The final round of JConcepts Super Cup Championship Series Spring Session continued its record pace with 191 entries Saturday, April 26th at FZRC in Sarasota FL.
The weather gods were set to see some of the best action to date as the sunny south Florida weather was set perfectly in the 80’s with a light breeze. Marty Chilton and the FZRC crew groomed and manicured the red clay surface to give racers the most technical layout challenge to date. As racers began to pack the track early Friday morning, all quickly focused on their fast lines and marks for consistent lap times. Florida’s best were not to be concurred by the switchbacks, crossover or long off angle straight. Lap times started slow for round one with overnight moisture on the track, round 2 saw track records smashed in fast laps. Fastest lap of the day turned by JConcepts team driver JR Mitch and his TLR 22-4 drew the crowd from the pits. Race announcer took notice as JR was lowering lap times with each cross of the line. Lap after lap, it got lower as the announcer was pushing the pro to push his skills and TLR to the limit. On the final 19th lap JR made his car look as it was floating turn by turn until it crossed the line with a blistering 15.9 second lap.
The 4wd buggy class reached all the way to a Cmain and FZRC locals Jim Hess and Tom Ryan raced to the Bmain. Jeff Keeton and Jovan Cruz earned the final bump spots of the Amain. It was a pair of JConcepts equipped TLR 22-4’s leading the field of 10 for the full 5 minute main, both JR Mitch 1st and Chris Viesins 2nd held off charges from Felix Law 3rd, Jason Ruona 4th and Ryan Eckert 5th would all take turns at the duo for a pass. In the end JR had mastered the course and led all 18 laps for his first 4wd buggy win of the closely contested series. It was a 3 way tie in the points as Felix Law won the tie breaker for the series championship, with Jason Ruona 2nd and Daimon Borkowicz 3rd overall.
7 racers put on a great race in Modified Truck as Ryan Eckert squeezed in the TQ spot after a near flawless run in the second round of qualifying. Ryan along with Paul Wynn, Daimon Borkowicz, and Leon McIntosh would all take turns atop of the leader board. By lap 8 all four would have shared the lead as TQ holder was in 4th. Ryan had just turned his fastest lap as he began a run to the front, in 2 laps he had made the pass into the 2nd place just behind race leader Leon McIntosh. Paul and Daimon were still in the fight keeping pressure on the pair just in front. Ryan made his final pass on lap 14 to take the lead and run to the finish, Leon McIntosh would finish 2nd. Paul Wynn and Daimon Borkowicz would change position 3 times at the line in the last 3 laps as Paul held Damion off by .192 seconds for 3rd. Daimon would bring home 4th and Jonathon Paulk 5th.
Stock Truck qualifying was exciting between 2 JConcepts/Team Associated teammates Riker Gatenby and Peyton MacDonald. Every point counted as this pair was tied coming into the final round of the series. In round 2 of qualifying they would go back and forth atop the leader board, in the end Riker edged Peyton by .232 seconds for TQ. Ron Viesins and Jeff Lynn bumped from the Bmain into the final show of Stock Truck. Riker would lead the field of 10 at the start of the 5 minute main. Peyton MacDonald and Mac Davis would pressure their JConcepts teammate for the P1 position. On lap 5 Peyton made his move pass Riker to take the lead but Riker would keep pace for many laps. Mac Davis kept his teammates in sight as he raced home to 3rd overall. Peyton held off Riker to take the win as Riker was 2nd. Longtime supporters of the Super Cup series Tracey Proctor and Jeff Lynn had great runs from P8 and P10 starting spots to finish 4th and 5th.
Independent 17.5 Buggy was very close all the way to the very last lap. Ryan Rios set the TQ in round 2 of qualifying. From the start tone, Roberto Falcon moved past Rios to the P1 spot. Falcon worked his way through lap traffic laying down fast and consistent laps as Ryan was close in tow. As time was winding down and racers were battling for positions in the back of the pack. Roberto was tangled in a tie up that allowed Ryan to make a pass back to the top spot. The 2 would continue their battle for the final 5 laps of the race. With one last effort Roberto tried to find a way around Ryan for a last lap pass to the win. As they crossed the line Ryan held him off to take the win with Roberto just over 1 second back. Scott Blaney was 3rd and Matt Keeple 4th held back a fast Aaron Sikes 5th.
More racers are catching on for the coolest class of the series RC10 Vintage. Top Qualifier Jason Ruona, Jeremy Harris, Walter Cruz, Dan Borkowicz and Jason Venezia would bring the racers from the pits to watch the legendary platform continue to show it has what it takes to lay down fast laps with amazing cornering abilities. Ruona and Harris swapped 4 times at the line. Jason’s JConcepts equipped RC10 world’s edition held of Harris to take the win. Cruz and Borkowicz would have an old school grudge match for 3rd with Walter on top and Dan 4th
The smell of Bengay was strong as 40 and over Buggy hit the track. Gene Hikerson was the dominate car taking the TQ and leading every lap of the Amain. 2nd place finisher Tim Kowal had to work his way back up after Tracy Carver slipped past and held the spot for many laps. As Tim pulled Away from Tracy, Jonathon Paulk moved up behind Carver and made the pass on the final lap for 3rd. Tracy was 4th and Rich Schaeffer 5th.
JConcepts Team Driver Felix Law ran his Team Associated SC10.2 to the front of Modified Short Course. Felix outpaced the field lap after lap for another JConcepts Super Cup win. Nick Madsen finished 2nd with Lee Setzer 3rd and Taveon Strow 4th.
The JConcepts equipped Team Associated SC10 of Peyton MacDonald made the moves around the very tricky chicane to take both the TQ and lead all of the 16 Amain laps. Fellow JC and AE teammate Riker Gatenby proved he had the skills to make a great drive back forward after a rough start that dropped him from 2nd to 5th. By lap 9, Riker was back in the number 2 spot after a 3 lap battle between him and 3rd place finisher Trey Roberts. Jonathon Paulk would race to 4th as Robert Molina rounded out the top 5.
JConcepts Team drivers put the TLR SCTE 2.0’s P1 and P2 after qualifying. JR Mitch and Chris Viesins would continue to put on a show as they would change positions 5 times at the line and many more for the 5 minute action pack 4wd Short Course main. JR was able to hold Chris back for the final 90 seconds as he took the win and Viesins finished 2nd. Scott Johnson drove into the 3rd spot as Trey Roberts came from the Bmain to finish 4th and Janos Lazar was 5th.
Ryan Rios took his second TQ of the day in Stock Pro Buggy, but it was JConcepts driver Riker Gatenby and his Team Associated B5M that shined in the main. Riker stayed right on Ryan as the two put on a great race. Riker waited until the final lap to move pass Rios to take a huge win in the closest race of the day. The Pro Stock Buggy field after a 5 minute main had all 8 of the 10 Amain group on 16 laps. Gene Hickerson took the 3rd spot as Mac Davis was 4th and Jovan Cruz 5th.
It was an all JConcepts top 5 in Modified 2wd Buggy. Jason Ruona TQ’d the field of 20. At the start of the groups final race of the series every place was valuable as the points would be decided in the next 5 minutes, Ruona lead the 10 car main. Florida’s elite class of racers gave chase; one racer was not going to settle for second as he put pressure on the boss for 16 laps. Daimon Borkowicz found a slim opening of daylight for a pass and put his Team Associated B5M to the point for the final 2 laps as Ruona would settle for a 2nd place finish. With another amazing battle TLR/JConcepts teammates JR Mitch and Chris Viesins would change places 6 times during the 5 minute showdown. JR 3rd edged his fellow teammate by 3 tenths of a second at the line. With an amazing display of talent and focus Paul Wynn drove back from 9th on lap to a top five finish.
A big thank you to the host tracks for another great Super Cup session. The Fall session kicks off August 2nd in Ocala, Florida hosted by NewRed Hobbies. Thank you to all that have supported the series and we look forward to seeing everyone back for the Fall Session. Let’s Race!
