Inaugural JConcepts Monster & Mega Tour Unleashes Monster and Mega Truck Passion!

This weekend marked a special weekend for JConcepts as we hosted the first-ever JConcepts Monster and Mega Tour Event in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Despite being a long way from JConcepts HQ in Florida, the crew made the journey bringing a lot of setup equipment to properly tackle such a massive event. The goal was to bring out the Northeast’s best monster and mega truck racers to compete and have a blast. Mission thoroughly accomplished.

The event was hosted by The Track in Gaithersburg, MD, home of the 2017 ROAR Electric 1/10th Nationals. This friendly, warm environment played a perfect host for the JConcepts MMT1 and the hospitality that track owner, Mimi Wong, showed us was over the top allowing us to dismantle the usual offroad pit area and use it for our MMT event. After numerous hours of setup, the transformation was completed and the side-by-side racing course was finished in a timely manner. Since the JConcepts MMT event also featured a “cross-off” racing side to the event, the clay off-road track was adjusted and utilized to showcase the high-speed action of the Mega Trucks, Tuff Trucks, and UTV vehicles.

Since this was the inaugural JConcepts MMT event, turnout and involvement was relatively unknown. But after sign-ups were complete and closed, there were over 180 trucks entered in the competition! Saturday morning started with a classic Show and Shine, where truck builders displayed their creations with hopes to win the Best of Show award. With only 1 award to give away, the winning truck had to be a true masterpiece.

After close evaluation by the two judges, the Best of Show was awarded to Tad Goad and his Awesome Kong! This truck exhibited a build quality that was unmatched by any other truck at the event and the level of detail mimics the real deal. One of the most recognizable components of this build is the custom narrowed ’88 Chevy Silverado body in vibrant red.

Since the monster truck events are relatively new to the mainstream RC racers, we wanted to explain some of the popular classes at the event and help everyone get up to speed while at the event. Here’s the lowdown on the popular MT classes that are currently available.

Stage 1 trucks consist of 45T motors and a more traditional style truck frame with leaf springs. This class, in a way, is a good representation of the early stages of monster trucks.

Stepping up to Stage 2, this class utilized the advancement in suspension ditching the leaf spring suspension for oil filled shocks and ladder style bar suspension.

Stage 3 Pro Mod is an all out, no holds bar Clod style truck using solid axles and no motor limit. Considered the 2wd Modified class in the MT world, Pro Mod is the class that everyone wants to win.

Stage 4 uses the most advanced truck suspension of them all exploring the world of independent suspension as opposed to the popular 4 link design. There’s no motor limit, therefore these trucks scream of speed and not just fast in a straight line, but also produce a lot of corner speed due to its robust independent suspension setup that’s more like a race car. If you want to get into Stage 4, check out the JConcepts MT conversion for the Traxxas Slash/Stampede 4×4. Durability, parts availability, and a ton of power are what make Stage 4 trucks so much fun. If you’d like to learn more about all the classes, check out some of the rules and specs from the JConcepts MMT event page.

Here are the final results after an intense day of racing. Congrats to the class winners and podium finisher on their outstanding performance controlling these monstrous beasts! Thank you to all the racers who came out and participated in this monumental event and we can’t wait to host another one.

– Tank Results –
1st place – Jayden Doyle and Vanslaughter
2nd place – (TQ) Chris Roberts and Blizzard
3rd place – Kyle Batman

– Stage 1 Results –
1st place – Jason Ruona and Capital City Monster
2nd place – Tad Goad and Awesome Kong
3rd place – Matt Stoltz and Hawaiian Punch

– Stage 2 Results –
1st place – Jason Ruona and Bigfoot 4 Louisville
2nd place – Matt Stoltz and Trouble Maker
3rd place – Kyle DeFalco and Clydesdale II

– Stage 3 2.2″ Mod Results –
1st place – Russ “Ruckus” Bryant and HyperActive
2nd place – Sonny Santucci and Sniper
3rd place – Russ “Ruckus” Bryant and Playing For Keeps
TQ – Jason Ruona and Lucas Oil BIGFOOT

– Stage 3 Sport Mod Results –
1st place – (TQ) Russ “Ruckus” Bryant and Playing For Keeps
2nd place – Mikey Macsia and Sunset Sherbert
3rd place – Ryan Nyquist and Suzuki

– Stage 3 PRO MOD Results –
1st place – Sonny Santucci and Virginia Giant
2nd place – Russ “Ruckus” Bryant and Gelato
3rd place – (TQ) Jason Ruona and Lucas Oil BIGFOOT

– Stage 4 Results –
1st place – (TQ) Ethan Saunders and Fast MAXX
2nd place – Matt Stoltz and JConcepts Stage 4 Truck
3rd place – Jason Ruona and BIGFOOT Hot Wheels

– Mega Truck Results –
1st place – (TQ) Sonny Santucci and The Sniper Mega Truck
2nd place – Russ “Ruckus” Bryant and Trinity Shop Truck
3rd place – Jason Ruona and Summit BIGFOOT 21

– Tuff Truck Results –
1st place – Jason Ruona and California
2nd place – (TQ) Jayden Doyle and Monster Energy
3rd place – Matt Stoltz and JConcepts truck

– UTV Results –
1st place – (TQ) Jason Ruona and Grave Digger UTV
2nd place – Ethan Saunders
3rd place – Jayden Doyle and Buffy Da Bull UTV

– Pro Mod and Stage 4 Freestyle Results –
1st place – Jayden Doyle

Check out the highlight of the final 16 of Stage 3 Pro Mod in the video below. Once again, thanks to track owner, Mimi Wong, and to everyone at The Track for showing us such kindness and love. We’ll see you at the next event!