Author: Sean Gaffney | Images: Rugspin Graphix & NeoBuggy
Last week we highlighted Cody Smith as a driver to watch out for, this week its the turn of Jacob Haas…
This is a feature meant to highlight drivers who have been Makin’ Noise in the nitro and electric offroad RC racing scene. If you’re ‘Makin’ Noise‘, you’re an up-and-comer that’s shown great talent, dialed driving, and smokin’ fast lap times. So if you’ve been dominating around your club, finishing well at national and international events, send us your info and you just might be Makin’ Noise soon.
Jacob Haas – USA
This 18 year old hails from the NorCal area, but frequents the hotly contested JBRL Nitro series in Southern California. Haas quickly progressed through the ranks over the last few years, winning his first JBRL event title in Sportsman Buggy in 2010, followed by overall championships in both Intermediate Buggy and Truggy in 2011, and just last year finished 4th overall in both Pro Buggy Truggy, and 2nd only to Drake in Electric Buggy.
So it was no surprise to see Haas wheel his Losi 8ight 3.0 with precision at the ROAR 1/8 Off-Road Nitro Nationals this past weekend at Mike’s Hobbies in Porter, TX. Haas had this to say about his Nationals experience:
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“My Dad, brother Alex and I flew to Mike’s Hobby Tuesday night to be ready for Wednesday practice which went well, but after Thursday practice I was only seeded 75th which wasn’t where I believed I should be. I made some changes to my Losi 8ight 3.0 overnight and went through qualifying with a 22nd, 20th, 39th and even a 13th overall! I was blown away with the 13th for the round, but getting that gave me confidence for the mains. I started 3rd in the Odd Quarter Final (25th overall) and was running 3rd until I had a flame out putting me out of the bump spot and leaving me with a 10th place finish.
Even though it’s not the finish we wanted after the great week of driving I had, we still had a blast as a family. I am so thankful for my family saving their money to pay for the trip for us; it was a struggle affording the trip. My Mom usually travels with us but she stayed home to keep working and taking care of the house. I wish she was right there with us but want to thank her for her awesome support. Also a big thank you to my sponsors TLR, Horizon Hobbies, Nitrotane, Pro-Line Racing, and Tekin for helping me out with all my RC needs!
This was only my second national event, my first being the 2011 ROAR Nitro Nationals at Thunder Alley where I finished towards the back of the 1/8th final. I did not really have any expectations going into this year’s Nationals, but I knew I wanted to improve. I had no idea I was going to drive well enough to qualify 3rd in the Quarterfinals and be in contention to bump!
My absolute favorite part of the nationals this year was qualifying 13th in round 3 of buggy because it gave me confidence that I can run with some of the fastest drivers on the planet. My least favorite part of the trip was definitely having an issue in my Quarterfinal, and having to leave after the racing was over. It’s just such a blast being at a race that big with so many of your racing friends there – it’s just a giant family BBQ basically haha!
I want to give special thanks to my family for the amazing support and funding an incredible trip, the whole TLR team, Mike’s Hobbies, and Jimmy Babcock for putting on another professionally run program!”
Jacob Haas – whether it’s NorCal, SoCal, or the ROAR Nats, he’s definitely Makin’ Noise.