Category: Information

Introducing the “Super Stock” Class

While I’m not sure of the interest level in this class, several drivers have expressed interest in a slightly more advanced set of rules to enable more tuning and flexibility in building cars.

Our Super Stock class is based on the 2022 HOPRA SUPER STOCK rules but has two key differences:

    1. HOPRA restricts motor and traction magnets to stock Ceramic-only material and does not allow Compression-molded Polymer (Level 4) magnets in this class. We allow standard V-SPEC Level-4 magnets.
    2. HOPRA does not, however, have any restrictions on armature bushings, gearing, axles, or wheels and tires. This means HOPRA rules allow dual-compound tires, we don’t. Only silicon slip-on tires are permitted.

Kevin Webster has a bunch of HOPRA-legal Super Stock cars, which he and I tested extensively. The general consensus was that the HOPRA car was not significantly different than our current Viper V-SPEC (SPEC-RACER) class and forcing interested drivers to purchase expensive ceramic-grade magnets for these platforms would be a burden to many of our drivers.

Due to the cost of dual-compound tires and the lack of interest in purchasing them, we decided against allowing dual-compound tires—for now. In our testing, dual-compound tires produced about a half-second faster lap times.

So, why setup and race a Super Stock car? Well, one reason is that there are a few more tuning options available in this class:

      • Open gearing choices, unrestricted.
      • Adjustable brush tension (on brush-barrel type chassis’)
      • Any material for armature bushings, except ball-bearings.
      • Many competitive chassis options: BSRT G3/G3R/G3RS/G3RSB, Mattel/Tyco 440-X2, Micro Speedworks T+, Slottech T1/T2/T3
        and T1X, Wizzard-Patriot P2/P3/Scorpion/Storm/Storm CH22/Fusion, Viper V1 (V-SPEC).

Bottom line, this class provides a bit more speed and tuning flexibility to those drivers interested in moving up a notch or two in tuning ability and options.

We’ll see where this class goes. Right now, only a couple of active drivers have these cars ready to race. That said, you can actually just run a good stock Viper V-SPEC and do fine on most tracks. The gearing options are pretty simple, all you need are a couple of spare rear axle assemblies with lower or higher gearing and swap them out to see what works best on the particular course you’re running on.

The other tuning options are a bit more nuanced but also very useful.

Feel free to comment on this new class here or on my Slot Car MeWe page here.

Okay, shut up and drive!

Combined Lap Records for SR2 and SR3 Posted

Always good to know the time to beat when you’re testing and tuning slot cars.

It’s clunky, I know. But you can sort by any field in the table and search for anything. Pay attention to the track layout and dates. I’ll try to keep it up-to-date but haven’t automated the process yet.

Lap Records

Stay tuned for more slot car racing stats from Stewart Raceway…

2022 HOPRA Nats In The Books

HOPRA held their National Championships back in June. They had 0ver 100 drivers totaling over 500 entries in their various classes.

We run HOPRA rules at Stewart Raceway. We currently only run two platforms today that are almost always raced at the Nationals: the Viper V-SPEC Lexan car, aka: SPEC RACER; and the Viper-Jet Lexan car, aka: SPEC JET classes.

I suspect next year HOPRA will roll out OS3 TFX rules. No idea what those rules will look like. Hopefully, our TFX Modified class is in the ballpark.

HOPRA also runs a support race using the Mega G+ platforms at the NATS, employing BOX STOCK rules. We don’t run this car other than IROC but it’s a simple and good driving platform and one that all of us have a few of. Maybe we should consider adding it to our active platforms?

Full results and pics here.

Stewart Raceway Current Driver Classification

Unleash the Driver WithinThe following table shows the current driver classifications at Stewart Raceway. The Average Placings figure represents historical data where 2020 to 2022 data is not available. If a driver has an Expert classification but does not have a commensurate Average Placing, it is because they have established themselves as recognized Experts in the sport/hobby at other venues and historically.

Driver Average Placing Classification
Kevin Webster 5.6 Sportsman
George Peters 4.5 Sportsman
Greg Kondrek 3.1 Expert
Ted Essy 2.9 Expert
Jordan Walker 6.2 Sportsman
Brad Sandahl 3.1 Expert
Ian Douglass 2.1 Expert
Russ Toy 4.7 Sportsman
Ken Stephens 3.3 Expert
Rick Voegelin 4.7 Expert
Randy Tragni 4.6 Sportsman
Dan Jiminez 3.1 Expert
Paul Leuty 5.1 Sportsman
Bruce Douglas 5.3 Sportsman
Mark Owyang 5.2 Expert
Don Riemersma 3.8 Expert
Steve Testerman 8 Expert
Randy Cook 2 Expert
Dave Mcconaughey 4.7 Sportsman
Jerry Pearson 4.2 Sportsman
Mike Andrews 4 Expert
Jeff Hurley 5.6 Expert
Mitch Valder 5.8 Expert
Jared Johnson 5 Sportsman
Ron Coaxum 3.2 Expert

Keep in mind, you can request to upgrade to Expert at any time, no restrictions. You can also request a downgrade (reclassification) to Sportsman if your current Average Placing is higher than 4.0. You cannot reclassify during a race day event or during an in-progress racing series.

The only anomaly I see is George Peters being ranked a Sportsman. He’s definitely an Expert when you consider his experience. However, in the last two seasons at Stewart Raceway, he’s reporting a 4.5 placings average. And, since we don’t have any Experts running in the current series, which George is leading, I’m okay with him remaining a Sportsman driver. If he wins it, he’ll definitely be reclassified as an Expert.

Okay, shut up and drive!

Introducing Driver Classifications

We’ve discussed this issue a number of times over the last couple of seasons. Starting with our next series, Stewart Raceway is implementing a two-tiered driver classification as follows:

    • Expert
    • Sportsman

Of course, until we have participant numbers to justify it, the two different classifications of drivers will race together but scored and stats tracked separately. This means that there will be an Expert class winner and a Sportsman class winner in every race and at the end of every series at Stewart Raceway. This means more work for Race Directors, but it is much needed to increase interest and participation in our hobby/sport.

Today, we have entry-level and skilled drivers entering the scene after over 30 years or more of not driving a slot car. We also have several new drivers who have never raced slot cars until very recently. It is clearly not a level playing field to score or measure these drivers against established and much more experienced, active drivers.

The method I’ve decided on to determine a driver’s classification is to evaluate their average placings at Stewart Raceway. If a driver’s average placing at Stewart Raceway is over four (4) or lower, he or she will be considered an Expert. Any driver with average placings higher than four (4) will be considered a Sportsman level driver. This metric is taken from event statistics at Stewart Raceway since 2018.

Of course, any driver may upgrade or downgrade their classification, at any time. Upgrading (reclassification) from Sportsman to Expert has no restrictions. Downgrading (reclassification) from Expert to Sportsman can only be done if the driver currently has a higher than four (4) average placing score. Reclassifications will not be granted during a race day event or ongoing racing series.

Obviously, there are Experts out there that have not raced at Stewart Raceway for a long time. If and when such drivers return to racing at Stewart Raceway, the Race Director will determine what classification they will resume competition in. Generally, if a racer was previously classified as an Expert and has not requested a reclassification, they will resume racing as an Expert.

Why no Pro class? Well, we don’t run any “Pro-level” cars. On the national level, pretty much all of the cars and rules we’ve been running are Amateur level. Yes, the SPEC-JET, SPEC-STOCK, and SPEC-RACER are more advanced than the BOX-STOCK classes, but they are not intended as exclusive Pro-level classes.

I’m all in on higher-level platforms but we just don’t have the interest in our current group right now. Hopefully, as we grow, interest and participation increases, and we’ll introduce a SUPER STOCK or MODIFIED class at some point. We actually have the TFX “Modified” class now but only a few have built cars for that class.

Anyway, I’ll follow this post with a listing of Stewart Raceway drivers and their current classification levels based on SR2 and SR3 results since January 2020.

Okay, shut up and drive!