Race Recap Of The 2023 JConcepts Winter Indoor Shootout & Invitational

This past weekend Fastlane Raceway in Blue Springs, MO was home to the 2023 JConcepts Winter Indoor Shootout & Invitational. For the 13th year in a row this track hosted this special, annual event which is two race programs running at one time.

The Shootout portion of the event featured 11 different classes to compete in. The most competitive class of the weekend was 13.5 4wd Buggy with 27 entries alone, and overall this event saw 128 entries.

Every class ran four different qualifiers on Saturday and each heat ran for five minutes each. Only a driver’s best two finishes would count towards their final qualifying position in each class (qual points) for the Shootout. The top eight drivers were automatically locked into the single A Mains on Sunday, and two more drivers were added as bump ups from the lower mains for a total of 10 cars in every main event. The spec classes (21.5, 17.5 & 13.5) in the Shootout race also had to pass tech for battery voltage and blinky mode on their ESC before running their races too. The lower mains ran for six minutes while the single A Mains ran for eight minutes each, except for Spec Slash which was only six minutes.

The top five finishers in each class would receive hardware including the top qualifier.

The Invitational portion of the event featured 21 drivers that were invited to race in only two classes, Mod 2wd and 4wd Buggy. These drivers only competed in these two classes throughout the weekend, and they were all required to use the same spec tire which was the JConcepts Ellipse in the Silver compound with Dirt-Tech inserts for both the front and rear.

On Friday drivers received their tires and had to mount them in a controlled area. Then they were marked for identification, and each driver had to run through tech to verify they were using the control tires before they hit the track.

A driver could modify the foam if so desired when mounting the tires, but otherwise once they were assembled they couldn’t modify them at all. So that meant no sanding, etc. and the only wear to the tire could come naturally by running them on the track. For practice on Friday they could run the tires as much as they wanted to, but if the tires were used up before the actual racing begin then they were stuck with those tires until the event had completed.

A control tire sauce was also provided, as well as a designated tire wash station, and each night the tires were returned to tech so they could be impounded until the next race day.

For the Invitational race the drivers competed in a heads up, ‘Reedy Race’ format. Instead of normal IFMAR style qualifying where a driver waited until their name was called to start and they raced the clock, instead when the tone sounded all cars took off and were immediately racing each other for position. Their starting position was randomly selected ahead of time, and both the 2wd and 4wd classes ran for five minutes each. On Saturday the 2wd classes were ran and there were five rounds in total. On Sunday only the 4wd cars ran and again they competed in five rounds. A driver could drop their worst time from both the 2wd and 4wd heats, so out of a total of 10 heats only their best eight counted towards their final score. The driver with the lowest score would be crowned the overall winner, and if you finished 1st in your heat you got one point, 2nd place was two points, etc. It didn’t matter who was in your heat, a win was a win in this exciting race format.

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.

Before the event began on Friday a fresh layout was put in place.

It featured a tabletop corner just past the loop that was in front of the driver’s stand.

That lead down to a small chicane section that wrapped around to the right into a small straightaway where the cars started for the Invitational heats and Shootout mains.

Then there was another small chicane section that then wrapped around to the left to a small double.

Then drivers tried to carry momentum through the corner before hitting the most challenging section on the track which was the large triple section. Nearly every class could hit this line as a triple except for 21.5 2wd Buggy and Spec Slash. In the 13.5 Short Course Truck classes a few drivers were able to make the triple too, but the faster, more consistent line was to double-single through it.

For Short Course Truck drivers that did try to make the triple front bumpers were at a premium that weekend as many snapped their bumpers trying to make the triple or landing the double-single line incorrectly. 🙂

Then drivers made a small left turn into a double before making another left in front of the announcer’s booth to cross the timing loop. When the blowers were used traction was very high and Gold and Silver Ellipse tires were the weapon of choice for many drivers in the Shootout classes.

On Friday the doors opened at 11am so drivers could get their pits setup, and then practice ran from noon to 9pm that night.

On Saturday the doors opened again at 7:30am, and then practice was held from 8-9am for only drivers who didn’t practice on Friday.

After a brief driver’s meeting the first round of the Invitational began, followed by Round 1 of qualifying for the Shootout.

The JConcepts team got off to a hot start as team drivers Riley Filbert and Alex Vanderbeek each picked up a 2wd heat win in the Invitational!

For the Shootout team driver James Nelson TQed 40+ 2wd Buggy, and his tire teammate Trevor ‘Chilly’ Duncan threw down the fastest time in 13.5 Stadium Truck for Round 1 of qualifying!

In Round 2 of the 2wd Invitational it was a clean sweep for the JConcepts team as JC drivers Drew Rubenking, Mason Herrick and Nick Gibson each won their respective heats!

In Round 2 of the Shootout Team driver Trevor ‘Chilly’ Duncan set the TQ for 13.5 Short Course Truck, and JC driver Mike Sanders laid down the fastest time in 40+ 2wd buggy!

In Round 3 of the Invitational 2wd class it was another clean sweep for the JConcepts team! Team drivers Alex Vanderbeek, Nick Gibson and Riley Filbert all took wins in their heats!

In Round 3 of the Shootout event team driver Mike Sanders grabbed another TQ run in 40+ 2wd Buggy, plus Trevor ‘Chilly’ Duncan locked up another TQ run in 13.5 Short Course Truck!

It was another clean sweep for the JConcepts team in Round 4 of the 2wd Invitational! Team drivers Nick Gibson, Owen Vanderbeek and Drew Rubenking all picked up heat wins!

In the final round of qualifying for the Shootout, team driver Trevor ‘Chilly’ Duncan put in another TQ run to lock up the top qualifying position for 13.5 Short Course Truck!

In the 40+ 2wd Buggy class team driver James Nelson would set the fastest time which meant it came down to a tie breaker between him and fellow JC pilot Mike Sanders. After the tie breakers were applied Mike would start 1st in the A Main on Sunday!

The 5th and final round of the 2wd Invitational saw three more wins for the JConcepts team. Team drivers Owen Vanderbeek, Ethan Delair and Drew Rubenking all put in the fastest times in their heats!

After racing was done for the day drivers started to look at the current points to see how they stacked up thus far in the program, and after one day of racing in the Invitational the top six were all JConcepts drivers!

On Sunday the doors opened again at 8am, and then at 8:30am practice was open for 4wd Invitational drivers only. Shortly after 9:30am Round 1 of the 4wd Invitational began followed by the lower mains for the Shootout.

In the opening two rounds of the 4wd Invitational JConcepts picked up four wins as team drivers Emerson Sturgeon, Nick Gibson and Mason Herrick (twice) all won in their heat races!

After the 3rd round of the 4wd Invitational was complete, team drivers David Alberico and Alex Vanderbeek would come away with heat wins!

Then the racing shut down so we could award door prizes to those lucky drivers who heard their name called.

Racers picked up some great gear courtesy of JConcepts, BOOM Graphics and other various sponsors!

Shortly after that the racing resumed again. In Round 4 of the 4wd Invitational the JConcepts team picked up more wins by Alex Vanderbeek and Nick Gibson!

In the final round of the Invitational team driver Mason Herrick picked up another W along with his teammate Owen Vanderbeek! After all the points and tie breakers were applied Mason Herrick was crowned your overall winner! Joining him on the podium were his tire teammates Nick Gibson (2nd), Alex Vanderbeek (4th) and Owen Vanderbeek (5th)!

Team products used:

In the Shootout event team driver Mike Sanders was able to take the TQ and win in 40+ 2wd Buggy, plus he also netted a 2nd place finish in Mod 2wd Buggy and 13.5 Stadium Truck! Joining him on the 40+ podium were fellow JC drivers Orlando Martinez (2nd) and James Nelson (3rd)!

Team products used:

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.