Over the weekend, we headed to Adrenaline RC Raceway in Winchester, Virginia for the INS13 JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals! Their facility is awesome and the main hobby shop building is the first thing you’ll see as you arrive! As soon as you walk through the front door, you’ll be greeted by the retail space and indoor pit area. Everything is clean and organized, and each pit space has plenty of outlets to charge your batteries.
As you leave the hobby shop, you’ll naturally head toward the track building. The track is covered by a large dome, which means you can race in any weather condition. They’ve got plenty of amenities, too, like a tire wash station, air compressor, additional pitting in the container under the driver’s stand, a misting system, and even wifi!
As you make your way outside of the shop, they’ve got a large rock crawling course, a new 1:8 off-road track, and even a drag strip. There’s something for everyone at Adrenaline RC Raceway. And if you want to get a better idea of what their facility looks like, be sure to check out their 3D tour. They also have a second location in Chantilly, Virginia dedicated to things like drifting, the Arrma and Traxxas product lines, airplanes, etc.
The track is essentially a large 1:10 scale track or a smaller 1:8 scale track. The dirt surface was red clay, and most drivers used silver smoothie 2s. Some drivers opted for Green Ellipses sanded down to a ghost tread. Practice was available on Thursday from 2pm-8pm and on Friday from 8am-3:45pm. The groove was set in enough that silver slicks became the faster tire choice. Most drivers used standard inserts, and FDJ green sauce was the sauce of choice. New this year, there was a Friday night clinic where Jason Ruona, Lee Setser, Tyler Hooks, Broc Champlin, Dustin Evans, and Cole Tollard all participated in a track walk where they broke down each section and discussed various lines to take. We filmed the whole clinic and it will be available on youtube soon for everyone to enjoy! There was also a Chic-Fil-A catered lunch on Saturday which was an excellent touch!
Seeding:
13.5 4wd Short Course: Brenden Edwards (1), Josh Parrish (2)
2wd Modified Buggy: Broc Champlin (1), Dustin Evans (2), Lee Setser (3)
17.5 2wd Expert Buggy: Talon Henley (1), Tyler Hooks (2), Brenden Edwards (3)
13.5 Stadium Truck: Talon Henley (1), Brenden Edwards (2), Matt Olson (3)
4wd Modified Buggy: Broc Champlin (1), Dustin Evans (2), Cole Tollard (3)
13.5 4wd Expert Buggy: Jacob Hardison (1), Talon Henley (2), Tyler Hooks (3)
40+ 2wd Buggy: Jason Ruona (1), Dave McEwen (2)
Qualifying (Best 2 of 3):
13.5 Short Course: Brenden Edwards (TQ), Josh Parrish (2)
2wd Modified Buggy: Broc Champlin (TQ), Dustin Evans (2), Lee Setser (3)
17.5 Expert 2wd Buggy: Talon Henley (TQ), Josh Parrish (2), Tyler Hooks (3)
13.5 Stadium Truck: Talon Henley (TQ), Brenden Edwards (2), Matt Olson (3)
4wd Modified Buggy: Broc Champlin (TQ), Dustin Evans (2), Cole Tollard (3)
13.5 4wd Expert Buggy: Tyler Hooks (TQ), Jacob Hardison (2)
40+ 2wd Modified Buggy: Jason Ruona (TQ), Dave McEwen (2), Eddie Henley (3)
Final Results:
13.5 Short Course: Brenden Edwards (1), Josh Parrish (3)
2wd Modified Buggy: Broc Champlin (1), Dustin Evans (2), Lee Setser (3)
A1: The first race of 2wd Modified Buggy was quite a competition with some unexpected twists in the final laps! Broc Champlin led the race tone to tone making for a seamless run! It’s always fascinating to see how drivers handle different parts of the track, and the “sketchy double” section provided a challenge for some of them. There was a bit of a mix-it-up in the final laps where on lap 13 Evans got wobbly over what was called “the sketchy double” and Setser got by into 2nd. On the next lap, Setser made the same mistake over the sketchy double, and Evans took back 2nd. Brennan Schimmel was also close enough to capitalize on it and he moved into 3rd. The race concluded as Champlin, Evans, and Schimmel!
A2: A2 was another effortless-looking (which we all know is not actually effortless, but he sure makes it look easy) race for Champlin with another tone-to-tone win. He was surely dialed into the track this weekend! Everyone was cruising along until lap 3 when Evans got caught on the 180 pipe. Setser and Schimmel got by into 2nd and 3rd. From there Setser hung out to 2nd for the remainder of the race! Schimmel hung until 3rd until lap 10 when Evans was ready to make his comeback! The race concluded as Champlin, Setser, and Evans! Champlin wrapped up the overall win early after taking A1 and A2!
A3: Champlin sat this one out after locking in the win in the first two! A3 was very uneventful as every driver started and finished in the same position. The race concluded as Evans, Setser, and Tollard!
17.5 2wd Expert Buggy: Talon Henley (1), Tyler Hooks (2), Brenden Edwards (3)
13.5 Stadium Truck: Brenden Edwards (1), Matt Olson (2), Talon Henley (3)
4wd Modified Buggy: Broc Champlin (1), Cole Tollard (2), Dustin Evans (3)
A1: Broc Champlin led this one after taking the overall TQ! He made this track look easy, the way he flawlessly pursued each 5-minute race. Evans started 2nd and maintained his position the entire time. Cole Tollard and Brennan Schimmel were battling it out for 3rd place and on lap 12 Schimmel went wide right before the Mount Fiji jump (the giant single before the straightaway), and he managed to pass Tollard on the outside for third. The race concluded as Champlin, Evans, and Schimmel.
A2: A2 of 4wd Modified Buggy was a race where the top three drivers cruised along in the same positions are they started Champlin led tone to tone once again and officially took the overall win! Evans and Tollard had strong finishes in second and third place never losing their spots. Setser and Schimmel had a close battle for fourth, but Setser was ultimately able to secure the position.
A3: With Champlin already taking the win, the field was battling for those final two podium spots. Evans led the way and held on to it until lap 11 where Tollard was ready to make his move. Evans accidentally got caught on the pipe and Tollard was there to capitalize. Evans was right back to it and maintained 2nd. Ultimately, Tollard took the win with Evans in 2nd and Setser made his way up to 3rd.
13.5 4wd Expert Buggy: Jacob Hardison (1), Tyler Hooks (2)
40+ 2wd Modified Buggy: Jason Ruona (1), Dave McEwen (2), Eddie Henley (3)
Overall, it was such a fun weekend at the Spring Indoor Nationals and we enjoyed hanging out with all the drivers! Congratulations to Broc Champlin, Talon Henley, Jacob Hardison, Brenden Edwards, and Jason Ruona on their wins! A special thank you to the Hardison family for hosting a fantastic event and for the hospitality! We’d also like to thank our sponsors, Amain Hobbies, Hobbywing, Sunpadow, 1Up Racing, Whitz Racing, Team Associated, Reedy, Tekin, Schumacher, and ProTek RC! Up next, we’re switching gears to 1/8 scale and heading out to Silver Dollar Raceway for the ROAR 1:8 Off-Road Fuel Nationals!
Winning Products:
Smoothie 2s
F2 Body
S2 Body
F2 Stadium Truck Body
Hi-Flow Short Course Body
Mono Wheels
Dirt-Tech Inserts
7″ in. Dirt|Carpet|Astro Wing
Medium Glue
Fin Titanium Turnbuckles
JConcepts Titanium Screws