It’s looking like Friday nights under the lights could be a thing.
Our third Friday night event drew a total of five drivers to the SR3 “Fast Essses” course for some hot laps and a pair of 30-lap fuel races.
Friday nights are always a bit different since, well, it’s Friday night, and some of us tend to tip a few glasses of our favorite alcoholic beverages. As most people would assume, alcohol isn’t a performance-enhancing substance when it comes to driving things, including slot cars.
So, Friday nights will always be a little less serious but not at all less competitive. That said, rules of racing still apply and are enforced.
Short Story
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Steve Stewart | 238 | 122 | 1727.335 |
| 2 | Kevin Webster | 229 | 97 | 1795.77 |
| 3 | Dean Donaldson | 223 | 95 | 1817.035 |
| 4 | Jeff Seltzer* | 113 | 53 | 1020.446 |
| 5 | Bev Seltzer* | 98 | 28 | 1186.187 |
* Only completed one race.
Sportsman driver, Dean Donaldson (Team Donaldson), continued his success with the Viper V-SPEC platform, very nearly knocking Expert driver, Kevin Webster, off the second step of the podium. While our newest and hopefully returning driver, Jeff “Dave” Seltzer (inside humor) had a wonderful first-ever appearance at Stewart Raceway.
Race 1: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan
Jeff Seltzer had an awe-inspiring race with the Viper V-SPEC platform. Jeff took second in two of his segments and a first in his final segment in the Orange lane. In his first-ever HO-scale race, Jeff finished in 2nd place overall with a fastest lap of 5.399 in the Green lane. Very impressive!
Both Bev and Jeff were running “house” Viper V-SPEC platforms out of Eric Lane’s donated six-car IROC set. Bev was the lone female driver in the field, and while she had SR2 road course experience, she had not yet run on the SR3 course. Not sure if the car we gave her was the best of the bunch, but she did well, and her lap times are steadily improving. Her fastest lap was a 5.512 in her final segment in the Green lane. Bev’s next visit should be even better since she ordered a new Viper V-SPEC L4 platform after her first visit on April 11.
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Steve StewartE | 118 | 58 | 933.584 |
| 2 | Jeff Seltzer | 113 | 53 | 1020.446 |
| 3 | Kevin WebsterE | 114 | 51 | 987.155 |
| 4 | Dean Donaldson | 108 | 45 | 1002.706 |
| 5 | Bev Seltzer | 98 | 28 | 1186.187 |
E Expert driver
Race 2: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan
While Dean struggled a bit in Race 1, getting comfortable with his new Viper car on SR3’s “Fast Esses” course, he regained his groove in Race 2. Dean led Expert driver, Kevin Webster, by just two points going into the final segment. Kevin had two laps on Dean, but Dean had placed 2nd in two of his three segments. Kevin needed to at least place 2nd in the final segment to take the second podium spot.
Dean would click off his fastest lap of the race in the Green lane with a 4.714 lap and place 2nd overall, edging out Kevin by four points. Kevin fought hard for the second podium spot, but Dean was just too fast in the Green lane while Kevin coped with the slightly more difficult Blue lane.
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Steve Stewart | 120 | 64 | 793.751 |
| 2 | Dean DonaldsonS | 115 | 50 | 814.329 |
| 3 | Kevin Webster | 115 | 46 | 808.615 |
S Sportsman driver
Friday Night Lights Points Standings
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| Expert | ||||
| 1 | Steve Stewart | 698 | 307 | 3105.882 |
| 2 | Kevin Webster | 495 | 165 | 3137.453 |
| 3 | George Peters | 311 | 129 | 1279.584 |
| Sportsman | ||||
| 1 | Dean Donaldson | 659 | 245 | 3225.15 |
| 2 | Joe Vargas | 300 | 118 | 1280.737 |
| 3 | Bev Seltzer | 216 | 64 | 1288.127 |
| 4 | Jeff Seltzer | 113 | 53 | 1020.446 |
| 5 | Oxana Che | 197 | 44 | 837.067 |
| 6 | Kathy Stewart | 105 | 34 | 332.422 |
Okay, shut up and drive!
