 0.7 second lead over Cavalieri in 2nd. Champlin had a little bobble over the kickers and Cavalieri and Phend moved into 1st and 2nd. Champlin was now maintaining 3rd. Cavalieri made a mistake after the straightaway which allowed Phend to take the lead. Champlin was on their wings. Champlin motored by Cavalieri and took over 2nd. Champlin was hunting down Phend. They went through the sweeper, and Phend went a little wide which allowed Champlin to take the lead back. They continued to cruise around in those top three positions. The race concluded with Champlin in 1st, Phend in 2nd, and Cavalieri in 3rd.
A2: The second race of 4wd Buggy was relatively uneventful. The top three started and finished in the same positions never switching throughout the entire 5 minute main. Broc Champlin finished 1st for an early overall win. Ryan Cavalieri took 2nd and Dakotah Phend took 3rd.
A3: Cavalieri would lead this one off since Broc Champlin already took an early victory! Phend would start behind him and push it to the limit. Rivkin started 3rd. The top three maintained their positions for about half of the race. By lap 10, Aydin Horne was on Rivkin’s wing looking for a way around. Two laps later the opportunity presented itself and Horne took over that 3rd spot. From there the race concluded with Cavalieri taking the win, Phend in 2nd, and Horne in 3rd. However, Ryan Maifield would take 3rd after Horne had a tech issue.
Overall, it was another successful National event for the JConcepts Team and we are so proud of our drivers! Dakotah kicked off the year with a double win at the ROAR Fuel Nationals in Arizona and now the team came back for 6 more titles! We look forward to our next national event at SDRC for the ROAR 1:10 Off-Road Dirt Nationals in August! Congratulations to our team on their success! We’d also like to thank Casey Vitale for hosting us at his track and ROAR for putting on the event. In the meantime, we’re switching gears for the INS race at the Hobbytown Hobbyplex in Omaha next week! See you trackside soon!
Winning Products:
F2 Body
S2 Body
HF2 Body
Hazard Wheels
Mono Wheels
Pin Swag
Fuzz Bites
Fin Turnbuckles
Carpet | Turf | Dirt 7″ Wing Pre-Trimmed