The 7th season of the Nor Cal RC Monster Trucks Points Series kicked off after a two-week postponement at Rescue RC Raceway. All classes would compete on a classic “So Cal Style” track popularized by Monster Jam events held in Anaheim from 2009 to 2015 with both trucks starting in the middle of the track and going down and back around the outside of the jump before circling back around and finishing over the starting jump.
Things started off with Wyatt Leggette taking the Novice Class win over Dave Lucas putting his “Mammoth Mountain Monster” in the winner circle after Lucas rolled in the turn. Lucas would redeem himself getting the fastest qualifying time in the 2.2 Mini Monster Class. Jordan and Jake Jensen would be right behind with “Thicc Blue Line” and the awesome new “Grave Robber” rounding out the top 3. Daniel Massengale would advance past Georgia Smallwood’s “Blazing Rainbow” where he would take his “Beer Money” truck and upset the top qualifier to make the finals in his 2.2 Class debut. Meanwhile, Jordan would get the better or Jake in the father-son battle with an all-Reno final round. Jordan would take the racing win in the finals over Daniel and gain valuable points early on.
However, it would be Georgia Smallwood going out first in freestyle and holding the lead through the entire class taking home the freestyle victory as the only competitor to nearly fill the clock and not get a rollover deduction.
In the 2.6 Monster Truck Class, Jeremy Bunting would set the pace getting the fastest qualifying time with his “Carnage” entry and would get a bye along with Zac Soares’ “Excaliber” and Lucas Motorsports advancing automatically to the quarterfinals. Soares and Legette would square off first and the “Prospector” would advance over the Novice Class winner ending his day until freestyle. Once again, the Jensens would do battle in the first round with Jordan’s “Silver State Smasher” advancing over Jake’s “Grave Digger”. David Heimbigner would collect back-to-back wins getting his new “Velociraptor” and “Flyin’ Hawaiian” trucks into the next round eliminating Massengale’s “Battleborn” and Jensen’s second entry “Under Construction”. One of the closest races of the day was Bunting’s “Bad Company” barely edging out Jacob Smallwood’s “Vendetta” to complete the round.
In quarterfinal action, Bunting and Soares would have their first meeting of the day with “Carnage” advancing to the semi-finals over “Prospector”. Jensen and Heimbigner would have a wild race with both trucks even to the end with Jensen nailing the final turn and Heimbigner spun out. Lucas and Heimbigner would battle it out with another close race to the final turn where both trucks went wide but Lucas Motorsports crossed the finish first. The final race of the round would once again pair Bunting and Soares, this time in opposite lanes with “Excaliber” jumping out to a big lead, but “Bad Company” would come from behind making a better final turn and cross the finish first.
The semi-finals were set with “Carnage” facing the “Silver State Smasher” starting things off. Both trucks were even coming out of the first turn, but Bunting would pull ahead and cross the finish first. It would come down to “Lucas Motorsports” and “Bad Company” to determine if there would be an additional race. Lucas came into the final turn tight, hitting the turn barrier, forcing him to reverse while Bunting also would take the turn too tightly, crawling over the barrier and crossing the line first winning in ugly fashion putting the 10th seeded “Bad Company” into the finals. Bunting elected to have the first seeded “Carnage” take the victory.
In the freestyle competition, Smallwood set the high mark early with a wild run that included some incredible saves nearly filling the clock and scoring a 20. The score would stand despite some valiant efforts and impressive destruction until Soares had a barn burner of a freestyle that would make Mike Pagliarulo proud carrying epic momentum and the biggest jumps of the day with some remarkable saves scoring a 23 which would prove to be the run of the day, taking the well-deserved freestyle victory for his “Excaliber”.
Despite being a spec class, the Challenger Class would see some of the fastest qualifying times of the day with “Lucas Motorsports” setting the fastest lap of the day with a 10.16 with Bunting’s “Titan” and “Bad Company” entries right behind with Smallwood’s “El Matador” in fourth and Heimbigner’s “Flyin’ Hawaiian” fifth. Heimbigner and Smallwood would compete first to race Lucas who received a bye into the semi-finals with Heimbigner advancing after Smallwood spun out. Bunting would take a bye run with “Titan” eliminating his “Bad Company” in the semi-finals. In the other semi-final match up, Heimbigner would knock off the top seeded Lucas running a perfect pass and Lucas hit the lane barricade setting up a final round of the two heaviest trucks at the race: “Titan” and “Flyin’ Hawaiian”. On green, both trucks were even going into the final turn when “Flyin’ Hawaiian” pulled a wheelie, parking the truck on its tailgate while “Titan” crossed the finish.
For the first time, the Challenger Class trucks had the option to do a one-minute freestyle to earn up to five bonus points based on the amount of time used with the run ending if the truck rolled over or filled the clock. “El Matador” would earn 3, “Flyin Hawaiian” and “Lucas Motorsports” 2, and “Bad Company” earned 5 while “Titan” did not freestyle.
Finally, it was the Retro Class taking to the track where Bunting’s “Carnage” would take the top qualifying spot followed by both of Soares’ entries with “Excaliber” second and “Kodiak” third. In the quarter finals, Heimbigner’s “Flyin’ Hawaiian” and Jake Jensen’s new “Jaritos” truck would square off first with “Flyin’ Hawaiian” advancing. “Kodiak” would make it to the semi finals over Smallwood’s “Bigfoot” entry while “Excaliber” eliminated “Chevy Metal” now piloted by Massengale. In the semi-finals, Soares would take a bye run with last year’s champion “Excaliber” to advance to the finals. Bunting and Heimbigner would face off to see who would meet Soares in the finals with “Carnage” advancing. In the final round, both trucks were even to the first turn, but a slight bobble from Soares allowed Bunting to pull away and take the win.
Round 2 of the 2025 Points Series returns to Rescue RC Raceway on May 31st for an exciting day of crossover racing and a figure 8 for the Retro Class. Make sure to check out the current points standings and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube @norcalrcmt. A big thank you to all the racers who came out after the event had to be postponed and we look forward to a great turnout for the next race. The event would not be possible without great support from our sponsors JConcepts, Blackmarket RC, EcoPower RC, AMain Hobbies, Gens Ace, and Flyin’ Hawaiian RC. A special thank you to Jacob Smallwood and David Heimbigner for coordinating the new sound system and rocking it on the mic. We’ll see everyone in a few weeks on the track!