Paul Wynn was on-hand early and setup with the JConcepts Inc trailer, so we had everything we needed to be competitive and ready. At first, we experimented with green and blue compound but as the track developed, but we settled on silver for qualifying. I was able to get solid qualifying runs in the 1:8th nitro buggy, and 1:8th nitro truggy classes to start up front and provisional TQ heading into Super Pole Saturday. In the E-buggy class, I made a few mistakes in my best qualifying run and started a disappointing 7th position.

Mike Truhe and I worked consistently on the vehicles to make gains anywhere we could. This event has an extremely long schedule so there is a lot of time to wrench and debate new setups throughout the day. For Saturday, the Super Pole events were only 10 minutes long so there is a lot that can happen to a racer in that short of time. Luckly, all the starts went well, and I was out front and able to get a nice gap on the field in the nitro classes. This allowed Mike to make nice and smooth pit stops each time while not being under too much pressure. Dakotah was quickly making up time with the no pit stop strategy, but I narrowly hung on to take both and officially start up front for the nitro main events.

The E-buggy Super Pole was decent; I moved up a position to start 6th for the triple A-Main events but I was still missing a little. During the Super Pole races, we ran mostly silver compound tires, but the track was changing conditions quickly, so we had other options ready as well. For Sunday we performed a reset on the E-buggy and went through some new setups and tried to make small improvements to the EB48 2.2. We had many racers in the Tekno pits running well in E-buggy, so it was nice to talk to the team and agree on a few changes.

For Sunday finals we were ready early and the 1:8th Truck main went extremely well. Truhe held the truck at down and quiet, and I was able to get off to a good start and make up a little time. Dakotah made his way into contention and Burak also climbed up quickly to make it a serious battle. I stuck with the strategy of staying clean, managing mistakes, and kept a consistent gap for most of the difficult parts of the main. In the end, with smooth pit stops and Truhe quick on the gun, I was able to get the overall win. Burak Kilic took a well-deserved 2nd place, and Dakotah Phend finished 3rd.

In the 1:8th Nitro buggy race, we all knew it would be a brutal race because the track was extremely dusty and starting to fall apart. Like truggy, I got a great start with no major errors and was able to hammer down while the tires were fresh and the track was somewhat clean. This was one of the tougher mains of the year, the quick lap times, uncertain track conditions, and the tire wear made staying consistent more difficult each lap. Burak and Juan Carlos rushed through the field to make it up in 2nd and 3rd and the race gap was getting close. I worked with the lead and managed the traffic and increasing dusty conditions.

Juan made a serious charge; I was able to keep him in the sights and work the clock a bit. At the end, I crossed for the victory in the grueling 45-minute race. Juan Carlos finished a close 2nd overall, and Burak finishing in 3rd was extremely quick all weekend. The JConcepts Relapse was the final choice for tire in blue compound and provided the grip from start to finish in both truggy and buggy classes. The ProTek Samauri RM.1 engine stayed lit the entire main event and Truhe had the pit stops covered.

For the 1:8th E-buggy class, I have nothing great to report. I got a few good starts, and they never materialized after a few mistakes and a run-ins with other cars I found myself trying to make up time. Nothing was truly there, or great openings, and we all just ran each other into the ground in the back of the pack. I felt the entire package came together and after some Cayote electronic updates in the pits, I thought I had a great chance, but it wasn’t our day in the E-Buggy class. Congrats on Dakotah holding everyone off and coming home with a great score to take the overall win, Juan Carlos came up big with 2nd place, and Brandon Rose drove a great A3 to finish 3rd overall.

As usual the FlySky radio made driving smooth, consistent, and comfortable while the ProTek Servos survived all the abuse I put them through in every class all weekend. VP Fuel kept the engine running clean and without issue. Now, its time to start looking down the road, to the holidays with the family and a preparation will start soon for 2026.

Thanks to RaceTime Entertainment on another solid event. Lance MacDonald and Elite RC Productions is putting on a clinic running these events in turn-key fashion and I appreciate Dave Leikam for having these events each year. Thanks to the Tekno RC team and Matt Wolter for keeping things organized and moving in a positive direction. JConcepts was on hand as usual with Paul Wynn and Jason Ruona having our backs on and off the track. Thanks to Hannah Hardison providing the media content and making us look good on the #gojconcepts social media pages.

Next event, US Open Fuel Championships at Adobe Mountain RC Raceway.

Tekno RC
JConcepts
Cayote
FlySky
ProTek RC
VP Fuels
Flash Point
RM2
Hobby Action
A-Main Hobbies
Drakein
Factory Tracks
Stick-It One