The penultimate round of the 2024 JConcepts Points Series was held at the all-new AMain Hobbies Outback Raceway oval track for the first time and despite the high reaching 107, 49 trucks were on hand for competition. The hard packed oval was transformed into a crossover track that was technical with multiple jumps spanning two laps around the track as well as the high grip surface. Knowing when to be on the power and when to back off along with some luck were going to be the keys to advancing.
In the 2.2 class, this was the most evident as half the field either broke or failed to complete a pass in qualifying. 8 trucks would make it to the bracket with Brian Romo’s “Hater Maker” setting the pace. The semi-finals would see some key matchups as the top 4 in the points standings all had advanced. Romo would make it to the finals over Bob Tarvin’s “Copperhead” while Jordan Jensen would rack up some more points eliminating Sundeep Khatri setting up a final between the two fastest qualifiers. Unfortunately, the “Thicc Blue Line” suffered breakage in the semi final round and it was an easy win for Romo.
In freestyle, the high traction surface led to many early rolls and more breakage. While known as more of a racer who often sits out freestyle to take event photos, Tarvin would be the first to fill the clock with some wild moments and take the lead with a 19. Jensen would return for the event, but was only able to get a minute into the run and scored a 15. Romo would have worse luck barely filling 30 seconds and with a score of 9 ended up tied with Jensen for the overall. However, due to the tie breaker of being the fastest qualifier, Romo would secure the overall for the day and goes into the final round with 26 point lead over Jensen in the standings. Tarvin trails Jensen by just 11 with Khatri still alive, but a long shot for the podium.
In the 2.6 Monster Truck Class, Isaac Soria was able to handle the high-traction surface putting both of his entries on top in qualifying with Jeremy Bunting’s “Carnage”, Jacob Smallwood’s “California Kid Crusher” and Romo’s “Da Beast” rounding out the top five. With the top 8 automatically advancing into the second round with byes, some unfortunate pairings for Marc Detka and Zac Soares led to their entries being paired up and eliminating their second entries. Chuck Vasquez made his series debut coming down from Oregon and was able to advance both of his “Bigfoot” themed trucks to the second round.
Moving on to the quarterfinals, Soria would eliminate David Heimbigner and the “Flyin’ Hawaiian” as well as Jensen’s “Silver State Smasher” putting both entries into the final four. On the bottom half of the bracket, it would be Romo and “Da Beast” getting the best of Soares and “Excaliber” while Bunting knocked out Vasquez. In the semis, Soria’s top-ranked “T-Maxx” would move on to the finals over Romo, while Bunting was able to capitalize on a mistake against “Lemon Lime Prime” to make the final round. In the finals, Bunting would not clear the crossover gap cleanly and Soria would put “T-Maxx” in the winner circle.
Soares would kick freestyle off with a bang going earlier than usual with his “Prospector” getting huge air and taking some hard hits to set the early bar with an 18. Bunting would then take the lead filling the clock with “Bad Company” scoring a 21. Smallwood and the “Destroyer” would match that score before Soares took the lead back driving the wheels off of “Excaliber” scoring a 22. The score would stand until Soria had a wild run without rolling over, filling the clock with saves and flips and taking the lead with a 26 that would take the win and secure him the overall win for the day. He now heads to the final round with a comfortable lead and his trucks in the top two spots. Soares is still in contention currently in third with Bunting lurking with both trucks which will make for an exciting final round in Rescue.
Moving on to the Challenger class, Bunting set the fast time of the day in the class with “Titan” with Vasquez and “Bigfoot Racer” getting second, Heimbigner’s two entries and Smallwood’s “King Krunch” rounding out the top five. “Son Uva Digger” would knock out “King Krunch” to move on to the semis. In the semi finals, “Bigfoot Racer” would beat “Flyin’ Hawaiian” while “Titan” would win the battle of the tube chassis over “Son Uva Digger”. Bunting would once again put “Titan” in the winner circle for the third time this season heading to the final round with a 21 point lead in the class.
The track would then be reset for the Retro Class where the trucks ran a Chicago-style like course starting in the turns and hitting all obstacles once finishing on the opposite straight away in the middle. Detka set the fast time of the day with his “USA-1” being the only truck to get a sub-10 second pass with Soares and the “Excaliber” right behind. In the quarter finals, Detka would advance beating Kanoa Heimbigner to meet Bunting’s “Shotgun” who eliminated “Bigfoot II” of David Heimbigner. On the bottom half of the bracket, Soares would see both his entries advance taking out “Tarvin Racing” and Smallwood’s “Blue Max” which then automatically advanced the “Excaliber” into the finals. Detka would get the better of Bunting setting up another classic “USA-1” vs. “Excaliber” race with Detka taking the win on the day. The win would move Detka and Soares into a tie going into the final round with Bunting just four points out setting up an exciting final round battle. Smallwood’s “Blue Max” and Soares’ “Kodiak” are both still in the hunt and a threat to play spoiler and make the podium.
The day ended with an awesome raffle courtesy of our fantastic sponsors: Blackmarket RC, AMain Hobbies, EcoPower, JConcepts, Gens Ace, and Flyin’ Hawaiian RC. A big thanks to everyone who came out and those who were able to help out in the heat, judging, timing, and helping with setup and teardown. The final round of the 2024 JConcepts Points Series will take place on September 14th back in Rescue for what should be a classic to take home the Championships!