Ryan Maifield, Lee Martin and JR Mitch Win with JConcepts!

Race Reporter - Tim Davis

The action was non stop at the 2009 JConcepts Clash held in Coral Springs, Florida. Drivers from around the world turned out for annual event where the best drivers from Florida take on the rest of the world in the no holds barred, where the powers explode event. 260 entries were highlighted by Ryan Maifield, Lee Martin and JR Mitch being victorious in the expert classes. Paul Wynn, Mark Burt, Andrew Martinez, JP Tirronen and Bobby Phillips completed the roundup of winners in J82, Super Stock, Sportsman 1/8th buggy, Gas Truck and Slash classes respectively.

The Clash represents the best in race direction, announcing and track conditions while giving everyone the opportunity to see the full compliment of electric and nitro vehicles.

JConcepts products were out in full force and used heavily in competition all weekend. Freshly released JConcepts 1/8th off-road products were all the rage in nitro with the Cross Hairs pulling the 1st place position in the Truggy class and the Crossbows and Crowbars took home the 1/8th buggy class. JConcepts Sevens were the hot ticket for the 1/8th electric class with Ryan Maifield showing the fast line with the RC8E. JConcepts Double Dee’s and Bar Codes provided the grip in the 1/10th buggy and truck classes with Lee Martin and JR Mitch showing the Bar Codes to be unstoppable in the A-finals.

The Truth was also out at the JConcepts Clash. The newest JConcepts body for the Traxxas Slash used by TQ Lee Martin and 2nd qualifier Ryan Maifield provided the ultimate touch of style and performance in the Short Course Truck – Slash class.

Tackling the Coral Springs track with ease Jason Ruona and JR Mitch put on an excellent demonstration and thrilled the spectators with the all new Associated SC8 short course truck. Racing and beating and banging have never been more fun than the Associated SC8.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the following sponsors of the JConcepts Clash: JConcepts, Yokomo, Team Associated, Good Run Gear, rcactionpics.com, Jimmy Babcock Racing League, Oople and MIP.

For additional information about the JConcepts Clash please read below or visit, www.jconcepts.net ; www.rcclash.com and http://www.oople.com/rc/photos/clash2008/day1.html

2009 JConcepts Clash winners –

• 1-10th Truck Super Stock – 1st place – Mark Burt

• 1-10th Buggy Super Stock – 1st place – Mark Burt

• Short Course Truck (Slash) – 1st place – Bobby Phillips

• Enduro Truck – 1st place – JR Mitch

• 1/8th electric 4wd – 1st place – Ryan Maifield

• 1-10th Buggy Expert – 1st place – Lee Martin

• Short Course Buggy (J82) - 1st place – Paul Wynn

• 1-10th 4wd Expert – 1st place – Lee Martin

• 1-8th Buggy Sportsman - 1st place – Andrew Martinez

• 1-8th Buggy Expert - 1st place – Ryan Maifield

• 1-10th Gas Truck - 1st place – JP Tirronen

• 1-8th Truggy Open - 1st place – JR Mitch

Click here for complete race results.

Do you ever wonder what putting on a national-caliber race entails? Most people reading this have all participated in some type of local racing, and know the amount of time and energy that goes into simply putting on a local club race on any given Saturday afternoon. From preparing the track, setting up the timing and scoring system, registering racers, setting up the race schedule, it is quite a process. The amount of time and energy that goes into putting on a race such as the JConcepts Clash is very intense.

This December, the Coral Springs Roadrunner’s RC Club hosted the Second Annual JConcepts Clash. There are numerous race reports floating around the internet about this race now, the foremost being the terrific coverage by oople.com. Much appreciation is due to the Oople crew for their incredible work documenting the event. Our own Andrew Moore has edited up some great video footage of the event, and can give you exact finishing order for every race on Sunday.

However, for the JC team, the race week began on the Wednesday before the event. Tuesday was packing day – Andrew and PW jam packing the race trailer with all that great JC rubber; with the diverse selection of classes available – from 1/10 electric classes to 1/8 Truck – many different tires and wheels for this race. Ryan Maifield flew into Orlando on Tuesday directly from the Fall Brawl Race, where he was victorious in both 1/8 classes. So we set out for Coral Springs on Wednesday morning with the big JC F-350 and the race trailer packed to the max. I wish we had a picture of the trailer loaded.

Coral Springs is a new location for the Clash, having been hosted by the Lake Park club last year. This track is one of the oldest in Florida with regular off-road racing at the same location for over 25 years. In fact, it is the site of Paul Wynn’s first off-road racing. My own memories of Coral Springs racing date back to the early ‘90’s, to a regional championship hosted there in 1992. The city of Coral Springs is located in the Greater Ft. Lauderdale area, just north of Miami Beach. Many of the racers traveling for far away were excited about this venue as it gave them a chance to experience the South Florida nightlife. I will the first to confirm that at least one night, the nightlife was experienced. Extensively.

Thursday was the first full day of the event, setting up tents, tables, the JC Booth, getting all the drivers situated with tires for practicing, etc. In addition to the regular JC product booth, the ’08 Clash marked the soft-release of the new Good Run Gear apparel line. The universal term that everyone uses in nearly every form of racing to describe a strong performance is “good run”. From Olympic downhillers to Pinewood Derby to Top Fuel drag racing – if you take go out on the course/track/hill/pool/ramp is lay down a solid run – someone is going to tell you, “dude – good run”. The Good Run Gear line is aimed squarely at these competitors – the ones that know how dialed it is to have at good run, and they have your fellow competitors tell you so. The personalities that are attracted to these types of sport – those that thrive on competition from the internal and external – that is what GRG is all about.

Some inclement weather overnight on Thursday led to damp track conditions on Friday morning for the first round of qualifying. Shockingly, nearly 40 people showed up Friday morning to register for the event, swelling the entries up to over 260 at the last moment! Ace race director Jimmy Babcock got things started off with minimal delay and the ’08 Clash was off and running. This year’s event again had a strong contingent of driver from the UK. It is great to see the international attendance for this race. Years ago there were several large events in the US that attracted racers from all over the world. With the growth of racing in other countries, those drivers now have large events much closer to home, and the need to travel to the US has diminished. This year’s Clash had over 20 international entries.

Also in attendance was the legendary Brian Kinwald. Anyone who races knows how difficult it is to win a race against good competition. So many things have to go your way in addition to driving a great race. Brian has one over 30 ROAR National Championships, may of them coming in sets of three – with all three TQ’s. The amount of dedication, focus and preparation it takes to TQ and win all three classes at a ROAR National is immeasurable. On Saturday, I gave Jimmy a hand with the announcing and called a few races in round three. When BK’s truck heat was up – he was the last go on the IFMAR start, and I announced very routinely, “Go Kinwald”. It hit me as quite odd – I was announcing Brian Kinwald, laying down a round TQ’ing run. I’ve announced many races, from running my local club for years, some state races, and the like. But it was a real treat for me to call a dialed run for BK. The track was grooved up, the sun was out, and he laid it down. Dude, Good Run.

Friday morning also brought an early Christmas present for Ryan Maifield at the hotel – a box from Team Associated’s Area 51 – The full production RC8-E. The mad scientists at AE over-nighted a full production ready to race electric version of the already race-proven RC8 1/8th buggy for Ryan to run in the electric 1/8th class. The pit area was buzzing with the news of this car at the track, and many people early ringed the track to catch a glimpse of arguably the best 1/8th driver in the world wheeling this car around the layout. Ryan threw it out on the track with some other 1/8 fuel buggies and several people standing nearby were instantly piqued with interest. “Is that running?” Who is going to start it for him?” One guy even picked it up, thinking it had stalled, and was trying to hand it to someone to refire! Ha! One quick blip of the throttle and that guy knew what was up!

The full punch takeoff nearly melted the blue-compound SEVENS into the clay. These electric 1/8th cars put the incredible precision of an electric car into the durable and traction-endowed 1/8th buggy platform. These cars are nuts. Ryan ended up running a fast lap nearly a full second faster than his fuel-powered RC8. Speaking of SEVENS, the entire Worlds Collection of 1/8th buggy tires were available for purchase at this event. The Worlds Collection first surfaced at this years 1/8th IFMAR Off-road Worlds in late September. The SEVENS, Crossbows, Crowbars, and Double Cross are 4 completely new tires, developed exclusively for the Worlds. This brings the total number of 1/8th buggy tread patterns from JC to eight. It is safe to say that JC now has the conditions covered from brutal blown-out dust bowls to smooth black groove conditions.

For myself, the Illuzions of winning big races have long faded, and I judge these events as a success if my friends and I have a good time, and make great memories. The ’08 Clash was no different than last year in this respect, and a good time was had by all.

Special Thanks to the following:

• The track crew, Coral Springs Roadrunners

• Tim Moon - the track was phenomenal

• Lee Martin for the hair care/styling tips

• The entire JC crew - Jason, Allison, PW, Andrew, Faulkner (B-12)

• Vicki Oople for the dedicated race coverage

• Fred Reep – timing and scoring genius

• Ben Jemison for making Hooters a fun place again

• Jamie and Danielle for the free drinks on Sat night

• Dave Bowser for the recommending the Italian restaurant with the rudest owner ever

• Jimmy Babcock for announcing the best races ever.

• Team Associated

• Liz Moffat for the free psycho-analysis every night at dinner.

• PW for saying, “Ok guys, one last stop, if nothing here, were going to the hotel” at 11:15pm Sat.

• Brazilian women.

• Team Yokomo

• Brandon with LiveRC

• Ryan Maifield’s Credit Limit

• John Piant for the Bigfoot stories (the truck not the myth)

• PW for saying, “Is anyone else out on the bowling?”

• Brian Kinwald for making this a “real” race.

• Mark Burt for picking all the Cherries in the city of Coral Springs

And everyone who traveled from both near and far to make this event a success!!

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