JConcepts Winter INS10 – Report
The JConcepts Winter INS10 kicked off the JConcepts Indoor National Series at Velocity Raceway in St. Charles, Missouri last weekend. This race is something special as it features a list of talented drivers and is always packed with entries nearing 350. This year, the prepaid system worked well as it sold out at exactly 350 entries, making for an exciting atmosphere and even better racing. The layout was fantastic. It was the longest layout Velocity Raceway has ever had at 16-17 second lap times in 2wd Modified. The layout utilized the track dimensions to the fullest but also extremely fun to run laps on. The left side of the track featured sweeping turns as well as a little elevation change while the right side of the track was tight and technical testing your vehicle’s handling characteristics and a driver’s timing and precision. As a whole, the track was massively fun and completing a money lap felt even better. Overall, the surface was tricky as the track dried out towards Sunday and required high tread as dust came up towards the end of a 5-minute run.
It was a close race for the highly coveted 2wd Modified title as TLR’s Dakotah Phend and Team Associated’s Cole Tollard battled it out each and every round of qualifying and during the triple A-Mains. With a 1 spot advantage by earning the class TQ, Dakotah was able to lock down A1, while in A2, a small mistake saw Cole Tollard take command and finish 1st. The showdown was set for A3. As the tone went off, Dakotah had a marginal gap between him, Tollard, and Dreighton Stoub, but a small bobble shuffled Dakotah back to 3rd. Trying to make a run at the overall, Dreighton was in a must-win situation, however, a slight touch with Tollard saw the new leader piped and Dreighton was forced to pull over and wait for Cole to get going again. This gave Dakotah the opportunity he needed to retake the lead and seal the deal with a hard-fought A3 win. Cole finished 2nd with Dreighton 3rd overall in a very entertaining race weekend from the 2wd Modified class.
TLR’s Dakotah Phend was on another level in 4wd Modified as he set the TQ with relative ease and finished out the weekend with convincing wins in A1 and A2 to wrap up the overall in just 2 mains. Having a great 4wd weekend, Yokomo’s JP Richards was able to win A3 to lock up 2nd overall. Not new to the podium at Velocity Raceway, TLR’s Mason Fuller landed himself 3rd on the podium with three consistent runs finishing 3rd in each of the final A-Mains to give him a well-earned 3rd overall.
New for 2020, the 2wd Open class was designed for the sponsored 2wd modified drivers that don’t have a budget and proved to be quite a popular class. Finishing 1st after setting TQ, Jonathan Burkhalter made the most of his TQ position to finish in 1st place. Local to Velocity Raceway, Wesley Gifford powered his way to a well deserved 2nd place while Conor Light took home a highly contested 3rd place.
It was a masterclass showing for young Braxten Culley in the 4×4 Mini Truggy class as he took the win by nearly 2 laps. Unfortunately for Mike Marshall and David Wiechens, who were not able to stick around for the podium photo, but Mike finished 2nd while David took home 3rd after a great race.
Triumphant in the 40+ 2wd Modified class, Kyle Gannon pulls off his first INS win of his career. Smooth, fast, and consistent, Kyle led from tone to tone and took a convincing win. Colton Kiefer was able to land himself 2nd on the podium after a penultimate last-lap pass on Jason Ruona. Finding the speed this weekend to finish 3rd overall, JConcepts’ Jason Ruona was on the rise as he got faster every time he touched the track and finished 3rd.
Once again, Team Associated’s Aj Marasco found the top step, but this time in the 13.5 4wd class. Aj’s precision driving saw him win by a comfortable margin after 8 minutes. Moving up from 6th to 2nd, young TLR’s Kaden Fuller continues to impress with his speed and consistency on the track. Making another podium with Team Associated’s Colton Kruse, who seems to have the knack for podium finishes in the stock classes.
Mighty Mason Fuller was on point in the 13.5 Stadium Truck class with a flawless weekend by setting the early TQ and went on to win the 8 minute final uncontested. Nick Richards dished out the speed for 2nd while TLR’s Mitchell Brown closed out the podium in 3rd.
It was a great race in the 13.5 Short Course Truck class with Team Associated’s Adam Rayls taking a popular win with some serious speed and technique. On the hunt the entire race, Team Associated’s Chris VanRaemdonck came close to challenge Rayls, but was just 1 turn away to contest for the win. Having a great final to take 3rd overall was Lee Conely Jr, who was happy to see the podium in a competitive field of truck drivers.
It was a great showing for Aj Marasco, as he showed he was the top of the class with a TQ and win effort in the single 8 minutes A-Main in the 17.5 2wd Stock class. With a field that was 72 drivers deep, Aj showed great speed and poise to capture a huge win adding another stock win to his list. Colton Kruse was in the hunt and momentarily had the lead until a lapped traffic incident forced him to concede the lead back to Aj, but still was able to hang on for 2nd place overall. Taking 3rd was the local Allstar, Brad Dean, who nearly stole 2nd away from Kruse in the closing laps to finish 3rd.
The 21.5 Indy 2wd class is growing all over the nation. After a successful year on tour during the INS9, the 21.5 Indy 2wd definitely has a place in the industry and thanks to the support of Ron Schuur of Hobbywing, we’ve kept the formula the same for year 2. With zero sponsors and a handout, Hobbywing 21.5T motor with fixed timing and fixed gearing, provides a platform for new racers to have fun without the complexity of today’s 17.5 2wd stock racing. Proving to be on another level, Caden Sanders was downright fast. After a super-extended 12 minute A-Final, Caden was able to amount a lap lead over the field to take a convincing win. Zack Horton proved to be the 2nd fastest 21.5 drivers on-site with a great run in the main to place himself 2nd overall. Steven Maxwell finished 3rd overall with some clever, consistent driving.
Tuff Trucks are fun and designed to be a no-prep racing vehicle that anyone can pick up and race. This class isn’t meant for the pros but targeted for beginners and perhaps an additional class for 21.5 Independent drivers. Finishing just 1 second apart after 5 minutes, David Wiechens edges out Tim Wiechens for the win concluding an awesome back and forth battle that lasted until the very end. Traveling all the way from Texas to join in on the INS fun, Pete Phillips, managed a great drive to finish 3rd on the podium.
Source: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]
