Back home after a full week in Texas for the 2026 IFMAR 1:8 Off-Road World Championship in Hutto.

The Worlds is always an important race. It only comes around every two years, and it’s another opportunity to line up with the guys I’ve been racing against at the highest level throughout my career. With this one being in the USA, I was looking forward to getting after it in Texas.

I felt like I had good speed from the beginning. We put in a lot of work testing leading into the event, and once qualifying started I opened with a 2nd-place run in Q1. I stayed in the fight throughout qualifying and eventually qualified 7th overall, putting me directly into the Semi-Final.

My Tekno RC Nitro Buggy was competitive all week, and we continued working on the package as the track changed.

On the JConcepts Inc side, we came into the event with a lot of options after the testing we had done leading up to Worlds. I started the race testing the new and upcoming F2 body with the Saber wing before eventually settling on the S15 body and Razor wing combination.

For tires, I ran JConcepts Overdose tires in Silver compound during qualifying before switching to Space Bars for the Semi-Final and A-Final. The conditions changed throughout the week, so continuing to work through the options and adapting the package was important.

One of the biggest strengths of my program all week was the ProTek RC Samurai RM.1 engine. The engine had great power, but the fuel mileage was just as important. I was able to make the 10-minute fuel window, which gave us more options with strategy during qualifying and the mains.

My ProTek RC RM 650S servo was also great throughout the event, and my Flysky RC radio was flawless all week. At this level, I expect my equipment to perform every time I hit the track, and the electronics did exactly that.

The Semi-Final started out really well. I worked my way into the lead and had good pace before a mistake at the left-side post cost me some time. I was still able to transfer and put myself into another IFMAR World Championship A-Final.

This was my 18th World Championship, and I’ve now made the 1:8 Nitro Buggy A-Final in 8 of the 9 World Championships since 2008. I’ve been racing these guys and competing at this level for a long time, so making the final is always the expectation. At the same time, I’m proud of the consistency it takes to keep putting myself in that position over this many years.

The one-hour A-Final didn’t go the way I wanted, and I finished 11th overall. There’s no reason to dress that up—I went there wanting to contend for a World Championship, and the final didn’t produce the result I was looking for.

There were still positives in the performance. I opened qualifying with a P2, qualified 7th overall, had the speed to lead the Semi, and the car and equipment were competitive throughout the week. We’ll take what worked, learn from what didn’t and keep moving forward.

Congrats to David Ronnefalk on getting the win and the 2026 World Championship.

These races take a lot of preparation, and I had a good group around me all week.

A huge thanks to Mike Truhe for all the pit work throughout the event. Mike and I have spent a lot of time at the races together over the years, and having someone I trust handling things in the pits allows me to concentrate on racing and getting the car where I want it.

Thanks to the entire Tekno team, especially Daniel Lewis, Matt Wolter and Matt Armeni, for the preparation, support and work throughout the week. We kept working on the car and making adjustments all the way through the event.

On the JConcepts side, a big thanks to Jason and Allison Ruona and Paul Wynn for all the work that went into the tire, body and wing program. There was a lot of testing and preparation behind the scenes leading into this race, and we continued working through the options throughout the week.

Also, thanks to Hannah Hardison and Lia Gandini for the great JConcepts media coverage all weekend and keeping everyone following the event up to date.

Thanks to everyone else behind my program and everyone who reached out during the week.

Obviously, I wanted more out of the final, but that’s racing. Eighteen World Championships later, the goal hasn’t changed. I’m still showing up to compete for wins.

We’ll keep working and keep digging.

2026 Worlds:

P7 Qualifying | A-Final | P11 Overall

18th World Championship | 8 of 9 1:8 Nitro Buggy Worlds A-Finals since 2008

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