The Fast and the Furious returned to Stewart Raceway for Round 2 of this hotly contested series. This round was only two races, but boy, the adrenaline was wild!
This wasn’t my birthday, but Team Maddox can’t make it next Saturday for Round 3, which is my birthday. Shaylin and Grace made me a beautiful and delicious birthday cake with yellow cake and chocolate frosting. It was absolutely fantastic, and most of us got a piece after Race 1. Thank you, Team Maddox!!
Short Story
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Aaron Castro | 239 | 456 | 1406.549 |
| 2 | Steve Stewart | 239 | 444 | 1414.639 |
| 3 | George Peters | 235 | 436 | 1433.862 |
| 4 | Jerry Pearson | 230 | 404 | 1471.171 |
| 5 | Eric Lane | 216 | 296 | 1504.305 |
| 6 | Abe Maddox | 101 | 152 | 815.824 |
| 7 | Shaylin Maddox | 102 | 144 | 751.938 |
| 8 | Kevin Webster | 96 | 112 | 695.821 |
Race 1: MegaG+ 1.7 “Modifieds”
Invariably an exceptionally competitive class, this one did not disappoint anybody except folks who were running their low-downforce “Lite” MG+ chassis with a Modified body. The “Modified” rules differ from the “Lite” rules, as they allow very few performance upgrades or aftermarket parts, and require cars to be set up with their traction magnets in their low-downforce position. We need to finalize and publish the modified rules so everyone is clear on the differences.
In the Expert ranks, the racing was very close with just a few laps separating the 1st from 4th. Shaylin Maddox clicked off the fastest lap of the race with 5.003 in segment three on the Orange lane. And Abe Maddox dazzled with some very impressive laps in Segment 5 and a 2nd place finish just behind Expert driver, Jerry Pearson, who also had a great race, finishing 2nd overall. Aaron Castro bagged the top step on the podium with a perfect 120 laps and three segment wins. Details
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Aaron Castro | 120 | 244 | 734.300 |
| 2 | Jerry Pearson | 117 | 224 | 806.101 |
| 3 | Steve Stewart | 120 | 220 | 751.108 |
| 4 | George Peters | 116 | 204 | 769.335 |
| 5 | Abe Maddox | 101 | 152 | 815.824 |
| 6 | Shaylin Maddox | 102 | 144 | 751.938 |
| 7 | Eric Lane | 105 | 128 | 813.600 |
Race 2: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan
The highlight of this one was Eric Lane’s outstanding performance as the only Sportsman driver in the mix. Eric bagged one 2nd place and three 3rd place finishes in this one. Eric was on fire and having a blast with his very fast Viper after sorting out a better rear tire setup. It seemed like Eric was on his way to the podium, but a hard-charging Jerry Pearson edged him out by just six points in the end. Nice driving, Eric!
This last race of the day got off to a rough start and ended even rougher. Early in the third segment, Expert driver, George Peters’ car was triggering the minimum lap time, and he was losing laps. Sadly, because it was late in the race, we couldn’t just change the minimum lap time, and we ended up having to restart the whole race.
George ended up winning the overall, but it was later discovered that his car had a configuration that violated “SPEC STOCK” rules. As it turned out, George had run the car up in Sacramento a couple of weeks before in a class that allowed the configuration. Unfortunately, George had forgotten about the changes and didn’t realize the car was illegal before starting this race.
I know firsthand that this is a relatively easy mistake to make. I grabbed a car out of my box a few weeks ago and ran it without looking it over. Turned out it had an illegal front-end for the class we were running, and I lost all the points earned from that race.
The moral of this story is to check your cars for rule violations before racing. We typically don’t tech cars until after races are completed. At that point, a rule violation means a disqualification and no opportunity to correct the problem without penalty. Details
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| 1 | Steve Stewart | 119 | 224 | 663.531 |
| 2 | Aaron Castro | 119 | 212 | 672.249 |
| 3 | Jerry Pearson | 113 | 180 | 665.070 |
| 4 | Eric Lane | 111 | 168 | 690.705 |
| 5 | Kevin Webster | 96 | 112 | 695.821 |
| 6 | George Peters | 119 | 0 | 664.527 |
Series Points Standings
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| Sportsman Standings | ||||
| 1 | Shaylin Maddox | 182 | 376 | 1352.417 |
| 2 | Abe Maddox | 178 | 376 | 1381.189 |
| 3 | Dean Donaldson | 268 | 312 | 2113.847 |
| 4 | Eric Lane | 216 | 296 | 1504.305 |
| 5 | Fred Ebert | 70 | 168 | 591.964 |
| 6 | August Feinstein | 71 | 164 | 637.325 |
| 7 | Forrest Feinstein | 70 | 152 | 605.196 |
| Expert Standings | ||||
| 1 | Steve Stewart | 509 | 828 | 3485.663 |
| 2 | Aaron Castro | 239 | 456 | 1406.549 |
| 3 | Jerry Pearson | 230 | 404 | 1471.171 |
| 4 | Kevin Webster | 329 | 376 | 2843.467 |
| 5 | George Peters | 235 | 320* | 1433.862 |
Okay, next weekend is another Friday Night Under The Lights Series event and, maybe Round 3 of this series. We are expecting our special guests, William Mansfield visiting from the UK, and Dave Feber from Los Cumbres to join us for at least a race or two—Obviously, the more attendance on Saturday, the better for our guests.
Enjoy the pics below of our new Pit Cam.
Okay, shut up and drive!
