2023 Florida Carpet Championships Report

November 22, 2023

- The full article was originally published on JConcepts (Racing) -

The JConcepts crew spent all last week in rainy Florida for an epic weekend with some special guest European talent to mix it up with the American regulars at the annual Florida Carpet Championships event. #GoJConcepts

The schedule this year allowed for some more relaxed evenings and competitive, high intensity, race days. The track looked absolutely stunning with the gray infield areas and the fast flowing layout allowed for some great racing and aggressive passing opportunities.

Wednesday was free practice with Thursday having seeding practice. JConcepts drivers and racers using JConcepts rubber seeded in the following positions:

Seeding Practice:

2wd Modified: 1st Michal Orlowski (JC Privateer), 2nd David Ronnefalk (JC Privateer), 3rd Broc Champlin (JC)
4wd Modified: 1st Dakotah Phend (JC), 2nd Michal Orlowski (JC Privateer), 3rd David Ronnefalk (JC Privateer)
17.5 Expert 2wd Buggy: 1st Martin Bayer (JC Privateer), 2nd Tyler Hooks (JC), 3rd Daniel Chavez (JC Privateer)
13.5 Expert 4wd Buggy: 1st Martin Bayer (JC Privateer), 2nd Max Gotzl (JC Privateer), 3rd Jeff Stakiewicz (JC Privateer)
40+ 2wd Modified: 1st Brent Thielke (JC), 2nd Paul Wynn (JC), 3rd Jason Ruona (JC)

Moving into qualifying, racers had 4 rounds across 2 days to make their moves into the respective main events. 2 of the 4 rounds would count with a qualifying points based system. The following drivers topped the charts in qualifying for JConcepts.

Qualifying:

2wd Modified: 1st Michal Orlowski (JC Privateer), 2nd Bruno Coelho (JC Privateer), 3rd Broc Champlin (JC)
4wd Modified: 1st Bruno Coelho (JC Privateer), 2nd Broc Champlin (JC Privateer), 3rd Michal Orlowski (JC Privateer)
17.5 Expert Stock 2wd: 1st Martin Bayer (JC Privateer), 2nd Max Gotzl (JC Privateer), 3rd Daniel Chavez (JC Privateer)
13.5 Expert Stock 4wd: 1st Martin Bayer (JC Privateer), 2nd Max Gotzl (JC Privateer), 3rd Tyler Hooks (JC)
40+ 2wd Modified: 1st Brent Thielke (JC), 2nd Paul Wynn (JC), 3rd David Alberico (JC)

Next up was the super pole event for the 2nd-5th qualifiers in 2wd Modified and 4wd Modified where the fastest lap from each driver would choose their starting position for the main events on Sunday.

Super Pole Results:

2wd Modified: 1st Bruno Coelho (JC Privateer), 2nd Dakotah Phend (JC), 3rd Broc Champlin (JC), 4th Spencer Rivkin (JC)
4wd Modified: 1st Michal Orlowski (JC Privateer), 2nd Broc Champlin (JC), 3rd Dakotah Phend (JC), 5th David Ronnefalk (JC Privateer)

Finally drivers would battle it out in the triple main events on Sunday to crown not only class champions but also overall Modified, Expert Stock, and Independent Stock champions.

In 2wd Modified Michal Orlowski would go relatively uncontested to take the win after A2. Bruno Coelho would take 2nd overall with a 2nd in A1 and a bounce back win in A3. Broc Champlin would grab the final podium spot with a 3rd in A1 and a 2nd place finish in A3. Dakotah Phend would do his best to keep Orlowski on his toes in A2 taking 2nd in that one and combined with a 4th in A1 would finish 4th overall. Spencer Rivkin would tie Dakotah for 4th but would lose the tie breaker and settle for 5th.

2wd Modified: 1st Michal Orlowski (JC Privateer), 2nd Bruno Coelho (JC Privateer), 3rd Broc Champlin (JC)

4wd Modified would see the same story as 2wd with a winner after A2 but this time it would be Bruno Coelho. Michal Orlowski would finish 2nd in all 3 main events for 2nd overall. Broc Champlin would try to play spoiler by winning A3 but would still end up 3rd overall. David Ronnefalk would have to settle for 4th after 3rd place finishes in A1 and A2. Finally Dakotah Phend would end up 5th after a 3rd and a 5th place finish in the main events.

4wd Modified: 1st Bruno Coelho (JC Privateer), 2nd Michal Orlowski (JC Privateer), 3rd Broc Champlin

This would setup for another Super Pole to determine the Overall Modified Champion, Michal Orlowski would win taking the Championship for the 2nd year in a row.