Race Report: Saturday Night Under The Lights, December 20-21, 2025

This was supposed to be a Saturday race, but ended up pushing to an Under The Lights event due to not enough RSVPs and prior commitments. Not a massive turnout with just three drivers, but the racing was way fun and competitive nevertheless.

Short Story

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	284	181	2427.767
2	Dustin Jolley	269	154	2429.026
3	Dean Donaldson	233	123	2039.156

Race 1: AutoWorld Super III NASCAR 1.7 (i)

The AW Super III chassis isn’t the best choice for a SPEC STOCK platform. However, with a tire upgrade and some minor tweaks, it can be a fun car to drive. Our 2025 Sportsman champ, Dean Donaldson (full Speed Racing) didn’t take to this platform as well as Dustin did. Dean managed a nice second-place finish in the final heat, besting Dustin by two laps, posting the fastest lap of the segment in the White lane, and a perfect lap score of 20. Dustin had a very productive race with two 2nd’s, a 1st, and a 3rd. Going into the final segment, Dustin had a perfect lap score of 60 and was just three points behind Home Cook’n and a better total run time. Dustin ended up struggling in the Green lane, losing two laps and finishing third to Dean.

Still a terrific run for Dustin while setting a new lap record (6.317) in the Blue lane for this platform. Details

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	80	61	765.127
2	Dustin Jolley	78	53	785.733
3	Dean Donaldson	73	46	942.068

Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 Lites (Support Class)

As always, this “Builder” class was a barn-burner. Dustin came out swinging in the White lane, posting the fastest lap of the first segment, getting all 25 laps, and crossing the line .372-seconds behind the winner. In the second segment, Dean Donaldson took advantage of not one, but two Home Cook’n “Senior Moments” and won the segment with a perfect 25 laps and the best segment run time, putting him in 2nd-place overall going into the final segment. Home Cook’n would drop from first to third after his disastrous rotation, losing 3 laps early on due to his foopah (hooking up in the wrong lane).

Going into the final segment, Dustin was the race leader by one lap, but one point down on both Dean and Home Cook’n. I don’t remember the fuel dynamic, but both Dean and Home Cook’n needed to make up their lap and hope Dustin had a bad run in his final segment. Neither scenario played out. Dean would have a disastrous run in the segment, losing four laps and finishing third. Home Cook’n had a great run in the Green lane, but failed to get the lost lap back, winning the race but came up short putting a lap on the race leader, Dustin Jolley. Dustin put in the fastest lap of the segment, came up four points short, but held on to his one lap lead, and posted a better overall runtime to win! Details

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Dustin Jolley	75	39	508.919
2	Steve Stewart	74	43	557.980
3	Dean Donaldson	70	38	516.095

Race 3: Viper V-SPEC SPEC STOCK Lexan

Dean Donaldson (Full Speed Racing) was on a mission in his favorite race. The fastest car we run at Stewart Raceway, these races are typically very close, and the adrenaline is very high. Dean drove the wheels off his Viper in all three segments, ending with a perfect 90-lap score, three 2nd place finishes, and the fastest lap in Segment 2 in the Green lane. Dustin, on the other hand, had a disastrous Viper race, losing multiple laps in each segment and clearly not in the hunt. In Dustin’s defense, his L4 GT-40 Viper is not the ideal setup for SR3, and his results drove that point home. I’m sure Dustin is considering procurement of a new, more competitive Viper V-SPEC platform as I write this report. Congrats to Dean for stellar performance!

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	90	48	537.628
2	Dean Donaldson	90	39	580.993
3	Dustin Jolley	76	33	567.327

Race 4: OS3 TFX Box Stock Dash Aston Martin (i)

After losing Dean due to attrition from the grueling Viper race, Dustin and I turned down the speed dial a bit. The TFX platform isn’t the slowest car we run, but with roughly half the downforce of the typical magnet car and considerable acceleration, it is very challenging to drive.

This was more of an exhibition race than anything else. But the detailed results show that Dustin is an excellent, diverse driver, improving lap times, winning the last segment, and smiling throughout the race. Details

Place	Name	Laps	Points	Total Time
1	Steve Stewart	40	29	567.032
2	Dustin Jolley	40	29	567.047

A big thanks to Dustin for bringing a delicious chocolate cream pie to the event. We didn’t serve dinner, but we paused between races 1 and 2 to enjoy the excellent pie. Thank you. Dustin!!

Okay, I think that about does it for the official 2025 season at Stewart Raceway. We’re hoping to do an end-of-season event next Saturday (Dec 27) to celebrate the following award winners, enjoy some good eats, and run a few fun races to end the year.

- - 2025 Junior Champion
  - 2025 Sportsman Champion
  - 2025 Rookie of the Year
  - 2025 Most Improved Driver
  - 2025 Team of the Year
  - 2025 Promoter of the Year (recruiter)
  - 2025 Best Eggnog of the Year