Race Report: 2024 Open Wheel Series, Round 2

The series continued to Round 2 on Saturday, February 24 on the SR3 oval course. We had a great showing by nine drivers throughout the day with some very competitive racing, as always.

In the spirit of “open-wheel” racing, we tried to run all open-wheel livery in each official race. However, we didn’t get one of the two IROC sets completed in time so had to substitute the venerable Maximum Leeway late-model sportsman cars for race 1. We did four races in all. Below is the short story but there is a whole lot more to it than the numbers below show.

All races were run with 45-lap heats (segments) and a fuel allocation of 62 laps. In addition, to try to make things even more competitive, Expert drivers were handicapped with a longer fuel refill time than Sportsman drivers, initially set two seconds longer but lowered to one second after the first couple of races.

Overall Short Story

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Adjust1	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart*	706	231		2285.962
2	Aaron Castro*	695	215		2302.982
3	Eric Lane	628	182		2393.738
4	George Peters*	685	149	61	2270.22
5	Jordan Walker*	584	148		2454.01
7	Jerry Pearson	340	94		1157.006
6	Kevin Webster	483	81	53	1685.595
8	Shaylin Maddox	281	79		1163.514
9	Abe Maddox	255	70		1185.256

* Expert Driver
¹ Points lost from a rules infraction

Race 1: Viper Jets with Maximum Leeway Late-model Sportsman Bodies (IROC) (12v)

We started with the fast but loose Viper Jets. Just as much speed and power as a regular V-SPEC Viper but with brass weights instead of traction magnets. As might be expected, most of the Expert drivers came out on top in this one. Sportsman drivers, Eric Lane and Jerry Pearson drove these cars very well and were not too far off the pace considering the experts have far more track time with these cars than they do.  Detailed Results

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart*	173	59	649.321
2	George Peters*	177	58	680.100
3	Aaron Castro*	178	55	689.752
4	Eric Lane	155	40	707.989
5	Jerry Pearson	161	38	706.243
6	Jordan Walker*	138	32	691.378

Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 “Modified” (20v)

Our latest and one of the most competitive classes we run. These cars use the popular Racemasters MegaG+ long-wheelbase chassis with a super-light photopaper body. This creates a much better handling platform and because they are pretty much out-of-the-box chassis’, the racing is extremely close.

Not sure if it had anything to do with the longer fuel stops for Expert drivers or what but Sportsman drivers, Jerry Pearson and Eric Lane put on a show in this one, besting the usual suspects quite convincingly with Jerry tying in points with Home Cook’n but besting him by one lap to take the top podium spot. That’s close racing! Both Jerry and Eric won two segments each. Way to go, Jerry and Eric!  Detailed Results

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Jerry Pearson	179	56	450.763
2	Steve Stewart	178	56	485.505
3	Eric Lane	174	52	480.824
4	Aaron Castro	167	51	462.639
5	George Peters	171	44	458.157
6	Jordan Walker	157	38	511.229
7	Kevin Webster	147	32	490.550

Race 3: MegaG 1.7 “Whelen/SK Modifieds” (IROC) (15v)

These cars are another challenging platform with a powerful inline motor, they pack a lot of power but have no traction magnets and run hard-compound (B) Super tires in the rear. Very drifty and difficult to drive.

As usual, expert driver, Aaron Castro dominated this race, winning four segments! The bigger story, however, was Sportsman driver, Eric “Fast” Lane bagging the final podium spot. Eric drove these cars exceptionally well bagging three second-place segment finishes and one third-place. Nice driving, Eric!

Our lone Junior driver, Abe Maddox, bagged two second-place segment finishes while his awesome Mom, Shaylin Maddox also bagged two second-place segment finishes. Very impressive driving by Team Maddox adapting to these difficult-to-master cars.  Detailed Results

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Aaron Castro	180	64	744.708
2	Steve Stewart	177	58	748.214
3	Eric Lane	153	50	794.221
4	Kevin Webster	159	49	792.067
5	George Peters	162	47	744.761
6	Abe Maddox	139	38	779.530
7	Shaylin Maddox	136	38	750.750
8	Jordan Walker	125	32	823.799

Race 4: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” F1/Indy Lexan (15v)

As always, the V-SPEC class was another barn burner race with literally every driver posting impressive segment finishes. Shaylin Maddox, started her Race 4 rotation in the white lane and posted a perfect 45 laps, the segment win, and the fastest lap of the day at 1.654 seconds–a new SR3 oval course lap record! Way to go, Shaylin!

Unofficial Race Results

Yes, the final race was without a doubt the most intense and hotly contested race but not without some additional drama.

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	George Peters	175	61	387.202
2	Steve Stewart	178	58	402.922
3	Kevin Webster	177	53	402.978
4	Jordan Walker	164	46	427.604
5	Aaron Castro	170	45	405.883
6	Shaylin Maddox	145	41	412.764
7	Eric Lane	146	40	410.704
8	Abe Maddox	116	32	405.726

In the end, expert driver George Peters dominated this one. George took the checkered flag after winning three segments and placing second in another.

However, during the race, several drivers noticed that Jordan Walker’s car seemed exceptionally faster than any other car. The Race Director decided during the race that there would be a technical inspection of all cars entered post-race.

Each car was tested on the house VRP Dynometer and VRP Magnet Downforce Meter. To our surprise, Jordan’s car was well within the typical RPM and downforce ranges for this type of car. However, during the remaining testing and inspection, a balanced and trued armature (Hot Stock) was discovered in race winner George Peter’s car. In addition, when testing Kevin Webster’s car on the downforce meter, his car measured well over double the typical downforce of a Viper “SPEC STOCK” platform.

The “SPEC STOCK” rules we employ at Stewart Raceway do not permit hot stock armatures and Kevin’s downforce readings were well beyond the “SPEC STOCK” rules maximum for this car. Consequently, both drivers were disqualified and lost all points earned in Race 4.  Detailed Results

Race 4 Official Results

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	178	58	402.922
2	Jordan Walker	164	46	427.604
3	Aaron Castro	170	45	405.883
4	Shaylin Maddox	145	41	412.764
5	Eric Lane	146	40	410.704
6	Abe Maddox	116	32	405.726
7	George Peters	175	0	387.202
8	Kevin Webster	177	0	402.978

I’m sure George’s rule infraction was simply an oversight. I’ve raced with George since I got back into slot car racing way back in 2017 and he’s always been very competitive and compliant with all racing rules. I’m sure George either mistakenly chose that particular car or just didn’t notice it had a hot stock armature installed.

As for Kevin’s infraction, I’ve also been racing with Kevin for nearly the same amount of time and he too has always complied with all house and racing rules. I suspect Kevin may have also made a mistake in choosing that particular car for this race.

This type of incident is not uncommon in slot car racing and very often the reason these things happen has much less to do with willful disregard for rules, but usually unintentional or careless selection of cars and/or parts.

Whatever the case may be, all this reinforces the importance of regular technical inspections at official races to help influence drivers and builders to be more diligent in preparing their cars for racing.

2024 Open Wheel Series Points Standings after Round 2

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Kevin Webster	834	229	5302.031
2	Eric Lane	628	182	2393.738
3	Shaylin Maddox	369	123	1877.628
4	Abe Maddox	329	102	1853.759
5	Jerry Pearson	340	94	1157.006
6	Pam Ebert	77	32	695.404
1	Steve Stewart*	1103	467	5903.035
2	Aaron Castro*	1088	429	5904.457
3	George Peters*	1062	336	5886.131
4	Jordan Walker*	584	148	2454.01

* Expert driver

Okay, Round 2 is in the books and the series points just got a bit more interesting after Round 2. Stay tuned for details on next week’s open track day and potential dates for Round 3.

Thank you all for making the trek to Stewart Raceway!  

Okay, shut up and drive!