Despite some last-minute bails due to fear of transmitting sickness, we started the racing action with seven drivers. Team Maddox was the most represented with three drivers; including Pam Ebert, Shaylin’s Mom, and Abe’s Grandmother. Pam had never raced slot cars before but she jumped right in after a brief practice session and started her first-ever race. The Maddox/Ebert clan have racing in their genes, Grandpa, Fred Ebert, showed up last year in much the same way and also drove amazingly well having not raced slot cars in many, many years.
The Short Story
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Steve Stewart* | 397 | 236 | 3617.073 |
| 2 | Aaron Castro* | 393 | 214 | 3601.475 |
| 3 | George Peters* | 377 | 187 | 3615.911 |
| 1 | Kevin Webster | 351 | 148 | 3616.436 |
| 2 | Shaylin Maddox | 88 | 44 | 714.114 |
| 3 | Pam Ebert | 77 | 32 | 695.404 |
| 4 | Abe Maddox | 74 | 32 | 668.503 |
* Expert
Race 1: MegaG+ 1.7 “Modifieds”
In the spirit of open wheel racing, we started with our MegaG+ 1.7 “Modified” class (paper bodies). Everybody had been practicing with this car so it was a great choice to kick off official racing with.
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Steve Stewart | 100 | 64 | 687.115 |
| 2 | Aaron Castro | 100 | 58 | 654.395 |
| 3 | George Peters | 94 | 55 | 672.205 |
| 4 | Kevin Webster | 90 | 44 | 684.087 |
| 5 | Shaylin Maddox | 88 | 44 | 714.114 |
| 6 | Pam Ebert | 77 | 32 | 695.404 |
| 7 | Abe Maddox | 74 | 32 | 668.503 |
Even though there were three Experts in this race, Shaylin Maddox, managed to place third in every one of her heats, very impressive driving! Shaylin ended up second in the Sportsman class points, tying class winner, Kevin Webster, on points and just two laps down after 100 laps of racing. Meanwhile, Abe and Pam engaged in another heated battle with Grandma besting young Abe by three laps. (Let’s not tell Abe about this until he’s a bit older.) Detailed Results
Race 2: Viper V-SPEC “Box Stock” F1/Indy (Eric “Fast” Lane IROC set
Team Maddox unfortunately had to bail out early but we forged on with the schedule with Eric’s excellent set of Vipers with F1/Indy Lexan bodies.
This one was pretty much an Aaron Castro show. Aaron won two heats, Home Cook’n won two heats, and they tied on points. However, Home Cook’n faltered in the third segment, losing three laps battling with a hard-charging, George Peters, and Aaron finished all four heats with a perfect 25 laps each. Detailed Results
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Aaron Castro | 100 | 56 | 950.478 |
| 2 | Steve Stewart | 97 | 56 | 943.948 |
| 3 | George Peters | 97 | 44 | 957.695 |
| 4 | Kevin Webster | 88 | 32 | 951.598 |
Race 3: MegaG+ 1.7 “Lites” F1/Indy Hardbodies (Webster Motorsports IROC set)
This IROC set had two very nice cars (orange & green lanes) and two not-so-nice cars (blue & white) lanes. The blue lane car handled great but lacked top-end speed while the white lane car had a bursty powerband that was difficult to manage entering and through corners.
The results below don’t show it but this race came down to the final segment. Aaron Castro went into the final segment just two laps down on Home Cook’n and only three points behind in total points. Not a great position to be in but certainly within reach of the overall win.
Aaron would need to complete all 25 laps and finish two positions ahead of Home Cook’n. The problem for Aaron was his last segment would be in the white lane with a difficult-to-drive car. Home Cook’n would finish in the orange lane with a very predictable and fast car and George Peters would finish in the green lane with another predictable and fast car.
In the end, the white-lane situation was too much to overcome. Aaron would finish third in the final segment and lose two more laps. George placed second with a perfect 25 laps sealing the deal on the final podium spot. Detailed Results
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Steve Stewart | 100 | 61 | 1255.513 |
| 2 | Aaron Castro | 96 | 53 | 1264.628 |
| 3 | George Peters | 89 | 38 | 1259.671 |
| 4 | Kevin Webster | 83 | 36 | 1260.16 |
Race 4: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan GTP
Yeah, I know, this is supposed to be an open-wheel series. We didn’t get the open-wheel Lexan bodies finished in time so we ran our GTP bodies.
Another barn-burner race, as is always the case with this platform. This final “official” race of the day was so fast that we had at least two laps that exceeded the previously set minimum lap time.
Each of the Expert drivers would win heats (segments) but George Peters won two! In the end, Aaron and George both had less-than-perfect runs in the blue lane, each losing three laps in blue. Both drivers finished very strongly in the final segment, completing all 25 laps and George winning it. Detailed Results
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Steve Stewart | 100 | 55 | 730.497 |
| 2 | George Peters | 97 | 50 | 726.34 |
| 3 | Aaron Castro | 97 | 47 | 731.974 |
| 4 | Kevin Webster | 90 | 36 | 720.591 |
2024 Open Wheel Series Points Standings After Round 1:
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Steve Stewart* | 397 | 236 | 3617.073 |
| 2 | Aaron Castro* | 393 | 214 | 3601.475 |
| 3 | George Peters* | 377 | 187 | 3615.911 |
| 1 | Kevin Webster | 351 | 148 | 3616.436 |
| 2 | Shaylin Maddox | 88 | 44 | 714.114 |
| 3 | Pam Ebert | 77 | 32 | 695.404 |
| 4 | Abe Maddox | 74 | 32 | 668.503 |
We did one ‘UNOFFICIAL’ race after the four official races. An IROC race utilizing a set of Webster Motorsports MegaG+ 1.7 chassis’ with LMP hardbodies. Another very close race with Home Cook’ just barely edging out Aaron Castro for the win by just one lap and tied in points.
Another great day of racing at Stewart Raceway. Thank you all for supporting our racing program!
Stay tuned for a post of videos for four of the five races on the day. Sadly, yours truly, spaced recording the first race of the day. Sorry, Team Maddox! May have well been the best race.
Okay, shut up and drive!
