After two rounds of racing in Rescue, the 2023 JConcepts Points Series moved up the hill to the oval track of Auburn RC for Round 3 under the lights. The high-grip surface and use of the full oval made for fast laps and exciting racing on the modified Chicago-style track.
Things kicked off with the biggest Novice Class of the season and Rod Ward with his old school Grave Digger clodbuster would take the win in his return to the series for the first time since 2021.
2.2 Mini Monster Results
Things are heating up in the 2.2 Class between Jeremy Bunting and Brian Romo. Bunting came into Round 2 with a two point lead over Romo and they continued to trade punches. Bunting’s “Bad Company” would set the fast time of 10.88, and Romo followed up with a 10.87 putting “Hater Maker” in pole position until Bunting’s “Crash Test Dummy” would set the time to beat of 10.76. These two would meet in the semi-finals where Romo would knock out “Bad Company”, while “Crash Test Dummy” would advance over Dale Udell’s “Sloppy Seconds”. In the finals, Bunting would get the racing win and much needed points with freestyle still to go.
After qualifying 8th, Udell would go out third in the freestyle order with his “Lost Cause” SMT10 and set the score to beat of 26 filling the clock without rolling over and getting a high score from what is becoming his signature move of a backflip in reverse. Jacob Smallwood laid down a barn-burner of a run with his “El Matador”, however an early rollover deduction would have him come up just shy with a 25. “Bad Company” would match the 25 with Bunting choosing to end the run after filling 82 seconds of the run. Romo would fill the time, but a rollover deduction netted him a score of 21 and Bunting’s “Crash Test Dummy” broke a steering knuckle early in the run only filling half the time giving Udell his first freestyle win of the year!
When the points were tallied up, Bunting secured the the Overall Event win for “Crash Test Dummy” by one point over Romo. While Bunting got much needed points for his second entry, Romo moved into first place in the overall 2.2 Class standings and goes into Round 4 with a one-point lead!
Bee Line Trucking 2.6 Monster Truck Results
Going into Round 3, David Heimbigner was on a roll going back-to-back in racing wins with his “Flyin’ Hawaiian” sitting on top of the standings. However, Round 3 would start out with Heimbigner qualifying in 5th and 8th with new-comer Dave Chichizola getting the fast time of the night with a blistering 9.07 run for his “R Juan” LMT. Marc Detka was fast once again putting his two entries in 2nd and 4th and Romo qualified “Da Beast” in 3rd.
The high-grip track led to fast times and some big time crashes as well as upsets. Udell and his “Dive Bomb” truck qualified 20th, but would make his way to the quarter finals eliminating Bunting’s “Bad Company” and Detka’s “Red Bull”. Meanwhile, Jordan Jensen and his “Son Uva Digger”, who received penalties on both qualifying passes putting him as the lowest seed in the field would go on an incredible run all the way to the semi-finals taking out Udell, Smallwood, and Detka. After missing Round 2, Zac Soares made his return getting both of his trucks into the semi-finals with his 9th seeded “Prospector” going to the finals where he would meet Romo after Jensen hit a lane barrier ending his night. After coming up just short in 2.2, Romo would take home the racing victory over a hard-charging Soares.
In freestyle, Ryler Powell returned to the series with his new-look “Axe” and set the bar early with a 20 point run that would hold the top spot for the first third of the field until Sam Elliott and “Fenrir” took over the lead with another solid run that we’ve come to expect filling the clock and hitting everything on the track. Bunting’s “Carnage” would then take over the lead capping off his run with a backflip and donut filling the clock without a rollover receiving a 27 from the judges with half the field still remaining. Smallwood had another great run that would have tied for the lead had it not been for a rollover deduction with his “King Krunch” having some of the biggest wow moments of the night. Elliott would then match Bunting’s 27 with his “Shaker” receiving the same scores from the judges with some of the biggest leaps of the night and some great saves. Soares would make a valiant effort, but come up just short with a 25 from “Prospector” meaning for the second straight round, Bunting and Elliott would tie for the freestyle win with Bunting getting the tie-breaker getting the score first.
Romo’s racing win, qualifying points, and freestyle score would be enough to take the Overall Event championship and launched him all the way up to third in the standings. The battle for the Bee Line Trucking Podium Pot promises to be an exciting one down the stretch: Heimbigner remains in the lead going into Round 4, however that lead is down to just 2 points with Elliott and “Shaker” right behind him.
Blackmarket RC Retro Class
The track was then changed to a similar layout to Tacoma 1998’s obstacle course track featuring two Chicago-style racing lane jumps and a big hill in the turns. Soares brought out a second entry in “Samson” for the first time this season to go with his points-leading “Excaliber” and would qualify second and third fastest behind Heimbigner’s “Bigfoot”. Rod Ward and Detka also made their Retro Class debuts as well making an 8 truck bracket. In round 1, Heimbigner’s “Bigfoot” advanced over Detka’s “USA-1”, Bunting’s “Shotgun” would take out “Flyin’ Hawaiian”, and Soares would have his two entries advance over Smallwood’s “King Krunch” and Ward’s “Money Pit”. In the semi’s, Soares, would get the bye run with “Samson” into the finals where he would meet Heimbigner and “Bigfoot”. In the finals, Heimbigner jumped out to an early lead using “Bigfoot’s” rear-steer to his advantage, but after the final turn, went off the cars and hit the lane barrier rolling it allowing Soares to come from behind and get the win with “Samson”. That win sent “Samson” into 4th in the standings, while adding cushion to “Excaliber’s” lead over Heimbigner and Bunting.
A big thank you to everyone who came out to Round 3 and made it our largest turnout of the season so far. Make sure to join us for Round 4 back in Auburn on Saturday, July 22nd once again under the lights. Thank you to our sponsors: JConcepts, AMain Hobbies, Protek RC, EcoPower, Blackmarket RC, Bee Line Trucking, Insano Industries, and Brass Ring Fab as well as Auburn RC for the hospitality. Make sure to follow us @NorCalRCMT on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for all the latest information and event highlights.