The last 2023 Wall Of Fame plaques have been nailed and we’ve completed the season with seven (7) awards:
Junior Champion (Abe Maddox)
Sportsman Champion (Kevin Webster)
50/50 Series Sportsman Champ (Jordan Walker)
50/50 Series Expert Champ (George Peters)
50/50 “Xtreme” Series Champ (Aaron Castro)
Most Improved Driver (Jerry Pearson)
Team of the Year (Team Maddox)
There was one additional plaque hung this season. Jerry Pearson won Rookie of the Year honors in 2022 and somehow we didn’t get that plaque up on the wall in 2022. Sorry, Jerry! It’s on the wall now.
One of the cool highlights of the 2023 season was the many female drivers that competed at Stewart Raceway. We’ve been blessed by truly great and very competitive female drivers who love to race. The drivers listed below win races and are amazing drivers who are only going to get better and better:
Shaylin Maddox (Sportsman)
Martha Elderon (Sportsman)
Madeline Johnson (Junior)
Grace Maddox (Junior)
Next season we may consider separate awards for female drivers but I fully expect at least some of the above drivers to win awards outright. They are awesome!
Our amazing 2023 racing season has ended with a final track day and potluck event. Thank you all for attending and bringing all kinds of great food, snacks, chocolates, and wine!
We had a full contingent of junior drivers, Team Johnson and Team Maddox all here. The juniors did a bunch of laps in open practice (Madeline Johnson finished practice with over 500 laps!).
We only did one fun race, A Dash race of six drivers and 35 laps. Madeline Johnson won it by 3 laps over hard-charging Junior Champ, Abe Maddox in second. Olga Rosetta (Aaron’s girlfriend and team manager) bagged the final podium spot in her first-ever slot car race–very impressive!
Madeline Johnson, Abe Maddox, Olga Rosetta
Here are some pics of the awards festivities.
Junior Points Champion, Abe Maddox.
Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Driver, Jerry Pearson.
2023 50/50 Extreme Series winner, Aaron Castro.
2023 50/50 Xtreme Series, Aaron Castro (right), and the rest of the award and race winners.
Wow! Slot car racing is one of those activities that everyone can enjoy. It is so awesome to have such an amazing cross-section of racers participating in our program. Thank you all for making our 2023 racing season so fun and memorable.
Yep, we video-recorded all four official races of Round 4. Could be a little boring since we didn’t have enough marshals to pull off a normal race, so there are a lot of yellow flags and other interruptions. However, you can fast forward, rewind, skip, whatever. The bottom line is you can learn a lot about reviewing how you did during a race.
The final race of the 50/50 Xtreme Series was decided by just one point and three laps. Our newest Sportsman driver in the mix, Aaron Castro, not only closed the deal on the series win today but also finished 2nd overall in Round 4, against two Expert drivers.
Short Story
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart*
558
236
4327.801
2
Aaron Castro
544
182
4347.334
3
George Peters*
541
181
4459.477
4
Kevin Webster
507
149
4426.83
5
Jerry Pearson
273
98
2311.258
*Expert Driver
Race 1: Jag Hobbies NC-2 70′ Boss Mustang Hardbodies
Home Cook’n, George Peters, Aaron Castro
The Jag NC-2 chassis is a very serious racing platform. However, with these stock AutoWorld Super III bodies installed, they can be a bit unpredictable.
George Peters was on fire in Race 1 with three 2nd-place segment finishes and completing the race just eight seconds behind the race winner and on the same lap! Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
140
64
1352.88
2
George Peters
140
50
1423.44
3
Aaron Castro
136
47
1291.1
4
Jerry Pearson
134
46
1365.84
5
Kevin Webster
114
28
1384.37
Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 “Modified”
Home Cook’n, Jerry Pearson, Kevin Webster
This car is the most competitive platform out there, by far. This race had three different segment winners, Jerry Pearson won two of the five segments!
In the end, Jerry Pearson finished on the same lap as the race winner and less than a fraction of a second behind. Way, way competitive racing! Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
139
53
945.131
2
Jerry Pearson
139
52
945.422
3
Kevin Webster
135
45
982.405
4
Aaron Castro
138
44
999.324
5
George Peters
134
41
976.465
Race 3: MegaG 1.7 Whelen/SK Modifieds (IROC)
Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, George Peters
We just couldn’t get enough of the MG+ platform. This set was Box Stock 1.7 chassis’ with the new “paper” bodies. Again, very competitive. George Peters drove the wheels off his cars, winning two of the four segments and holding on to a 5-point lead over Aaron Castro going into the final segment. George was sitting in a very nice position going into the final segment, just one lap and one point behind the leader. In the end, George struggled with the Blue lane. At the same time, Kevin Webster came alive, besting George by only one lap but bagging the final podium spot and dropping George to a 4th-place finish, handing Aaron the points he needed to bag the 2nd-place podium spot. Again, way close racing with the MG+ platform. Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
139
55
1036.9
2
Aaron Castro
135
47
1042.257
3
George Peters
134
46
1039.166
4
Kevin Webster
128
40
1042.051
Race 4: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan
The final race of the series, a very fast and very competitive class that is extremely competitive. This one was mostly a battle between Aaron Castro and George Peters, both bagging two 2nd-place segment finishes. In the end, George, after a couple of bad heats was five points behind Aaron going into the final segment. George needed a great segment and some luck. Aaron would finish fourth in the segment and George would finish in 2nd-place, three laps up on Aaron but tied in points. Aaron would take the 2nd-place podium spot with a 6-second better total run time. Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
140
64
992.894
2
Aaron Castro
135
44
1014.65
3
George Peters
133
44
1020.408
4
Kevin Webster
130
36
1018.002
So, there you have it. The 2023 50/50 Xtreme Series is in the books. Sportsman driver, Aaron Castro wins it over hard-charging Kevin Webster in the final round. Great driving by our newest member and congrats on the series win!
2023 50/50 Xtreme Series Final Overall Standings
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Aaron Castro
1559
583
13187.46
2
Kevin Webster
1532
491
15719.91
3
Jerry Pearson
634
244
8530.101
4
Eric Lane
339
112
6219.998
5
Shaylin Maddox
214
76
1574.672
6
Grace Maddox
82
45
716.313
7
Abe Maddox
81
42
789.937
1
Steve Stewart*
1782
820
15347.45
2
George Peters*
1337
469
9458.514
3
Jordan Walker*
141
75
2213.675
*Expert
Okay, that’s it for now. Stay tuned for details on next Saturday’s Kid’s Race and 2023 Season Awards Presentations. We may do some team racing with qualifying and combining the fastest with the slowest on each team, we’ll see. Just a fun day at the track regardless.
Yeah, we thought we had enough to make it official but a couple of teams didn’t make the start. Nevertheless, four of us (and later three) made the best of the ready-to-go SR3 “Fast Esses” road course and clicked off seven “unofficial” races on the day!
I won’t bore you with the details but we stuck to magnet cars and had a blast racing until just after 7:00 PM.
Jag NC-2’s with AW Mustang bodies – Home Cook’n, Jerry Pearson, Aaron Castro (IROC)
MG+ 1.7 Modifieds – Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, Jerry Pearson
Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, Jerry Pearson – Viper V-SPEC “SPEC STOCK” Lexan
Wizzard Storm P3’s – Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, Kevin Webster
Late Model Dirt Cars (440X2 wide-pans) – Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, Kevin Webster
The venerable MG 1.5 with GT-40 hardbodies – Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, Kevin Webster
Webster Motorsports MG+ 1.7 1970 Camaros – Home Cook’n, Aaron Castro, Kevin Webster
All of these cars were awesome to race and only Kevin had a bad heat because of car/controller issues. Racing was very close in all events and the two Sportsman drivers certainly gave Home Cook’n a run for his money all day.
Looking forward to the series and season finale!
Okay, shut up and drive!
Typically replies within minutes when available...
The last 2023 Wall Of Fame plaques have been nailed and we’ve completed the season with seven (7) awards:
