We have reached the halfway point of the 2021 JConcepts Points Series and what an event Round 3 presented by Nor Cal Performance Diesel turned out to be! 47 entries competed on an all-dirt track under the lights of AMain Silver Dollar RC Raceway in Chico that was both fun and challenging producing some close racing and impressive carnage. The track was built in a matter of hours thanks to track builder extraordinaire Kevin Jelich along with the help of Jacob Smallwood, Wes Harriger, Jeremy Bunting, Taylor Underhill and David Heimbigner. Jack Meredith put the final touches on painting the track as well as a tribute to Scott Hartsock on what we deemed “Hartsock Hill” in the center of the track that would produce some massive air throughout the evening.
In the 2.2 Class, for the second straight round, Heimbigner’s “Son Uva Digger” would set the fastest qualifying time on the modified “So Cal” style track reminiscent of the Anaheim tracks from Monster Jam, but rather than starting on the pod, the trucks started and finished on the same line and went over a car stack. With 13 trucks in the bracket, the top 3 would receive byes and Sam Elliott’s “Get Er Done” and Bunting’s “Hooligan” would earn byes into round 2 and win to reach the semi-finals where they were joined by Zac Soares and his “Excaliber”.
Soares would get the upset win in the first race of the semi’s knocking off the 1 seeded Heimbigner earning a trip to the finals for the first time in the 2.2 Class. He would be joined by another first time finalist with Elliott getting passed Bunting after he made a clean final turn and “Hooligan” washed out. In the finals, it would be all Soares who would take his first 2.2 racing win after not making it beyond the second round in the prior races this year.
In the 2.6 MT class, Heimbigner once again set the fastest time of the day, this time with his “Flyin’ Hawaiian”. Jay Henderson surprised everyone with a blistering 11.75 second pass to qualify 2nd with his “Black Widow” LMT. With 26 trucks in the field, the top 6 would get a bye into the second round. The remaining 4 trucks to receive byes were Heimbigner’s “V8 Bomber”, Elliott’s “Hell Raiser”, Soares’ “Excaliber”, and Harriger’s “Bigfoot”. Of these trucks, only 1 would make it beyond Round 2.
The second round of racing proved to be chaotic as there were photo finishes and crazy crashes that led to some major upsets. The first race would see Heimbigner’s “Flyin’ Hawaiian” become the “Rollin’ Samoan” and Haidyen Steinert would knock off the number 1 seeded truck with his 17th seeded “Over Bored”. Soares got an unlucky draw having to eliminate his “Prospector” as it ended up seeded against his “Excaliber” after advancing over “Shadow Hunter”. Brandon Stanley then knocked out the number 4 ranked “Hell Raiser” with his 20th seeded “RC Propaganda” truck to advance to the quarter finals. Harriger and Bunting ended up seeded against each other twice and both times Harriger would get the victory including a close photo finish race that needed review by the officials to call. The final race of the second round looked to be over before it started as Underhill was having steering issues and Henderson got out to a huge lead before disaster struck and he crashed inches before the finish allowing Underhill to limp around the track and cross the line while “Black Widow” was turtled and unable to move.
The chaos would continue into the quarter finals as the first race between “Over Bored” and “Taurus” saw both trucks roll over and had to be re-run. In the restart, Steinert drilled the light and was off to an early lead, but would once again roll the truck in the turn giving the win to Harriger. Soares and “Excaliber” eliminated “RC Propaganda” before Harriger would knock out Heimbigner’s “V8 Bomber” and Elliott’s “Ragnarok” would end Underhill’s deepest run in a race bracket for the season to set up the final four in which the highest remaining seeded truck qualified 5th.
The semi-finals started with a wild race in which Harriger caught part of the freestyle obstacle and flipped in the air before crossing the finish line first in another photo finish advancing his “Taurus” over a hard-charging “Excaliber”. All that stood in the way of having both of his trucks in the final round was Elliott and “Ragnarok” who was not to be denied and eliminated “Bigfoot” setting up a 9th vs 10th seed final round.
Coming into this event, it was noted that this layout could favor Harriger as he excelled on similar layouts in 2020 and seemed due for a win after some back luck and a tough start to the season. The final race lived up to expectations as both trucks were even over the first set of cars and through the first turn. A bobble by Elliott making the U-turn around the freestyle obstacle on the end of the track would prove to be all Harriger would need to put “Taurus” in the winner circle.
In the Retro Class, single elimination racing returned and a late scratch for “Stomper” meant that it would be an 8 truck field competing on a St. Louis-style course. The random draw would see “Excaliber” (Soares) matched with “Bigfoot” (Heimbigner), “Shotgun” (Bunting) matched with “Super Clod” (Meredith), “Beast” (Elliott) vs. “Coors Extra Gold” (Harriger), and “Jus Showin’ Off” (Smallwood) vs. “Freedom” (Underhill).
The 8 truck field featured a mix of both clod and shaft-based trucks with shocks and leaf spring suspensions to handle the course. The racers had to strategize how to attack the crush car obstacles with the slower trucks with stiffer suspensions. “Excaliber” would get the first bracket win and advance over “Bigfoot” and would match up against the other Regulator chassis in the competition in the semi-finals as “Shotgun” eliminated the “Super Clod”. On the bottom half of the bracket, Elliott would get his revenge and take out Harriger’s “Coors Extra Gold” to meet Smallwood’s “Jus Showin’ Off” who beat Underhill’s “Freedom” after a wild tumble.
In the semi-finals, Bunting would prevail in the battle of the Regulators over Soares while Elliott would make his third final round of the evening eliminating the remaining shafty truck in the field to set up a clod vs. shafty final.
The last time we were in Chico, Elliott’s “Beast” won the retro bracket while Bunting’s “Shotgun” was eliminated in the first round. This time, the Regulator would prevail and the parody would continue in the class with Bunting taking home the win with “Shotgun”.
It was then time to cap off the evening with freestyle and the racers were eager to attack the all-dirt track packed with obstacles to crush and jump over. Sam Olson would set the high mark early with her updated “Deep Blue” truck sporting a new body and lights for the event filling most of the clock and scoring a 20.
That score would stand as the high mark to beat until Jack Meredith would best himself first scoring a 22 with his “Bulldozer” and then topping that with a 23 with his “Boogey Van” that was going to be hard to beat with great momentum and saves before falling victim to the piping on the end of the track.
Valiant efforts were made by “Hooligan”, “Outta Control”, and “Son Uva Digger”, but rollovers cut the time portions of the scores down with two trucks remaining.
Sam Elliott took to the track looking to defend his round 2 win and as has been the story all year with him, carried great momentum using the entire track and got great air and filled enough of the clock to put him into the lead with a 24 with one truck to go.
With only one truck remaining, Zac Soares went for it scoring 9’s in momentum and tricks, but was not able to fill enough clock resulting in a 22 giving Elliott the freestyle victory.
However, the freestyle score of 22 was enough to give Soares the overall event win by a single point.
Finally, the 2.6 MT class would get their shot at the big track. Taylor Underhill debuted the new look “Amerigeddon” to start things off and early on the track was proving to be a challenge, eating trucks up and causing some carnage. Kirk Noakes would set the high mark early on filling most of the clock with his “Fat & Nasty” LMT before crushing the body on a rollover to end the run.
Series new-comer Taylor Clarke piloted the all-new “Black Out” to a 16 and Ryler Powell got a 15 before Jacob Smallwood jumped into the lead with his “Dragon Slayer” setting the new high mark, but a wheel coming off ended his run early, but did not get a rollover deduction and getting a 22.
Smallwood dodged a bullet from Haidyen Steinert’s “Monster Energy” coming just a point short before Zac Soares and his “Prospector” would set the new high mark filling the clock with most of the run being in front wheel drive capping it off with an impressive backflip off the “4 pack” tire obstacle.
Jeremy Bunting would have two rollovers early with “Sinistar” and Smallwood’s “Turd Wrassler” only filled a little over 30 seconds keeping Soares in the lead. Bunting would then hit the track with “Bad Company” and was on a mission to send it after a disappointing run with his first entry hitting the center jump from both sides airing the truck out and completing a backflip in the “canyon” obstacle filling the clock and into the lead with a 24.
More breakage and rolls would ensue with Jay Henderson ending his run with a hard crash, and a total yard sale from David Heimbigner that left “Flyin’ Hawaiian” with a broken drive shaft, rod end, and ripped a shock apart. Early Rookie of the Year candidate Brandon Stanley continued his impressive debut season with a run full of saves and big air that filled the clock as well and would go on to tie “Bad Company” for the lead.
“Freedom” and “Over Bored” would see runs cut short by early rolls and Sam Elliott’s “Hell Raiser” lost a wheel limiting his run. Heimbigner’s “V8 Bomber” started out matching Bunting’s air and had a good run going before electrical issues would cut it short with 4 trucks remaining.
Wes Harriger would have two quick rollovers with “Bigfoot” and Zac Soares would only get a 15 with his “Excaliber”. Sam Elliott was looking to keep the freestyle wins going with his “Ragnarok” truck and laid down a run that filled the clock without any rollover deduction carrying great momentum and earned a 28 with just one truck to go. Harriger’s “Taurus” had a solid run but a second rollover ended his run early earning him a 21 giving Elliott the overall win by 1 point.
With the wins, Sam Elliott has moved up into 3rd place in the 2.6 MT class points standings and 2nd in 2.2. The series now shifts back to Rescue Community Center R/C track for Round 4 for a day of monster truck drag racing which is less than 3 weeks away!
Thanks as always to our amazing sponsors: JConcepts, AMain Hobbies, Nor Cal Performance Diesel, Insano Industries, Blu Chrush Mega Truck, Black Market RC, Fat Cat Customz, RC Country Hobbies, Bee Line Trucking, and Wrenchead RC for all of the support and making this year a great success! And special thanks once again to AMain Silver Dollar RC Raceway and Kevin Jelich for their hospitality and letting us tear up their 1/8 scale track to play monster trucks on a Saturday night. Make sure to check out Eric Myers Photography for 5 albums with over 1,300 photos from this event! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @norcalrcmt and subscribe to our YouTube channel for event coverage and more!