After two straight events in Chico, the 2025 Points Series resumed at Rescue RC Raceway on September 13th with two big tracks featuring a technical over/under crossover and a classic figure 8 for the Retro Class. We also welcomed Jason Ruona of JConcepts who came all the way from Florida to compete, making the most of his trip out west.
The day got started with the Novice Class getting some extra laps on the tricky, long course and in the end would see Brennen Blanco and his “Son Uva Digger” taking the win over Isaac Ortiz and “El Toro Loco”.
Next would be the 2.2 Mini Monster Class with Taylor Underhill and Sam Olson making their return to the Points Series and making some noise as they would meet in the semi finals with Olson getting the big come from behind win after Underhill rolled going off of the final jump prior to the finish line. Meanwhile, Jordan Jensen cruised with a top qualifying run before eliminating Charles Leggette and his “PistenBully” entry to make the final round once again. Jensen would take the win after Olson rolled putting “Thicc Blue Line” on top once again.
In the 2.6 Monster Truck Class, Ruona would set the two fastest times of the day in qualifying with two smooth passes with his “Lithium Pro” and “JConcepts Cruiser” modified Axial SMT10 trucks. Zac Soares had both of his entries behind Ruona in qualifying gaining valuable points with Jensen rounding out the top 5 with his “Silver State Smasher”.
The first round would see another father-son duo go head-to-head for the first time as Brandon Blanco debuted his “Circuit” entry and would barely take a wild racing win over his son Brennen with both trucks tumbling across the finish line in the one of the closest races of the day. Round 2 would see Wyatt Leggette knock out Jeremy Bunting’s “Carnage” opening the door for Soares and Jensen to gain ground in the battle for the season championship. Both Soares and Jensen would make the most of it as “Excaliber” and “Silver State Smasher” would get to the semi-finals gaining valuable points before facing Ruona’s two entries. Ruona would eliminate both going undefeated on the day putting the “Lithium Pro” entry on top.
In the Challenger Class, Bunting would set the pace with his “Bad Company” turning in the fastest qualifying pass with Soares right behind him with his “Excaliber” that has been on a tear since joining the class in Round 2. This round would be no different as “Excaliber” would knock out “Flyin’ Hawaiian” before eliminating his “Shamrock Shake” entry to advance to the finals to face Bunting and “Bad Company” who eliminated “Lucas Motorsports” and “El Matador” to get there. “Excaliber” would get the win after Bunting rolled in an attempt to come from behind taking home another racing win for the year. For the season, Bunting remains in first and second with Dave Lucas holding onto third with Smallwood 14 points behind and Soares 18 behind and within striking distance to make the podium for the year.
The track was changed to a classic figure-8 for the Retro Class and again it would be Ruona taking the top qualifying spots with the new prototype “Reactor” chassis. Soares would have his “Kodiak” and “Excaliber” entries make it to the semi-finals against Ruona after eliminating Bunting’s “Carnage” and David Heimbigner’s “Flyin’ Hawaiian” while Ruona knocked out Jensen’s new “Big Blue Outlaw”. In the end, the last two trucks standing were the “Lithium Classic” and “Lithium Racer” with the top-seeded “Classic” getting the win for the day. The strong showing by Soares would solidify his bid for getting both of his entries on the Retro Class podium for the year as his “Excaliber” trails “Carnage” by only 12 points while his “Kodiak” entry is 46 points ahead of the fourth place “Flyin’ Hawaiian”.
The track was changed once again for freestyle with the optional Challenger Class freestyle giving competitors up to a minute to score up to 5 bonus points with the run ending with a rollover or filling the clock. Bunting would score 5 points for his “Titan” and “Bad Company” entries filling the clock, with “Shamrock Shake” scoring 4, “Lucas Motorsports” 3, “El Matador” 2, and “Excaliber” and “Flyin’ Hawaiian” each getting 1.
In the 2.2 Class, Jensen collected yet another freestyle win for the season on a day when many trucks struggled with none in the class filling the allotted time. The win has all but sealed the overall championship for Jensen as he goes into the final round with a commanding 74-point lead. However, the remaining spots on the podium are up for grabs as Lucas and Daniel Massengale are currently tied for second place with Jake Jensen only 7 points behind them.
Closing out the day was the 2.6 Monster Truck class with Ortiz setting the bar high early on with his “El Toro Loco” scoring a 20 with some huge backflips and air nearly filling the clock. The score would be in the lead until Bunting would overtake it with “Carnage” filling the clock without a rollover scoring a 24. Bunting would then retake the lead with “Bad Company” filling the clock without a rollover and going bigger off the jumps to score a 26. Jensen would give a valiant effort with the “Silver State Smasher” getting huge air and a clean transfer at the start of his run, but could not fill the clock and received a 23. Soares would close out the day with a wild run that saw “Excaliber” go completely off the track early on before a second rollover ended his run only halfway through scoring a 14 giving Bunting the freestyle win.
With Ruona sitting out freestyle, the 2.6 Monster Truck Class overall champion for the day would go to Jensen who is in great position to make the podium for the year, currently sitting in third place. After the dust settled and points were tallied, we go to the final round with Soares and Bunting tied for first place which will make for a dramatic final event to close out the 2025 season!
As always, a huge thank you to all of the racers for coming out from near and far for another great event. The Points Series would not be possible without the amazing support of our sponsors JConcepts, Blackmarket RC, AMain Hobbies, EcoPower RC, Gens Ace, and Flyin’ Hawaiian RC. The 2025 Points Series will be settled on October 11th at Rescue RC Raceway where we will crown our series champions and give out a bunch of great prizes to wrap up our seventh season.