2025 Summer 50/50 Series, Round 3: The British invade Stewart Raceway again!

At least we knew the invasion was coming. Yep, young British driver William Mansfield returned to Stewart Raceway for his second time on August 30. William and his Godfather, Dave Feber of Los Cumbres, both joined us for this round and completed two races, competing against all Experts.

Team Mansfield’s last visit to Stewart Raceway was back on August 17, 2024. The pair only completed one race, but Dave finished on the podium in 3rd and William in 4th.

Short Story
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 George Peters 236 680 1658.307
2 Jerry Pearson 230 624 1675.021
3 Steve Stewart 229 620 1641.110
4 Aaron Castro 228 548 1730.363
5 Kevin Webster 213 456 1768.994
6 William Mansfield 134 324 1281.680
7 Dave Feber 140 320 1130.964
Race 1:  MegaG+ 1.7 Modified (IROC)

Team Mansfield came out swinging in this one, with Dave Feber finishing just one lap down on Expert driver, George Peters, in 2nd place in the Orange lane. Dave had a fastest lap of 6.083, just seven tenths of a second off the pace of the segment winner and Expert driver, George Peters. Excellent driving for a guy recovering from cancer surgery and who hasn’t raced little cars for over a year.

Jerry Pearson (2nd), George Peters (1st), William Mansfield (3rd)

Team Mansfield’s young gun from the UK, William Mansfield, was all business in his first segment. William would end up two laps down on segment winner George Peters, but besting Home Cook’n for 2nd place in Segment 2. William drove consistently and just fast enough to fend off Home Cook’n — very nice driving!

William put the hammer down in Segment 3, besting Expert driver George Peters for 2nd place and putting down the fastest segment lap of 5.499 in the Green lane. Team Mansfield was on fire against a stacked field of Expert drivers!

In segment four, William continued his assertion that you don’t have to race often to make your mark in slot car racing. William was under severe pressure from Expert drivers, Jerry Pearson (Hairball Racing) and Kevin Webster (Webster Motorsports), both Expert drivers were on the same lap and charging hard for the win. In the end, William prevailed with the fastest average lap time (6.721) and the best runtime of the segment. Wow!

In segment five, William would struggle in the Blue lane and lose six laps to segment winner, Jerry Pearson, and finish 4th. William was done with his rotation but was still leading the race overall with 98 points and 71 total laps.

Jerry Pearson entered the sixth segment in 5th place but moved up to 3rd place overall by winning segment six with the fastest lap time of 6.489 in the Orange lane, just nipping 2nd place finisher Aaron Castro at the line.

Team Mansfield was still in the lead with 71 laps and 98 total points going into the final segment. Team Mansfield driver, Dave Feber was in the mix for his final rotation in the Green lane with 70 laps and 76 total points. Dave could easily help keep teammate William in podium contention with a good segment finish, which he did nicely.  In the end, Dave had a great run with a perfect lap score of 20 laps and a 3rd place segment finish. Jerry Pearson would struggle in the Blue lane and end up 4th in the final segment, but on the podium with a 2nd place overall finish–great driving!

George Peters secured the overall win with a blazing pace in the final segment, fastest average, fastest best lap, and fastest Median lap time. William Mansfield, in only his second appearance at Stewart Raceway, secured the final podium spot with 98 points and the second-fastest median lap time. Very impressive driving by the young gun from across the pond!  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 George Peters 78 236 570.149
2 Jerry Pearson 76 208 592.965
3 William Mansfield* 71 196 644.351
4 Steve Stewart 75 180 578.793
5 Aaron Castro 76 176 591.888
6 Kevin Webster 74 168 646.649
7 Dave Feber* 70 152 574.632

* Indicates Sportsman driver

Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 Lites

These cars are a bit harder to drive due to less corner speed and a bit looser feel. The big story in this one was Hairball Racing’s Jerry Pearson. Jerry won three segments and was pretty much the fastest driver throughout the race. He didn’t win it, but he was in the hunt the whole way. George Peters drove an outstanding race, winning two segments, two second-place finishes, and a perfect lap score of 80, securing the win by three laps and six points through steady, yet aggressive driving.  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 George Peters 80 232 593.725
2 Jerry Pearson 77 220 566.583
3 Aaron Castro 76 196 650.949
4 Steve Stewart 74 196 576.012
5 Kevin Webster 71 176 597.686
6 Dave Feber* 70 168 556.332
7 William Mansfield* 63 128 637.329 
Jerry Pearson (2nd), George Peters (1st), Aaron Castro (3rd)
Race 3: Viper V-SPEC SPEC STOCK Lexan

Mansfield Racing departed the paddock before the final race of the day. So it was all Experts in the finale. As usual, this race was a barn burner.

Jerry Pearson (2nd), Home Cook'n (1st), George Peters (2nd)

The big story–again– was Hairball Racing’s Jerry Pearson. Jerry had only been able to bag 3rd place finishes up to the final segment, where he was sitting in 4th place, about 12 points short and 9 laps down. Jerry would pull off a massive upset in the Blue lane and win the final segment over Home Cook’n, putting himself on the podium for the third time!  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 80 244 486.305
2 George Peters 78 212 494.433
3 Jerry Pearson 77 196 515.473
4 Aaron Castro 76 176 487.526
5 Kevin Webster 68 112 524.659

Despite some drama during Race 2, both William and Dave had a fantastic time racing with us again, and we, of course, look forward to their return to Stewart Raceway.

2025 Summer 50/50 Series Final Points Standings.
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
Junior
1 Abe Maddox 178 376 1381.189
2 August Feinstein 71 164 637.325
3 Forrest Feinstein 70 152 605.196
Sportsman
1 Shaylin Maddox 182 376 1352.417
2 William Mansfield 134 324 1281.680
3 Dave Feber 140 320 1130.964
4 Dean Donaldson 268 312 2113.847
5 Eric Lane 216 296 1504.305
6 Fred Ebert 70 168 591.964
Expert
1 Steve Stewart 738 1448 5126.773
2 George Peters 471 1116 3092.169
3 Jerry Pearson 460 1028 3146.192
4 Aaron Castro 467 1004 3136.912
5 Kevin Webster 542 832 4612.461

Thank you all for participating in the series!

Okay, shut up and drive!

Friday Night Under The Lights, August 29, 2025: Just one race, but lots of fun!

Our clear 2025 Recruiter of the Year, Dean Donaldson, invited three first-time drivers to this event. We had a wonderful dinner with some outstanding wines before racing commenced with Eric “Fast” Lane’s cool set of IROC Viper V-SPEC L4 cars with Indy/F1 Lexan bodies.

Short Story
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Dean Donaldson 118 232 874.781
2 Steve Stewart 119 224 836.280
3 Mike Langell 105 188 883.814
4 Tom Langell 106 152 896.461
5 Bill Shrum 101 144 929.429
Race 1: Viper V-SPEC F1/Indy 1.7 (i) Lexan Eric Lane Set

With Team Langell and everyone else in the paddock well-fed and hydrated, racing got underway in earnest around 8:00 p.m. Dean Donaldson (Full Speed Racing), no stranger to Viper V-SPEC racing, dominated the first segment with Tom Langell (Langell Racing) just one lap down in his first appearance at Stewart Raceway in the Blue lane. Tom posted some very nice laps on his way to a 3rd place segment win.

Home Cook'n (2nd), Dean Donaldson (1st), Mike Langell (3rd)

Team Langell drivers drove extremely well throughout the five segments of the race, with their youngest driver, Mike Langell, bagging 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place segment finishes and 3rd overall in the race. Mike also had the fastest lap in the final segment, 5.264 in the more difficult Blue lane.

All three Team Langell drivers were very competitive in their first-ever appearance at Stewart Raceway. Father-in-law Bill Shrum had some great lap times, with a fastest lap of 5.406 in the Orange lane during the second segment. Of course, we hope this great team returns soon for some more Friday Night Under The Lights racing action and friendly competition.

Details

Okay, shut up and drive!

Friday Night Under The Lights, Aug 22, 2025: Race 1 & 2 Posted On Rumble

The race report tells the story. Fast forward past the warmups and get to the racing. Our new “Pit Cam” captures some cool footage at times. Hope you like it.

Videos are unlisted. Only members and subscribers of Stewart Raceway with the links can find or view them. You can share them, of course. Just send a link to this page, and the recipient will be able to play the videos.

Race 1: MegaG+ 1.7 Lites

Race 2: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan

MegaG+ Traction Magnet Measurements and Maximum Downforce Limits for Lites and Modified Classes

I took some measurements of a set of MG+ 1.7 IROC cars with Modified paper bodies, but other than that, stock out of the box cars with rear tire upgrades, including various sizes of Super Tires and a couple with Viper low-pro MG+ tires.

The average change in downforce when flipping a traction magnet is roughly .7 grams of downforce, which is reasonably significant. The measurements of the orange car are a bit suspect, but the others are fairly consistent. The Yellow lane car measurements were a bit of a surprise, but we’ve seen up to 6.3 in tech recently, which would definitely indicate a high-downforce orientation of N30 magnets in a Modified chassis.

MegaG+ 1.7 “Modified” IROC Set (stock rear axles, super tires, low-pro VSR tires)
Yellow Blue Orange Green White Red
VRP Meter (grams) 5.8 5.2 5.8 5.1 4.7 4.5
Flipped 6.6 6.1 5.7 5.9 5.4 5.4
Change 0.8 0.9 -0.1 0.8 0.7 0.9
Average Change (grams) 0.7
Gauss Readings Gs Range VRP Meter before/after flip (grams) Change
N30 (Stock) 2700 – 2800 5.5 6.8 1.3
N42 3200 – 3290 7.5 8.8 1.3
N52 3400 – 3600 9.7 10.8 1.1

The above N30 measurements were from one of my Modified platforms with N30 mags and a VSR replacement rear axle assembly with double-flange (.250) hubs and VSR PST Silicone soft Rear Tires (.432).  Some run the Lo-Pro VSR tires in both the Lites and Modified classes, which are slightly taller (.445). Aftermarket parts are only allowed on the Modified version of this car, so we shouldn’t see “Lite” cars with downforce much greater than 6 grams on the VRP meter and “Modified” cars with downforce not much greater than 7 grams on the VRP meter.

Of course, different VRP magnet meters can vary by up to +/- 5%. So, the maximum downforce for each class is as follows:

      • MegaG+ 1.7 Lites: 6.30 grams
      • MegaG+ 1.7 Modified: 7.35 grams

If a car’s downforce measurements exceed the above before racing, resolve the excessive downforce by using larger tires/hubs, or flipping a traction magnet. If a car has downforce greater than the above after a race, the car is disqualified from any races completed.

Note: If you're looking to get more downforce out a chassis, reduce the size of the rear tires (lower rear of chassis) to get more downforce. Lowering the chassis too much will result in slower top speed and usually slower lap times. It's a trade-off between speed and handling, find what works best for your driving style.

We may encounter modified-rules cars exceeding this maximum downforce limit due to unforeseen tire and/or hub sizes, or other factors. We’ll address that if/when it arises.

Please feel free to comment or discuss this addition to our MG+ rules here on the site or at our next event. Keep in mind, any rule can be changed if a majority of drivers/teams support it.

MG+ “Lite” Rules
MG+ “Modified” Rules

2025 Summer 50/50 Series, Round 2: Only two races, but plenty of drama.

The Fast and the Furious returned to Stewart Raceway for Round 2 of this hotly contested series. This round was only two races, but boy, the adrenaline was wild!

This wasn’t my birthday, but Team Maddox can’t make it next Saturday for Round 3, which is my birthday. Shaylin and Grace made me a beautiful and delicious birthday cake with yellow cake and chocolate frosting. It was absolutely fantastic, and most of us got a piece after Race 1. Thank you, Team Maddox!!

Short Story
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Aaron Castro 239 456 1406.549
2 Steve Stewart 239 444 1414.639
3 George Peters 235 436 1433.862
4 Jerry Pearson 230 404 1471.171
5 Eric Lane 216 296 1504.305
6 Abe Maddox 101 152 815.824
7 Shaylin Maddox 102 144 751.938
8 Kevin Webster 96 112 695.821
Race 1: MegaG+ 1.7 “Modifieds”

Invariably an exceptionally competitive class, this one did not disappoint anybody except folks who were running their low-downforce “Lite” MG+ chassis with a Modified body. The “Modified” rules differ from the “Lite” rules, as they allow very few performance upgrades or aftermarket parts, and require cars to be set up with their traction magnets in their low-downforce position. We need to finalize and publish the modified rules so everyone is clear on the differences.

In the Expert ranks, the racing was very close with just a few laps separating the 1st from 4th. Shaylin Maddox clicked off the fastest lap of the race with 5.003 in segment three on the Orange lane. And Abe Maddox dazzled with some very impressive laps in Segment 5 and a 2nd place finish just behind Expert driver, Jerry Pearson, who also had a great race, finishing 2nd overall. Aaron Castro bagged the top step on the podium with a perfect 120 laps and three segment wins. Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Aaron Castro 120 244 734.300
2 Jerry Pearson 117 224 806.101
3 Steve Stewart 120 220 751.108
4 George Peters 116 204 769.335
5 Abe Maddox 101 152 815.824
6 Shaylin Maddox 102 144 751.938
7 Eric Lane 105 128 813.600
Race 2: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan

The highlight of this one was Eric Lane’s outstanding performance as the only Sportsman driver in the mix. Eric bagged one 2nd place and three 3rd place finishes in this one. Eric was on fire and having a blast with his very fast Viper after sorting out a better rear tire setup. It seemed like Eric was on his way to the podium, but a hard-charging Jerry Pearson edged him out by just six points in the end. Nice driving, Eric!

This last race of the day got off to a rough start and ended even rougher. Early in the third segment, Expert driver, George Peters’ car was triggering the minimum lap time, and he was losing laps. Sadly, because it was late in the race, we couldn’t just change the minimum lap time, and we ended up having to restart the whole race.

George ended up winning the overall, but it was later discovered that his car had a configuration that violated “SPEC STOCK” rules. As it turned out, George had run the car up in Sacramento a couple of weeks before in a class that allowed the configuration. Unfortunately, George had forgotten about the changes and didn’t realize the car was illegal before starting this race.

I know firsthand that this is a relatively easy mistake to make. I grabbed a car out of my box a few weeks ago and ran it without looking it over. Turned out it had an illegal front-end for the class we were running, and I lost all the points earned from that race.

The moral of this story is to check your cars for rule violations before racing. We typically don’t tech cars until after races are completed. At that point, a rule violation means a disqualification and no opportunity to correct the problem without penalty.  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 119 224 663.531
2 Aaron Castro 119 212 672.249
3 Jerry Pearson 113 180 665.070
4 Eric Lane 111 168 690.705
5 Kevin Webster 96 112 695.821
6 George Peters 119 0 664.527
Series Points Standings
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
Sportsman Standings
1 Shaylin Maddox 182 376 1352.417
2 Abe Maddox 178 376 1381.189
3 Dean Donaldson 268 312 2113.847
4 Eric Lane 216 296 1504.305
5 Fred Ebert 70 168 591.964
6 August Feinstein 71 164 637.325
7 Forrest Feinstein 70 152 605.196
Expert Standings
1 Steve Stewart 509 828 3485.663
2 Aaron Castro 239 456 1406.549
3 Jerry Pearson 230 404 1471.171
4 Kevin Webster 329 376 2843.467
5 George Peters 235 320* 1433.862

Okay, next weekend is another Friday Night Under The Lights Series event and, maybe Round 3 of this series. We are expecting our special guests, William Mansfield visiting from the UK, and Dave Feber from Los Cumbres to join us for at least a race or two—Obviously, the more attendance on Saturday, the better for our guests.

Enjoy the pics below of our new Pit Cam.

Okay, shut up and drive!