Maifield doubles at inaugural JConcepts NCTS
Last weekend the inaugural JConcepts NCTS kicked off at 702 Raceway in Las Vegas, Nevada. Testing the waters a few years back, JConcepts launched the JConcepts Turf Nationals in Enfield, CT and the growth and interest has been well received as entries now hover around 350. Last year, JC joined up with Northwest Hobbies in Albany, OR and created the NW Carpet Nationals, which also saw a lot of positive feedback. After a few emails and phone calls with a couple of different tracks, the JConcepts NCTS was born and the United States’ first-ever national carpet and turf series was created.
In 2WD Modified the world was treated to another amazing, Ryan and Ryan show, as the two Yokomo aces both split wins in A1 and A2 making it the ultimate showdown in A3. Early in the race, Cavalieri started to stretch out his lead from pole, but a mistake costed the 4 time WC his lead and was now under fire from the current WC, Ryan Maifield. While the 2 greats put on a stunning show, another late mistake by Cavalieri saw him drop to 2nd and Maifield took the win and the overall. Showing that he has the skills to contend with the best in the world, AE’s Broc Champlin impressed many on home track and finished 3rd overall.
In 4WD Modified once again, the Ryan and Ryan show didn’t disappoint as the two greats battled it out along with Team Associated’s Broc Champlin as Broc was able to win A2 and Maifield A1. With everything on the line in A3, it was Ryan Cavalieri going for the win as he wanted to put himself in the mix by winning A3 making it a 3-way tie for the overall. However, Maifield had other plans and defended his lead from Cavalieri for nearly the entire 5-minute run. Maifield finished ahead of his close friend and teammate, by just .2 seconds to secure 1st place overall. Cavalieri put in his best performance yet since joining team Yokomo and finished 2nd. Emerging as one of the US’ best young rising stars, AE’s Broc Champlin earned the overall TQ and managed to stay on the podium in 3rd behind 2 world champions.
Team Associated’s Chris Champlin was on another level as he dominated the 40+ 2WD Modified class during the 8 minute A-main after an unfortunate mechanical suffered by AE’s Brent Thielke. From there, uncontested, Chris crossed the line taking an unprecedented win with JConcepts’ Thomas Tran making a huge comeback from 10th on the grid and finished 2nd on the podium. 702’s own Oscar Spartley was on Tran’s tail and closed in, but ultimately finished 3rd overall after 8 minutes of intense racing.
Yokomo’s Matthew Gonzalez has been putting in a lot of time and its starting to show as he set some of the fastest times in 13.5 4WD. Setting the TQ and starting the main out in front, Matty G was going to be hard to dethrone as the young driver impressed many by winning A1 and A2 and took home the overall. AE designer and engineer, Bob Stellflue doesn’t do a lot of offroad, but definitely knows how to drive offroad cars as he finished 2nd with the prototype B74. All the way from Wisconsin, Brian Lutz commented that he is new to carpet racing, but remarkably found his way to 3rd place on the podium.
Perhaps the craziest race of the day was during the 13.5 Stadium Truck class between two Northwest natives, Yokomo’s Andy DiBrino and Team Associated’s Casey Vitale. Unfortunately for class TQ, Casey Vitale, made a mistake on the first lap that saw him shuffle back to almost last place. Forced to put his head down, Casey charged all the way from the back of the pack to take the lead in the closing laps. With the trucks barely able to triple towards the end of an 8-minute run, DiBrino made a risky choice to triple and it paid off as he recaptured the lead while Casey was forced to double single. With no time left on the clock, Andy crossed the line in 1st with Casey 2nd, and once again Justin Myerson amazingly makes another podium, but this time 3rd in truck.
Too hot to handle, too cold to hold, Scotty Ernst was on the move after figuring out his setup on his 13.5 SCT and was the driver to beat in the end. It was a great back and forth battle between Scotty and Justin Myerson at the beginning of the race, but Scotty found his rhythm halfway through the 8 minute final and never looked back and crossed the line in 1st. Justin Myerson put in a great effort and took home 2nd. Factory Track’s own Tom Tanner made the journey from Michigan to join us at the inaugural NCTS race and fantastically finished 3rd on the podium.
It was an amazing effort by Yokomo’s Matthew Gonzalez in the 17.5 2WD Expert Stock class as the young SoCal racer found success early on as he TQ’d the class and went on to win A1 and A2 to lock up the overall with some smooth driving. The battle for the 2nd spot on the podium was between Mike Fisk and Justin Myerson, who ran a very close race in all 3 mains together. It was Mike Fisk’s performance winning A3 run that gave him the tie-breaker for 2nd as both Justin and Mike finished tied with 4 points. Justin stood on the final step of the podium in 3rd.
The Independent 21.5 Spec 2WD class has been a major hit and we’re starting to see a shift in beginner stock racing with the advent of a slower 21.5 turn brushless motor, Zero sponsored drivers, locked timing, spec tire, and spec gearing to limit the battery being a major factor in power, has sparked a lot of interest in the racing community. If you wanna go fast in stock and do everything that’s required to win, race 17.5 Expert 2WD or Mod 2WD. It’s that simple. Making the trip all the way from Ohio, Joshua Zalovcik, brought the heat as he lit up the track during qualifying to earn himself the overall TQ in the class. But it was Josh Blagg who put up a great fight with Joshua as the two contenders battled for the win on the final lap. A minor mistake by Blagg saw Joshua retake his lead from earlier and cross the line the race victor. Blagg finished the race in 2nd with a very young and talented Trevor Goff in 3rd place.
Source: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]
