Twelve members of the BMiller Race Team made the trip to Chico, California to take part in the 3rd Annual JConcepts Summer Indoor Nationals at A Main Hobbies’ Outback Raceway. Representing supporting sponsors A Main Hobbies, DE Racing, and Panther Tires, team drivers Terry Wickum and Brian Strange led an impressive BMiller team showing that included one class TQ and 13 qualifications into A main events.

Wickum was dialed all weekend long in his Associated B4.1 in the Schuur Speed Stock 2wd Buggy class. Powered by a ProTek R/C Supreme Power 70c 4100mAh shorty battery pack, Wickum TQ’d after the four rounds of qualifying with clay Panther Bobcats on the front and clay Panther Rattler 2.0’s in the rear mounted on black DE Racing Borrego wheels. It was all Wickum in the eight-minute A main, leading all 24 laps en route to a 12 second victory. BMiller Racing teammate Josh O’Connell started from the sixth spot on the grid and worked his way up through the field with a late charge that moved him to second by race’s end.

Strange was the busiest member of BMiller Race Team, taking part in mod 2wd buggy, 4wd buggy and stadium truck. But the hectic schedule did not deter Strange from reaching his goal of qualifying for the very talented A mains in all three events. Powered by ProTek batteries in each of his three vehicles and driving on Panther tires, Strange finished eighth in a pro-loaded field in Tekin Open 2wd Buggy, ninth in Mylaps Open 4wd Buggy, and sixth in TLR Open 2wd Truck.

BMiller Racing was well-represented in the Thunder Power Pro 4 Open SCT class, grabbing three of the 10 A main qualifying spots. Sawyer Bruer, Patrick Zhao, and Lou Figueria each placed their Losi SCTE’s in the show with ProTek R/C Supreme Power 70c 6400mAh batteries, Tekin Pro4 4600kV motors, and DE Racing Trinidad wheels. Bruer qualified seventh and shined in the main with one of his finest career performances, finishing fourth behind factory drivers Matt Olson of MIP, Team Associated’s Steven Hartson, and Team Tekin’s Jason Moberly, and missing out on the final podium spot by less than a second. Zhao went on to finish seventh and Figueria was 10th after some unfortunate mechanical issues early in the race.

In other BMiller Racing A main qualifications, Justin Moon finished eighth in the pro-packed Mylaps Open 4wd Buggy field, Eddie Bernal charged from the No. 8 qualifying spot to finish fifth in TLR Open 2wd Truck, and Todd Pearson placed fourth in DE Racing Pro 2 Stock SCT, missing the podium by just two seconds. Wickum and Bruer represented the team in Associated Pro 2 Open SCT and finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

The 2012 JConcepts Summer Indoor Nationals drew nearly 250 entries with racers coming from as far as Florida and Illinois and featuring many of the best of the West from California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho. The tacky clay layout at Outback Raceway proved to be a technical challenge for both pros and amateurs alike, but fun for all. When everyone exited the A Main Hobbies facility on Sunday, the overriding sentiment was … can’t wait for the 2013 JConcepts Summer Indoor Nats!

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