I must say, these weeknights “Under The Lights” are fun. Fantastic food (Pork Roast could have been tastier), amazing Egg Knog, tasty treats, and great racing!

Short Story

Race 1: Mega G+ 1.7 Corvette C8 (i)

The house picked up a couple of new Corvette C8 MG+ cars on-sale and created a cool 4-car IROC set. The cars were pretty evenly matched, though the White lane car developed a shoe problem and wasn’t corrected until the third segment.

This one was a dog fight up until the last segment. Dustin, Dean, and Home Cook’n were tied in both points and laps, and each had won a segment. Fortunately for Dustin and Home Cook’n, Dean would finish in the Blue lane, while Dustin and Home Cook’n would finish their rotation in the slightly quicker Green and Orange lanes, respectively.

In the end, both Dean and Dustin would fall victim to Baja Bev’s stellar performance in her final segment in the White lane. Bev would end up with the 2nd place points, one lap ahead of Dustin and two laps up on Dean. Notice the total run time between 1st and 2nd.  This was Bev’s first race in over five months!  Details

Race 2: Tyco 440-X2 Wide-Pan Porche 935 Hardbody (i) (Team Jolley Set)

Another very cool IROC set. The yellow car was clearly the fastest, but also the hardest to drive. After getting off to a rough start in the Green lane, Dustin Jolley gathered things back up and won the second segment. Dutin would have an excellent rotation, placing second in his last two segments and finishing second overall, just a bit over a second slower than the race winner.  Details

Race 3: Viper V-SPEC SPEC STOCK Lexan

The feature race was, as always, a blistering pace and very competitive. Of course, being Dean’s favorite car to drive, he came out swinging in this one. Dean would clock the fastest Sportsman lap in the first segment, but Dustin and Bev both finished on the same lap. In the second segment, Bev found her groove and won the segment overall with the fastest median lap, taking over second overall in the race. Despite Bev finding her groove with her brand new Viper V-SPEC car, Dean dominated the Sportsman class in the last two segments, completing all 20 laps in each and posting very fast lap times, as usual. Congrats to Bev for a very nice segment win with her new Viper. She’s definitely coming back up to speed very quickly.  Details

Speaking of speed, both Dean and Dustin are knocking (HARD) on Home Cookin’s door these days. Dean has dominated the Sportsman ranks this season and will upgrade to Expert for the 2026 racing season. Dustin is poised to be the next Expert upgrade with an average race placing of 2.5 and two overall race wins in just six appearances. And, of course, junior Abe Maddox is an obvious candidate for an Expert upgrade in 2026.

Thanks to all who participated and brought food or drink. It was a way fun night, as usual.

Hopefully, we can get together for a Saturday event soon and celebrate the end of the 2025 racing season with awards, a potluck feast, and an Egg Knog tasting.

Okay, Happy Holidays, and shut up and drive!

New drivers, new track records, and new curfew!

Weeknight racing seems to be outpacing Saturdays these days. We had six local drivers show up for this one. Full Speed Racing sponsored the event and provided locally caught, fresh, cracked crab, a delicious, homemade (and spicy) pasta dish, and all the fixings for eating fresh crab. Team Langell brought in apple/berry pie from Summit Store, and the house kitchen provided brownie bites. Of course, plenty of good wine, beer, and spirits were also available to keep the drivers hydrated.

Short Story

Race 1: Tyco 440-X2 Narrow Lexan (IROC)

We ran this rag-tag set of old Tyco 440-X2 Narrow cars in this one. Not the best call with two new drivers in the mix, but we managed to complete the 20-lap fuel race without too much delay. Mike Langell came out swinging in this one, winning the first and third segments. New driver Joey Vierra, had a great opening race, winning the fourth segment in the white lane with the fastest lap, and bagging a 2nd place finish in the final segment, just one lap down from the leader.

The big story was Mike Langell’s 3rd-place and final podium position. In only his second visit to Stewart Raceway, Mike is enjoying the racing and is poised for a race win very soon.  (Details)

Expert

Race 2: Viper V-SPEC F1/Indy 1.7 Lexan Eric Lane Set (IROC)

We started this final race just before midnight, and attrition hit some drivers hard after only two segments. Joey Vierra, Tom Langell, and Mick Dudas called it a night and abandoned the race. Joey was actually in 3rd place at the end of two segments, but he’d had enough fun for the night and departed the paddock with Mick and Tom.

Instead of just bagging the race and ending there, Dean, Mike, and Home Cook’n soldiered on and completed the race. With field thinned down to just three drivers, things got even more heated with Mike Langell winning the third segment in the blue lane with the fastest median lap and a perfect score of 20 laps. Home Cook’n won segments four and five, and Dean Donaldson won the final segment with a perfect 20 laps score, and a new lap record for the Eric Lane Viper IROC set in the blue lane. (Details)

New Lap Record!

In the second race, Full Speed Racing’s Dean Donaldson clicked off a 4.645 record lap in the Blue lane with Eric Lane’s awesome V-SPEC IROC set. Not an easy feat in the blue lane, but Dean was in a battle for both the win against Home Cook’n and the second podium spot against a hard-charging Mike Langell. Nice driving, Dean!

Needless to say, this event finished in the wee hours of Thursday morning.

Okay, we’ll see how RSVP’s shape up for Saturday. Stay tuned and keep it in the slot!