With Spring in the air many outdoor tracks are starting to hold racing events once again, and the JConcepts race team has already sprung into action which you can read about in this new edition of the Race Team Update!
We start this week’s report down at the Rabun Arena in Tiger, GA. This arena hosted the recent 2023 North Georgia Shootout which saw 440 entries! We had a plethora of drivers in attendance so let’s see how they finished up starting with team driver Cade Burnette.
Cade competed in the Pro 1/8 Electric and Nitro Buggy classes along with Open 1/8 Nitro Truggy. In nitro buggy he would finish 6th for the event, lock up 5th place in truggy and in e buggy he would finish in 4th!
Young team driver Phi-Long Nguyen elected to run in three classes at this event. In the Pro 1/8 Nitro Buggy class he would finish in 9th, and he finished a solid 3rd place in both the Open 1/8 Nitro Truggy and Pro 1/8 Electric Buggy classes!
JC pilot Patrick Rossiter Jr. competed in the Pro 1/8 Electric Buggy and Open 1/8 Electric Truggy classes, and he would finish 5th in e buggy and 2nd on the podium in e truggy!
JConcepts driver Rusty Mihelich and his daughter Maddy Long also put down some laps this past weekend. Starting with Rusty he raced in the 40+ 1/8 Nitro and Electric Buggy classes along with Open 1/8 Nitro Truggy. He would make all of his A mains and when the dust had settled he would finish 13th in truggy, 11th in nitro buggy and 6th place in e buggy! Maddy also ran in four classes at this event! In the Open 1/8 Nitro Truggy class she would just miss out on the transfer spot from the B Main, she finished 11th in Intermediate 1/8 Nitro Buggy, locked up 8th overall in the Intermediate 1/8 Electric Buggy and she also finished 3rd in the 15 and under 1/8 Electric Buggy class!
Team driver Randy Enger signed up to compete in the 40+ 1/8 Nitro and Electric Buggy classes. Randy would play the bump game in the nitro buggy class and bumped into the A where he would finish 10th overall! In the e buggy class after both A Mains were ran he would finish the weekend 7th overall!
JC driver Jonah Wilson also raced in the Pro 1/8 Electric and Nitro Buggy classes plus Open 1/8 Nitro Truggy. In e buggy had some bad luck in the AA mains and finished 8th overall, but his luck was better in the other two classes as he went on to finish 3rd in nitro buggy and 2nd in nitro truggy!
His tire teammate Shay Brand ran in the Pro 1/8 Nitro Buggy and Open 1/8 Nitro Truggy classes for this race event. He would make the A Main for buggy and finish in 14th, while in the truggy class he would finish as high as 4th place!
JConcepts team driver Nick Reppen also signed up for multiple classes at this race. In the Intermediate 1/8 Nitro Buggy class he wasn’t able to bump into the A Main, but he did in both the Open 1/8 Electric Truggy and Intermediate 1/8 Nitro Buggy classes where he finished 7th and 9th place!
Team products used:
- 3121 – Green and Blue compound Reflex 1/8 buggy tire
- 3122 – Aqua compound Detox 1/8 buggy tire
- 4034 – Green, Blue, Silver and A2 compound Relapse 1/8 buggy tire
- 3173 – Green compound Teazers 1/8 buggy tire
- 3186 – Green compound Kosmos 1/8 buggy tire
- 4010 – Green compound Recon 1/8 buggy tire
- 3125 – Green compound Reflex 1/8 truggy tire
- 4006 – Green and Blue compound Relapse 1/8 truggy tire
- 0477 – S15 RC8B4e body
- 0478 – S15 RC8B4 Body
- 0463 – F2 1/8 truck body
- 3357 – Bullet 1/8 buggy wheels
- 3369 – Bullet 1/8 truggy wheels
- 2998 – Razor 1/8 buggy and truggy wing
- 2800 – F2I 1/8 buggy and truggy wing
Now we head up the coast and drop anchor at Adrenaline RC Raceway in Winchester, VA. Team driver Javon Mallory just wrapped up competing in their Spring Points Series, and he would finish 3rd for the day in Mod 4wd Buggy, but after the series points were calculated he would take the class title!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4019 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 4wd front buggy tire
- 3196 – Silver compound Ellipse 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 3198 – Silver compound Ellipse 4wd front buggy tire
- 0412 – S2 body for the B74.1
- 3348 – Mono 2wd/4wd rear buggy wheels
- 3353 – Mono 4wd front buggy wheels
- 0197 – Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 6.5″ Rear Wing
Wiggling our way into West Virginia let’s check in with team driver Bella Rogers for out next report. This past weekend she went to LC Raceway in Griffithsville to compete in Round 1 of their Dueling Banjo Points Series. She competed in both the 1/8 Electric Buggy and Truggy classes, and she would set the TQ and finish 5th after a DNF in truggy, plus locked up 3rd place in e buggy!
Team products used:
- 3121 – Green compound Reflex 1/8 buggy tire
- 3125 – Green compound Reflex 1/8 truggy tire
- 0364 – S15 HB Racing D819 body
- 0463 – F2 1/8 truck body
- 2998 – Razor 1/8 buggy and truggy wing
Next, we arrive in Arkansas in the city of Barling where GSpeed Raceway is located. This past weekend they held their 11th annual GShobby Judge Race which netted 140 entries! Team driver Braxten Culley competed in both the Mod 2wd and 4wd Buggy classes and he would set the TQ and win both the A1 and A2 mains to take home the titles in both! Joining him on the Mod wheeler podium was fellow JC driver JR Mitch in 2nd place!
Also racing at this event was team driver Matthew Pyle in the Expert 17.5 2wd and 13.5 4wd Buggy classes. He wasn’t quite able to bump out of the B Main in the 17.5 class, but he would lock up the final podium spot in the 13.5 wheeler class!
Team products used:
- 4029 – Pink compound Siren LP 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 3165 – Pink compound Fuzz Bite LP 2wd front buggy tire
- 3182 – Pink compound Pin Swag 4wd front buggy tire
- 3167 – Pink compound Nessi 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 3152 – Pink compound Fuzz Bite LP 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 0319 – F2 body for the TLR 22 5.0
- 0414 – F2 body for the TLR 22X-4
- 0501 – Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
Now we cross the stateline into the “Show me state” and get our next report from JConcepts driver Adam Kasch. This past weekend he went to Fastlane Raceway in Blue Springs to race in Round 1 of their outdoor points series in three separate classes.
In the 1/8 Nitro and Electric Buggy classes he wasn’t able to make to the transfer spot, but in the 1/8 Electric Truggy class he set the TQ and took the W!
Team products used:
- 3140 – Blue compound Triple Dees 1/8 truggy tire
- 3121 – Blue compound Reflex 1/8 buggy tire
- 3186 – Green compound Kosmos 1/8 buggy tire
- 0366 – Finnisher truck body for the HB Racing D817T
- 0364 – S15 HB Racing D819 body
- 2998 – Razor 1/8 buggy and truggy wing
Leaping into the “Land of Lincoln” we stop in at Thunder Road Hobbies in the city of Moline to get this quick update from JC driver Cody Meiferdt.
This past Saturday he attending the opening round of their points series in the 1/8 Electric Buggy class and he would take the win in the finals!
Team products used:
- 4010 – Green compound Recon 1/8 buggy tire
- 0477 – S15 RC8B4e body
- 2998 – Razor 1/8 buggy and truggy wing
Now we jump over to Jamestown, ND to get this quick update from team driver Dustin Grandbois. He reports that he recently competed in Round 1 of the Dakota Nitro Series and he would finish 2nd in the 1/8 Electric Buggy class, plus take the win in the Mini Truggy class!
Team products used:
Now let’s head to sunny California to get some updates from the team competing at various tracks. Our first stop in Cali is at SDRC Raceway in San Diego to see how the team finished up at Round 6 of their Supercross Series . Team driver Chris Raymond let us know that he took the win in the 40+ Mod 2wd Buggy class! Joining him the podium in 3rd was his JConcepts teammate Mike Sorchy!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4018 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd front buggy tire
- 3196 – Silver compound Ellipse 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 3197 – Silver compound Ellipse 2wd front buggy tire
- 0475 – F2 body for the AE B6.4
- 0501 – Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
Moving north we stop in at Silver dollar RC Raceway in Chico to see how the team finished up at the recent JConcepts Silver Dollar RC Shootout, which also was a warmup race to the upcoming ROAR 1/8 Off-Road Fuel Nationals. Leading the charge for the team was JConcepts driver Jared Wiggins as he set the TQ and took the win in the Expert 1/8 Nitro Buggy class! Joining him on the podium were fellow JConcepts drivers Spencer Rivkin (2nd) and Adam Drake (3rd) to complete the JConcepts podium sweep!
Also competing at this track was JConcepts driver Dillon Bontrager in two classes. In the Open 1/8 Nitro Truggy class he would set the TQ and finish in 3rd place! In the Open Electric Buggy class he would move all the way up to a 2nd place finish!
Team products used:
3121 – A2 compound Reflex 1/8 buggy tire
4006 – A2 compound Relapse 1/8 truggy tire
0431 – S15 Tekno EB48 2.0 body
3357 – Bullet 1/8 buggy wheels
3369 – Bullet 1/8 truggy wheels
2800 – F2I 1/8 buggy and truggy wing
Now let’s see how our international team fared at the recent 2023 Philippines Masters that saw 157 entries! Starting with Ben Panic he had some bad luck in three of his qualifiers so come main day he had to play the bump game. On Sunday he would do just that as he bumped from the D to the C, and the C to the B, and then finally the A main! He would start in 14h place and after the hour long race had come to a stop he would place 10th overall!
His tire teammate Aaron Dexter would finish in 4th place too!
Our final report this week comes to us courtesy of team driver Darren Johnston. He let us know that he just missed out bumping into the next higher main, but he still had a good time and was happy with his results!
Team products used:
3122 – Blue and Aqua compound Detox 1/8 buggy tire