After 5 rounds of racing and freestyle, the dust has settled on the 2020 Points Series presented by JConcepts. Ironically, Round 5’s track conditions were anything but dusty at the AMain Silver Dollar RC Raceway in Chico where perfect weather led to ideal track conditions. For the first time this season, portable ramps were used in order to accommodate the dirt oval track holding a race later in the evening adding a new element to the modified Chicago-style race course.
As usual, the 2.2 class kicked things off and two new trucks made their series debut with Kirk Noakes racing a bomber-themed “B-17” Dodge SMT10 and Jay Henderson who brought out a Grave Digger. In qualifying, Chris Prestwood set the fastest time with a smooth 9.75 second pass which held off Jacob Smallwood by .10 seconds earning the first round bye. The two new competitors faced off in the first round with the Digger advancing to the semi-finals. The semi-finals started off with Smallwood advancing over Anapol who would meet Prestwood with a chance to snap his undefeated winning streak. In the finals, both trucks were even going to the final turn but Smallwood missed the final jump and Prestwood finished the season undefeated in racing sealing the series title.
In the Monster Truck class, the point separation at the top was only 2 points going into the final event between Jeremy Bunting’s “Crash Test Dummy” and Wes Harriger’s “Excaliber”. Chris Prestwood came in still in the mix and went from winning the 2.2 class to setting a blistering qualifying pass of 9.53 with the first pass on the track. That time would hold until Zac Soares would post a 9.38. Wes Harriger wanted to win the unofficial battle of the “Excaliber” trucks and posted a 9.33. Then on the final qualifying lap, Jeremy Bunting put down the fastest timed lap of the day with a 9.25 to gain an additional point in the lead. With a 14 truck field, Harriger and Bunting would earn a bye into round 2.
The first round of racing would be kicked off with one of the closest races of the day between 9 seed David Heimbigner’s “Bigfoot” and 8 seed Sam Elliott’s “Hell Raiser” that saw “Bigfoot” win by less than a truck length. Heimbigner would not be as lucky facing Prestwood who cruised to victory. Smallwood’s “Dragon Slayer” would make easy work of Noakes’ “Fat N Nasty” after a spinout and then a crash that left him just short of the finish line. Soares would advance to round 2 taking out series newcomer Filiberto Avila and his “Grave Digger” before a father-son battle between Richard and Haiyden Steinert that saw Haiyden prevail with his “Titan” truck looking fast. The final race of Round 1 concluded with Bunting’s “Bad Company” eliminating the beloved “Turd Wrassler”.
The quarter finals started with the 1 seeded “Crash Test Dummy” winning a close one over “Bigfoot”. Smallwood then got another shot at Prestwood but crashed the “Dragon Slayer” going over the final jump. On the bottom half of the bracket, Haiyden Steinert would take advantage of Soares’ bobble in the first turn and take the win. The final race had major implications with Bunting getting a chance to eliminate Harriger early. Both trucks appeared to be close to the last jump, but Bunting did not get both front tires up the ramp and cartwheeled across the line while Harriger cleanly finished advancing to the next round.
Going into the finale, Bunting and Prestwood had each beaten the other once in the series. The semi final race was a classic with Prestwood pulling off the upset to advance to the final round. Harriger was looking to capitalize on the opportunity while Steinert was looking to knock out both Excaliber trucks. After a close start, Harriger would roll over in the turn while Steinert plowed into the final jump that had claimed other racers throughout the day, winning the race but breaking in the process. With the breakage and Harriger unable to finish, the question became would Steinert be able to return or would Bunting be put back into the bracket? Steinert was able to repair the Titan truck to make the final round putting a pair of 72 Chevys in the finals. Prestwood’s dominant day continued by putting the “Ride or Die” truck in the winner’s circle taking both racing classes.
With the racing settled, the track was completely transformed with the addition of a dozen different ramps of all shapes and sizes. In the 2.2 class, Noakes led things off with the “B-17” and had great momentum, but two early rollovers led to a score of just 10. Next to hit the track was Anapol who went into the event with the lead in the overall Fat Cat Freestyle standings and would fill the clock and cap the run off with a big backflip to take the lead with a score of 20.
After briefly being unable to go, Jay Henderson was able to fix his “Grave Digger” and get a freestyle run in and was on his way to a big score getting huge air early, but left over a minute on the clock for a score of 16. Smallwood took to the track with a vengeance getting huge air and carrying the best momentum of the day, but once again the rollovers came into play and the run was less than a minute resulting in another score of 20.
Prestwood attacked the track looking to finally score a freestyle win this year and drove the truck until it literally would not move any more, burning up the motor about a minute into his run resulting in yet another score of 20 and a three-way tie for the win. The tie-breakers were then implemented and since all 3 of the trucks had used a rollover, the next criteria was who had the higher score on time used which went to Anapol who filled the entire clock with his run. Anapol’s freestyle win would secure the needed points to take home the Fat Cat Customz Freestyle Championship and would take home a certificate for a wrapped replica truck from our series sponsor Fat Cat Customz.
The 2.2 class podium ended the season with Chris Prestwood taking the 2020 Points Series Championship with Jacob Smallwood the runner-up and Connor Anapol finishing in third.
The carnage was only beginning as the Monster Truck class took to the treacherous track with valuable points still on the line. It was apparent early on that the filling the clock would be a challenge for the Monster Truck class too. Newcomer Filiberto Avila kicked things off with his “Grave Digger” getting some good air early but lasting less than 30 seconds. David Heimbigner was able to last a bit longer but fell short of what we’ve been accustomed to with his freestyle runs with “Son Uva Digger”. The third Digger themed truck in the lineup would go on a tear as Richard Steinert and “The Legend” would go on a fast-paced, big-air assault getting the first 10 of the day in the Tricks/Air category and a 9 for Momentum/Use of the track. Unfortunately, his run was cut short getting only a 4 for time, which with the added deduction for rolling over, led to a new high score of 20.
Attempts to knock Steinert out of the hot seat failed early as early rolls and breakage were the theme of the day with many runs getting 3 or less points for time used. Sam Elliott returned to the series after a 2 round hiatus bringing back his custom “Hell Raiser” and the chassis took everything he threw at it filling the clock with air and saves despite a broken rear knuckle and stripped rear diff. He would take the lead with a score of 22 with some heavy hitters still remaining.
Wes Harriger came into freestyle 3 points from the lead and needed a big score in freestyle. From the prior carnage, it was apparent that he was doing what he could to save the truck filling over a minute of the clock, but scoring a 17 after his second rollover. Needing only 15 points to secure the championship, Bunting took to the track with the “Crash Test Dummy” and had disaster strike on the first hit breaking a rod end and ripping the drive shaft out ending the run only a few seconds in.
Valiant efforts were made by Haiyden Steinert and Chris Prestwood, but early rolls ended their runs giving Elliott his first event championship of the series. Prestwood scored enough points in freestyle to take the overall for Round 5 taking both the 2.2 and Monster Truck classes for the day.
The final points were tallied and Wes Harriger would capture the Monster Truck Class 2020 Points Series Championship with Jeremy Bunting’s entries taking the remaining positions with “Crash Test Dummy” in second and “Bad Company” in third. Despite the poor showing in Round 5, Bunting had accumulated enough points to hold off Chris Prestwood and Wes Harriger who tied for second in the freestyle standings.
In addition, special recognition awards were give to Anapol and Heimbigner as the Most Improved drivers of the season in their respective classes, Todd Henderson recognizing his “Crash Madness” moments of the year from breaking a body in half to kick off the season to shredding a tire in round 4. Finally a special “Long Hauler” award was presented to Jacob Smallwood for his contributions to the series and making the long drive from the Modesto area to each event, so it only felt fitting to reward all of the long drives with a brand new set of JConcepts Renegade Jr. 2.2 tires.
A HUGE thank you to our great sponsors: JConcepts for being the presenting sponsor of the series hooked us up with tremendous support providing a multitude of items to give away including truck bodies, shirts, hats, gift certificates, wheels, tires, and more. Fat Cat Customz for once again supplying the winners of the Freestyle Championship with much-needed new wrapped bodies for next season. And finally Insano Industries for all of our printing needs and providing the table cloth and all new trophy backdrop for the season.
And a final thank you is in order for all of those who came out and raced or helped out in the series this year. Without you, there is no series and we’re very grateful we were able to make the necessary safety accommodations and hold a full series this year. We look forward to what the future holds with more trucks, the new Retro class, new venues, expanded event coverage, and much more to come to make the series bigger and better!