This past weekend the JConcepts crew headed to Muscatine, Iowa to Star Collectibles and Island Speedway for the finals of the 2023 NCTS Series. Not only would we be crowning race winners this event but also series champions! Racers have been racing from coast to coast chasing individual race wins and series points.
Star Collectables is a fantastic well stocked hobby shop with including products for racers, general rc enthusiasts, hobbyists, and collectors. On location the tracks go under the name of Island Speedway and feature an off-road carpet track that we raced on this weekend as well as an epic dirt oval track and a rock crawler course.
Practice started on Thursday and into Friday and right off the bat the surface was really consistent and fun to drive on. The quickest lap times on the board would be around 13 seconds with most drivers in the 14-16 second range. Drivers would be on the clock for the first time Friday afternoon for a seeding round. JConcepts drivers (JC) or drivers using JConcepts Products (JCP) dominated almost every class in seeding as seen below.
Seeding Results:
2wd Modified Buggy: 1st Brandon Foote (JC), 2nd Caden Berding (JCP), 3rd Jake Wiggs (JCP)
4wd Modified Buggy: 1st Brandon Foote (JC), 2nd Ashon Bristol (JCP), 3rd Caden Berding (JCP)
17.5 Expert 2wd Buggy: 1st Tyler Hooks (JC), 2nd Jacob Sweisberger (JCP), 3rd Jake Wiggs (JCP)
13.5 Expert 4wd Buggy: 1st Jacob Sweisberger (JCP), 2nd Tyler Hooks (JC), 3rd Jake Wiggs (JCP)
13.5 Stadium Truck: 1st Matt Olson (JC), 2nd Jake Wiggs (JCP), 3rd Cody Meiferdt (JC)
40+ Modified 2wd: 1st Erik Jensen (JCP), 2nd Jason Ruona (JC), 3rd Jamie Thompson (JCP)
17.5 Independent 2wd Buggy: 1st Evan Cook (JCP), 2nd Braden Koob (JCP), 3rd Michael Thorton (JCP)
13.5 Independent 4wd Buggy: 1st Evan Cook (JCP), 2nd Braden Koob (JCP), 3rd Roger Wolbrink (JCP)
13.5 Short Course: 1st Roger Wolbrink (JCP), 3rd Lance Richardson (JCP)
21.5 Independent 2wd Buggy: 1st Braden Koob (JCP), 2nd Josh McMullin (JCP), 3rd Jana Peavler (JCP)
Heading into qualifying the JC team didn’t take their foot off the gas and JC products were on top of all of the classes from start to finish!
Qualifying Results:
2wd Modified Buggy: 1st Brandon Foote (JC), 2nd Ashon Bristol (JCP), 3rd Charlie Deakman (JCP)
4wd Modified Buggy: 1st Brandon Foote (JC), 2nd Caden Berding (JCP), 3rd Ashon Bristol (JCP)
17.5 Expert 2wd Buggy: 1st Tyler Hooks (JC), 2nd Jake Wiggs (JCP), 3rd Jacob Sweisberger (JCP)
13.5 Expert 4wd Buggy: 1st Tyler Hooks (JC), 2nd Jake Wiggs (JCP), 3rd Brian Lutz (JCP)
13.5 Stadium Truck: 1st Austin Jacobson (JC), 2nd Cody Meiferdt (JC), 3rd Jake Wiggs (JCP)
40+ Modified 2wd: 1st Erik Jensen (JCP), 2nd Jason Ruona (JC), 3rd Jamie Thompson (JCP)
17.5 Independent 2wd Buggy: 1st Evan Cook (JCP), 2nd Braden Koob (JCP), 3rd Michael Thorton (JCP)
13.5 Independent 4wd Buggy: 1st Evan Cook (JCP), 2nd Braden Koob (JCP), 3rd Roger Wolbrink (JCP)
13.5 Short Course: 1st Lance Richardson (JCP), 2nd Roger Wolbrink (JCP)
21.5 Independent 2wd Buggy: 1st Braden Koob (JCP), 2nd Josh McMullin (JCP), 3rd Jana Peavler (JCP)
Main Events:
2wd Modified would see a dominant performance from Brandon Foote taking the win in both A1 and A2 without much trouble. Ashon Bristol would claim consistent 2nd place results in all 3 mains to wrap up 2nd place overall. Jason Ruona would bounce back from a rough A1 to take 3rd in A2 and A3 to finish out 3rd on the grid. Honorable mention to Caden Berding who would have an epic battle with Ashon in A3 being extremely patient and ultimately taking the A3 win. Unfortunately with no other top 5 results to match it with he would have to settle for 4th.
2wd Modified Buggy: 1st Brandon Foote (JC), 2nd Ashon Bristol (JCP), 3rd Jason Ruona (JC)
Much like 2wd, 4wd would be more of the Brandon Foote show in the mains with Brandon taking A1 and A2 to clench the overall. Caden Berding would stay close in both mains but not close enough to capitalize on a win. A3 would see a battle for the final spots on the podium with Charlie Deakman taking a narrow win ahead of Berding and Ashon Bristol. This would give Caden the 2nd place overall with Deakman in 3rd.
4wd Modified Buggy: 1st Brandon Foote (JC), 2nd Caden Berding (JCP), 3rd Charlie Deakman (JCP)
17.5 Expert 2wd Buggy: 1st Tyler Hooks (JC), 2nd Jake Wiggs (JCP), 3rd Austin Jacobson (JC)
13.5 Expert 4wd Buggy: 1st Tyler Hooks (JC), 2nd Jake Wiggs (JCP), 3rd Brian Lutz (JCP)
13.5 Stadium Truck: 1st Austin Jacobson (JC), 2nd Jake Wiggs (JCP), 3rd Matt Olson (JC)
40+ Modified 2wd: 1st Jason Ruona (JC), 2nd Erik Jensen (JCP), 3rd Jeff Stanford
17.5 Independent 2wd Buggy: 1st Evan Cook (JCP), 2nd Braden Koob (JCP), 3rd Michael Thorton (JCP)
13.5 Independent 4wd Buggy: 1st Evan Cook (JCP), 2nd Roger Wolbrink (JCP), 3rd Braden Koob (JCP)
13.5 Short Course: 1st Tyler Fleming, 2nd Roger Wolbrink (JCP), 3rd Lance Richardson (JCP)
21.5 Independent 2wd Buggy: 1st Braden Koob (JCP), 2nd Josh McMullin (JCP), 3rd Jana Peavler (JCP)
Novice: 1st Izabella McMullen, 2nd Guacamolly, 3rd Tyler Day
The final round here at Island Speedway concluded a 4 round series across the United States, the following drivers attended 3/4 events and were included in the overall series standings!
Overall Series Podiums:
2wd Modified Buggy: 1st Jason Ruona, 2nd Ashon Bristol
4wd Modified Buggy: 1st Ashon Bristol
17.5 Expert 2wd Buggy: 1st Tyler Hooks, 2nd Alex Ferri
13.5 Expert 4wd Buggy: 1st Tyler Hooks, 2nd Alex Ferri
40+ Modified 2wd Buggy: 1st Jason Ruona
13.5 Stadium Truck: 1st Matt Olson, 2nd Michael Thorton, 3rd Evan Cook
17.5 Independent 2wd Buggy: 1st Evan Cook, 2nd Michael Thorton, 3rd Chris Mueller, 4th Brisen Bishop
13.5 Independent 4wd Buggy: 1st Evan Cook, 2nd Michael Thorton, 3rd Brisen Bishop
Winning Products: