Last weekend the 2025 JConcepts Off-Road JAM presented by BOOM Graphics was hosted once again by Fastlane Raceway in Blue Springs, MO. With event founders and promoters Mike and Britani Garrison at the helm, this year’s race delivered excitement from start to finish. With over 200 entries spanning 11 classes, the weather outside may have been freezing, but the racing action was on fire!
The weekend kicked off with controlled practice on Friday from noon to 9pm. The fresh layout featured a lot of technical sections with only a small sweeper section.
The middle section was the most difficult area as drivers had to hit the first double correctly to gain enough momentum to leap over a table section and land on the backside of another jump.
Towards the end of the night a special “Pizza with the Pros” was held in the pit area. Pizza was brought in as special guests Chase Lemieux, Tom Rinderknecht, Nate Sutherland, and Nick Gibson treated participants to engaging stories, a track walk filled with tips and tricks, and an insightful Q&A session.
The next morning the doors opened at 7:30am with controlled practice from 8 to 9am for drivers who couldn’t practice the day before. Then a brief driver’s meeting was held before three rounds of qualifying began. Only a driver’s best two finishes would be used to determine each class TQ. The top six qualifiers were locked into the AA Mains, and two drivers from the lower mains would make the bump in the main event for a total of 8 cars.
Each A Main ran for five minutes and in case there was a tie in points after both mains were ran, the tie breaker would be the driver with the best finish in the 2nd A Main. Saturday’s qualifying rounds showcased fierce competition in every class, with many top qualifier spots and A Main berths coming down to the final laps in the final round.
On Sunday the doors opened again at 8:30am with the lower mains starting at 9:30am. Before the AA Mains began there was a special Dash 4 Cash race. The largest class of the weekend was the Independent 17.5 2WD Buggy class, and the top six qualifiers competed in this special event for a $100 cash purse. The TQ started in the back with the 6th place car moved to the front. Then they raced around the track for five minutes while running on the layout backwards! The driver didn’t have any warm up laps and there also no marshals, so if you wrecked then you were eliminated! In the end, it was Dave Ferrell who kept his wheels down and claimed the victory, walking away with $100 in nickels!
After that was the racer raffle and giveaways courtesy of the great sponsors which included a grand prize of a Team Associated B7D buggy fully outfitted with Reedy electronics and JConcepts option parts! Then it was on to the the AA Mains which resulted in some of the most thrilling races in Off-Road JAM history. Racers, spectators, and online viewers alike were on the edge of their seats, cheering on each battle to the finish. Let’s see how the team finished up starting with the premiere class, Mod 2wd Buggy.
In A1 team driver Tom Rinderknecht would start 3rd on the grid, but he quickly moved up to 2nd place on lap two. By lap 9 he would take over the lead for good as he crossed the finish line in 1st place! In A2 he would take over the lead again on lap 8 to take home the title for the weekend! He was joined on the podium by fellow JConcepts drivers Nick Gibson (3rd), Braxten Culley (5th), Mason Herrick (6th), Owen Vanderbeek (7th) and Nate Sutherland (8th)!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4018 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd front buggy tire
- 0432 – S2 body for the Schumacher LD3
- 2969 – 3.5mm Fin Titanium Turnbuckle Set for the Schumacher Cougar LD3
- 5162 – Radial NMB Bearing Set for the Schumacher LD3
- 5216 – M4 Low-Profile Aluminum Wheel Nut
- 3347 – Mono 2wd front buggy wheels
- 3348 – Mono 2wd/4wd rear buggy wheels
- 0501 – Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
In the Expert 17.5 2wd Buggy class team driver Andrew Thomas would TQ all rounds of qualifying to start in 1st place for the AA Mains! In A1 he would lead from tone to tone to cross the line in 1st place! In A2 he would get off to a rough start and find himself in 2nd place on the opening lap. A small mistake would drop him to 4th place by lap 4, and his tire teammate Shane Alberico would take a commanding lead. Andrew would claw his way back up to 2nd place, but he got caught at the tone which gave Shane the win and a victory lap on the field! Shane finished 2nd overall in A1 so when the tie breaker was applied he would take home another title for JConcepts! Joining him on the podium were fellow team drivers Andrew (2nd) Mack Vanderbeek (3rd), Matthew Pyle (4th), Dalton Conradt (5th) and Orlando Martinez (6th)!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4018 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd front buggy tire
- 0318 – S2 body for the TLR 22 5.0
- 3347 – Mono 2wd front buggy wheels
- 3348 – Mono 2wd/4wd rear buggy wheels
- 0501 – Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
In the Expert 13.5 4wd Buggy class once again Andrew would grab the TQ after running the fastest laps in Rounds 2 and 3 of qualifying! In A1 he would lead the pack for about half of the race before falling back to 2nd place. Shane would take over the lead on lap 10 and finish about three seconds ahead of his tire teammate Dalton who finished in 2nd place! In A2 Andrew would take the win, but after the points were added up Shane would take home his 2nd win of the weekend! He was joined on the podium by JConcepts drivers Andrew (2nd), Matthew (3rd), Dalton (4th), Brent Riley (7th) and Orlando (8th)!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4019 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 4wd front buggy tire
- 0429 – S2 body for the TLR 22X-4
- 3347 – Mono 2wd front buggy wheels
- 3348 – Mono 2wd/4wd rear buggy wheels
- 0501 – Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
In the 40+ Mod 2wd Buggy class team driver Mack Vanderbeek would TQ all rounds of qualifying! In the AA Mains he would take the double tone to tone win to claim the 4th title for the JConcepts race team! Also making the podium for the team were JC drivers Orlando (3rd), Chad Karstens (4th), Brent (5th) and James Nelson (8th)!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4018 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd front buggy tire
- 0634 – S15 body for the AE B7
Thanks to Chuck Kleinhagen and the entire Fastlane Raceway crew, as well as Mike and Brittany Garrison from BOOM Graphics for putting on another great event!