Last weekend the 12th Annual JConcepts Winter Indoor Shootout & Invitational took place at Fastlane Raceway in Blue Springs, MO.
This unique event is held at one location, but it is two separate races happening at the same time.
For the Shootout race, there are 13 different classes to compete in. The largest class was 13.5 4wd Buggy which saw 30 entries on its own, and overall there were 147 entries in total. Every class ran four different qualifiers on Saturday and each heat ran for five minutes. Only a driver’s best two finishes would count towards their final qualifying position in each class (qual points) for the Shootout race. The top eight drivers automatically punched their ticket into the A Main, and two more drivers were added as bump ups from the lower mains for a total of 10 cars in each A Main. The lower mains ran for six minutes while the single A Mains ran for eight minutes each.
Awards were handed out to the Top Qualifier in each class along with the top five finishers too.
The first place awards were extra special this year as they featured a built in color changing light system that could be controlled at the base, or by using the included remote control.
For the Invitational race, 24 fast drivers competed in the Mod 2wd and 4wd Buggy classes in a ‘Reedy Race’ event format. On Saturday the drivers would run five rounds of Mod 2wd that used a heads up start racing format. Their starting position was randomly selected ahead of time, and when the sound of the tone went off each driver would be racing one another in a heads up style format. Every round consisted of three randomly selected heats with eight cars each.
Those heats ran for five minutes, and on Sunday they would use the same format again except drivers now ran their 4wd cars. All of the participating Invite drivers would turn marshal one of the heats so there wasn’t a need for volunteers which also kept this program moving along quickly too. To be crowned the overall champion you had to have the lowest score combined from both Saturday and Sunday. So if you finished first in your heat, you got a score of one. If you got 2nd your score was two, etc. It didn’t matter who was in your heat, a win was a win in this exciting race format.
Starting up front was a big advantage, but it didn’t always translate into an automatic win too. 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). Not only were drivers battling to be crowned the overall champion, but up for grabs was a $1,000 purse too! The winner would receive $500, $250 went to 2nd, $150 was awarded to 3rd, $75 for 4th place and $25 was paid out to the 5th and final position. Those five top drivers also received hardware to take home as well.
To even the playing field all of the Invitational competitors used the same front and rear control tire. The tire was the JConcepts Silver compound Ellipse tire with Dirt-Tech inserts.
Each driver received only one complete set for both of their vehicles, and they had to be mounted in a designated tech area.
After the tires were mounted and ready for competition they were inspected, and then marked with an official inspection decal with numbers assigned to each driver. A control tire sauce and saucing station was provided, and there was no limit on how much tire sauce drivers could use. However, the drivers could only use these tires for their five heats in each class so they had calculate how much they wanted to sauce them and also run them in practice.
For open practice they could elect to use any tire of their choice, but when the Invitational heats started they needed to go through tech to make sure they were using their assigned tires. The tires also had to bagged and turned in each night so drivers couldn’t alter them in anyway, and the spec classes (21.5, 17.5 & 13.5) in the Shootout race also had to pre-tech before running their race too for battery voltage, blinky mode on their ESC, etc.
The track layout for this year’s event featured a middle triple section that was the most challenging obstacle of the entire layout. One mistake there and you might have to wait until the rest of the cars pass you before a turn marshal could safely flip you backover.
The straightaway went the entire length of the track and then into a small sweeper that quickly had you turning right into a small step-up jump that landed you on a table top. A driver had to make sure they didn’t overshoot this corner before heading down into a small chicane that then lead into the triple. The modified and 13.5 classes had no trouble making the triple, and some of the faster 17.5 2wd Buggy drivers could hit it too.
Then a driver would head left up a small hill before moving down and to the right into a back double, and then finally making their way around to a small ‘speed bump’ leading onto the straightaway again.
The race event officially kicked off on Friday as the doors opened at noon. Then practice ran from 1-9pm that night. On Saturday the doors opened again at 7:30am with practice running from 8-9am for drivers who didn’t practice on Friday. A brief driver’s meeting was held after that, and then the opening round of the 2wd Invitational began.
With the heads up racing format the action was intense on the track for the Invite class, and heading into the Sunday JConcepts driver Drew Rubenking held a slim lead over fellow JConcepts driver Nick Gibson. In the Shootout classes the JConcepts team captured the top qualifying position in 9 different classes!
In the 17.5 2wd Buggy class JConcepts drivers Orlando Martinez and Matthew Pyle both TQed two rounds of 17.5 2wd Buggy. So it went to tie breaker and Orlando’s faster run in Round 2 of qualifying made the difference. He was also the only driver to set the TQ in two rounds of the 40+ Mod 2wd Buggy class so that gave him his second TQ of the Shootout.
Team driver Chad Rubenking TQed three rounds in the Mod 2wd Buggy class to start first in the single A Main. He was also the only driver to lay down two TQ runs in the Mod 4wd Buggy class that weekend which locked up his second TQ spot.
In the 13.5 4wd Buggy class team driver Shane Alberico bested fellow team driver Matthew Pyle to start in the number one spot on Sunday.
Team driver Chilly Duncan locked up the top qualifying position in the 13.5 Short Course Truck class by putting down the fastest laps in the first two rounds of qualifying. He grabbed a second TQ for the weekend in the Stock Spec Slash class by setting the TQ in two rounds as well.
JConcepts driver Mike Sanders locked up the top qualifying position in the 13.5 Stadium Truck class by setting the TQ in three out of four rounds.
In the Mini Truggy class team driver David Fast was the only racer to set the TQ in two rounds which cemented his start at the head of the pack for Sunday’s main.
On Sunday the doors opened up once again at 8:30am, and then at 9am the drivers in the 4wd Invitational class ran three heats of controlled practice to get some more time on the track with their vehicles. Then it was the start of the lower mains followed by the first round of 4wd Invitational heats.
Later on in the afternoon the race program took a short break to give away some door prizes from the event’s sponsors. Every driver competing in either event had their name automatically entered into the drawing, and the more classes a racer competed in the better chances they had in winning something.
Even if a driver didn’t get their name drawn for the door prizes, they still came away with something that weekend. Each driver competing in either race received a racer ‘swag bag’ along with a JConcepts t-shirt!
Each ‘swag bag’ contained a nice, large microfiber towel, a color changing plastic tumbler and an orange lunch bag.
After the racing had completed for the day it was time to hand out all of the hardware. Starting with the Invitational class team driver Nick Gibson would take the overall title and $500 cash! Joining him on the podium were fellow JConcepts drivers Drew Rubenking (2nd), Braxten Culley (3rd) and David Alberico (4th)!
Winning JConcepts products:
- Silver compound Ellipse tires
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- Mono wheels
- Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
- RM2 No Apologies B6.4 & B74.2 Precut Chassis Protective Sheets
Over in the Shootout race the team was able to capture nine more wins, plus fill up multiple podium spots!
21.5 2wd Buggy
1st – Travis Slover
Winning JConcepts products:
- F2 body
- Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 6.5″ Rear Wing
- Silver compound Ellipse tires
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- Mono wheels
- Aero Yokomo YZ2 Front Wing
- Black B6.2 | B6.3 Finnisher Aluminum Wing Buttons
Mod 2wd Buggy
TQ and 1st – Chad Rubenking
5th – Mike Sanders
Winning JConcepts products:
- F2 body in the lightweight option
- Silver compound Ellipse tires
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- Mono wheels
- Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 6.5″ Rear Wing
Stock Spec Slash
TQ & 1st – Chilly Duncan
2nd – Connor Light
4th – Wesley Gifford
Winning JConcepts products:
- Illuzion Manta V1 Body
13.5 Short Course Truck
1st – Travis Slover
TQ & 2nd – Chilly Duncan
Winning JConcepts products:
- HF2 SCT body
- Silver compound Ellipse tires
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- Hazard wheels
- B6.3|B6.4 Servo Mount Brace
- B6.2 | B6.3 Carbon Fiber Battery Brace
17.5 2wd Buggy
1st – Matthew Pyle
2nd – Shane Alberico
TQ & 3rd – Orlando Martinez
Winning JConcepts products:
- F2 body in the lightweight option
- Gold compound Ellipse tires
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- Mono wheels
- Aero S-Type Rear Wing
13.5 Stadium Truck
TQ & 1st – Mike Sanders
5th – Chilly Duncan
Winning JConcepts products:
- Finnisher body
- Silver compound Ellipse tires
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- Mono wheels
13.5 4wd Buggy
1st – Matthew Pyle
TQ & 2nd – Shane Alberico
3rd – Carter Larson
4th – Bradley Peterson
5th – Orlando Martinez
Winning JConcepts products:
- F2 body in the lightweight option
- Gold compound Ellipse tires
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- Mono wheels
- Aero S-Type Rear Wing
Mod 4wd Buggy
TQ & 1st – Chad Rubenking
4th – Carter Larson
Winning JConcepts products:
- S2 body
- Silver compound Ellipse tires
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- Mono wheels
- Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 6.5″ Rear Wing
40+ Mod 2wd Buggy
TQ & 1st – Orlando Martinez
4th – Mike Sanders
Winning JConcepts products:
- F2 body in the lightweight option
- Silver compound Ellipse tires
- Dirt-Tech inserts
- Mono wheels
- B6.4 Fin Titanium Shock Stand-Offs
So that’s a wrap on this year’s Winter Indoor Shootout and Invitational! We would like to thank Chuck Kleinhagen and the entire Fastlane crew for their dedication and hospitality by hosting this race once again!
For more photos from this event please visit our photo gallery over on our Facebook page.
For full results from this race please visit Fastlane’s LiveRC.com page.
Videos from this event can be found over on this YouTube playlist courtesy of IowaRCTracks.