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Race Report: 2022 NASCAR MADness Series, Round 1

PR-5 Feature event starting grid. Top to bottom, Kevin Webster, Brad Sandhal, Jordan Walker, Home Cook’n, George Peters.

 

 

Wow! What an action-packed Day!

We had a smaller field than usual but it was as stacked as ever. The good news was that we were running an oval layout, which allowed us to use wireless call-buttons in lieu of turn marshals. Surprisingly, this actually worked out pretty well and we were able to run six races, including a 480-lap PR-5 Feature race with fuel stops and plenty of drama.

Sadly, the Race Director failed to get many pictures on the day, sorry.

Short story of results are below. George Peters leads in points after Round 1. Things may have been a bit different had Brad Sandhal not had to abandon the final two races  on the schedule due to family commitments. George dominated the NC-2 “Lites” class.

Overall Results and standings after Round 1:
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 George Peters 1063 69 4704.665
2 Brad Sandahl 900 55 3561.313
3 Kevin Webster 839 47 3798.461
4 Jordan Walker 603 25 3717.603
5 Steve Stewart 1207 90 4436.628
Race 1: AFX Magna-Traction Jalopies (IROC)

These were very cool Mercury sedans prepared by GP Designs (Georgie) that were really smooth and fun to drive. Detailed Results

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 147 16 695.992
2 Brad Sandahl 143 13 725.377
3 George Peters 139 11 717.186
4 Jordan Walker 116 7 756.994
Race 2: OS3 TFX “Lites” 18v

These cars are always fun and even more so on an oval. Brad had a slight advantage in this one since he was running a Fray-style resin body while the rest of us used NASCAR-style bodies.  Kevin Webster bested George for the final podium spot in this hotly contested race. Brad showed he hadn’t lost any of his 2021 Rookie of the Year luster, handily winning the race. (Detailed Results)

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Brad Sandahl 150 16 629.653
2 Steve Stewart 135 13 636.91
3 Kevin Webster 121 11 644.259
4 George Peters 120 7 749.468
5 Jordan Walker 100 6 705.083
Race 3: OS3 TFX “Stock” House Camaros (IROC)

These are also way fun cars on the oval. Stock isn’t exactly stock since we allow Black Dragon motor magnets to make these cars a little faster and better handling than “box stock.” Brad Sandahl actually won the final heat but some bad luck and mishaps kept him from pressuring Home Cook’n too much. Of course, George, no stranger to T-Jets, took the final podium spot. Kevin Webster was very close throughout the race and even managed a second place finish in Heat 5. Detailed Results

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 149 16 784.276
2 Brad Sandahl 141 13 793.091
3 George Peters 113 11 795.812
4 Kevin Webster 108 7 799.975
5 Jordan Walker 83 6 808.517
Race 4: Jag Hobbies PR-5 NASCAR “Lites” Feature Race 16.5v

The “extended” feature race was–as always–full of mayhem, vicious crashes, and major amounts of adrenaline. This race, by far, is the most intense race of the day simply because of the number of laps and the overall duration of the race. Shockingly, George managed to finish on the podium in spite of being heavily distracted throughout the race trying to help/coach Jordan. who was not having a good go of it at all. Jordan actually started out well and was in third place overall after three segments but gradually lost concentration and focus as the grueling race went on. Home Cook’n miraculously avoided much of the carnage the others had to contend with to secure the win in the very fast and furious feature race. Detailed Results

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 480 16 1408.693
2 Brad Sandahl 466 13 1413.192
3 George Peters 414 11 1435.543
4 Kevin Webster 392 7 1418.129
5 Jordan Walker 304 6 1447.009
Race 5: Jag Hobbies NC-2 “Lites” NASCAR 16.5v

With Brad out of the line-up and Jordan opting to marshal instead of driving, George was able to concentrate on his own racing, and nicely won the NC-2 race, winning three of the six segments. Detailed Results

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 George Peters 147 16 447.538
2 Steve Stewart 146 13 447.971
3 Kevin Webster 108 11 453.652
Race 6: Tyco 440-X2 Wide-Pan NASCAR Hardbody 15v

The final race of the day was a vintage-class race using our Tomahawk platforms with NASCAR-style hardbodies. George Peters clearly had the horsepower in this one but rear tire troubles plagued him throughout the six 25-lap segments. Home Cook’n manage to secure the win over the hard charging duo. Detailed Results

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 150 16 462.786
2 George Peters 130 13 559.118
3 Kevin Webster 110 11 482.446

Many thanks to those of your who participated in making Round 1 a success. The NASCAR theme seems to be enjoyable to everyone and the oval both a fun and challenging course to race on.

Round 2 is slated for June 11, 2022 and will be run on the SR3 straight road course. Stay tuned for details.

Okay, shut up and drive!

NASCAR MADNess Series, Round 1 Tomorrow!

Hi All,

It’s a good thing we’re running on the oval since we’ll be short a few of the usual suspects. This is going to be a wide-open series with several drivers already warning of missing more than one event.

When: Saturday, May 28, 2022

Event Schedule:

10:00 – Gates open, track power on, practice starts
11:15 – Drivers Meeting/Announcements
11:30 – Racing Begins (30-lap heats, fuel):

Race 1: JL or AFX M/T Gravity Car (IROC) 18v
Race 2: OS3 TFX “Lites” NASCAR bodies (if available)  18v (♣)
Race 3: Viper-Jet “NASCAR Lexan” 12v

Lunch Break

Qualifying: one warmup lap, then three laps under green. Average time of the three laps. The fast qualifier starts on the pole for the feature race.

Race 4: Jag Hobbies PR-5 NASCAR “Lites” 16.5v **Feature Race** (♣)
Race 5: Jag Hobbies NC-2 NASCAR “Lites” 15v
Race 6: Tyco 440-X2 Wide-Pan NASCAR Hardbody 15v (Tomahawk rules)

♣ Denotes Concourse d’ Elegance Points

Could be that some class races are replaced with IROC races. Feel free to bring any IROC sets you’d like to run.

Track open tonight for those of you who need some time on SR3.

Okay, shut up and drive!

TFX “Modified” Testing Yielding Interesting Results

OS3 TFX with a Wizzard E-Jet front-end, Black Dragon magnets, Titanium axles, and a Tornado 16.5-ohm arm.

Yea, I know, we haven’t raced this class…yet.

We’ve raced the TFX “Lite” platform, which is virtually a stock OS3 TFX platform with Black Dragon magnets instead of the factory-installed Grey Dragon magnets. The extra downforce makes the car much easier to drive and increases lap times considerably.

The TFX “Modified” is the next logical step for those who enjoy T-Jet-style racing but want to go a bit faster.  Our rules allow quite a few mods but do not allow any stronger magnets than the OS3 Black Dragons.  We also do not allow Dual-Compound tires.

Best lap on SR2. Top-level Fray cars have clicked-off 5.7-sec laps on the same layout but with Dual-Compound tires and Dash Killer Bee magnets.

In spite of those restrictions, my initial testing with a “Modified” TFX, produced lap times fairly close to a top-level Fray T-Jet on SR2. This is very encouraging since the cost of a competitive “Modified” TFX platform is roughly $100 compared to a comparable Fray T-Jet at ~$250 or much, much more. Yes, my testing was without a Lexan body.

I suspect one could get the TFX “Modified” platform into the 5.7-sec/lap range (w/Body) with only a bit more development and tuning. I haven’t tried a Dynamic balanced/trued arm yet but I suspect there will be diminishing returns there due to the limitations of the Black Dragon motor magnets.

My current “Modified” parts list:

    • Black Dragon Motor Magnets
    • Wizzard “E-Jet” Brass Front-end
    • OS3 Tornado 16.5-ohm Armature
    • Wizzard Titanium axles
    • SlotTech Comm Brushes
    • Viper Teflon Armature Spacer
    • RT-170 Crown Gear

“Modified” rules allow a Lexan body using OS3 “stick-on” body mounts, which helps keep costs down but detailing possibilities limitless.

Okay, we’re not racing this class in Round 1 but I’d really like to get this platform added to the mix at Stewart Raceway at some point. It’ll take some testing and tuning so let me know if you’d like some extra track time to get a car developed and ready to race.

This class is for the more hardcore Slothead and fits into the HOPRA “Super Stock” level of racing.

Okay, shut up and drive!

SR3 Update: Bingo!

Phidget 8/8/8 card replacing the “road slug” 0/16/16 card. The 16 card requires a minimum of 16ms under the sensor to trigger. The 888 card only 4ms.

Just a quick update on the Pit-Entry limitations I warned about in my previous update.

I’ve been emailing a support guy at Phidgets in Canada, who has been very helpful. He came up with a couple of IR sensor config options for me to try on their faster 8/8/8 card. I couldn’t get this card to work in previous attempts so went back to their 0/16/16 card and decided to live with that card’s shortcomings.

The first and easiest option he proposed worked amazingly well.  A few of us will do some comprehensive testing on Saturday. But in my testing today, it seemed to detect every pit entry I could throw at it. And, to my surprise, it detected six cars entering the pits simultaneously. That indicates that the 8/8/8 card might just work for now on SR3–the 0/16/16 card had trouble detecting three simultaneous pit entries.

Anyway, time will tell, but it does appear that the pit-entry speed limitations on SR3 are removed, which is a good thing. No idea if it’ll support any conceivable “Hail Mary” drop into the pits, but I couldn’t perform an entry that it did not detect.

So, never mind my earlier update post. SR3 pit-entry speed limitations appear to be resolved.

Okay, shut up and drive!

SR3 Grand Opening Track Day

Race Fans,

Stewart Raceway is back in business. I’d like to get at least six drivers over for a track day either Saturday, May 14, 2022 or Saturday, May 21, 2022.

We need to run the new track through the paces and make sure everything works as expected, barriers are solid and in the proper places, and no gremlins exist. The first track day will be on the road course. You’ll want to make this track day or the very next to get used to the different pit-entry style on SR3.  I also want to run a 25-30 lap race on SR2 to make sure the intermittent pit entry miss is resolved there.

Please register here.

Hopefully, we can get enough guys over on the 7th to flush out the road course. If so, we’ll do the same thing the following Saturday to flush out the oval course.  The first “official” race of our next series is slated for Saturday, May 28, 2022. Details to follow soon…