2016 Super Cup Championship Series – Race 1

The 2016 Super Cup Series kicked off with an almost record turnout of 292 entries. Beachline Raceway located in Cocoa, FL was host to the first race of the 2016 Spring Session. Friday night the drivers from the 2015 season attended the awards banquet at the DoubleTree Cocoa Beach. They were treated to a large South of the Boarder themed buffet, a few goofy videos and once again all hosted by the one and only Matt Mosieur. Over 260 awards were given out and many prizes from the series sponsors including Trinity, MIP and JConcepts.

After everyone had a short nights sleep, we were all up early Saturday morning to kick off the 2016 season. Beachline Raceway recently updated their track layout and this indoor facility had the surface in perfect condition for a long day of racing. The first qualifiers kicked off just after 10:30am and the final A Main was run just before midnight.

The A Mains kicked off with the Novice class. A very large turnout had many drivers trying to make their way into the A Main. For the first time we had a C Main in the Novice class. Collin Bruce and Zakary James would bump themselves into the B Main. After an exciting B Main, we saw Shawn Schmidt and Bobby Iafrate bump up into the A Main. Shelby Owens would go on to take the overall win in the Novice class followed by Gavin Giadomenico, James Shoaf and Bobby Iafrate finishing 4th after bumping out of the B main.

The largest class at race 1 was up next, Independent Stock Buggy. New requirements for the 2016 season had everyone on the same tires. The handout tire for this class was the JConcepts Bar Codes in Gold Compound front and rear. This new rule made the class easier and less expensive for the Intermediate driver. Starting off with an E Main, we had two young drivers bumping up to the D Main, Ethan Kepple and AJ Reynolds both moved up from Novice this year. The D Main had Greg Rhodes and Jonathan Hutton bumping up to the C Main. Tim Barth and Mike Ricciartelli would move up into the B Main and veteran Super Cup racers Danny Wight and Tom Allen would move themselves into the A Main. TQ Russ Giandomenico would go on to finish in the 2 spot. Shad Galante took the win and Brian Lewis rounded out the podium.

The Expert Stock Buggy class also had a huge turnout. Starting off with the E main, we had Lee Setser and Mitchell Schaeffer bumping up to the D Main. Lee Setser would continue on and bump himself into the C Main along with Dave Kennedy. Bumping out of the C Main would be Julien Oliveras and Tyler Rimes. Julien would go on to bump out of the B Main along with Jordan Newman. Alan Wight would start off the A Main in the top spot but would end up finishing 3rd overall. Jeremy Harris would finish in the 2 spot and JConcepts driver AJ Marasco would take a well deserved win.

Another big class here at the start of the 2016 season, Mod 2wd Buggy had TJ Bell and Jeremy Dasch bumping out of the D Main and into the C main. With some of the top drivers in Florida filling up the C Main, there would be some great racing ahead. Leon Mcintosh and Jeremy Harris would bump up to the B Main. Yet another stacked field, the B Main would have Ryan Eckert and Jason Ruona moving up into the A Main. An exciting A Main would have former World Champion Billy Easton in the TQ spot but it would be JConcepts’ own Paul Wynn taking the win followed by JR Mitch and Daimon Borkowicz.

Kicking off the “experienced” class of 40+ Mod Buggy we saw John Dasch and Bryan Thomas bumping up into the A Main. Bart Collins would TQ and take the overall win. Rich Schaeffer would finish in the 2 spot followed by Billy Bruce in 3rd.

Another popular class would be Stock Truck. Taking the win in the D Main, AJ Reynolds and Danny Wight would bump into the C Main. Showing some strong driving, AJ would finish 3rd in the C Main, he will be one to watch in the future. Danny Wight would go on to win the C Main and bump up along with Jeff Lynn. In The B Main, Reuben Diaz and Matt Kepple would bump their way into the A Main. Robert “Landshark” Molina would be sitting in the TQ spot for the A Main. Robert would go on to finish in a strong second place with JConcepts teammate, AJ Marasco finishing in 1st. Kyle Paquett would round out the podium in 3rd.

JR Mitch would TQ and win the Mod Truck class followed by his TLR/JConcepts teammate Max Flurer in 2nd and Bart Collins taking the 3rd step on the podium.

Stock Short Course would see Keith Shivers and Dwayne Yeomans move up to the A Main. Top Qualifier Robert Molina would take the overall win followed by Trey Roberts in the 2 spot and Kevin Abbott in the 3.

For the ever exciting 4wd Short Course class, we had David Iler and Joshua Alfaro bump up to the A Main. Trey Roberts had the overall TQ for the night but settled for 3rd. Daniel Paz took the win and Julien Oliveras finished 2nd.

The 4wd 13.5 Class also had decent turnout once again. The D Main had Matt Kepple and Kiarra Hold bumping up to the C Main. Matt would go on to dominate the C Main and bump his way to the B along with Matt Kirkpatrick. Erik Everett and Kyle Roberts took the bump spots to the A Main. Tiler Pollack was Top Qualifier and finished 3rd, Danny Chavez took 2nd and JConcepts Driver, Lee Setser took the overall victory.

The final race of the evening was another action packed event. Leading up to the A Main, Chad Eubanks and Daniel Castaneda bumped up to the B Main. Beachline’s own Seth Moore along with Gene Hickerson bumped their way into the A Main event. Top Qualifier and JConcepts Team Driver Daimon Borkowicz went on to win the A main followed by Leon Mcintosh who moved his way from 6th place to finish 2nd and TLR/JConcepts Driver JR Mitch was close behind in 3rd.

We want to thank the entire staff at Beachline Raceway for such an amazing facility! We also want to the thank all the Florida, Georgia and North Carolina racers who travel long distances every month to support this series, it would not be what it is without you guys. Thanks to our announcer and race director Lance MacDonald for keeping the pace and getting us done in a decent amount of time.

Race 2 will be hosted by Coral Springs RC Track on February 13th, don’t miss out! Sign up online for all the Super Cup races over on RCSignup.com. Be sure to like the Super Cup Facebook page and check out the Events section on JConcepts.net for more info on the series. See you at round 2, Let’s Race!