Last weekend the JConcepts Winter Indoor Shootout & Invitational took place once again at Fastlane Raceway in Blue Springs, MO. This was the 14th running of this annual race that is two events wrapped up into one epic weekend.
One event is an Invitational race of 18 of the fastest drivers in the Midwest competing in Mod 2wd and 4wd Buggy classes only. On Saturday they would run five rounds of heads up qualifying which meant when the sound of the tone went off they were racing one another and not the clock. Each round would be comprised of three heats with six cars each that ran for five minutes.
The order they started in was chosen at random, and since they were immediately racing each other sometimes by the first lap the faster driver would navigate themselves to the front already. All of the Invite drivers would turn marshal the each other’s heats, and before the drivers even hit the track they had to pass technical inspection.
Each Invite driver was handed one full set of JConcepts Silver compound Smoothie 2 tires for both their 2wd and 4wd buggies. These tires had to be prepped in a controlled area and then labeled so they can be checked in tech.
Only the official tire sauce was allowed to be used, and they even had a designated area to clean the tires as well. Sanding these tires was not allowed and each night all of their tires had to be checked in so they couldn’t be tampered with.
By doing all of this it helped to even the playing field for all the racers. Drivers could use their tires for practice as much as they want, but since they only receive one set per car they had to know when to stop using these tires so they didn’t overuse them before qualifying began.
On Saturday was the 2wd portion of the Invitational and Sunday was reserved for the 4wd class. Each day there was five rounds and no matter how your lap times went, if you won your heat you had a score of one point. If you came in 2nd you got two points and so forth.
After all 10 rounds were ran the driver with the lowest score would be the Invitational winner, and on each individual day a driver could drop their worst result so in the end 8 out of the 10 possible rounds were used for scoring.
The other event was the Winter Indoor Shootout. This race used a format consisting of four rounds of IFMAR style qualifying. There were 11 classes to compete in and the biggest class of the weekend was the 21.5 2wd Buggy class with 21 entries. Overall there were 122 entries in total, and after all the qualifying was done only the top 8 drivers were automatically locked into the single 8 minute A Mains. Two more drivers would bump into the A Main from the lower mains for a total of 10 cars in each final.
Awards were handed out to the TQ and top five finishers in each class. The Invitational class had top five awards along with a $1000 purse paying $500 to win it all while 2nd place received $250, $125 went to 3rd, $75 to 4th and $50 for 5th place.
The event officially kicked off on Friday with open practice from noon till 9pm that night.
As drivers got registered they also received some free gear courtesy of JConcepts and Fastlane too!
Drivers then got their first taste of the new layout that was put in for this double event. You would start by heading down a straightaway that led to a left hand sweeper.
That led up to a single jump with a table top landing.
Then you would come down a small hill that turned into a tight chicane followed by a triple section.
The modified classes could easily make this jump and some of the spec classes could clear it as well, but most of the time the fast line for the non-modified classes was to take the double-single line.
Then it was a quick 180 to a small roller followed by two sets of doubles. The roller stopped even the Mod 4wd Buggies from turning this into a quad section, and the face of the final jump had an angle into it.
The landing zone for the final double was a bowl that hooked out to the right. So the fast line was to land the final jump on the far right into the bowl then quickly pivot to the right to clear the next double coming out of it.
This section was very tricky since drivers either hit the pole or overshot the bowl section and landed out of bounds.
Just past that double coming out of the bowl was two more small rollers, then you would gradually make a left turn, cross the timing loop and then back onto the straightaway.
Saturday morning the doors opened again at 7:30am. Practice was held from 8-9am for drivers that weren’t able to practice the day before and also to take any late registrations.
Then a brief driver’s meeting was held and then the opening round of the Mod 2wd Buggy Invite class kicked off.
The team got off to a great start with team drivers Nick Gibson and Alex Vanderbeek picking up wins!
In Round 2 Alex picked up his 2nd win of the 2wd class and team driver Mason Herrick netted his 1st heat win of the weekend!
In the Shootout event the team got off to slow start in Round 1 of qualifying, but for Round 2 team driver Mike Garrison took the TQ for Expert 13.5 4wd Buggy, while his teammate Trevor “Chilly” Duncan was the fastest truck in the 13.5 Stadium Truck class!
In Round 3 of the Invite the team put down a clean sweep as Alex took his 3rd heat win, and his fellow JC drivers Stevie Slover and David Alberico also each picked up a win too!
For the Shootout event team driver Mike took another round of the Expert 13.5 4wd Buggy class!
Team drivers Mason and Nick each captured their 2nd win of the 2wd portion of the Invitational for Round 4!
In the final round of qualifying for the Shootout team driver Orlando Martinez would best his teammate Mike to put down the fastest laps in the Expert 13.5 4wd Buggy class! Mike would still retain the overall TQ for this class, and on Sunday Orlando would start right behind him in 2nd place for the 8 minute A Main!!
In the 5th and final round of the Mod 2wd Invite Nick notched his 3rd win, while Alex grabbed his 4th win in 5 rounds!
On Sunday the doors opened again at 8:30am with practice heats for the Mod 4wd Invite drivers at 9am. Then at 9:30am it was time to start the lower mains of the Shootout. The Shootout would take scheduled breaks in order for the Invite class to run their heats throughout the day.
In the 1st round of the Mod 4wd Buggy Invitational the JConcepts race team put in a clean sweep and team drivers Alex, Nick and Owen Vanderbeek all picking up wins!
Round 2 saw two more wins for the Vanderbeeks as they both picked up their 2nd heat win on Sunday!
Before Round 3 of the Invite took place we took a short break to hand out our door prizes!
Drivers young and old were treated to some great prizes once again at this event!
Once the racing resumed Rounds 3 and 4 were déjà vu in the Invite class as Alex and Owen picked up their 3rd and 4th wins!
In the final round of the Invite class team drivers Nick and Mason each picked up a heat win, but after the drops were used and all the points tallied up, Alex would take home the overall title and $500!
Joining him on the podium were his teammates Nick, Mason and Owen!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4018 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd front buggy tire
- 4019 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 4wd front buggy tire
- 0601 – S15 body for the AE B74.2
- 0634 – S15 body for the AE B7
- 5203 – RC10B7 Aluminum 1-Piece Rear Wing Button
- 5214 – RC10B7 -2mm Carbon Fiber Front Shock Tower
- 5215 – RC10B7 -2mm Carbon Fiber Rear Shock Tower
- 5181 – RC10B7 Chassis, -4mm, Hard Anodized
- 5136 – 3.5mm Fin Titanium Turnbuckle Set RC10B7 | RC10B7D
- 3347 – Mono 2wd front buggy wheels
- 3348 – Mono 2wd/4wd rear buggy wheels
- 3353 – Mono 4wd front buggy wheels
In the Shootout race the team was able to take home a win and make several podiums. In the Expert 17.5 2wd Buggy class team driver Orlando would lock up 3rd place!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4018 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd front buggy tire
- 0614 – F2 body for the AE B7
- 5136 – 3.5mm Fin Titanium Turnbuckle Set RC10B7 | RC10B7D
- 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 Mike would take the win and was joined on the podium by Orlando in 4th place!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4019 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 4wd front buggy tire
- 0397 – F2 body for the AE B74.1
- 2802 – 3.5mm Fin Titanium Turnbuckle Set for the B74.2
- 3348 – Mono 2wd/4wd rear buggy wheels
- 3353 – Mono 4wd front buggy wheels
- 0501 – Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
In the 13.5 Short Course Truck class Chilly would lock down the final podium spot!
Team products used:
- 3131 – Silver compound Smoothie SCT tire
- 0282 – HF2 SCT body
- 2416 – 3.5mm Fin Titanium Turnbuckle Set for the T6.4 & SC6.4
- 2298 – B6.3 Carbon Logo / Cargo Net Battery Brace
- 2599T – Short Fin Titanium Shock Stand-Offs
- 2983T – 10mm Fin Titanium Shock Stand-Offs with bushing
- 5216 – M4 Low-Profile Aluminum Wheel Nut
- 2492 – Fin VCS3 Shock Bottom Cap
- 2701 – Fin 13mm Shock Cap
- 2702 – Fin 13mm Shock Collar
- 2703 – Fin, 13mm Spring Cup, 5mm Off-Set
- 2721 – Fin, 13mm Spring Cup, 0mm Off-Set
- 3344 – Hazard SCT wheels
Chilly would make another podium by finishing 2nd in the 13.5 Stadium Truck class!
Team products used:
- 4049 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 LP truck tire
- 0388 – Finnisher truck body for the T6.x & YZ2-T
- 2416 – 3.5mm Fin Titanium Turnbuckle Set for the T6.4 & SC6.4
- 2298 – B6.3 Carbon Logo / Cargo Net Battery Brace
- 2599T – Short Fin Titanium Shock Stand-Offs
- 2983T – 10mm Fin Titanium Shock Stand-Offs with bushing
- 5216 – M4 Low-Profile Aluminum Wheel Nut
- 2492 – Fin VCS3 Shock Bottom Cap
- 2701 – Fin 13mm Shock Cap
- 2702 – Fin 13mm Shock Collar
- 2703 – Fin, 13mm Spring Cup, 5mm Off-Set
- 2721 – Fin, 13mm Spring Cup, 0mm Off-Set
- 3354 – Mono stadium truck wheels
Orlando would make his 3rd podium of the weekend by finishing 3rd in 40+ Mod 2wd Buggy!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4018 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd front buggy tire
- 0614 – F2 body for the AE B7
- 5136 – 3.5mm Fin Titanium Turnbuckle Set RC10B7 | RC10B7D
- 3347 – Mono 2wd front buggy wheels
- 3348 – Mono 2wd/4wd rear buggy wheels
- 0501 – Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
That concludes another successful JConcepts Winter Indoor Shootout & Invitational! We would like to thank track owner Chuck Kleinhagen and the entire Fastlane crew for their dedication and hospitality for hosting this race again this year!
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.