Wow! Another way fun Under the Lights event.
Dean prepared an amazing meat spaghetti feast, Erik (Tracker Clay” brought a delicious Spanish rice dish, and our newest addition to the program, Jerry Stebrig, brought a very tasty Tri-Tip dish. Kathy made some sourdough bread, Cece & John brought a pasta salad, and Dustin brought his traditional, delicious tortilla chips and guacamole. What a feast!!
We tested a new version of the standalone “Hot Yellow” software solution that Dean imagined and Home Cookin’ delivered. Version 2 seems to work much better than Version 1, but still causes problems for some drivers during the power transition from yellow to green, especially when maneuvering through a tight corner. We encountered another issue in the final Viper race; both issues are covered at the end of this post.
AI-generated content unless indicated otherwise.
Stewart Raceway “Under the Lights” – Event Recap & Analysis
The April 2026 “Under the Lights” event at Stewart Raceway’s SR3 Road Course (Squeeze Lane) delivered an unforgettable evening of slot car competition. Across four intensely competitive classes, the grid saw fierce battles, blisteringly fast laps, and impressive endurance from the field. While Steve Stewart secured the overall top points, the true spotlight belongs to the incredibly tight margins and standout performances delivered by the rest of the grid.
Dustin Jolley was an absolute force to be reckoned with, taking second place overall with 436 total laps and remaining a constant podium threat in every single class. Dean Donaldson captured third overall with 427 laps, saving his best performance for the final race of the night. John Rogers (422 laps) and Cece Caro (389 laps) also completed the full gauntlet of races, demonstrating incredible stamina and consistency.
A special nod goes to the drivers who joined the fray for the opening half of the event. Kevin Webster, Jerry Strebig, and Trakker Clay brought immense energy to the Mega-G+ classes before retiring for the evening, leaving their mark on the track’s challenging squeeze lane.
Driver Highlights & Accomplishments
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Dustin Jolley: The model of consistency. Dustin finished second overall (436 laps) and was a razor’s edge away from the top spot in multiple races. He tied for the most laps (98) in the opening FireBird Camaro race and tied for the most laps (97) in the Jag TR-3 GT race.
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Dean Donaldson: Dean found his rhythm as the night progressed. After solid midfield runs early on, he unleashed incredible pace in the Viper V-SPEC class, tying for the win with a massive 148 laps and laying down a scorching 4.571s fast lap.
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John Rogers: John was the dark horse for absolute pure speed. In the Jag TR-3 GT Speed Racer class, he laid down an awe-inspiring 5.111s fast lap, out-qualifying almost everyone on pure pace. He tied for the top lap count in the Mega-G+ Lites class (96 laps).
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Cece Caro: The ultimate Iron Woman of the night. Cece raced in every single class, maintaining excellent median lap times and staying out of trouble. Her best finish came in the Viper V-SPEC class, where she confidently banked 126 laps.
Partial-Event Competitors
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Kevin Webster: Kevin was a serious contender in the first two races, tallying 288 laps overall. He was incredibly quick in the Mega-G+ Lites class, hitting a 6.096s fast lap, and returned to run the Vipers where he logged 108 laps.
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Jerry Strebig: Competing in the first two events, Jerry put down a highly respectable 157 total laps. He found a great groove in the FireBird Camaro class with a fast lap of 6.233s.
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Trakker Clay: Trakker joined for the opening double-header, bringing home 148 laps. His highlight was a smooth 6.328s fast lap in the FireBird Camaros.
Detailed Race Analysis
Race 1: MegaG+ 1.7 FireBird Camaro Deans Mix
The opening race set a high bar for the evening. Dustin Jolley came out of the gate swinging, tying for the overall lead with 98 laps and laying down a highly consistent 5.994s median lap. John Rogers kept the pressure firmly on with 97 laps, while Dean Donaldson pushed hard to secure 95 laps. Steve Stewart also logged 98 laps.
Pace Summary (Best Segments)
| Driver | Total Laps | Fast Lap | Best Median Lap |
| Dustin Jolley | 98 | 5.760 | 5.994 |
| Steve Stewart | 98 | 5.681 | 5.970 |
| John Rogers | 97 | 5.796 | 6.250 |
| Dean Donaldson | 95 | 5.670 | 6.220 |
| Cece Caro | 92 | 6.221 | 6.500 |
| Kevin Webster | 91 | 5.887 | 6.692 |
| Jerry Strebig | 83 | 6.233 | 7.062 |
| Trakker Clay | 82 | 6.328 | 6.715 |
| (Source) |
Race 2: Mega-G+ 1.7 Lites (Support Class)
The support class saw John Rogers and Dustin Jolley lock horns in an epic duel, both finishing with exactly 96 laps. Dean Donaldson improved his pace from the first race to grab 93 laps, fueled by a 5.597s fast lap. Kevin Webster showed his teeth here with an 89-lap run before exiting the event. Steve Stewart finished with 100 laps.
Pace Summary (Best Segments)
| Driver | Total Laps | Fast Lap | Best Median Lap |
| Steve Stewart | 100 | 5.364 | 5.621 |
| Dustin Jolley | 96 | 5.412 | 5.968 |
| John Rogers | 96 | 5.748 | 6.272 |
| Dean Donaldson | 93 | 5.597 | 5.817 |
| Cece Caro | 91 | 6.199 | 6.500 |
| Kevin Webster | 89 | 6.096 | 6.742 |
| Jerry Strebig | 74 | 6.766 | 7.868 |
| Trakker Clay | 66 | 6.930 | 8.084 |
| (Source) |
Race 3: Jag TR-3 GT Speed Racer Dean Set
With the grid narrowed down to the ironman competitors, the track opened up for some blistering qualifying-style laps. John Rogers was the absolute star of the timing sheets, throwing down a phenomenal 5.111s fast lap. Despite Rogers’ raw speed, Dustin Jolley relied on his trademark consistency to capture 97 laps, tying with Steve Stewart for the lead. (Note: A timing anomaly of 3.219s for Dean Donaldson in segment 5 has been excluded from the true pace metrics).
Pace Summary (Best Segments)
| Driver | Total Laps | Fast Lap | Best Median Lap |
| Steve Stewart | 99 | 5.373 | 6.025 |
| Dustin Jolley | 97 | 5.378 | 6.052 |
| John Rogers | 92 | 5.111 | 6.601 |
| Dean Donaldson | 91 | 5.506 | 6.521 |
| Cece Caro | 80 | 5.872 | 6.946 |
| (Source) |
Race 4: Viper V-SPEC SPEC STOCK Lexan
The nightcap was an absolute masterclass by Dean Donaldson. Harnessing the grip of the Lexan bodies, Dean pushed his Viper to the absolute limit, tying Steve Stewart for the overall race victory with 148 laps. Dean also secured the second-fastest lap of the entire race at 4.571s. Dustin Jolley wrapped up his stellar evening closely behind with 145 laps, while Kevin Webster returned to the track to put in a valiant 108-lap effort.
Pace Summary (Best Segments)
| Driver | Total Laps | Fast Lap | Best Median Lap |
| Dean Donaldson | 148 | 4.571 | 4.975 |
| Steve Stewart | 148 | 4.522 | 4.981 |
| Dustin Jolley | 145 | 4.722 | 5.059 |
| John Rogers | 137 | 4.858 | 5.774 |
| Cece Caro | 126 | 4.798 | 6.034 |
| Kevin Webster | 108 | 5.258 | 5.856 |
| (Source) |
End of AI-generated content
Hot Yellow Woes
As mentioned, we tested our new “Hot Yellow” solution during the night’s racing. The “Hot Yellow” is a standalone software solution that replaces the usual “Track Call” button or FOB that shuts off power to all lanes. Since SR2 and SR3 have individually programmable power supplies controlling power to each lane, the individual driver can manually change their lane voltage, and the race director can also change the lane voltages globally.
The Hot Yellow” feature allows us to race with marshals or without by initiating a “Hot Yellow” flag condition, where the power is not shut off, but lowered to a preset level. This means that the cars that are still slotted do not stop; they continue to roll at a preset reduced speed. This simulates a real Big Car race and penalizes the crashing driver by the distances that the uncrashed cars travel during a yellow flag condition.
This also allows drivers to become marshals, as they can just keep their controller triggers pulled and easily marshal a nearby car or corner without disrupting their own car’s progress while under yellow.
While feedback on the new feature was very positive, we did reveal a couple of issues that need to be addressed:
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- The yellow-to-green transition is not as smooth and linear as it should be. This issue can cause drivers to de-slot on tighter corners as the power is increased from yellow voltage to green voltage.
- In the Viper race, Dean’s car was almost twice as fast as all other cars under the yellow flag voltage. This meant that during a yellow flag situation, Dean would put nearly a lap on the rest of us during the yellow flag slowdown and then return to full power.
We didn’t encounter this issue with any of the other car classes tested, which indicated that something was amiss with Dean’s car. Dean’s car passed our visual and technical inspection after the race.It looks like we can’t use the “Hot Yellow” feature with Vipers, since some Vipers may roll under a powered yellow flag condition much faster than others.
Oh well, maybe it’ll work well enough for all the other cars we run.
As I mentioned in my previous race report post, we're switching back to a timed segment/heat rotation period. While we sped things up nicely during this event, using corner marshals when we had enough, and running as many lanes as we could, we're still taking way too much time to complete our four-race 50/50 format. So, we're going to institute a 2.5-minute limit on lane transition during future rotations. Bottom line: racing starts automatically after 2.5 minutes between segments/heats.
A big thanks to everybody who showed up to race Round 3 of our current “Under the Lights” series. Two more to go before a Sportsman driver gets a mondo trophy for winning the series and advances to the Expert Division.
Series Standings After Round 3
| Place | Name | Laps | Points | Total Time |
| Sportsman Division | ||||
| 1 | John Rogers | 823 | 401 | 6967.671 |
| 2 | Cece Caro | 763 | 322 | 6795.441 |
| 4 | Jeff Seltzer | 254 | 94 | 2395.870 |
| 5 | Bev Seltzer | 235 | 67 | 2445.042 |
| 6 | Mark Wialbut | 235 | 65 | 2423.299 |
| 7 | Jerry Strebig | 157 | 72 | 1625.683 |
| 8 | Trakker Clay | 148 | 60 | 1669.686 |
| Expert Division | ||||
| 1 | Steve Stewart | 1171 | 621 | 8822.776 |
| 2 | Dustin Jolley | 1134 | 568 | 8938.696 |
| 3 | Dean Donaldson | 1120 | 530 | 9117.420 |
| 3 | Joe Clarke | 347 | 138 | 2718.592 |
| 4 | Kevin Webster | 288 | 125 | 3080.373 |
I’m thinking we should stick to Thursday nights for the “Under the Lights” program since Cece and Roger can typically attend. Oh, and don’t forget to review and comment on the revised “Active Club Car” rules. They will take effect at our next event.
Okay, shut up and drive!
