After nearly two months off since Round 4 in Chico, the final round of the 2024 JConcepts Points Series made its way back to Rescue RC Raceway to wrap up another awesome season of solid axle RC monster truck racing! All classes ran the same track configuration of a classic J-hook which made for an exciting day of action. Things kicked off with newcomer Wyatt Leggette getting the Novice Class victory over Jake Jensen with his new “Mammoth Mountain Monster” tumbling across the finish line first.
In the 2.2 Mini Monster Class, Brian Romo had been dominant all season with his “Hater Maker” despite having a more mild setup and he would get the top qualifying spot being the only truck in the class to get a sub-5 second pass. Sundeep Khatri would qualify second fastest with his “Raptor” entry followed by Dave Lucas who made his return to the series and Bob Tarvin who brought his “King Bling” identity to the 2.2 class for the final round.
The top 4 would make the final four with “Hater Maker” eliminating “King Bling” and “Raptor” barely knocking out “Lucas Motorsports” in a photo finish setting up a final between the top two qualifiers for the second time this season. In the finals, Romo nailed the turn while Khatri went too deep and would take home the racing win all but solidifying first place in the class for the season.
In freestyle, Georgia Smallwood started things off nearly filling the clock without a rollover to set the bar at 16. Jake Jensen would then take the lead with an 18 that would lead until Khatri would blow into the lead with a 25. Romo would go last and fill the clock and managed to get a 21 which would be enough to take the overall win for the day while Khatri would get the freestyle win.
For the year, Tarvin would hold off Khatri by 4 points to take third place on the podium with Jordan Jensen coming in second and Romo taking his first 2.2 Class title.
In the Bee Line Trucking 2.6 Monster Truck Class, Isaac Soria came into the final round with first place pretty much locked up for his “Lemon Lime Prime” truck barring a complete disaster, however the remaining spots on the podium were still very much up in the air with Soria’s second entry “T-Maxx”, Zac Soares’ “Excaliber” and Jeremy Bunting’s “Carnage”. Marc Detka would set fast time of the day in qualifying with his “Joker” entry clocking in a 4.62 with Soares just behind at 4.64. Detka’s other entry “Gray Matter” was also fast with the third quickest qualifying pass followed by “Carnage” and both of Soria’s entries. The top 11 trucks would receive a bye into the second round.
Round 2 would see some upsets starting with a thrilling race between David Heimbigner’s “Flyin’ Hawaiian” and Soria’s “T-Maxx” where Soria tumbled across the finish line while Heimbigner rode out a wheelie taking the win. Romo would then lay down a clean pass with “Da Beast” nailing the turn and eliminated “Lemon Lime Prime” putting the points leader out early.
The quarter finals started off with one of the closest races of the day as Detka’s top-seeded Joker faced Bunting’s “Bad Company” with Bunting passing Detka in the air and video review confirmed the win by less than a tire. Detka would press on with “Grey Matter” making a smooth pass to knock out “Da Beast”. Meanwhile Soares and “Excaliber” continued his march through the bracket eliminating “Samson” after cutting a perfect light and ricocheting off the last lane marker setting up a perfect turn and one of the fastest passes of the day. After a quick servo swap, Heimbigner made the call to take on Bunting and “Carnage” in the final race of the round. Both trucks were even to the turn but “Flyin’ Hawaiian” went off the jump sideways and “Carnage” would move on to the semi finals.
In the semi final round, Bunting’s two trucks would end up paired against each other, so “Carnage” took a bye run and we would get another Detka vs. Soares matchup to determine who would make the finals. Both trucks were even down the straight away and Detka had a slight edge into the turn, but the rear end washed out and the truck missed the ramp while Soares would make a clean pass.
The final round had big implications as both racers were looking to capitalize and move up their podium positions coming into the race. On the green light, both trucks launched at the same time with “Carnage” pulling a power wheelie down the back stretch and after letting off into the turn gave it too much throttle and rolled it over and “Excaliber” would take the victory! Soares joined Soria in winning one bracket with each of his trucks this season and gained valuable points after starting the day in third overall.
In freestyle, the new entry from Jordan Jensen “Under Construction” would set the bar at a respectable 21 points filling most of the clock before calling it after his first rollover. The score would stand for the first 6 trucks until Jacob Smallwood took to the track with his “California Kid Crusher” and turned in his best freestyle of the year in a run filled with combos, big air and some wild saves filling the clock that catapulted him into the lead with a score of 27 that some could argue should have even been higher.
Usually one to close out the event going towards the end, Soria was up soon after with his “Lemon Lime Prime” who put on an impressive run filling the clock without rolling and completing five backflips including one in reverse and a double off of the backside of some ramps and received a score of 28 from the judges. Soria would then take to the track with his “T-Maxx” hoping to score some big points in freestyle and after a forward rotating backflip off a big jump early in the run, the truck shut off and would not turn back on ending with a disappointing 9.
Heimbigner would be the next to take to the track and began the run with a full send getting the biggest air of the day getting a big reaction from everyone watching, but unfortunately rolled over on the landing and then rolled a second time going for a slap wheelie. Romo’s two entries followed with both trucks filling the clock and receiving scores of 24 and 25. It would then be Bunting’s two entries with “Bad Company” having a fast-paced run with big air and wheelies, but a rollover deduction prevented any chance of taking the win, but still managed a 24. “Carnage” would follow and had a wild landing that flipped the rear sway bars and broke a rod end and led to a second rollover before filling the clock. Finally, Soares and “Excaliber” went for broke going crazy with the body barely hanging onto the truck and scored a 17 which would give him enough points to take the overall win on the day.
When the final points were tallied, Soria would end up taking the championship by a 34 point margin with his “Lemon Lime Prime” that led the series from start to finish. However, Soares and “Excaliber” would move into second on the year and Bunting into third with his “Carnage” entry outscoring “T-Maxx” by 3 points.
In the Brass Ring Fab Challenger Spec Class, Bunting and his “Titan” came into the race with a comfortable lead and picked up from the last round taking the top qualifying spot with the third fastest pass of the day among all classes with a 4.73. His new Blackmarket RC “Contender” chassis made its debut as “Bad Company” taking the second fastest time in qualifying with Heimbigner’s “Flyin’ Hawaiian” getting third. Detka would also be debuting a new “Contender” chassis in the class with his “USA-1” getting fourth, Heimbigner’s “Son Uva Digger” fifth after a wild first qualifying pass that rolled the truck over on the straight away, and Smallwood’s “King Krunch” in sixth after receiving penalties.
In the quarter finals, Detka’s “USA-1” would take advantage of a bobble in the turn from “Son Uva Digger” and advance. Meanwhile, Heimbigner’s “Flyin’ Hawaiian” would win a wild race against Smallwood where both trucks would get loose after the turn and “Flyin’ Hawaiian” only got one front wheel up the ramp before crossing the finish, however “King Krunch” missed the ramp completely and hit one of the lane barriers preventing him from crossing the finish line.
In the semi-finals, Bunting’s “Titan” would make a clean turn and get the power to the ground going straight to take out Detka’s “USA-1”. On the other side of the bracket, “Bad Company” would eliminate “Flyin’ Hawaiian” after going a bit deeper into the turn to sling shot past setting up a final with both of Bunting’s trucks and “Titan” being awarded the fourth win of the season.
Bunting would take the BRF Challenger Spec Class championship with “Titan” and Heimbigner would take both second (“Flyin’ Hawaiian”) and third (“Son Uva Digger”) in the debut season of the class being a part of the Points Series. We can’t wait to see what impressive scale builds will be coming in the future!
We finished the day with everyone’s favorite class: Blackmarket RC Retro! The points were tight going into the final round with Detka and Soares both tied for first and only 2 points separating first through third place. So it would not be a surprise with the top 3 qualifying in the top 3 with Detka’s “USA-1” setting the pace followed by Bunting’s “Shotgun” and both of the Soares entries in third and fourth.
In the quarter finals, “USA-1” advanced over “Blue Max”, “Kodiak” got the best of “Bigfoot 2”, “Excaliber” eliminated “Chevy Metal” in Jordan Jensen’s Retro Class debut, and Tarvin came through with the big upset knocking out “Shotgun” in a photo finish race which left Detka and Soares to battle for the championship.
In the semi-finals, Soares was able to get the win over “Tarvin Racing” and now had two shots to eliminate Detka and clinch the title. He would only need one as Detka cut the turn too tight and clipped the lane barrier allowing “Kodiak” to win and putting both of the Soares trucks in the finals and “Excaliber” getting the win for the day and clinching the title. Detka would get second with “USA-1” and Bunting third with “Shotgun”.
As we wrap up the sixth season of racing, we would like to thank all of the racers for making this a memorable and fun season. This would also not have been possible without the great sponsors that were on board with us this year who contributed prizes for our events: JConcepts, Blackmarket RC, AMain Hobbies, Bee Line Trucking, EcoPower RC, Insano Industries, Brass Ring Fab, Gens Ace, Flyin’ Hawaiian RC, and Fast Track Hobbies. We would also like to thank Rescue RC Raceway and AMain Hobbies Outback Raceway for being great hosts for our events and look forward to more in the future.
While the 2024 Points Series has come to an end, we still have one more giant event to come on Saturday October 26th in Chico at AMain Silver Dollar RC Raceway as Crawler Innovations presents the (Not So) Summer Showdown: the biggest solid-axle RC monster truck race west of Missouri. We have a ton of awesome prizes to give away along with a three classes of racing on an all-dirt track, you definitely don’t want to miss it!