Race Report: 2024 Summer Extreme Series, Round 3

Continuing our new racing format in Round 3, we conducted a five-lap qualifying session that divided the field into two qualifying races. The winners of each qualifier race transferred directly to the main event. The rest of the field went on to the Last Chance Qualifier race, where two more drivers (1st and 2nd) transferred to the feature race.  We had enough drivers to do a Consolation Race but opted not to.

Round 3 Feature (Main) Event Short Story

120 Lap Feature “Main” Event
Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	120	59	588.969
2	Aaron Castro	120	50	592.295
3	George Peters	117	45	603.752
4	Jerry Pearson*	115	34	591.528

Qualifying

We changed the qualifying format for this round. Instead of a 7-lap session, drivers had a 5-lap session, two warmup laps, and three laps on the clock. Of course, if you have a crash, spin, or other mishap in the last three laps, your average lap time will suffer greatly.

Track: SR3 Road Course Fast Esses (Chicane)
Class: Viper V-SPEC SPEC STOCK Lexan
Descr: 5 laps, average time of last three laps
Name	Lap Time	Speed (Mph)	Place
George Peters	4.617	713	1
Aaron Castro	4.710	699	2
Steve Stewart	4.854	678	3
Kevin Webster	5.247	627	4
Jerry Pearson*	6.470	509	5
Madeline Johnson*	6.836	481	6
Jared Johnson*	7.439	442	7
Matthew Johnson*	9.743	338	8

* Sportsman Driver

Qualifier Heat 2 (80 laps, winner transfers to Main)

Team Johnson’s Junior drivers didn’t stand much of a chance against two Expert drivers vying for that single transfer spot to the main event. Aaron won all four of the segments, Kevin came in second in four. Madeline Johnson found her groove in the final segment and put some serious pressure on Kevin Webster, finishing third but just one lap down and posting a slightly faster median lap time than Expert Kevin Webster. Details

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Aaron Castro	80	64	453.176
2	Kevin Webster	75	52	464.196
3	Madeline Johnson	57	40	472.893
4	Matthew Johnson	52	32	463.234

Qualifier Heat 1 (80 laps, winner transfers to Main)

This qualifier race pitted the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th fastest qualifiers against one another, with only one driver transferring to the main event. The two Expert drivers, George Peters and Home Cook’n, looked to be the favorites to win, but Sportsman Jerry Pearson (Pearson Racing) was having none of that. Jerry took second in three of the four segments and second overall against a hard-charging George Peters. Team Johnson’s Jared Johnson was introduced harshly to our fastest class of cars, the Viper V-SPEC chassis. Jared did amazingly well against two experts, including a seasoned and highly motivated sportsman, Jerry Pearson. Jared also found his groove in the final segment, posting his fastest race lap. Details

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	80	61	400.107
2	Jerry Pearson*	74	50	417.555
3	George Peters	72	49	411.908
4	Jared Johnson*	55	28	417.161

Last Chance Qualifier (60 laps, 1st & 2nd transfer to Main)

Sportsman driver, Jerry Pearson was on fire again in the Last Chance Qualifier. Only two drivers would transfer to the Main Event, and Jerry was determined to be one of them. Jerry won three of his four segments and bagged second in his final segment. Also vying for one of the two transfer spots, George Peters won three of his four segments and took a second in the other. In the end, George and Jerry tied in laps and total points, but Jerry took the top podium spot by just 1.18 seconds. This is competitive racing at its finest! This was Team Johnson’s first “official” race day with the more serious crowd, but they all finished every stage and segment of the event and recorded some impressive results. Details

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Jerry Pearson	60	61	331.906
2	George Peters	60	61	333.086
3	Kevin Webster	56	50	340.214
4	Jared Johnson	49	42	335.092
5	Matthew Johnson	43	36	346.24
6	Madeline Johnson	43	32	350.569

Feature “Main” Event (120 lap Sprint)

After experiencing a hiccup with SlotTrak’s latest version (scoring and fuel management feature failures), we abandoned the planned fuel stop component of the main event. We continued with a straight-up sprint race with 30 lap segments and no fuel stops. This race was an adrenaline party. Team Forza’s Aaron Castro put the heat on Home Cook’n and everybody else with three 2nd place segments and just missing a 1st in the first segment by 4/10’s of a second. Pearson Racing’s Jerry Pearson and GP Design’s George Peters would prove to be spoilers in the last two segments: Jerry put in a fabulous effort in the third segment, taking 2nd place to Home Cook’n by just 2/10’s of a second; George bagged the win in the final segment with the fastest runtime of the segment at 145.139. Both driver’s late-race performances robbed Aaron of valuable points that could have put him on the top of the main event podium had Home Cook’n not won three of the four segments. What a blisteringly fast race! Details

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	120	59	588.969
2	Aaron Castro	120	50	592.295
3	George Peters	117	45	603.752
4	Jerry Pearson	115	34	591.528

Series Points Standings After Round 3

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	852	470	4999.727
2	Aaron Castro	828	408	5027.041
3	George Peters	815	399	4980.924
4	Jerry PearsonS	636	291	3979.904
5	Kevin Webster	330	185	2056.297
6	Jordan Walker	302	133	2894.16
7	Eric LaneS	209	76	1794.119
8	Madeline JohnsonJ	57	40	472.893
9	Matthew JohnsonJ	52	32	463.234
10	Jared JohnsonS	55	28	417.161

S = Sportsman drivers, J = Junior drivers
Note: Jerry Pearson is well on his way to the Expert ranks—two more events.

Stay tuned for Round 4 details, might be a day on one of the ovals. Okay, shut up and drive!