FCC Friday Qualifying: Zalewski Leads Both as Kobbevik Shares the TQs
Day one of qualifying is in the books here at the 2026 JConcepts Florida Carpet Championships at Beachline Raceway, and it’s been a hot three days on the carpet—in actual temperature and, come Friday’s 4WD Mod action, between teammates too. Let’s get into it!
Practice and seeding belonged to Schumacher. The whole team looked strong, with Ben Smith, Broc Champlin and Daniel Kobbevik particularly impressive. Everyone else looked a little on the back foot.
Friday, though, the tide turned towards XRAY. From where I was watching, the team looked to have found something overnight: they were fast across several classes. Kobbevik remained Schumacher’s fastest qualifier, taking one round TQ in each Pro Mod class, but Bartek Zalewski finished the day leading both. The pair split the Q1 and Q2 TQs in 2WD and 4WD, with Bartek’s first and second in each class giving him the overnight advantage.
Pro Mod 2WD: Kobbevik answers back
Zalewski opened with 19 laps in 5:03.798 to take Q1, but there was very little breathing room. Marcus Kaerup was only 0.779 seconds behind in second, followed by Kobbevik, Broc Champlin and Joona Haatanen. The entire top five finished within two seconds of the round’s benchmark. Kobbevik also had a coming-together with what looked to me to be teammate Ben Smith during the opening 2WD qualifier.
Kobbevik responded in Q2 with 19 laps in 5:01.343, improving his own opening-round time by 3.501 seconds and setting the quickest 2WD run of Friday’s two qualifiers. Zalewski took second, 2.936 seconds back, while Champlin moved from fourth to third. Davey Batta improved from sixth to fourth, with Kaerup fifth.
That leaves Zalewski on 2 points and Kobbevik right behind on 3, with both rounds counting. Kaerup holds third overall on the tiebreak over Champlin, both on 7, followed by Batta on 10 and Haatanen on 11.
Ben Smith made a useful recovery, going from 14th in Q1 to seventh in Q2. His second run reached 19 laps in 5:11.164 and brought him into tenth overall. Tom Rinderknecht, meanwhile, posted eighth in both rounds.
Pro Mod 4WD: Zalewski turns the tables
In 4WD, Kobbevik struck first. His 20 laps in 5:13.769 beat Zalewski by just 0.772 seconds in Q1, with the pair the only drivers to reach 20 laps. Champlin was third, Brennan Schimmel fourth and Rinderknecht fifth.
Q2 belonged to Bartek. The track temperature dropped, but the temperature on the drivers’ stand did not. While Zalewski was putting together his 20-lap run, Kobbevik and teammate Champlin had a series of clashes through the off-camber and dogleg. It ended with both cars crashing at the 180-degree step-up, down in that little pit of no return and needing a marshal.
Daniel was visibly upset on the stand and finished eighth in the round. Broc clawed his way back to third, behind Bartek and Brennan Schimmel. The exchange on the stand was heated and continued as they walked out to their marshal spots. Who was at fault? I can’t answer that. What I can say is that neither looked happy with the other. I can’t imagine team dinner was too lively!
On the clock, Zalewski’s 20 laps in 5:13.728 were the only 20-lap run of Q2. Schimmel edged Champlin for second by just 0.172 seconds, recording 19 laps in 5:00.431 against Broc’s 5:00.603. Batta took fourth and Rinderknecht repeated his fifth place.
Kobbevik’s eighth in Q2 changed the overall picture. Zalewski leads on 2 points, four clear of Schimmel and Champlin. Schimmel’s second-place round puts him ahead on the tiebreak, while Kobbevik sits fourth on 8 and Rinderknecht fifth on 10.
Batta’s fourth was a strong response to a Q1 DNS and put him ninth overall. Kaerup and Smith went the other way: after sixth and seventh respectively in Q1, both recorded Q2 DNFs.
Expert Spec: Chavez and Bayer lead the way
The Expert Spec classes never disappoint for competition. In MERIDITH MOTORSPORTS Expert 17.5 2WD Buggy, Schumacher’s Daniel Chavez held the overnight lead on 3 points. He took Q1 with 18 laps in 5:07.519 and backed it up with third in Q2. Domnic Paccione answered with the Q2 TQ, 18 laps in 5:06.095, putting him second overall on 5 points, ahead of Aaron Mitchell on the tiebreak.
In Reedy Expert 13.5 4WD Buggy, XRAY’s Martin Bayer was turning back the hands of time with two round TQs. But 15-year-old Maccoy Martin was right there: second in both rounds, just 0.102 seconds behind Bayer in Q1 and 0.558 seconds back in Q2. Bayer’s two zeros put him on top overnight, with Martin second on 4 points. That is close racing!
Saturday: plenty still to settle
Bartek Zalewski is the man of the hour, carrying momentum into Saturday. Kobbevik is only one point away in 2WD, while Schimmel and Champlin are the nearest points challengers in 4WD. With two more qualifying rounds on Saturday’s programme, plus Super Pole for the Pro Mod classes, there is plenty left to settle. These are Friday’s provisional standings after Q2, with both rounds counting—not final TQ honours or main-event grids.
Tune into the action on Elite RC Productions’ YouTube channel, linked below.
Lefty the Great | NNRC Media
Coverage
Coverage: Elite RC Productions. Trackside observations: Lefty / NNRC Media. This report covers Friday’s Q1 and Q2.