Month: February 2022

Race Report: 2022 Formula-e Series, Round 5 Finale

The final round of the 2022 Formula “e” Series is in the books. This series was unique in that it featured one class of car in a 400-lap, endur0-thon race at each event. We’ve all done 12-hour, 24-hour, six-hour race days. This feature race is a 50-lap/segment race where each driver does two rotations in each lane to complete 400 laps. Combine this with five other 20 or 30-lap races and you get a very stressful day of adrenaline-pumping action.

Round 5 was held on the SR2 straight road course and got underway a bit later than usual.

We ran a full program of six races, including the traditional Formula “e” Tyco-Jet IROC cars.

Two of the races would include Concourse d’ Elegance judging of all cars entered in each race. Going into the final round, Ian Douglass and George Peters were tied in Concourse points. At the end of the day, they would be tied again, with Ian winning the Viper Formula V competition and George winning the Jag Hobbies PR-5 Indy/F1 competition. Both cars were incredibly detailed and beautiful works of craftsmanship and art. 2021 Rookie of the Year, Brad Sandahl, presided as CdE judge.  Since Ian’s car suffered some serious damage in the Formula V race, and he’d already taken home the CdE trophy for the 2021 50/50 Series, he graciously conceded victory to George to settle the tie. (Sorry, our “senior moment” race director failed to get a pic–again!)

Race 1: Tyco-Jet IROC(12.5v)

As always, the Tyco-Jet race was very competitive with Ian Douglass taking the win by just two laps to Home  Cook’n. Greg Kondrek would take the last podium spot. There was only one lap between second place and sixth place.

Place Name Laps Points
1 Ian Douglass 80 16
2 Steve Stewart 78 13
3 Greg Kondrek 77 11
4 Brad Sandahl 76 7
5 George Peters 76 6
6 Russ Toy 76 5
7 Jordan Walker 74 4
8 Kevin Webster 64 3

Detailed Results

Race 2: Jag Hobbies TR-3 “Lites” (15v)

We hadn’t ever raced the TR-3 in an individual race, only IROC. This race was also hotly contested with Greg Kondrek taking the win (in a borrowed Sprint car) over Russ Toy by just two laps. Brad Sandhal would bag the final podium spot. Russ seems to like the TR-3 as much as he likes the NC-2, winning two heats and second overall. Kevin Webster had a great run in this one, just missing a podium spot by one lap. These Jag platforms are producing some very competitive racing, again with second through sixth each separated by just one lap at the finish–amazing!

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Greg Kondrek 79 16 414.275
2 Russ Toy 77 13 388.949
3 Brad Sandahl 76 11 391.95
4 Kevin Webster 75 7 417.383
5 Steve Stewart 74 6 427.721
6 Ian Douglass 73 5 417.663
7 George Peters 69 4 420.891
8 Jordan Walker 66 3 450.937

Detailed Results.

Race 3: OS3 TFX “Lites” (18v)

We tried to field TFX “Modified” cars for this race but just didn’t have enough cars to go around. In the end, Home Cook’n took the win just one lap ahead of Ian Douglass. The big story in this race was Kevin Webster again fighting very hard and well on his way to a podium finish when the ugly “Pit-In” bug reared its head, not once but twice. Kevin came in second in two heats and was looking like he might just land on the podium in this one before the bug hosed him.  T-Jet “ace,” George Peters would round out the podium in his Concourse d’ Elegance winning Caddilac.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 80 16 624.439
2 Ian Douglass 79 13 633.107
3 George Peters 77 11 624.483
4 Brad Sandahl 77 7 630.741
5 Russ Toy 75 6 637.139
6 Greg Kondrek 71 5 654.764
7 Kevin Webster 71 4 655.182
8 Jordan Walker 70 3 672.171

Detailed Results

Race 4: Viper Formula “V” (12.5v)

Our newest class and the second time we’ve run these. This car is just a Viper-Jet chassis with a long wheelbase and hard F1/Indy style body. Ian Douglass dominated this one with three heat wins and a perfect score.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Ian Douglass 80 16 441.911
2 Steve Stewart 79 13 504.712
3 Greg Kondrek 78 11 510.372
4 Brad Sandahl 72 7 476.453
5 George Peters 70 6 486.183
6 Russ Toy 66 5 452.364
7 Kevin Webster 64 4 498.191
8 Jordan Walker 58 3 501.578

Detailed Results

Race 5: Jag Hobbies NC-2 GT-40 “Lites” (15v)

As usual, the NC-2 race was hot and heavy and extremely competitive with a multitude of different drivers winning heats. Expected favorite, NC-2 “Ace” Russ Toy, did not have a great run in this one and was only able to win one heat. In the end, Ian Douglass came out on the top with 79-laps. 2021 Rookie of the Year, Brad Sandahl, took second with current series points leader, Greg Kondrek landing the final podium spot.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Ian Douglass 79 16 362.047
2 Brad Sandahl 78 13 369.208
3 Greg Kondrek 76 11 368.741
4 George Peters 76 7 397.2
5 Steve Stewart 75 6 382.036
6 Russ Toy 73 5 384.532
7 Kevin Webster 63 4 379.436
8 Jordan Walker 58 3 395.694

Detailed Results

Race 6: Jag Hobbies PR-5 F1/Indy “Lites” 400-Laps (16.5v)

The Formula-e “Feature” race was saved for last this time based on input from drivers that felt it was way intense and should be the final race of the day. Don’t think many would argue that point. The Jag Hobbies PR-5 platform is very fast and a bit more difficult to drive due to the characteristics of the car that the “Box Stock” rules create.

From almost the very beginning, this race was a battle between Ian Douglass and Brad Sandahl.  Both drivers won plenty of heats but both drivers also had a few less than perfect heats and came up short in total laps, which isn’t unusual for this race format. Of course, other drivers were still in the hunt and putting pressure on both of them. Greg Kondrek, Kevin Webster, Home Cook’n, and George Peters were all very much in the hunt until about segment 13 of 16. Ian finished his rotation by winning the heat with a perfect score, putting him and Brad in first and second with 395-laps for Ian and 393-laps for Brad. Nobody could better those numbers going into the final two segments. Ian would win the feature event by just two laps over Brad Sandahl, and 17-laps over Home Cook’n in third place. The 400-lap event is all about fuel management dynamics and racing the track, not other drivers.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Ian Douglass 395 16 1752.973
2 Brad Sandahl 393 13 1797.759
3 Steve Stewart 378 11 1852.765
4 Greg Kondrek 374 7 1781.567
5 Kevin Webster 368 6 1869.674
6 George Peters 361 5 1836.832
7 Russ Toy 331 4 1796.964
8 Jordan Walker 296 3 1891.188

Detailed Results

Round 5 Overall Results
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Ian Douglass 786 82 4218.739
2 Greg Kondrek 755 61 4359.381
3 Brad Sandahl 772 58 4280.082
4 George Peters 729 39 4402.595
5 Russ Toy 698 38 4309.972
6 Kevin Webster 705 28 4438.711
7 Jordan Walker 622 19 4552.32

Hat’s off to Ian Douglass. He needed a little help to have a shot at displacing Greg Kondrek’s points lead in the series. Greg fought hard, including two spectacular performances with borrowed cars. Brad Sandahl, having missed three of the five races, and most of Round 1, came back to racing in Round 5 and showed that he’s the “real deal,” placing third overall.

Okay, so who the heck won the 2022 Formula “e” Series? Well, we didn’t know for sure on Saturday after the race due to the complexity of the points system. But now we do…

Driver #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 ** Total Out of 4
Ian Douglas 71.75 0 86 85 83.25 4 330 330
Greg Kondrek 79.25 82 70.5 64.5 64 5 365.25 301.25
George Peters 53.25 64 44 62.75 46 5 275 231
Russ Toy 41.5 52 53.5 0 44.25 4 195.25 199.25
Kevin Webster 31 0 37 42 34.25 4 148.25 152.25
Jordan Walker 16 0 33.25 30 20 4 103.25 107.25
Brad Sandahl 15 0 0 0 63.25 2 80.25 82.25

** Appearance points

Wow! Another great series and very competitive racing. Congratulations to Ian for winning his second straight Stewart Raceway series and supporting our racing program. Ian is a class act and an extremely talented and accomplished slot car racer/builder. He also has an incredible talent for tuning and campaigning some of the best performing and nicest-looking cars we’ve seen since Ted Essy abandoned us for Sac…just saying.

Also, hats off to our 2021 “Junior of the Year” driver, Jordan Walker, for putting up with all of us “old school” guys and showing up every other weekend to race little cars with us. He’s constantly improving and has clearly demonstrated that he’s got what it takes to win races.

We’ll have a “lavish” awards ceremony the next time we formally meet, including medals to the second and third-place finishers, Greg Kondrek and George Peters.  Very impressive driving by all!

Okay, shut up and drive!

SR3 Construction Update – February 16, 2022

Finally able to get back to work on the new track this week. Not a lot of progress but I was able to wire up one driver’s station and test the individual lane voltage control hardware.

Yep, SR3 will support testing pretty much any type of car simultaneously. In the past, most tracks have one or two power supplies and everybody had to test/practice at the same voltage. SR3 was designed to allow any lane to operate at whatever voltage the driver desires.

The initial hardware will support two preset voltage selections and a variable voltage setting. The track will be fed by two 30VDC, 10-amp, regulated power supplies: one for lanes 1, 2, and 3; the other on the opposite side of the track supplying power to lanes 4, 5, and 6.

The key technology that allows the driver to select lane voltage at the driver’s station is programmable DC Voltage Converters at each driver’s station. A small console just below the driver’s station allows the driver to set or adjust the voltage to whatever car or power level they want to test or practice at.

I’ve always hated the fact that we could always only test/practice at a given voltage level, which severely limited track time and testing. This system should alleviate that problem and provide much more flexibility to drivers during practice and testing sessions.

Of course, the race computer can set and lock these devices to a common voltage for racing purposes. But when the track is open for testing or practice, drivers can run any type of car, at any voltage, from 5v to 28v.

That’s the plan anyway. Today, I tested the wiring and hardware on one lane and it worked flawlessly. The next test is with all six driver’s stations–at the same time. Then, of course, it’ll all have to be tested in real race conditions using the track computer to control all stations.

It’s coming along nicely but still a lot of painstaking labor and technical hurdles to overcome.

Okay, shut up and drive!

2022 Formula “e” Series Official Points Standings after Round 4

PR-5 is the featured platform of this series.

Okay, going into the finale round on February 26, here are the current points standings complete with Finished Ahead Of (FAO) and Appearance points:

The final round is expected to have a full field present and ready to race. NC-2 ace, Russ Toy, and 2021 Rookie of the Year, Brad Sandahl, have informed us that they intend to return to racing in the Round 5 road-course finale.

 

2022 Formula “e” Series Drivers Point Standings
Driver #1 #2 #3 #4 Appear Total Avg
1 Greg Kondrek 79.25 82 70.5 64.5 4 300.25 77.3
2 Ian Douglas 71.75 0 86 85 3 245.75 80.9
3 George Peters 53.25 64 44 62.75 4 228 60.0
4 Russ Toy 41.5 52 53.5 0 3 150 49.0
5 Kevin Webster 31 0 37 42 3 113 36.7
6 Jordan Walker 16 0 33.25 30 3 82.25 19.8
7 Brad Sandahl 15 0 0 0 1 16 15.0

With those two very capable drivers returning to the series, the final standings just might see some surprises.  Recall that each driver can only use their best four race day points totals in the final standings. Looking at each driver’s best three races, Ian Douglass is averaging 80.9 race day points to Greg Kondrek’s 77.3 race day points average. Having Brad and Russ back in the mix will certainly add to the pressure these two drivers will be feeling on race day.

Wildcard, George Peters, looks to be well-positioned for that last spot on the finale podium. However, with Russ and Brad back in the mix, it’s going to be a wild time for drivers shooting for those top 3 finishing spots.

For the rest of us, we’ll all be doing our best to win races and disrupt the predictions of the media and expectations of our beloved competitors—as we always do.

Stay tuned for a Round 5 race day schedule and registration link. If you have some suggestions for classes to run, please let me know ASAP.

Okay, shut up and drive!

Race Report: 2022 Formula-e Series, Round 4

Round 4 of the 2022 Formula “e” Series was yet another barn-burner day.

Round 4 was held on the SR2 Oval course and got underway on schedule and with G-Man (Greg Kondrek) arriving in time to attend the driver’s meeting and make the start of the first race.

We ran a full program plus one unofficial “Dirt” car race using the venerable MegaG+ w/ SK/Whelan Modified bodies.

We opened the day of racing with the first-ever Formula “e” car, the Tyco-Jet. Sort of a Stewart Raceway tradition now, we always start Fe races with the Tyco-Jet, which most guys seem to enjoy in spite of its excessively “loose” feel, even for a “Jet” car.

Race 1: Tyco-Jet IROC(12.5v)
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 120 16 363.732
2 Ian Douglass 120 13 364.581
3 Greg Kondrek 117 11 371.869
4 George Peters 109 7 373.295
5 Kevin Webster 87 6 372.056
6 Jordan Walker 82 5 381.673

The vintage Tyco-Jet IROC cars seem to be enjoyed by most, especially on the oval. Home Cook’n, Ian Douglass, and Greg Kondrek battled this one out with Home Cook’n and Ian finishing 1-2 and on the same lap.  Detailed Results

Race 2: OS3 TFX “Lites” (18v)
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Ian Douglass 118 16 354.852
2 Steve Stewart 118 13 371
3 George Peters 110 11 361.47
4 Greg Kondrek 108 7 367.217
5 Kevin Webster 84 6 350.858
6 Jordan Walker 81 5 366.201

Somehow I muffed a couple of podium shots on the day. This shot is actually the Concourse d’Elegance winner, George Peter’s Caddilac on the top step. Another Home Cook’n/Ian Douglass battle royal. Obviously, Ian won the race but George won the Concourse judging and the final spot on the podium in the always a blast TFX “Lites” class. Detailed Results.

Race 3: Formula V (12.5v)

Sorry, no podium shot here. This was the Formula V “F1/Indy” class debut.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 120 16 298.223
2 Ian Douglass 117 13 283.988
3 Greg Kondrek 106 11 289.123
4 George Peters 106 7 291.924
5 Kevin Webster 100 6 293.024
6 Jordan Walker 67 5 302.438

This class seems like it might stick. The current rules are fairly vague but the car is based on the BSRT Formula G-Jet, which is actually fairly popular nationally. I think most of us utilized Viper-Jets and just moved the front axles to the long wheel-base hole and added a Tomy SG+ F1/Indy body. Home Cookn’s car was a HCS “Sportsman” chassis, which isn’t as good as a pure BSRT Formula G-Jet but it does have a 25T crown, which was actually very smooth on the oval and seemed to come off the corners a bit quicker. I know second-place driver, Ian Douglass,  had converted his cars to the upcoming HOPRA rules, which limit the crown gear and pinions in this class to 7/23.  The third-place finisher, Greg Kondrek, was running a borrowed car with a 7/21 gear setup but with MG+ front wheels and tires, which may explain why he was off the pace. The Sportsman front-end is also higher than the Formula G-Jet but seemed to work pretty good on the oval. Detailed Results

Race 4:  Jag Hobbies PR-5 F1/Indy “Lites” 400-Laps (16.5v)
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 George Peters 387 16 831.205
2 Steve Stewart 385 13 804.704
3 Ian Douglass 376 11 805.023
4 Greg Kondrek 357 7 878.33
5 Kevin Webster 352 6 827.103
6 Jordan Walker 207 5 842.132

The “Feature 400” race was another barn-burner race that was looking like another dual between Ian and Home Cook’n. Kondrek had a very fast car but was struggling with handling issues. Meanwhile, George Peters was quietly picking up laps, points, and determination. Going into the final heat, Ian was on the top of the leaderboard with 376-laps but done with his rotation. With only 376-laps, there were plenty of drivers thinking that wasn’t going to be enough.  Kevin Webster was having a pretty good run and sitting in second place, but with only 352-laps, he too was on the bubble.  George knew what he had to do and went out in the final segment and drove the wheels off his car to take the win by two laps.  Between the PR-5 chassis’ speed and the Formula “e” 50-lap/fuel format, this race is an adrenaline-overload pressure cooker, for sure.  Detailed Results

Race 5:  Retro-Vipers IROC (12v)
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Ian Douglass 120 16 356.6
2 Greg Kondrek 115 13 380.724
3 Steve Stewart 114 11 369.314
4 George Peters 114 7 388.475
5 Kevin Webster 89 6 384.786
6 Jordan Walker 72 5 382.919

The Retro-Viper is another cool car on the oval. Fast and loose, and a handful to drive. Ian Douglass nearly ran away with this one, winning three of his four rotations and out with a perfect score of 120-laps. It was another very competitive race but in the end, Ian won the race with a commanding 5-lap gap. The battle for second between Greg Kondrek, George Peters, and Home Cook’n was all that remained to be settled going into the final segment.  Home Cook’n was out with a 114-lap score, Kondrek at 85-laps, and Peters at 84-laps. The final segment was amazing to watch. And, because I was out, I could watch it unfold. When the checkered flag dropped, Kondrek would best third and fourth by just one lap and seal the deal for the second spot on the podium. Home Cook’n managed to best Peters but only by points, not total laps. Both drivers finished with 114-laps. Very close racing is what it’s all about.  Detailed Results

Race 6:  Jag Hobbies NC-2 GT-40 “Lites” (15v)

The final “official” race of the day was another very competitive race (Sorry, muffed the podium shot). The NC-2 class is another highly competitive race where you’re dealing with a stock car and limited tuning options. However, on the oval, speed is the main ingredient for success. In this one, with NC-2 ace, Russ Toy, out of the line-up racing in Rocklin, Ian seemed to have the complete package and bested the field with another perfect run of 120-laps. Greg Kondrek was closest with 113-laps, and George Peters just one lap behind rounding out the podium.  Detailed Results

All in all, it was a fantastic day of racing. Though our lone Junior driver had a rare unproductive day, he hung in there for all six “official” races, and hopefully learned a bit about sportsmanship and racing in general. Amazingly, while Jordan was struggling in the feature PR-5 400-lap race, his Dad, George, won that race while also trying to coach Jordan through his entire rotation—that takes some serious focusing skills, for sure.

We actually ran one additional “Unofficial” MegaG+ SK/Whelan Modified “Dirt car” race after the official stuff finished. Ian Douglass won that race also–by four laps!

Current “Unofficial” 2022 Formula “e” Points Standings
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Greg Kondrek 3556 300 14064.65
2 Ian Douglass 2557 240 10498.28
3 George Peters 3314 223 14488.69
4 Russ Toy 2403 146 11253.26
5 Kevin Webster 2152 95 10747.85
6 Jordan Walker 1655 73 9918.38
7 Brad Sandahl 149 12 1241.092 
These results do not include "Finish Ahead Of" points awarded to all positions after 3rd place in every race. The "Official" standings will be posted separately soon.

Greg Kondrek is still leading the series but can only use points from four of his five races. Ian is very close in points and has missed one already. The G-Man is going to need a very good Round 5 finale to seal the deal and take home the trophy for the 2022 Formula “e” Series. Be ready for more adrenaline-pumping action in the series finale in just two weeks.

Round 5 is slated for February 26, 2022 and will be held on the SR2 road course. Stay tuned for details and event registration link.

Okay, shut up and drive!

2022 Racing Rules Finally Published

I’ve finally completed the 2022 general and platform racing rules for Stewart Raceway and any participating venues that choose to participate.

In order to simplify, streamline, and otherwise make the whole process easier and more manageable, I’ve decided to adopt 2022 HOPRA rules and have applied them to the various classes we run.

HOPRA’s rules are actually very similar to what we have now and also provide for additional popular classes down the road, should we desire to further expand our racing platforms portfolio.

Previously, class rules were listed on each Active Club Cars page. You can still get to the rules from those pages (under the Additional Information tab). However, all platform racing rules are now also accessible from a single page called “Racing Platform Rules” accessible from the site’s main menu.

I’ve also updated our General and House racing rules to include applicable HOPRA rules and guidelines.

I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion with rules we’ve recently seen with the TFX classes.  I don’t think anybody is going to be in violation of the new rules but I strongly urge you to review them and make sure all your cars fully comply with current .

Our vintage platforms (Mega-G, Lambo, Tomahawk, and Tyco-Jet) do not exactly fit into the current HOPRA rules. The “U-Build” rules currently posted will continue to apply to those classes.

Of course, these rules can be “tweaked” but I’d like to stay as close as we can to the national HOPRA rules.

Please feel free to comment on this post below or, preferably, in our Rules forum.

Okay, shut up and drive!