Friday Night Lights Event Videos Posted

While it wasn’t an official race, we did manage to get video of the three races last Friday night: two on SR2 and one on SR3. The two SR2 videos are mostly unedited because one of the cameras froze before the recording started and did not capture any action from that view. Editing those dead spots out is way too time-consuming, so it is what it is.

The SR3 video is fine, just not as edited as I would normally do.

https://rumble.com/c/c-3364960

Fast forward through the SR2 dead spots.

Hopefully, we’ll get it right next time.

Friday Night Lights Inaugural Event

What a great track night! Six drivers showed up for an evening of fun and speed on both Stewart Raceway tracks.

This is an older picture of SR2’s “straight” road course layout as a screen background on its RMS system.

After an hour or so of hot laps on SR3’s oval course, we ran a fuel race using MegaG+ 1.7 F1/Indy “Lite” cars.Milo hanging out in the SR2 paddock.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 117 16 306.499
2 George Peters 113 15 313.98
3 Joe Vargas 110 13 315.069
4 Oxana Che 106 8 325.79
5 Dean Donaldson 105 8 309.884
6 Kevin Webster 102 6 331.667

Team Hummingbird’s Joe Vargas is on the podium on just his third visit to Stewart Raceway.

We again ran Race 2 on SR2 with the MegaG+ “Lite” cars. Joe bagged another podium in this one, just one lap off the pace of Home Cook’n.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 99 61 506.044
2 Joe Vargas 98 56 491.132
3 George Peters 98 53 494.965
4 Dean Donaldson 86 42 498.826
5 Oxana Che 91 36 511.277
6 Kevin Webster 83 34 532.675

Race 3 was on SR2 again, but this time with Viper-built Super 7 cars with Tyco NASCAR hardbodies. Joe bagged yet another podium finish with these fine IROC cars donated by Eric’s Fast Lane Racing fame. Another new driver, Dean Donaldson was sitting in 2nd place after completing his rotations with 91 laps at the start of the final segment. Joe Vargas would end his rotation on the Red Lane but just slightly behind Dean in points. In the end, Joe knocked Dean off the last podium spot with a nice 3rd place in the final segment and 3rd overall.

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 George Peters 100 61 470.639
2 Steve Stewart 98 55 459.415
3 Joe Vargas 92 49 474.536
4 Dean Donaldson 91 42 491.275
5 Kevin Webster 81 28 477.341

George Peters, Home Cook’n, and Joe Vargas

Overall Results of Three Fuel Races On Two Different Tracks
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 314 132 1271.958
2 George Peters 311 129 1279.584
3 Joe Vargas 300 118 1280.737
4 Dean Donaldson 282 92 1299.985
5 Kevin Webster 266 68 1341.683
6* Oxana Che 197 44 837.067

* Oxana did not participate in the final race but did a great job marshaling.

Overall, it was a great night of racing, and the new drivers all did well. Oxana did a fantastic job adjusting to the different cars and tracks, but running on an oval for the first time and then switching to the smaller but very fast SR2 road course was just too stressful after a long work week, so Oxana decided to skip the final race with even faster cars.

Dean Donaldson had a great night, with one segment win in the oval race and at least two second-place segments in the last two races on the SR2 road course.

Joe Vargas had a phenomenal night, with three segment wins, several second-place segment finishes, a second overall, and two third-place podium visits.

Of course, these were all “unofficial” race results, but our newest drivers showed they can best these results and win races as they progress.

While not an “official” race event, SR2 saw a couple of notable track record benchmarks set in Race 2: George Peters set the bar for the MegaG+ 1.7 Lites with a 3.910 in the White Lane, and Joe Vargas set the bar for the Blue Lane with a 3.927 lap.

George and Dean Donaldson also set new benchmarks for the Eric “Fast” Lane Super 7 NASCAR IROC set in Race 3: George clicked off a 3.745 in the Blue Lane, and Dean clicked off a 3.753 in the Yellow Lane.

GP Designs latest IROC set, AFX Magna-Traction IMSA Sedans

It was a fun night of racing and good exercise to run on two different tracks for an event. It’s challenging to go from one road course to another, but going from an oval to a road course is way more challenging. I did get video action on both tracks and will post that ASAP.

Thanks to everyone who showed up for our first-ever Friday Night event! I hope everyone enjoyed it; I know I did.

Okay, shut up and drive!

Interesting Open Track Day

This one started as a small group of four and nearly doubled at Go time! Nine drivers showed up Sunday around noon for some track time.

It was unique because four juniors and five seniors showed up: one new driver to Stewart Raceway and two returning drivers.

Participating Teams:

      • Team Maddox
      • Donaldson Racing
      • Che-Vargas Racing
      • Team Johnson
      • Stewart Racing

The juniors quickly overtook SR3 and began hotlapping on four of the six lanes, leaving the rest of us with limited lane access. We could have set up a rotation, but we opted to fire up SR2 instead.

Jared took over Race Director duties on SR3 and ran a couple of Dash races with the juniors while the rest of us cleaned off SR2 and started to cut laps there. I think Jared might be Deputy Race Director soon.

SR2 was remarkably clean indoors and didn’t take many laps to clean off. We need to do more racing on SR2; it’s a bit hectic with Vipers and other magnet cars, but it’s a fun and challenging track.

So, what was expected to be a small group of drivers getting track time on the SR3 oval turned out to be quite a multifaceted track day.

Our newest driver, Dean Donaldson, once again brought out some engaging vintage HO-scale platforms to try out today. This rig is a Tyco Truck platform that ran well after some oiling and greasing. We need to get three more of these rigs for some IROC fun. Dean and Eric “Fast” Lane are definitely “Pickers.” They’ll get along very well.

We didn’t do much racing, but it was a fun Open Track day. The juniors cut a few laps, Donaldson Racing broke in his new MegaG+ 1.7 Alpha-Romeo F1 car, and Che-Vargas Racing cut some fast laps with Viper V-SPEC L4 cars on SR2.

There’s a back story with Che-Vargas Racing. Joe Vargas has procured the remnants of an SR2 clone track. The copy was created shortly after I designed the layout and had the original SR2 built by Viperscaleracing.com back in July 2018. Joe found the whole track and table somewhere in Sacramento, but they only wanted to sell the track pieces, not the whole table. Anyway, a longer story to tell here, but the bottom line is Joe is working on getting “SR2.2” operational again.

Aaron is also very near to procuring another cool 4-lane routed track. He’ll be driving down to the LA area later this month to check it out. There could be a nice revival of HO-scale racing in the Bay Area soon!

Okay, stay tuned for an email about resuming racing and completing the final round of our 50/50 series. It’ll be an oval event on SR3.

Okay, shut up and drive!

2025 50/50 Series, Round 4 Video Coverage Posted on Rumble

Race #2 Podium: GP Designs bags the top step!

Videos of all three races have been posted on our Rumble channel.

Your favorite Race Director got all four races on video, and I edited them down as much as I could. Just fast-forward through any pauses in the racing action.

We STILL need a better camera crew in our video production department. If anyone would like to volunteer to manage the video operations, I’ll show you what’s involved. You ensure it is set up and working and monitor things throughout the race day.

Okay, shut up and drive!

 

 

 

 

2025 50/50 Series, Round 4 — From TFX Loose to V-SPEC Stuck, Another Awesome Day of Racing on SR3!

Round 4 was quite a day for the Sportsman field. Our newest racing team, Team Rowland, got a taste of T-Jet racing in Race 1, driving a set of almost stock OS3 TFXs with Aston Martin hardbodies that George picked up at the Fray in Ferndale last week.

Round 4 Short Story
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart* 399 247 3154.818
2 George Peters* 396 227 3280.585
3 Aaron Castro* 293 169 2436.719
4 Kevin Webster* 349 154 3289.097
5 Dave Rowland 263 124 2516.554
6 Coe Rowland 249 118 2542.809
7 Jared Johnson 190 106 1284.282
8 Jerry Pearson* 191 103 1838.426
9 Arlo Roland 223 102 2489.432
10 Matthew Johnson 79 32 732.806
11 Madeline Johnson 62 28 582.756

* Expert Driver

Jared Johnson on his way to his first podium, taking 2nd place in Race 4 at Stewart Raceway. Jared demonstrated he’s a force to be reckoned with even for Expert drivers, taking a 4th and 2nd in his two races.

Race 1: OS3 TFX Aston Martin Fray Hardbodies (IROC)

Courtesy of GP Design’s journey to the Fray in Ferndale, these Dash bodies fitted to an existing house set of TFX chassis handled very well and looked even better. As expected, the Expert drivers dominated this class, with Home Cook’n setting four new lap records; the fastest lap was in the Green lane, at 9.721. Dave Rowland topped the Sportsman class with a perfect last segment of 25 for 90 laps and a fastest lap of 10.181.

Team Rowland did pretty well, considering only Arlo had any track time with this type of car prior to Round 4. Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 100 64 1153.579
2 Aaron Castro 100 58 1186.906
3 George Peters 100 58 1233.056
4 Kevin Webster 93 48 1237.436
5 Jerry Pearson 92 48 1170.544
6 Dave Rowland 90 40 1239.311
7 Coe Rowland 79 32 1216.53
8 Arlo Roland 66 28 1169.332
Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 “Lite” F1/Indy Hardbodies

This platform continues to be highly competitive and enjoyed by all who have campaigned with it. We haven’t run the Lite class in almost a year! It’s not much different from the “Modified” variant, but the heavier hardbody causes it to have slightly slower lap times. Expert driver George Peters was the dominant Expert in this one, winning three of his four rotations. Junior driver Coe Rowland had an incredible run in this race. Coe was the top Sportsman finisher with 86 laps, 42 points, and a 6.469 fastest lap. Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 George Peters 100 61 665.921
2 Steve Stewart 100 58 660.951
3 Aaron Castro 98 56 663.246
4 Jerry Pearson 99 55 667.882
5 Coe Rowland 86 42 701.756
6 Dave Rowland 82 40 665.433
7 Kevin Webster 80 32 653.567
8 Arlo Roland 74 32 663.482
Race 3: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan Bodies

Another very competitive platform at Stewart Raceway. The V-SPEC Viper is a favorite due to its incredible downforce and amazing speed. Always a substantial adrenaline-pumping race. This one was especially different since Sportsman driver and Team Johnson leader, Jared Johnson, was absolutely on fire. Team Johnson was late to the party and jumped into the program in Race 3 after just a few practice laps. Jared’s first segment was so-so, but he clicked off an impressive 4.8-second lap in the White lane. Jared stepped up his game in his second and third segments, winning handily by one lap and three laps, respectively. He had the fastest lap in his third segment of 4.610 in the Orange lane. Jared nearly made the podium and was the top Sportsman finisher, with 92 total laps and 50 points. Dave Rowland was a close second in the Sportsman category, with 91 total laps and 44 points.

In all the excitement, Coe and Arlo Rowland each finished second in this fast and furious race—amazing!

Despite the blistering pace in this one, no new track records were set. Jared’s 4.610 lap was the fastest in the race, but it was roughly four tenths of a second off the record currently held by Aaron Castro. Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart 100 64 608.253
2 George Peters 98 58 612.468
3 Aaron Castro 95 55 586.567
4 Jared Johnson 92 50 579.186
5 Dave Rowland 91 44 611.81
6 Coe Rowland 84 44 624.523
7 Arlo Roland 83 42 656.618
8 Kevin Webster 89 38 644.58
9 Madeline Johnson 62 28 582.756
Race 4: Jag Hobbies TR-3 “Augoran” Hardbodies (IROC)

Continuing his impressive driving in Round 4, Jared Johnson led Race 4 into the final segment, winning all four rotations. He finished his rotations in the lead and was 11 points ahead of Home Cook’n, who had one more rotation but with two other Experts in the mix.

The final segment was a dogfight between two Experts and an increasingly faster Sportsman. George had a mathematical chance at second overall with but it was not to be. Jared would set a new lap record for this platform in the Blue lane and finish Race 4 second overall, enjoying his first “official” visit to the podium at Stewart Raceway. Great driving, Jared!!  Details

Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart* 99 61 732.035
2 Jared Johnson 98 56 705.096
3 George Peters* 98 50 769.14
4 Kevin Webster* 87 36 753.514
5 Matthew Johnson 79 32 732.806
2025 50/50 Series, Round 4 Overall Results
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
1 Steve Stewart* 399 247 3154.818
2 George Peters* 396 227 3280.585
3 Aaron Castro* 293 169 2436.719
4 Kevin Webster* 349 154 3289.097
5 Dave Rowland 263 124 2516.554
6 Coe Rowland 249 118 2542.809
7 Jared Johnson 190 106 1284.282
8 Jerry Pearson* 191 103 1838.426
9 Arlo Roland 223 102 2489.432
10 Matthew Johnson 79 32 732.806
11 Madeline Johnson 62 28 582.756

Wow! Another impressive day on the SR3 “Fast Esses” course. The Sportsman category had some awe-inspiring results in Round 4, for sure. Jared Johnson seems to have figured things out and was crazy fast in the two races he participated in. Team Rowland also had some fantastic results on the day, Coe Rowland bagged a 2nd place finish in segment 7 of the MG+ 1.7 Lites class!

2025 50/50 Series Points Standings After Round 4
Place Name Laps Points Total Time
Sportsman
1 Dave Rowland 781 493 7434.468
2 Coe Rowland 768 465 7357.934
3 Abe Maddox 546 419 4299.19
4 Arlo Roland 706 412 7630.716
5 Shaylin Maddox 480 304 3929.265
6 Jared Johnson 359 248 2576.597
7 Lucille Rowland 177 130 1414.206
8 Matthew Johnson 146 74 1250.818
9 Madeline Johnson 116 56 1090.313
10 Eric Lane 66 40 498.861
11 Cameron Bill 50 32 411.714
Expert
1 Steve Stewart 974 716 7705.645
2 George Peters 967 687 7639.062
3 Aaron Castro 610 403 4398.698
4 Jerry Pearson 270 161 2335.285
5 Kevin Webster 349 154 3289.097

The final round of the 2025 50/50 Series will be on the SR3 oval layout. The tentative program is currently the following:

      • Qualifying
      • Race 1: Johnny Lightning or Autoword X-Traction cars (Loose)
      • Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 “Modifieds” @22 volts
      • Race 3: Retro-Vipers “Maximum Leeway Lexan Bodies (Fast and loose)
      • Race 4: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan Bodies

Qualifying points will be awarded as follows:

      1.  5.0
      2.  4.5
      3.  4.0
      4.  3.5
      5.  3.0
      6.  2.5
      7.  2.0
      8.  1.5
      9.  1.0
      10.  .5

Okay, I’m not sure if we’ll be able to hold the final round next weekend. If we have enough drivers (at least six), we’ll give it a go.

The Series points are based on your best results from four of the five rounds. Yep, missing one won’t hurt much, but missing two rounds will keep you off the Stewart Raceway Wall of Fame for this series.

Okay, shut up and drive!