Turf Nationals Report Card

Time for out JConcepts Turf Nationals Report Card. What a week of racing and hanging out with friends. We loaded our wagon up with race gear Tuesday afternoon and began our practice times. All the classes were run on a controlled tire so we wanted to be sure we had a good feel for them.

The weather was great from the start of the week with highs in the 90’s. Track was clean and dry with plenty of traction. Friday was the change over though when the rain rolled in on us. This was the point I myself lost my setup. Having been on a stiffer side of the car with a hot slick track I found things got challenging after the temps came down. Traction came up on the cooler cleaner track after the rain washed it off and I had to make some changes I wasn’t ready for.

With 3 team cars looking for some traction is was good being able to bounce ideas off each other. By the end of Friday night we felt pretty stable going into Saturday morning qualifiers.

Saturday morning came at 6am and the weather kicked us once again. With a wet track in the morning we had to wait for the driers to go out and get some open practice and track drying.

So after the first two rounds of qualifiers we found 2 of the B64.4F’s sitting in the A-main and our own car sitting mid B-main. This was incredible in my own eyes for all three of us with such a young kit.

Sunday was our last round bringing us to some mains. We threw some fresh scrubs on our own car and went out for the final time. Third round brought us some faster times but not fast enough to plant a A-main spot. That was ok with me, we had the other two cars firmly planted in the middle of the A and I knew these guys could do some good things. The game changer came for me when they announced bumps, win your main and you can bump up. Oh it was on now, all I had to do was win or take second in my show and I could plant the third car in the main.

Sitting 4th on the grid I felt good about making it up front. From the start we ran single file to the coil and it was game on. After a few laps in the books I found myself in second and pulling away form the pack. Run a clean race and stay out of trouble and I can make the bump, that was the intention. Its always big picture thinking for me and it paid off. When it was over I had moved up to first winning the main and putting myself 11th on a 12 man grid.

Watch the B-main run here: (4th car on grid is our own B64.4F yellow body)

So now we had a car in 8th, 9th and 11th for the 13.5 4wd A-main, this was exciting for me as the company owner and one of the drivers. Let me paint a quick picture of this whole project. I’m a racer who never did off road racing. I designed a car that with in a few months of track time and 9 prototypes was already catching attention. In less then a year and with some great drivers we are bringing big race hardware home. This was an amazing weekend for me.

Lined up and ready to race our final time, action was plentiful in the big show for sure. After all was done though we showed everyone the cars can hang with the best and push the boundaries of everything common.

Congratulations gos out to our drivers – Steve Fiume for taking 4th, Justin Walts for 9th and our own Robbob for bumping into and finish 11th. Again just so happy with how everyone did, it was a blast hanging out with friends and enjoying some racing.

Catch the A-main recap here: