Super Cup Round 3 Update - Lake Park Lutz, Florida

Event: Super Cup round 3
Location: Lake Park – Lutz, Florida
Date: April 25, 2009
Classes: 1/10th electric off-road
Race Reporter: Jason Ruona

A serious battle is heating up in Florida with the spring session of the 2009 RC Signup / JConcepts Super Cup series as round 3 swung it’s way into Lake Park in Lutz, Florida. Several drivers are jockeying for position in the standings with only 2 races to go. Who would go home with the points lead and bragging rights as the Florida State points leader heading into the final event scheduled in Coral Springs?

Practice started Saturday morning with all drivers trying to get a handle on the new layout. The Hurricane track crew did an outstanding job of preparing the track and surface prior to race day and traction was steadily raising throughout practice and then into qualifying. JR Mitch dusted off his 2wd electric buggy and showed everyone the fast line around the track with a blistering TQ run in the 2nd round of 2wd modified. Personally I had to settle for the 2nd grid position and Ryan Eckert qualified a sneaky 3rd. Leon McIntosh also looked quite fast in the 2nd round of qualifying but a problem with the vehicle forced him out and a grid position further back than his speed showed.

In the 4wd modified class I was able to redeem myself by taking the TQ in 2nd round of qualifying. After a less than brilliant 1st round in both classes I was just looking for something clean and without breakage. Choosing the Double Dees all the way around proved to be a great choice as the Lake Park track was now nice and grooved which made for the quickest lap times of the day and TQ worthy.

The 2wd stock class was TQ’ed by James Tanous and the stock truck class was TQ’ed by Lake Park veteran Spencer Sinsabaugh. The modified truck class and stock Slash class was TQ’ed by Leon McIntosh. Gary Mazur took his brand new SC10 to the top of the pack in qualifying in the Short Course modified class. Jeff Lynn put in a great qualifier and TQ’ed during the 2nd round in the J82 class.

Race director Kenny Holmes held a small break between qualifying and mains which allowed drivers to get a little extra practice in. Paul Wynn, Andrew Moore and JR Mitch all tried blue compound Bar Codes as the Lake Park track looked ready for them. After a little testing we all stuck with the safe selection (Double Dee’s) heading into the mains.

The 2wd modified main started with JR getting a great start with myself trailing behind. As we rounded the first turn I fell off the inside of the jump and quickly fell to last. JR looked extremely comfortable making the next several turns and had a great approach leading into the “surfs up section”. Surf’s up section took JR for a ride as JR nosed into the ground just before timing and scoring. This allowed Ryan Eckert to squeeze by and take control and take a huge lead. Several crashes by JR and me allowed Ryan to move into an even bigger lead while Leon picked his way through traffic and picked up the 2nd position. Jeremy Harris held 2nd through most of the race but a late mistake cost him as Leon overtook and Jeremy held on for 3rd. With the wild finishing results and a TQ by JR the points in the 2wd modified class were going to be close heading into round 4 in Coral Springs. Stay tuned!

4wd modified started with me getting a nice start but an unintentional hit from Ryan Eckert meant I was in need of a turnmarshal. Ryan also needed to be turnmarshaled which left Brent Kingsberry to take an early lead. After 1 lap I was able to re-take the lead with Ryan Eckert moving into second. A nice little battle was shaping up as Gary Mazur was a force against Eckert. A few mistakes by Ryan gave Gary a comfortable margin in 2nd over Ryan. The battle between 2nd and 3rd allowed me to escape and pull a large lead. As the vehicles crossed the finish it was JConcepts drivers finishing 1st and 2nd.

The 2wd stock class was settled early with Jeff Lynn taking advantage and a strong lead that was never relinquished. Jeff cruised onto the win and was unchallenged with TQ James Tanous taking the 2nd position. Good Run Jeff!

Stock truck was all about Chris Baron, the Red Baron doesn’t run a lot of electric but proved he was all business in the main as he held a consistent lead on stock truck TQ and specialist Spencer Sinsabaugh.

Short course Slash was alive and exciting; fresh paint jobs for Ryan Eckert meant things were starting to get a little more serious. Great paint job by Jim Myers on the Monster (Factory Dude) paint scheme b.t.w. Point’s leader Jim Myers was focused and determined to show the “factory dudes” how it is done in the Slash class. However, it was Leon McIntosh still sporting a complete stock Slash who continued his strong Lake Park performance by driving away from everyone for the victory. Eckert appeared to have something for him but when the 2 collided early in the main Leon enjoyed a large lead which was impossible to make-up for Ryan and his stock Slash. With the Leon victory things could get quite interesting in points as Jim Myers the points leader finished in 8th an obvious throw out. Who is going to make the run to Coral Springs to lock up the title?

Modified truck was a Leon show from start to finish. Leon’s X-Factory X-60 was on rails all weekend consistently turning quick lap and overall times. This trend continued into the main as Leon drove away from the field. Youngsters Zach Mote and Zack Genova had to settle for 2nd and 3rd respectively. The Zac’s will be looking forward to one of their favorite tracks for round 4 to try and makeup some points on the speedy Leon.

Finishing things off, Gary Mazur with his brand new SC10 took the win in the brand new modified short course class. Gary had a great race with Hurricane club member Dave Warr but ultimately Gary’s consistency paid off and walked away with the first win in the exciting new class.

Round 4 is scheduled for May 30th in Coral Springs. I’m in, who else is coming?

For complete photos of the event please visit www.rcactionpics.com

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