Stewart Raceway III - Stewart Raceway

Race Report: 2024 Open Wheel Series, Round 3

Wow! What an amazingly competitive day of racing. Round 3 was not only blistering fast; it was one of the most competitive race days we’ve had at Stewart Raceway in quite a while.

We’ve made a few changes in our racing formats using fuel allocation parameters that seem to be helping level the playing field between Sportsman and Expert drivers, who race together but are scored separately.

The key ingredient for this seems to be a slight change in fuel delivery during pit stops. All drivers are allocated the same fuel at the start of each race, but Sportsman drivers enjoy a slightly faster fuel refill time than Expert drivers: six-second tank refills for Sportsman drivers and eight seconds for Expert drivers.

This small change seems to pay big dividends to the Sportsman ranks, making the racing much more competitive and changing fuel races’ overall dynamics and excitement.

Short Story

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	471	227	3127.513
2	Aaron Castro	467	216	3141.732
3	George Peters	461	204	3114.904
4	Eric Lane	419	163	2923.108
5	Kevin Webster	396	133	3108.326
6	Jerry Pearson	230	102	1536.13
7	Martha Elderon	102	36	775.14

It was a very competitive race day! Jerry and Martha had to depart after Race 2. All others completed all four official races.

Race 1: MegaG+ 1.7 Modified (IROC)

Our latest and increasingly popular car class. It is a perfect warmup for the subsequent individual Modified class. Again, an extremely competitive race, with nearly all drivers winning at least one segment. Second through fourth were only separated by one lap at the finish, and the top three finishers were separated by just one point. While Sportsman driver Kevin Webster jumped out front, winning the first segment, Sportsman Jerry Pearson won the next three and remained in the lead until segment 5 when Expert Aaron Castro took over the lead through segments 5 and 6.

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	118	55	755.518
2	Aaron Castro	115	54	788.33
3	George Peters	114	53	759.984
4	Jerry Pearson	113	47	792.398
5	Kevin Webster	105	43	762.624
6	Eric Lane	103	41	757.853
7	Martha Elderon	102	36	775.14

Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 Modified

Not actual podium, Race Director spaced–again!

After 120 laps with an IROC version of the same car, everybody was well-prepared for this barnburner race. Jerry Pearson dominated this race with one segment win and three second-place finishes. Jerry led the race from Segment 2 through to the finish, besting a hard-charging Expert, Aaron Castro, by just two points and grabbing the top podium spot, great driving, Jerry!

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Jerry Pearson	117	55	743.732
2	Aaron Castro	119	53	780.164
3	Steve Stewart	116	52	788.384
4	George Peters	117	50	747.699
5	Eric Lane	110	44	744.725
6	Kevin Webster	96	28	770.995

Race 3: Viper V-SPEC F1/Indy 1.7 Lexan (IROC) c/o Eric Lane

Another great IROC set to prepare for the day’s finale, the Viper V-SPEC “Spec Stock” class. Sportsman driver Eric “Fast” Lane graciously donated these cars to Stewart Raceway. How many tracks have you visited that have Viper V-SPEC IROC sets? This mainly was a fast and furious battle between the three Experts, but Eric Lane put in a great effort in Segment 1, placing second to Home Cook’n just one lap down and very close on total run time–Nice driving, Eric! Aaron Castro would win two segments but came up short of Home Cook’n despite a perfect 30 laps in the final segment.

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	120	61	934.366
2	Aaron Castro	116	56	926.674
3	George Peters	112	46	950.901
4	Eric Lane	102	38	760.075
5	Kevin Webster	100	34	913.266

Race 4: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan

It is always an adrenaline-pumping race, but this one was really hot! Aaron Castro blasted into the lead from the get-go, winning the first segment just ahead of George Peters but on the same lap. Aaron would hold the race lead until the final segment, but George was clicking off high-speed lap times, vying for his first race win of the day. George was clicking off faster and faster laps but missed besting Home Cook’n at the finish of the last segment. George was just .381 seconds off the race winner’s segment run time and short just four points–great effort, George!

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	117	59	649.245
2	George Peters	118	55	656.32
3	Aaron Castro	117	53	646.564
4	Eric Lane	104	40	660.455
5	Kevin Webster	95	28	661.441

Speaking of lap times, George set new lap records on three lanes during this race, and Aaron set another. George’s fastest time of the race was 4.270 seconds in Lane 4 (Orange). Aaron clicked off a 4.409-second lap in Lane 5 (Blue). Blistering pace!

We did one fun race after the official races were over, running Eric’s MegaG+ 1.7 (Scooby Doo) Vans IROC set–way fun cars, thanks Eric!

Official Series Standings After Round 3:

With two more Rounds to go, Kevin Webster and Eric Lane are in a heated contest for Sportsman honors, with just two points separating the two drivers after Round 3.

In the Expert ranks, it’s not as close, but certainly still up for grabs between the top three points earners.

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Kevin Webster	1046	349	7360.796
2	Eric Lane	1077	347	5300.734
3	Jerry Pearson	910	290	3850.142
4	Shaylin Maddox	176	88	1428.228
5	Pam Ebert	154	64	1390.808
6	Abe Maddox	148	64	1337.006
7	Martha Elderon	102	36	775.14
1	Steve Stewart*	1567	697	8659.291
2	Aaron Castro*	1557	656	8656.26
3	George Peters*	1539	606	8651.218
4	Jordan Walker*	590	140	2405.214

*Expert

Okay, Round 3 of this incredibly competitive and exciting series is in the books. Stay tuned for a post on other lap records broken in Round 3. Drivers continue to get faster and faster on SR3.

Round 4 is tentatively slated for March 30th.

March 2, 2024 Track Day Video

I’ve posted a few videos of the action from last Saturday’s track day. Sadly, yours truly messed up and didn’t get the race management screen in the recordings. It’s pretty boring without that but it is what it is.

The first video below is a short clip of the action before the first races if you just want to take a quick look at the paddock.

Note: If you want to watch fullscreen, right-click on link and open in a new tab or window. These videos are private, only somebody with the below links can find or view them.

https://rumble.com/v4h3pxe-track-day-march-2-2024.html

The following are clips of three of the five races we did after practice ended.

Madeline Johnson finds her mojo and wins the final race of day!

https://rumble.com/v4h40qx-track-day-march-2-2024-final-race-of-the-day.html

Track Day Report: March 1, 2024

Wow! Yet another way cool rainy track day filled with junior drivers and parents all from the hood. And what a spread of goodies and snacks shared by all, very nice!

We had one new neighborhood team and one returning neighborhood team join in the fun along with veteran family teams, Team Johnson and Team Maddox.

After several hours of open practice, the more serious junior drivers were ready to run a few races. We decided to stick to Dash races and started racing with six drivers and six lanes.

Race 1 Podium: Abe Maddox, Cameron Bill, and Isabel Foster

The first Dash race was very interesting as the lead changed quite often with Cameron Bill leading most of the laps. Not to be outdone, Junior driver Abe Maddox (driving for Mom, Shaylin) came from behind in the last few laps and knocked Cameron off the top podium spot to second. Our newest Junior driver at Stewart Raceway, Isabel Foster, rounded out the podium with a very impressive 3rd place finish.

Race 2 Podium: Jared Johnson, Cameron Bill, Abe Maddox

The second Dash race was an all-Jared Johnson show, with Jared winning by three laps over a hard-charging Cameron Bill in 2nd place, and an amazing 3rd place finish by Abe Maddox driving for Isabel’s Mom, Jenny Foster. Isabel had another amazing race finished in 4th place just one lap behind superstar Junior, Abe Maddox.

Overall Results of First Two Races

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Cameron Bill	52	26	421.582
2	Isabel Foster	43	18	425.308
3	Jared Johnson	30	17	212.991
4	Shaylin Maddox²	25	16	207.734
5	Madeline Johnson	32	12	435.491
6	Jenny Foster²	23	11	219.94
7	Matthew Johnson	31	10	444.515
8	Eli Bill¹	20	8	211.734

1. Eli only participated in the first race.
2. Abe Maddox drove for both Shaylin and Jenny.

Nice to have all six lanes on the SR3 road course buzzing with racers! Prior to racing breaking out, Eli Bill had studiously been working on improving his lap times and, before practice ended, had bested the current lap record for the car he was driving, a MegaG+ 1.7 “Modified.” Nice driving, Eli!

All in all, amazing driving by all, especially all the first-time racers who stood on the podium after their first-ever slot car race—amazing!

Most of the teams departed after the two Dash races. However, Team Johnson wasn’t quite done for the day and we did three more Dash races with just the three of us. The first race was a straight-up 25-lap Dash, the second was a 25-lap Dash with fuel, and the third was a 30-lap Dash race with just tire changes.

Team Johnson dominated the last few races with Dad, Jared, winning two and Madeline winning the final race. Very impressive driving by Team Johnson. Jared should join us for a Big Kids race, he’s a natural. Madeline found her mojo and drove all three races extremely well.

Overall Results Of Last Three Races

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Jared Johnson	85	48	596.36
2	Madeline Johnson	80	38	591.418
3	Steve Stewart	78	37	594.015

Oh, and a very Happy Birthday wish to Matthew Johnson who just turned 4-years old! Thanks for sharing your delicious birthday cake, Matthew!

Another way cool track day with all neighborhood families in the mix. Hope everybody enjoyed it. Thank you all for supporting Stewart Raceway. Let’s do it again real soon!

Okay, shut up and drive!

Race Report: 2024 Open Wheel Series, Round 2

The series continued to Round 2 on Saturday, February 24 on the SR3 oval course. We had a great showing by nine drivers throughout the day with some very competitive racing, as always.

In the spirit of “open-wheel” racing, we tried to run all open-wheel livery in each official race. However, we didn’t get one of the two IROC sets completed in time so had to substitute the venerable Maximum Leeway late-model sportsman cars for race 1. We did four races in all. Below is the short story but there is a whole lot more to it than the numbers below show.

All races were run with 45-lap heats (segments) and a fuel allocation of 62 laps. In addition, to try to make things even more competitive, Expert drivers were handicapped with a longer fuel refill time than Sportsman drivers, initially set two seconds longer but lowered to one second after the first couple of races.

Overall Short Story

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Adjust¹	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart*	706	231		2285.962
2	Aaron Castro*	695	215		2302.982
3	Eric Lane	628	182		2393.738
4	George Peters*	685	149	61	2270.22
5	Jordan Walker*	584	148		2454.01
7	Jerry Pearson	340	94		1157.006
6	Kevin Webster	483	81	53	1685.595
8	Shaylin Maddox	281	79		1163.514
9	Abe Maddox	255	70		1185.256

* Expert Driver
¹ Points lost from a rules infraction

Race 1: Viper Jets with Maximum Leeway Late-model Sportsman Bodies (IROC) (12v)

We started with the fast but loose Viper Jets. Just as much speed and power as a regular V-SPEC Viper but with brass weights instead of traction magnets. As might be expected, most of the Expert drivers came out on top in this one. Sportsman drivers, Eric Lane and Jerry Pearson drove these cars very well and were not too far off the pace considering the experts have far more track time with these cars than they do. Detailed Results

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart*	173	59	649.321
2	George Peters*	177	58	680.100
3	Aaron Castro*	178	55	689.752
4	Eric Lane	155	40	707.989
5	Jerry Pearson	161	38	706.243
6	Jordan Walker*	138	32	691.378

Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 “Modified” (20v)

Our latest and one of the most competitive classes we run. These cars use the popular Racemasters MegaG+ long-wheelbase chassis with a super-light photopaper body. This creates a much better handling platform and because they are pretty much out-of-the-box chassis’, the racing is extremely close.

Not sure if it had anything to do with the longer fuel stops for Expert drivers or what but Sportsman drivers, Jerry Pearson and Eric Lane put on a show in this one, besting the usual suspects quite convincingly with Jerry tying in points with Home Cook’n but besting him by one lap to take the top podium spot. That’s close racing! Both Jerry and Eric won two segments each. Way to go, Jerry and Eric! Detailed Results

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Jerry Pearson	179	56	450.763
2	Steve Stewart	178	56	485.505
3	Eric Lane	174	52	480.824
4	Aaron Castro	167	51	462.639
5	George Peters	171	44	458.157
6	Jordan Walker	157	38	511.229
7	Kevin Webster	147	32	490.550

Race 3: MegaG 1.7 “Whelen/SK Modifieds” (IROC) (15v)

These cars are another challenging platform with a powerful inline motor, they pack a lot of power but have no traction magnets and run hard-compound (B) Super tires in the rear. Very drifty and difficult to drive.

As usual, expert driver, Aaron Castro dominated this race, winning four segments! The bigger story, however, was Sportsman driver, Eric “Fast” Lane bagging the final podium spot. Eric drove these cars exceptionally well bagging three second-place segment finishes and one third-place. Nice driving, Eric!

Our lone Junior driver, Abe Maddox, bagged two second-place segment finishes while his awesome Mom, Shaylin Maddox also bagged two second-place segment finishes. Very impressive driving by Team Maddox adapting to these difficult-to-master cars. Detailed Results

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Aaron Castro	180	64	744.708
2	Steve Stewart	177	58	748.214
3	Eric Lane	153	50	794.221
4	Kevin Webster	159	49	792.067
5	George Peters	162	47	744.761
6	Abe Maddox	139	38	779.530
7	Shaylin Maddox	136	38	750.750
8	Jordan Walker	125	32	823.799

Race 4: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” F1/Indy Lexan (15v)

Home Cook’n, Jordan Walker, Aaron Castro

As always, the V-SPEC class was another barn burner race with literally every driver posting impressive segment finishes. Shaylin Maddox, started her Race 4 rotation in the white lane and posted a perfect 45 laps, the segment win, and the fastest lap of the day at 1.654 seconds–a new SR3 oval course lap record! Way to go, Shaylin!

Unofficial Race Results

Yes, the final race was without a doubt the most intense and hotly contested race but not without some additional drama.

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	George Peters	175	61	387.202
2	Steve Stewart	178	58	402.922
3	Kevin Webster	177	53	402.978
4	Jordan Walker	164	46	427.604
5	Aaron Castro	170	45	405.883
6	Shaylin Maddox	145	41	412.764
7	Eric Lane	146	40	410.704
8	Abe Maddox	116	32	405.726

In the end, expert driver George Peters dominated this one. George took the checkered flag after winning three segments and placing second in another.

However, during the race, several drivers noticed that Jordan Walker’s car seemed exceptionally faster than any other car. The Race Director decided during the race that there would be a technical inspection of all cars entered post-race.

Each car was tested on the house VRP Dynometer and VRP Magnet Downforce Meter. To our surprise, Jordan’s car was well within the typical RPM and downforce ranges for this type of car. However, during the remaining testing and inspection, a balanced and trued armature (Hot Stock) was discovered in race winner George Peter’s car. In addition, when testing Kevin Webster’s car on the downforce meter, his car measured well over double the typical downforce of a Viper “SPEC STOCK” platform.

The “SPEC STOCK” rules we employ at Stewart Raceway do not permit hot stock armatures and Kevin’s downforce readings were well beyond the “SPEC STOCK” rules maximum for this car. Consequently, both drivers were disqualified and lost all points earned in Race 4. Detailed Results

Race 4 Official Results

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	178	58	402.922
2	Jordan Walker	164	46	427.604
3	Aaron Castro	170	45	405.883
4	Shaylin Maddox	145	41	412.764
5	Eric Lane	146	40	410.704
6	Abe Maddox	116	32	405.726
7	George Peters	175	0	387.202
8	Kevin Webster	177	0	402.978

I’m sure George’s rule infraction was simply an oversight. I’ve raced with George since I got back into slot car racing way back in 2017 and he’s always been very competitive and compliant with all racing rules. I’m sure George either mistakenly chose that particular car or just didn’t notice it had a hot stock armature installed.

As for Kevin’s infraction, I’ve also been racing with Kevin for nearly the same amount of time and he too has always complied with all house and racing rules. I suspect Kevin may have also made a mistake in choosing that particular car for this race.

This type of incident is not uncommon in slot car racing and very often the reason these things happen has much less to do with willful disregard for rules, but usually unintentional or careless selection of cars and/or parts.

Whatever the case may be, all this reinforces the importance of regular technical inspections at official races to help influence drivers and builders to be more diligent in preparing their cars for racing.

2024 Open Wheel Series Points Standings after Round 2

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Kevin Webster	834	229	5302.031
2	Eric Lane	628	182	2393.738
3	Shaylin Maddox	369	123	1877.628
4	Abe Maddox	329	102	1853.759
5	Jerry Pearson	340	94	1157.006
6	Pam Ebert	77	32	695.404
1	Steve Stewart*	1103	467	5903.035
2	Aaron Castro*	1088	429	5904.457
3	George Peters*	1062	336	5886.131
4	Jordan Walker*	584	148	2454.01

* Expert driver

Okay, Round 2 is in the books and the series points just got a bit more interesting after Round 2. Stay tuned for details on next week’s open track day and potential dates for Round 3.

Thank you all for making the trek to Stewart Raceway!

Okay, shut up and drive!

Track Day Report, February 17, 2024

What to do on a rainy day? Play with slot cars, of course!

We had no Junior drivers in the mix for the first time in a long time.

Eric “Fast” Lane was the first driver to show up and the first to leave but not without testing out some tweaks to his IROC fleet of “Scooby Doo” vans. Eric and I did one race with those and the tweaks appear to have improved these already fun-to-drive cars. It was just the two of us but we did a full rotation with all six cars to flush them out.

Shortly after Eric departed, Webster Motorsports and then Aaron Castro of Team Forza, showed up. Kevin and Aaron worked on a few MegaG+ cars before racing broke out. The three of us ended up doing about five fuel and tire wear races, running well into the night.

Aaron’s 1965 Shelby GT350 Mustang on a MegaG+ chassis, very cool new AFX/Racemasters offering.

The highlight of the day was adding Tire Wear to the racing formats. This is a feature of SlotTrak that we hadn’t used before. Similar to Fuel Allocation in the Race Management settings, Tire Wear is an additional factor that can be injected in addition to fuel stops. We found out that it works pretty much like the fuel allocation, when you wear out a tire, power is cycled just like running out of fuel. Fuel races make things more interesting, for sure, but adding tire wear into the equation and things get even more interesting and challenging.

New Lexan F1/Indy bodies for the Open Wheel Series fitted to the Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” chassis in the standard wheel base configuration.

Top: Lexan Sprint Car bodies for a, hopefully, Round 2 Tyco 440-X2 IROC set being prepared by George. Bottom: New Lexan for our “SPEC STOCK” Vipers. Hopefully, we’ll have enough to go around and debut them in Round 2.

We started with 25-lap heats and then upped it to 50-lap heats with a 25-lap fuel allocation and a 75-lap tire allocation, with each driver starting the race having one tire 25% worn. Made for some interesting but exciting pit strategies and seemed like more competitive racing. We’ll try this out in Round 2 and see how everyone likes it. Might be a bit too much for the Junior drivers, we’ll see.

New Lexan Sprint Car body on a Tyco 440-X2 narrow chassis.

Okay, Round 2 is currently set for next Saturday, February 24. Stay tuned for more details but this round will be on the SR3 Oval.

Okay, shut up and drive!