Author: Race Director

Round 3 was another fast and furious race day with a pretty well-rounded (no pun intended) group of slot heads, as well as several guest appearances, including veteran slot car racer, Shaun Lee, all the way from Roseville, CA.

Speaking of well-rounded. Between Eric’s delicious donuts, all the snacks, and Kathy’s awesome lunch spread of lasagne, salad, and garlic bread, some of us are definitely getting more round. And, don’t get used to the “free lunch” action. We usually do a sandwich run to the local deli but Kathy had a hectic day going on and decided she couldn’t be bothered to support a sandwich run for us. And, no, it wasn’t because Slot Car Star, Shaun, made the long trek down from Sac. Though maybe we should offer him some sort of appearance incentive going forward.

During practice, neighbors Cameron and his son, Ely, dropped by to see what Stewart Raceway was all about. Both Cameron and Ely cut a bunch of laps with the rest of us during practice and then hung out and watched the first race while helping with marshaling. Both Cameron and Ely seemed to have enjoyed the visit and actually took to driving the cars very quickly. Of course, we hope they return again and again, we can always use more drivers.

With the veteran driver, Shaun Lee, in the house, it was going to be a bit rougher for everybody involved. Shaun has been racing slot cars as long, if not longer, than any of the other veteran Expert drivers in attendance and is well-versed in oval track racing. In fact, Shaun owned and operated a 50ft lap length, 6-lane, tri-oval aptly named “Shaunadega Raceway” right here in the Bay Area before Shaun relocated to Roseville. As you can see in the results, Shaun did not disappoint, finishing on the podium, second overall in the Expert ranks.

Speedster Expert driver, George Peters, continues to dominate the series with very impressive results in all classes and in spite of Home Cookn’s “home-field” advantage.

In the Sportsman ranks, Jordan Walker has a very commanding lead in points over second place, Kevin Webster, while Eric Lane holds a slim lead over Jerry Pearson for third in the Sportsman points chase.

Round 3 Overall Results

Race 1: Retro Vipers “Maximum Leeway” Lexan (IROC) (12v)

Starting off a little wild with a loose but fast platform. Of course, we allowed everyone warm-up time to adjust to these very different cars. While the Experts duked it out, Eric “Fastlane” Lane, drove to victory in Segment 3, in the Blue lane! Eric followed that feat up with a second-place finish in Segment 4, in the Yellow lane! Very nice driving! (Details)

Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 BOX STOCK “Indy/F1 Bodies” (18v)

Special guest, Shaun Lee, didn’t waste much time establishing himself with a nice win in the new MegaG+ support class. This class provides some amazingly competitive racing. Expert, Shaun Lee, put on a show as he managed to best Hone Cook’n by a lap in the end. Not to be outdone by the Experts, Sportsman driver, Jordan Walker, put in a very impressive effort and very nearly overtook Expert, Home Cook’n, for the second spot on the podium. Nice close racing, for sure. Jordan showed why he’s the current Sportsman-class points leader with some very nice driving. (Details)

Race 3: Jag Hobbies NC-2 BOX STOCK “Merc Jalopy Bodies” (IROC) (15v)

The third race was yet another hotly contested battle between both the Experts and the Sportsman drivers. This IROC set was comprised of four brand new “box stock” Jag Hobbies NC-2 platforms with Georgie’s classic Mercury sedan hard bodies. The NC-2 is a magnet car but with these bodies installed and utilizing only the four inside lanes of the oval course, they can be really challenging to drive. George Peters proved he’s the real deal with a convincing win, besting Home Cook’n yet again by two laps while Shaun Lee pressured for the second podium spot the whole race. The Sportsman class was also very close with Jordan Walker besting Eric Lane by only two laps with Kevin Webster only one lap down. That’s competitive racing, folks! (Details)

Race 4: Viper V-SPEC “SPEC RACER” Lexan GTP

The final race of the day and the feature event was the venerable Viper V-SPEC class. Shaun Lee clearly had a well-prepared car and seemed to have a slight top-speed edge. In fact, Shaun set a new V-SPEC lap record on the day with a 1.658-second lap in the tight Yellow lane. In spite of Shaun’s speed advantage, George Peters took advantage of his fuel management skills and bagged the win by just one lap over the hard-charging Shaun Lee in second.

Once again, the Sportsman racing was exceptionally close with Kevin Webster and Jordan Walker finishing on the same lap and Eric Lane just three laps down. (Details)

Sportsman Points Standings After Round 3

Expert Standings After Round 3

“Unofficial” IROC Race 5

After all the official racing had concluded, another neighbor, Michael Hutchinson, popped in with his 12-year old daughter to show her what slot car racing was all about. Michael, being a former elite road cyclist and skier, is no stranger to competitive activities and neither is his daughter, Harper. Both of them did some hot lapping and didn’t hesitate for a second to join us in another race. We decided to introduce them to slot car racing with a magnet car and chose a house set of 1.7 MegaG+ cars with winged 3D-printed Super Modified bodies running at 18v.

Shaun Lee hadn’t gotten his fill of oval racing yet and managed to win two segments and the overall with a huge four-lap gap ahead of George Peters in second. Kevin Webster bagged his first heat win of the day in Segment 5 in the Green lane.

Michael and Harper naturally didn’t have much of a chance against this bunch. However, they had a serious battle going on between father and daughter with Michael besting Harper by just two laps in the end. I’d say that’s pretty close competition between two first-time slot car racers. Hope both drivers join us again soon. (Details)

Hutchinson Challenge

Harper was not pleased with losing to her Dad in her first-ever slot car race. So she challenged Dad to a race-off, winner takes all the marbles; two drivers, two lanes, and 60 total laps. We decided to use another magnet car for this epic challenge race. Two cars were selected from the house Jag Hobbies TR-3 “Augoran” fleet for this match-up.

Short, sweet, and with plenty of carnage and arbitrage, Michael came out on top—again—by just two laps. Harper wasn’t happy but she seemed to really enjoy the race-off and pressuring Dad the whole time. Way fun stuff! (Details)

Okay, shut up and drive!

Round 2 was another fast and furious day of racing on the SR3 “Squeeze Lane” road course. The short stories were Jordan Walker topping the Sportsman points and  George Peters collecting the majority of Expert points. The weather was sunny but fairly cool so we had the heater blasting most of the day.

Race 1: Viper-Jet “Maximum Leeway” Lexan

The first race was pretty tight in the Expert ranks with only one lap separating Home Cook’n and George Peters.

In the Sportsman ranks, Jordan Walker and Jerry Pearson battled it out with only one lap separating 4th and 5th. Kevin Webster bagged the final podium spot. As is often the case with Viper-Jets, no driver achieved the coveted perfect score of 80 total laps. (Details)

Race 2: MegaG+ 1.7 Support Class

Speaking of blasting, the second race was hot and heavy with very close racing in both the Expert and Sportsman ranks. George Peters held off for the overall win against Home Cook’n by just one lap and Kevin Webster and Jerry Pearson tied on total laps with Kevin taking the final podium spot on run time. (Details)

Race 3: Viper V-SPEC Lexan

Race 3 was as always blistering fast with everybody running V-SPEC Vipers with either GTP or NASCAR-style bodies. Sportsman driver, Jordan Walker, impressed us all with a standout performance in this one. The battle initially was hot and heavy between Home Cook’n and George Peters. However, George would have a couple of offs in his second segment costing him a couple of laps. Jordan started his rotation in the third segment and would finish first or second in the first three and third in his final segment, which put him just one lap ahead of George in second overall. Nice driving by Jordan!

Meanwhile, Kevin Webster and Jerry Pearson had a battle of their own going for the remaining Sportsman points. Kevin finished as “Mr. Consistent” with three 3rd places and one 2nd place finish and two laps up on Jerry Pearson going into the last two segments. (Details)

Race 4: Jag Hobbies TR-3 “Augoran” Hardbodies

The final race of Round 2 was back to the “Honor System” of marshaling since we only had four drivers participating. Once again, Jordan Walker proved he’s the real deal with a very good run of 75 laps, two 2nds a 3rd, and winning the final segment. It may look like a Home Cook’n show on paper but it was a lot more than that as fuel strategies came into play for almost all drivers in the final segment.  (Details)

All in all, another great day of racing in the 2023 50/50 Racing Series. The MegaG+ 1.7 class seems to be the most competitive for both Expert and Sportsman drivers.

Sportsman Point Standings after Round 2:

Looks like it might be a dogfight between Kevin and Jordan for the Sportsman series trophy, we’ll see.

Expert Point Standings after Round 2:

In the Expert ranks, George is well positioned to take the overall against Home Cook’n, with or without the Home Cook’n handicap stuff. Great driving and car prep, George!

Okay, we’ll likely have an open track day this coming Saturday and hold Round 3 the following Saturday, March 4, 2023.

Okay, shut up and drive!

While the weather didn’t cooperate, the slot car faithful certainly did. Nice turnout in spite of the rainy conditions and lack of shuttle service from the parking lots to the paddock. Oh well, 1/64 scale shuttles can’t transport many “real” people anyway.

Okay, so the short stories are a battle royale between George Peters and “Home Cook’n” in the Expert class and Jordan Walker and Kevin Webster in the Sportsman class.

George Peters, Home Cook’n, Kevin Webster. (Right-click and open in a new tab for a larger image.)

Race 1: Mega-G+ 1.7 Support Class (NASCAR bodies) (18v)

Wow! This was the debut of our new MG+ Support class and the summary of results shows just how competitive this class is. Yea, the two experts (1 & 2) in the race had more laps in the end. But look at the Sportsman class results, very close competition and very exciting racing. George Peters had a very good run in the expert class while Kevin Webster and Jerry Pearson battled it out in the Sportsman class. Jerry held the lead until the sixth segment with 75-laps but Kevin finished off the the last two segments with 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the last two segments, placing third overall and first in the Sportsman points chase.

Race 2: Mega-G+ 1.7 “Super Modifieds” IROC (18v)

Making a smooth transition to yet another Mega-G+ platform, Race 2 would be an IROC format utilizing box-stock MG+ platforms but with taller and harder compound rear tires. And, of course, an even more top-heavy body style.

A new neighbor, Tim Bisson, and his son, Jake showed up in time for Race 2. Tim and Jake didn’t waste any time deciding to jump right in and race. Jake, only five years old, was amazing in his first slot car race ever. He had incredible throttle control and clicked off lap-after-lap with minimal crashes, finishing the race with a very respectable 56-lap total.  Dad, Tim, returning to slot car racing after 20-years, finished the race with 70-laps, just 5-laps less than the Sportsman race leader–nice!

Martha Elderon came out of the starting grid extremely fast in this first segment posting the Best Lap time and the best Median Lap time, finishing in the segment in second place–nice driving!

In the end, Home Cook’n bagged the Expert win by just one lap over George Peters. The Sportsman class was just as competitive with only 3-laps separating first from fifth. Eric Lane bagged third overall and the top Sportsman points.

Race 3: Viper V-SPEC “Lexan” (15v)

Always crazy fast, this race was no different. Once again, Martha Elderon came out swinging and bagged a second, two thirds, and a fourth-place finish in this fast and furious race.

Jordan Walker would bag three second-place finishes and Eric Lane would bag two second-place finishes, very nice driving.

In the end, George Peters was not going to be outdone by Home Cook’n. George took the lead in the race in Segment 5 and never looked back, winning three of his four rotations and besting Home Cook’n on total run time for the win.

The backstories in this one are many but Jerry and Martha finished on the same lap with Jerry besting Martha by just a hair over 2 seconds in their final segment. Very close racing, indeed.

Race 4: Viper Jet “Maximum Leeway” Lexan (15v)

Well, we lost a few racers prior to this one but five of us pressed on and finished the program. The last race was a bit slower pace but we ran these cool rigs at 15v, which is a bit challenging on any course.

Other than a few gnarly crashes involving dislodged parts and loud noises, this one was fairly uneventful. Both Kevin Webster and Eric Lane posted second-place segment finishes in this one with Kevin bagging the final podium spot and a third overall.

Okay, a very nice day of racing. Bad weather is what slot cars were made for and today was a perfect example of having fun even when the weather isn’t cooperating. Great to meet Tim and Jake. Most people typically just hang out and observe or help corner marshal slot car races when they first check it out or get back into it. Tim and Jake jumped right into the mayhem and did very well. Jake is definitely going to enjoy the frequent kids’ races and Tim looks like he’ll have no trouble at all getting up to speed racing with us “Slotheads”. Hope they both enjoyed it and return for more fun soon.

So what’s the story after Round one of this new series?

Sportsman Point Standings after Round 1:

Expert Points Standings after Round 1:

I think we should stick with this Mega-G+ 1.7 class, it seems to be one of the more competitive classes of cars we’ve run here at Stewart Raceway and it’s a very easy car to prepare and compete with.

We’ll likely do a track day next Saturday and Round 2 the following Saturday. Stay tuned for the calendar updates.

Okay, shut up and drive!