The NCTS4 Finals: Thunder Road RC Raceway!

- The full article was originally published on JConcepts (Racing) -

This past weekend we hit the NCTS4 finals! We headed out to Waite Park, Minnesota to Thunder Road RC Raceway!  This facility is outfitted with all of your RC needs! When you first enter the building, you see the Hobbytown Hobby shop. As you walk down the short orange-painted hallway, you pass the repair desk and enter the main track. They have a well-sized off-road carpet track, an indoor rock crawling course, and a slot car track inside the main building. If you walk out the back door, you’re greeted with the sizable turf track that takes just about anything. Lastly, behind the turf track, you’ll see the outdoor rock crawling course and the boat racing track.

More Photos Here.

Seeding:

13.5 Expert 4wd: Kyle Holmberg (1), Tyler Hooks (5)

13.5 Stadium Truck: Kyle Holmberg (1)

17.5 2wd Buggy: Kyle Holmberg (1)

2wd Modified Buggy: Spencer Rivkin (1), Broc Champlin (2), Brandon Foote (3), Lee Setser (4), Thor Ott (5)

40+ 2wd Modified Buggy: Thor Ott (1), Chris Malooly (2), Chuck Foote (4)

4wd Modified Buggy: Broc Champlin (1), Spencer Rivkin (2), Lee Setser (3), Brandon Foote (4), Seth VanDalen (5)

Qualifying:

13.5 Expert 4wd Buggy: Kyle Holmberg (2), Tyler Hooks (4), Sammy Moran (5)

13.5 Stadium Truck: Kyle Holmberg (1)

17.5 Expert 2wd Buggy: Kyle Holmberg (1), Sammy Moran (2)

2wd Modified Buggy: Broc Champlin (1), Spencer Rivkin (2), Lee Setser (3), Brandon Foote (4), Seth VanDalen (5)

40+ 2wd Modified Buggy: Thor Ott (1), Chuck Foote (4), Chris Malooly (5)

4wd Modified Buggy: Broc Champlin (1), Spencer Rivkin (2), Lee Setser (3), Brandon Foote (4), Seth VanDalen (5)

Final Results:

13.5 Expert 4wd: Kyle Holmberg (2), Tyler Hooks (3)

13.5 Stadium Truck: Kyle Holmberg (1)

17.5 2wd Buggy: Kyle Holmberg (1), Tyler Hooks (3)

2wd Modified Buggy:

A1: The first race of 2wd modified buggy has a clean start! Champlin (who TQ’d both mod classes) led the pack. It was a Champlin-Rivkin battle once again. They were tenths apart as they raced around the track. By the end, Champlin stretched out his lead by one second. The race concluded with the top five drivers finishing in the positions they started.

A2 was all about the battle for 3rd. Champlin and Rivkin would have a similar battle as in A1. Setser and Foote were going at. Foote quickly made the pass into 3rd, but Setser was not giving an inch behind him. Brandon held on to 3rd for 8 laps! They were on the left side of the track going through the wall ride when Setser was able to get by. The race concluded as Champlin, Rivkin, Setser, and Foote. Champlin officially took the win in 2wd Modified Buggy!

A3 Rivkin grabbed the win 9 seconds ahead of the field. Foote would get into 2nd about 2/3rd of the way through the main, and never look back to take 2nd with Lee taking 3rd. This would give Spencer 2nd overall, with Lee and Brandon tying for 3rd, with Lee coming out on top.

40+ 2wd Modified Buggy: Thor Ott (2), Chuck Foote (3)

4wd Modified Buggy:

A1 of 4wd Modified Buggy was relatively uneventful. First through third never changed positions the entire race. Broc Champlin led the way, and Rivkin was on his tail. Champlin and Rivkin began to pull away while Setser and Foote battled for 3rd. Setser later began to stretch his lead out by a couple of seconds, and everyone cruised along. A1 concluded as Champlin, Rivkin, Setser, Foote, and VanDalen.

A2 was another clean and quiet race. Rivkin was all over the back of Champlin’s wing once again. They space out and come together over and over like they’re doing a dance. In the final minute of the race, they were close together and went over the quad. Spencer tried to launch it, but Champlin managed to get out ahead. Broc Champlin officially wrapped up the win in this one!

A3 finished up with Spencer Rivkin taking the tone-to-tone win. Lee Setser would finish up second after battling half of the event with Brandon Foote. Unfortunately, Brandon would have a mechanical and have to retire allowing Seth VanDalen to grab a 3rd place finish. Ultimately Spencer would finish up 2nd overall, with Lee in 3rd.

Overall NCTS4 Series Podiums:

17.5 2wd Buggy:

1st: Sammy Moran (JC)
2nd: Kyle Holmberg (JC)
3rd: Tyler Hooks (JC)
4th: Ethan Mickelson
5th: Matthew Mickelson
6th: Chris Mickelson

13.5 4wd Buggy:

1st: Sammy Moran (JC)
2nd: Kyle Holmberg (JC)
3rd: Matthew Mickelson
4th: Ethan Mickelson
5th: Tyler Hooks (JC)
6th: Chris Mickelson

Independent 2wd NCTS4 Overall:

1st: Caelus Lo
2nd: Clay Foulk
3rd: John Peters

13.5 SCT:

1st: John Peters

13.5 Stadium Truck:

1st: Kyle Holmberg (JC)

40+ 2wd Modified Buggy:

1st: Chuck Foote (JC)

4wd Modified Buggy:

1st: Broc Champlin (JC)
2nd: Spencer Rivkin (JC)
3rd: Brandon Foote (JC)

2wd Modified Buggy:

1st: Broc Champlin (JC)
2nd: Spencer Rivkin (JC)
3rd: Brandon Foote (JC)

Overall, it’s been an incredible year for the NCTS4 Series! We want to thank all tracks that hosted and the owners/staff who make these races possible! We also want to thank everyone who came out and participated in one or all of the races this year! Lastly, a huge shoutout to our sponsors who helped make this possible! Check out the participating tracks and our series sponsors below. We are stoked about how this year went, and we look forward to making the NCTS5 series in 2023 even better!

Participating Tracks: 702 Raceway, NorthWest Hobbies, RC Madness, Thunder Road RC Raceway

Sponsors: Hobbywing, Willspeed, Protek RC, 1Up Racing, Tekin, Amain Hobbies, Team Associated, Reedy, Schumacher, DRC, TLR, Sunpadow, PDX Underground