Known as one of the “must attend” races in the “Norcal” area the JConcepts Summer Indoor National series attracts racers from all over the west coast and beyond. We would all be graced by the presence of the one and only Scotty “The Machine” Ernst all the way from Wisconsin. Over 240 entries for the weekend meant there was surely going to be epic battles in every class. The track layout and facility were ready for the racers to enjoy the event with a fast and rhythmic layout installed by the Outback Raceway track crew providing fast lap times, great passing areas, and wide lanes giving the racers a rare chance to race each other heads up.
As per usual the stock classes were some of the deepest of the weekend. Outback Raceway being at the forefront of the racing scene in the area provided a 4wd 13.5 class to promote the “step” into the 4wd mod class for the racers at the event. This class can help grow the 4wd buggy class providing plenty of speed on most layouts, and gives the racers a learning curve to wrangle the super fast and often edgy cars before they step up to the full laser quick mod class. The racers responded to this positively with over 4 heats of the class.
All “Spec” classes are tech’d for motors, blinky esc’s , weight and dimensions as well as safe charge rates providing a very level playing field. This kept the racing light(for the most part) and fun for all. (Kudos for the Outback Raceway Tech crew for stepping up and handling any minor issues that did arise, Randy Pike).
Tekin had a great balance of team drivers in attendance racing nearly every class offered at the race. Early on it was clear that Derek “Motormouth” Stephansen was on point in all his classes. Putting in A-main times for both 2wd mod buggy, 4wd mod buggy, and the super deep 2wd Stock Buggy class he was going to tough to go up against, more on this later. Jason “Mo”Moberly showed up a day late but easily dropped in on the track and showed speed good enough to put him into the A’s of Mod St Truck and 2wd Mod SC seeding right behind AE’s young champ Spencer Rivkin. Team Manager Randy Pike dropped into the Stock ST truck, 2wd Stock Buggy, and 4wd 13.5 classes after some good willed “challenges” from the locals to race in the “hardest” classes. This may have back fired on the locals once they saw the race of the old crusty team manager(lol).
Qualifying was a 4 round Ifmar points style format. Derek Stephansen would Tq the 2wd Stock Buggy class with his B5m Lite buggy after a few tweaks to his gearing and motor setup by team manager Randy Pike. Using the data logging feature of his Tekin RSX esc it was found that Derek was a bit over geared for the layout. A few pinions lower in gearing would provide a more optimal setup for the 8 minute A-mains. Jason Moberly would qualify in P2 on 2wd Mod SC behind Rivkin, and put his Tekin powered TLR 22T 2.0 into the A show in Mod ST Truck. Team manager Randy Pike would qualify 4th in 4wd 13.5, 4th in Stock ST Truck, and struggle in 2wd Stock making the B but would take the bump into the A man later.
2wd Mod SC truck was up first. Jason Moberly would stick right behind Rivkin for the first 2 or 3 minutes of the 8 minute A-main. Traffic would become a factor and would allow Rivkin to stretch his gap on Jason. Rivkin would never be challenged for the lead taking the win with Jason Moberly in 2nd, and John Walentia in 3rd. Jason chose the Tekin RSX esc and Redline Gen2 8.5 motor.
Stock ST Truck would be up next. The entire A-main group all capable of running low 15’s in the class. This was some of the tightest racing of the weekend. The best part was the size of the entries, 4 heats! Tq Brendan Wheatley would take off from the tone with the rest of class to follow. The entire field would get in a clean lap and begin dicing it up right after. With 8 minutes to battle it out there was some time to make moves. Randy Pike would make a move on P3 Terry Schulz and begin working on Scotty Ernst. Pike would catch Ernst in the next lap and begin putting pressure on the seemingly unflappable nerves of “The Ernst.” Scotty would hold off Pike for another 4 or 5 laps finally going JUST A BIT WIDE(Scotty Ernst impression voice) giving Pike a 12″ window for his 10″ wide truck. Scotty would come down hard slamming the door. Unfortunately the two would come together with Ernst getting the worst of it. Pike would wait for Ernst to be marshalled giving him the position back so the position could be taken cleanly without any question ( Scotty has nerves of steel, Randy Pike). Pike would make a clean pass when Scotty would bobble into a pipe giving up the position. Pike would now have 2 minutes to chase down Wheately who had a 7 second lead due to the epic Ernst and Pike battle behind him. Already going through traffic by now Wheately would run clean and fast. Pike would be on a mission trying to make a race of it throwing down blistering laps running the fast lap of the class with a 14.8 second lap! It wasn’t enough as Wheately was too far gone. The A-main would end with Wheately taking the win, Randy Pike 2nd, and Scotty Ernst in 3rd. Randy chose the Tekin RS Gen2 esc and Redline Gen2 motor.
4wd Mod Buggy was a Rivkin and Schottler show. The two would battle it out in the triple A-mains and put on a epic show. Behind them however the racing was no less impressive. Takin 3rd in A-1 , Dnf’ing in A-2 to a cold solder joint on a battery connection, Derek had to take a 2nd to secure his podium position. He would do just that taking 2nd in A-3 to give him 3rd overall with an impressive showing with his Tekin powered TLR 22-4 buggy. Derek chose the Tekin RSX and Redline 6.5T motor to match the power of the factory guys without issue.
Up last would be the 2wd Expert Stock Buggy class. Tq Tekin powered Derek Stephansen would be poised to take the win with a clean run. Team Manager Randy Pike would sneak into the show after bumping from the B-main with his Tekin powered Yomoko Bmax 2. From the tone Derek would get away clean, that couldn’t be said for the rest of the field. A huge pile up collected nearly the entire field. Pike would be the last car flipped in the mess. Stephansen was on a mission running fast clean laps pulling away consistently and slowly. The leaders would catch traffic early on in the 8 minute race due to that early pile up. Derek would get through traffic quick an continue to grow his lead. Young Kamryn Ayers(this chick is legit! , Randy Pike) would battle her way through traffic from as low as 5th after being collected in crashes. Kyle Linton would give chase to Stephansen but wouldn’t get the same luck in traffic. Ayers would battle back putting a pass on Linton around lap 19 and never give it back for the remainder of the main. Stephansen would cruise to a huge win, Ayers in 2nd and Linton in 3rd. Stephansen ran the Tekin RSX esc and Redline Gen2 motor.
